Windows 7 - have you tried it?

[Slicksta]

Just playing around with it on my one of my laptops. Seems to run rather smoothly i like the new interface very prity :).

[Metalor]

Still with xp, haven't even bothered with vista. Although 7 is supposed to be a big improvement from vista (but vista was supposed to be that to xp!)

Marketing bullshit.

[Ixion]

Yawn. Win7 is officially an epic boredom.

The only thing that can be said for it is that it is less hoggish than Vista.

Based on a couple of months on the 64 bit version.

[Slicksta]

I never understood what was wrong with vista it ran very fast on all my hardware, Windows 7 is the same fast and smooth.

[ducatilover]

I never understood what was wrong with vista it ran very fast on all my hardware, Windows 7 is the same fast and smooth.

It was a prick on budget computers with less RAM than a gnats nudger :spanking:

[Slicksta]

It was a prick on budget computers with less RAM than a gnats nudger :spanking:

I don't have a PC with less than 2gb or less than 2 cores. Well that is unless you count my netbook lol

[Dargor]

http://pix.motivatedphotos.com/2009/4/28/633765058700186275-windows.jpg

[cambridgedan]

its all crap get a mac :eek:

[Slicksta]

its all crap get a mac :eek:

Lol if i had the money to spend i would buy a Mac book pro but 4 grand just to get a decent GPU is abit excessive.

[Ixion]

Penguinz FTW.

[sAsLEX]

Tried twice to upgrade my vista laptop with different copies of the RC and have only seen a brief blue screen of death in 7 following 5 hours of "upgrading" before it crashes and reinstates Vista...... nice one windows.

[jonbuoy]

Ran it on my desktop and laptop, was 100% stable for me. I liked the screen snip feature, preview windows on the taskbar and the hibernate power saver. Ran some games and some flash firmware programming software no hassels. Didn't need to download any drivers manually. Was faster than XP for startup and shutdowns and for overall installation. I'd buy it.

[ArcherWC]

Ran it on my desktop and laptop, was 100% stable for me. I liked the screen snip feature, preview windows on the taskbar and the hibernate power saver. Ran some games and some flash firmware programming software no hassels. Didn't need to download any drivers manually. Was faster than XP for startup and shutdowns and for overall installation. I'd buy it.

yep same for me, no hassels at all, very impressed with this one

[pete376403]

same here on a not overly flash HP NX6230, but it has got 3g ram. Seems better than Vista (but what isn't?)

[ducatilover]

I don't have a PC with less than 2gb or less than 2 cores. Well that is unless you count my netbook lol

Neither do we, but, we still have xp. I don't know why. Can't complain, I don't pay the internet bill :niceone:

[riffer]

Running Win7 RC on two PCs at home.

My games PC - Athlon XP3500, 2GB RAM, XFX 8600GTXXX video
Gini's laptop - Toshiba Tecra M3 1.6Ghz Pentium M, 1GB RAM GO6200 video

Runs surprisingly well on the laptop.

I've got a copy of the Win7 64bit RTM but haven't installed it yet for obvious reasons.

Definitely runs faster than Solaris 9 on my sparcstation but not sure if its smoother than Tiger on my Mac.

It's prettier than WinXp and definitely runs better than Vista which could hardly run on the laptop.

[PirateJafa]

I've been running it for more than a month on my home desktop (4GB DDR2, C2D etc, so no idea how resource hoggish it is). Seems okay - except it refuses to run/install a lot of the older games. Weak. Also it persists with Vista's fucking stupid networking system, which is enough to make you put your fist through your monitor.

To be honest, Windows Server 2008 is still my favourite.

Followed by Debian.

[YellowDog]

A VERY BIG THUMBS UP to Windows 7!!!

IME Vista is the very worst ever MS-OS.

[madmal64]

A VERY BIG THUMBS UP to Windows 7!!!

IME Vista is the very worst ever MS-OS.

What!! Worse than Windows ME? That was a huge pile of crap.

