"Murgi" <srindler@da2.so-net.ne.jp> wrote in message
news:5b7dd6964c201fa3c2150404c915c8c8@news.secureusenet.com...

> Somebody threw a Dell computer aut (Dimension, 566 MHz, Celeron, 128 MB).
> I picked it up and installed Windows XP Professional. It works, but the
> system is slow...

If you use only part of the OS of Windows XP, a 300 MHz CPU can do it but
you'll need 256 MB of RAM.  If you use Internet Explorer (which is an
integrated part of the OS) then you'll need a 500 MHz CPU and 1 GB of RAM.
If you use Word 2000 then you'll need a 3 GHz CPU and 320 MB of RAM.  If you
use both Internet Explorer and Word 2000, you do the computation.  Oddly,
Word XP isn't as troublesome as Word 2000 is.

> Is Windows 2000 considerably "leaner" and thus faster than XP?

Yes.  But if you grade Internet Explorer to version 6 (the same as found in
Windows XP) then I'm not sure.