Considering Vista, ram...

This may turn out to be a longish thread, bear with me.

I am once again considering Vista... I gave Ultimate a spin around launch time, but it was more than my machine could comfortably handle. Clearly slower than XP, and it had some issues with file transfer (trying to move 4gb from one HD to another was going to take 1 day 9 hrs...).

Has Microsoft released any patches or SPs for Vista yet, anything via WindowsUpdate?

I am wondering whether one of the Home or Business Editions would work on my machine. Is there a clear difference in system requirements depending on various editions? Or is it that if Ultimate didn't run smoothly on my Dell, then the others won't either?

My system as it currently is:
Dell Dimension 4400
Pentium 4 @ 1.6 GHz
1 GB RAM (PC2100 Non-Ecc Non-Reg)
300 GB HDD
Audio: Creative Labs Audigy 2
Video: ATI Radeon 9000 (64MB ViVo) / GeForce FX5500 (256 MB)

I'm really only interested in Vista if it can run on my machine at least as fast as XP does.

Lastly, I am considering upgrading my RAM to 2 GB.

Would this have any effect on system performance? Or is the slow processor going to hold that memory back to the point where I'm not going to see a difference?

Furthermore, Dell states that the computer uses Non-ECC Non-Registered PC2100 sticks. Dell also states that the max amount of RAM is 1 GB. Intel on the other hand states that the motherboard (Intel D845PT) can handle up to 2 GB (unvalidated, but I've heard from other Dimension 4400 users that they upped to 2 GB and it worked without issues) and can take ECC and Non-ECC alike.

Is there any way to verify whether I can use ECC sticks in this machine, other than stick one in of course? Non-ECCs are rather expensive to find.

I've also thought about upgrading the processor since it's not as expensive now for such an old board, however, I've never changed a processor before. How difficult a task is this?

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Hello, World!

ECC memory is going to be more expensive than the non-ECC. The ECC RAM has extra circuitry for validating memory contents via checksums.
None of the various brands of Vista will run as fast as XP on your machine. Period.
Doubling the RAM will make a noticable difference however-Vista loves the RAM and so does XP.
If the Intel board specs claim compatibility up to 2 gigs that should hold true. Be aware however, that Dell could have limited the RAM in the BIOS, or the board you have may have limited RAM slots (Dell and other big manufacturers often get customized versions of motherboards). Check the interior of your PC and verify that you have at least two slots, if not 4.

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