[cambridgedan]

Lol if i had the money to spend i would buy a Mac book pro but 4 grand just to get a decent GPU is abit excessive.

you dont have to spend to much money on a mac, :niceone: you dont need as much power to get the same performance out of the computer and as for the money what you spend buying the computer will be saved on repairs,
Me and my mate had an argument about it a couple of years ago, so we bought a new computer at the same time, me a pc and him a mac, mine has worked with no errors or repairs and hasnt slowed down even slightly,
his has been in for repairs to many times to count and got bogged down with virus's alot :doctor:, and i think hes ended up paying twice as much as i initially did.
But then he argued :argue: that i cant play games on my mac, but I have a Xbox for that lol. :clap:

[jonbuoy]

you dont have to spend to much money on a mac, :niceone: you dont need as much power to get the same performance out of the computer and as for the money what you spend buying the computer will be saved on repairs,
Me and my mate had an argument about it a couple of years ago, so we bought a new computer at the same time, me a pc and him a mac, mine has worked with no errors or repairs and hasnt slowed down even slightly,
his has been in for repairs to many times to count and got bogged down with virus's alot :doctor:, and i think hes ended up paying twice as much as i initially did.
But then he argued :argue: that i cant play games on my mac, but I have a Xbox for that lol. :clap:

I can buy/build a shit hot PC for the cost of a iMac. The MAC build quality argument is B/S - buy a cheap keyboard and mouse tower and display and a PC will "feel" cheap. The Virus argument is a bit thin on the ground - its not that much for antivirus, and there are some good freebies around if you don't want to splash out.

Macs are for people who don't know much about computers
Linux is for people who know too much about computers
Windows is for people somewhere in the middle.

:chase:

Macs are great for a home computer - if my parents/girlfriend wanted a new computer I'd recommend a MAC. I like Ubunutu but there is still a lot of stuff done with CLI that should be GUI'able - like mounting a windows SMB network share path onto the desktop.

[Brian d marge]

Penguinz FTW.

plus 1

Does have its draw back though

stephen

nuffies is my drawing

[Gremlin]

Yeup, been using an eval build in a test environment for several months... haven't had too many issues.

Will start using the RTM shortly...

As for production machines, still only using XP. Even my new desktop for home, Core i7 etc, is using x64 XP SP2.

Win7 is fast, and when you couple it with the new gen of laptops using SSD drives (well, the new SSD drives, not the 1st gen) its going to be a good experience. However, just doing the simple stuff like checking your network adapters requires way too many clicks here there and everywhere, drives you nuts and ruins your productivity.

Looks like the first Win7 machines are going to have downgrade rights to XP... Vista is dead, and the next gen of ME :niceone:

[YellowDog]

What!! Worse than Windows ME? That was a huge pile of crap.
IME - Windows ME was pretty damn good in a vanilla environment.

[Teflon]

Yes. It's worth buying

I downloaded a RTM version, activated through bios mod and 7L...

Installing XP again until i can find a legit or untouched copy.. some geek may have fiddled with this copy.. paranoia is a bitch

I fucking hate Vista

[sleeqe2000]

Yes. It's worth buying

I downloaded a RTM version, activated through bios mod and 7L...

Installing XP again until i can find a legit or untouched copy.. some geek may have fiddled with this copy.. paranoia is a bitch

I fucking hate Vista

If Microsoft had an decency they would give any Vista owner the option of a free (alright thats not going to happen) or discounted upgrade to Win7.
Vista is the biggest pile of shit since ...yeh Me.........

[The Stranger]

yep same for me, no hassels at all, very impressed with this one

Yes, same here. Only I'll reserve judgement, it wouldn't be the first time Micro$oft have gone and killed an OS post the beta/rc phase by adding in DRM, licensing etc.

[TerminalAddict]

been using the rc for a while, and on the weekend upgraded my lappie to RTM ultimate, and my desktop to RTM enterprise.

Looks pretty sweet so far.

SHame office is suffering tho ( http://blogs.computerworld.com/14532/microsoft_banned_from_selling_word )

[mashman]

If Microsoft had an decency they would give any Vista owner the option of a free (alright thats not going to happen) or discounted upgrade to Win7.
Vista is the biggest pile of shit since ...yeh Me.........

They DO! I think after July 1st any copies of Vista bought are supposed to be upgraded to 7 for free when it becomes available.

I was running Vista Ultimate 64-Bit on a AMDx5400 and 2 gig of memory and it was like lightening for about 2 months, then it started grinding to a halt, blue screen of death every now and then and had all sorts of issues with it taking incorrect snap-shots before adding patches, USB port problems and several other issues i have erased from my memory...

