So the big Vista push has been and gone, and many users have upgraded, some have switched to Mac products and still others are despairing over their choices. Where does leave the old computers, the ones that didn’t make the cut, the ones that showed a negative number for their Windows Experience Index and the ones that were tossed aside in favour of shiny new hardware? There are choices for these, our fallen compatriots, previously top-of-the-line machines with 32 megabytes of ram and a price-tag that made the missus blush way back in the early nineties.

Obviously throwing money at the problem and investing in some more RAM is one way of coping with the problem, but this will only stave off the cold clammy hand of the as-yet-unnamed pagan god of obsolete hardware for a short time. Equally, why throw it out? Old hardware and its uses have long been a passion of the lunatic fringe, those too stubborn to upgrade, espousing the motto “It was good enough ten years ago, it should be good enough now!” You too can easily find out why the real hardware arms race, the one all the cool kids are fighting, is running low specification systems, and improving their performance.

If a computer is too old to properly run the latest and greatest operating systems, if it struggles with Windows XP, then it is ideal for a bit of operating system tinkering. In much the same way a carpenter chops up bits of wood in his spare time to learn more about the craft (allegedly) an old desktop or laptop computer provides an opportunity to try varieties of Linux or even a slimmed and trimmed version of that copy of Windows XP you used to run. Turning the machine that was such a valued investment for the first three years of its life into a tool for learning about operating systems seems a much better choice than throwing it in the bin.

Learning to use new and even tweaked operating systems is an excellent way to open up a world of choice and freedom, because as you tinker minor problems occurring will teach the basic troubleshooting and problem solving steps specific to operating system. This cuts down on day-to-day problems in general computing and illustrates the choices open to the average user, be it a choice of applications or a choice of operating systems. Being conscious of system limitations (be they memory or processor) can cause users to seek out lightweight applications and settings, and find generally great applications.

It is common knowledge that while a system might meet the required system specs for an application, most notably games, running it on the absolute lowest specification machine will be an exercise in frustration, working slowly and generally to a low quality. This is as true for Windows as it is for Oblivion. For Windows however there is a solution, one that will let systems hovering on the edge (or even slightly on the wrong side) of the system requirements run in a more than usable manner. That solution is nLite, an incredibly useful application that will take a Windows 2000 or XP install disk and remove the bits you deem optional, like help documentation, unneeded drivers or even MS Paint.

Advertised as a program to aid unattended setup of Windows PCs, nLite allows users to not only install Windows without prompting for CD-keys or optional extras, all of which is input into the program before it produces its modified CD image. It allows users to remove elementary components from their Windows install, leaving a cleaner and lighter system. The speed increases from some of these removals are incredible, and it helpfully gives information on what to remove (optional services that always run) and what to keep(the core of the OS). While unattended setup CDs are usually the domain of system admins and that other lunatic fringe, those who format their PCs and reinstall everything frequently its still handy and educational to make one for yourself. Additional packages containing free and shareware programs can be found on the nLite site, adding these programs to your CD image will make them install with the operating system.

nLite’s strength is in its transparency. It lists each separate conceptual module included with a Windows install and gives a description, allowing users to decide if it is an essential or bloat that will slow their ideal system down. Analyzing Windows like this makes light of all the drivers, additional programs, documentation and services an average system contains. This better working knowledge of the cogs that keep the clock ticking helps when deciding how many cogs to keep and how many to remove.