Choosing an OS

I wanted a computer with proper legacy software support because my Macbook pro struggles to emulate any x86 version of windows on the M1. I chose to look for a thinkpad because of the hype and because I knew if I was going to be heavily modifying this thing, I wanted something I could easily find spare parts for. I picked up an Edge E430 because it was the cheapest working thinkpad I could find on ebay, (I paid 44 dollars mostly in shipping, the laptop was 15 of that) and it had a Windows 7 sticker on it so I figured it would have good legacy compatibility.

Initially I wanted to run Windows Vista on this laptop because I had heard of the Vista extended kernel, which would theoretically allow me to run some modern software on the old aero interface, so I installed an ISO I found on the internet archive with the kernel prepackaged.

I probably should have opted to install the kernel myself following the process on the website. I faced a lot of incompatibility issues after applying some security updates, and I finally ended up giving up on windows Vista after installing some faulty intel HD graphics drivers that caused the screen to stop working altogether.

I fixed it with some tinkering in safe mode, but I ultimately decided that it was too much of a hassle to keep trying to use vista (I still kept it on an SSD to tinker with, maybe I'll try it out again once I feel like hitting my head at driver issues over and over again). In the end decided to install Windows 7, which was a breeze to get running on this thing. I prefer vista's dock and start menu, but windows 7 looks near identical so I can't really complain.