Considering W7 Ultimate upgrade, but a few questions

First off, is a 4GB USB drive large enough to install from? I remember it being such, but I'm not sure. My 8GB recently actually broke... the whole USB connector came off.

Secondly, is there a notable improvement over XP? I isntalled 7 on my desktop mostly because I was having some issues with that XP install, but this one hasn't given me any issues yet.

Lastly... how does Aero work? I don't think I'd be able to use 7 Basic or Windows Classic... it'd just feel far too awkward, as stupid as it sounds.

I'm still not completely sure which model I have, but it's a 10.1 in. with a 160GB hard drive and upgraded to 2GB of RAM.

 

4 GB is enough, technically you don't need a flash drive to install Windows 7. On my D250, I just mounted the Windows 7 image onto a virtual cd drive and installed it through Windows XP

Lots...Just to name a few: OS booting is much faster, Windows 7 uses all availiable RAM compared to XP which uses the amount necessary which has its pros and cons, the new "windows key" shortcuts, wi-fi strength indicator on taskbar, fine-tuning of power options, etc...

Windows Classic no longer available for Windows 7...I'm using Aero fine with and without transparency effects

 

Windows 7 does have Windows Classic, though. I was referring to the window theme, not the Start menu.

All in all, though, I'm deciding to take the plunge. If I end up needing XP back, would it be easy to reinstall SP3?

 

As far as I remember, reinstalling XP takes much longer than installing Windows 7. Either way, an "upgrade" to Windows 7 requires a clean install if you use the same partition as Windows XP; similar with a downgrade to XP.

You can always dual-boot & keep your Windows XP installation and install Windows 7 onto a separate partition that way you can return to XP whenever you feel like it.

 

I've committed to the upgrade.

7 seems to be running just as well as XP was for me... perhaps even a slight improvement. Aero is enabled, as well as transparency.

Had to install the Synaptics touchpad drivers, and I'm missing my webcam drivers... but other than that, 7 is pretty much perfect. Battery life is only slightly lower than Windows XP (and this is a guess), but it's tolerable unlike Ubuntu was.