Been using Windows 7 64-bit for a few months now and apart from the odd cosmetic bugs everything's been working well.

[Hoon]

Been running it since January on my 24x7 Media PC, super stable and installing is a breeze. Everything Vista should have been. First time I've ever been impressed with an MS OS release and it takes a lot to impress me. The wifes PC is running 2008 Server (coz I'm too lazy to rebuild it every Win7 update) but I'm still running XP on my gaming machine - still a few Win7 issues with games that need sorting before I make the jump on that one.

Skip Vista.

[SMOKEU]

Fuck Macs. I wouldn't personally move over to any new OS until the full version has been released for at least a year just for software compatibility issues.

[Danae]

It's pretty darned sexy. I have it on my laptop, changed from XP to Windows 7, never bothered with Vista. I get enough shit from Vista at uni.

However it doesn't have the "filmstrip" view in windows explorer...most people would find this view annoying/never use it. However I do a lot of drawing and it's a useful view as opposed to opening the file in picture viewer. Means I can access folders etc at the same time easily.

[phill-k]

Yup running it on my main studio computer with lots of graphics type programs, had Vista Business 64 and this caused issues as a lot of drivers are more designed for the 32bit operating systems. I find it very stable after a little tweaking, 2 gripes first my integrated sound (on motherboard - soundmax) doesn't work correctly will be a driver issue, and as with earlier operating systems the Windows fax program won't recognise twain scanner drivers bloody pain. All in all I'll buy when its officially released

[TerminalAddict]

It's pretty darned sexy. I have it on my laptop, changed from XP to Windows 7, never bothered with Vista. I get enough shit from Vista at uni.

However it doesn't have the "filmstrip" view in windows explorer...most people would find this view annoying/never use it. However I do a lot of drawing and it's a useful view as opposed to opening the file in picture viewer. Means I can access folders etc at the same time easily.

it does have a preview column on the right though.

[Mental Trousers]

Been using it for a little while. For an RC it's very stable. However, it's definitely more complicated for users (think end users, ie FARKEN STUPID DROP KICKS). The networking stuff is a bit annoying and the Control Panel is seriously farken crowded now. Sucks trying to play Mahjjong at work if it doesn't like your graphics card.

However, none of that matters when you live on the command line.

[YellowDog]

It's pretty darned sexy. I have it on my laptop, changed from XP to Windows 7, never bothered with Vista. I get enough shit from Vista at uni.

However it doesn't have the "filmstrip" view in windows explorer...most people would find this view annoying/never use it. However I do a lot of drawing and it's a useful view as opposed to opening the file in picture viewer. Means I can access folders etc at the same time easily.
The best thing about Windows 7 is that it is basic without all the extras Vista forces you to run.

You can add anyting you want without having to run the inbuilt stuff.

In case anyone doesn't know, the way to make Vista perform better is to add a blank USB stick. Vista will ask you if you want to use it to run your paging file and when you say 'Yes' it almost doubles the speed.

[PirateJafa]

In case anyone doesn't know, the way to make Vista perform better is to add a blank USB stick. Vista will ask you if you want to use it to run your paging file and when you say 'Yes' it almost doubles the speed.

Or you could just add a extra stick of RAM. :slap:

Would cost about the same and yet plenty faster.

[SPman]

Would cost about the same and yet plenty faster.
I'm paying $17 for a 4G Lexar USB.......

[Dargor]

In case anyone doesn't know, the way to make Vista perform better is to add a blank USB stick. Vista will ask you if you want to use it to run your paging file and when you say 'Yes' it almost doubles the speed.

lol lol lol, that feature makes me laugh, most usb sticks have horrible i/o times get more ram dude.

[ManDownUnder]

I be installing as soon as I can... following the release of Windows 7 SP2 to make sure at least some of the oversights, security holes have been found for Microsoft by their User Community.

... course I might stick with XP

[PirateJafa]

I'm paying $17 for a 4G Lexar USB.......

Not much more for a couple of GB of RAM that will easily double any benefit that a cheap nasty USB stick like that would give you. Dargor is correct.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Components/Memory-RAM/1-GB-or-more/mcat-0002-0359-0164-4245-.htm

[YellowDog]

lol lol lol, that feature makes me laugh, most usb sticks have horrible i/o times get more ram dude.
1. Max your RAM
2. Realise that Vista is still too heavy
3. Buy a fast I/O USB stick
4. Enjoy a heaps better Vista

[PirateJafa]

1. Max your RAM
2. Realise that Vista is still too heavy
3. Buy a fast I/O USB stick
4. Enjoy a heaps better Vista

1. Vista will not max out 4GB of RAM by itself.

2. Stop perpetuating some of the stupidest internet gimicky myths around.

3. Go back to reading books; computers have clearly defeated you.

[YellowDog]

1. Vista will not max out 4GB of RAM by itself.

2. Stop perpetuating some of the stupidest internet gimicky myths around.

3. Go back to reading books; computers have clearly defeated you.

Nice one.

Spot on.

I wish I was as clever as you think you are.

Thank you so much.

[PirateJafa]

You have no idea who you are communicating with or what experience I have.

You read and draw conclusions based upon your limited knowledge.

Your abilities and knowledge cannot improve because of your self riteous attitude.

Good luck. You need it more than most.

Based on what you've been advocating so far, I can only conclude I'm dealing with Mickey Mouse.

Still, we can only hope that nobody will read your advice and then proceed to waste their money following it.

[YellowDog]

Nice one.

Spot on.

I wish I was as clever as you think you are.

Thank you so much.

[Hoon]

In case anyone doesn't know, the way to make Vista perform better is to add a blank USB stick. Vista will ask you if you want to use it to run your paging file and when you say 'Yes' it almost doubles the speed.

I agree. Readyboost is pretty cool. Geek penis waving aside of course it's no substitute for more RAM but who has spare RAM lying about collecting dust?? Whereas most of us have unused USB sticks that can be utilized to improve performance before deciding whether to throw more money at RAM only to end up in a plastic bag in the bottom draw in a couple years.

After going through that whole process I was happy with USB readyboost so saved me some $$$ and much frustration.

[Slicksta]

Never did try with the usb stick thingy on vista I always had enough ram :). Just a question about it tho would it be much faster than using the hard drive as virtual memory? USB sticks can be fairly fast these days.

[pyrocam]

I'm using RTM from our MS G. Partnership.
I am pretty happy with it. Little anoyyed at the hax to get AD ESM working. but there was the same problem with Vista at the start anyway http://pyrocam.com/ESM-windows-7

apart from that. flawless

[YellowDog]

Never did try with the usb stick thingy on vista I always had enough ram :). Just a question about it tho would it be much faster than using the hard drive as virtual memory? USB sticks can be fairly fast these days.
I don't want to say very much because someone else knows everything.

I didn't read anything on the internet, I just followed the instruction after inserting a new and blank USB stick.

The performance improvement was remarkable.

All I would suggest is that you try it with a USB stick with a fast I/O rating.

I was so please with the result that I installed a USB stick inside my TV PC.

I memory stick will be heaps faster than as external HD.

Maybe the newer Vistas don't benefit?

[Gremlin]

USB 2.0 transfer speed, in the scale of things, is slow. Realistically, for data transfer, you can expect 20-30MB/sec. Normal single SATA Hard drive (7200rpm) would be more around 60-ish. Rises from there when you have multiple drives, raid controllers etc.

USB 3.0 may improve things, but everything has to then be compatible with it anyway.

Re upgrades to Win7, just received information from Microsoft their upgrade program has already been in place since late July (or was that June?) and will be in effect until end of Jan or Feb next year (when Win7 will already be in public). Launch for Win7 is looking to be mid to late October, at least for OEM machines.

The likes of Toshiba etc are delaying some new product launches to shift them in line with Win7.

[TerminalAddict]

..... Launch for Win7 is looking to be mid to late October, at least for OEM machines.
.....

October 22nd is the date for the box to be on the shelves, not sure whether OEMs will de pre-installed before that tho ???

The RTM for OEMs was released last weekend.

Pyrocam: Any driver issues yet? ..
I've got no digital persona finger print thingamajig working on my lappie.
And a mystery "PCI simple comms controller" on my desktop that seems to be missing drivers

[Leyton]

I still can not test Windows 7 yet :( It does not support my GfTi4200 and I cant get drivers for it!!! My system is too old :(

8xAGP Graphics card donations anyone ?:whistle:

[SMOKEU]

I still can not test Windows 7 yet :( It does not support my GfTi4200 and I cant get drivers for it!!! My system is too old :(

8xAGP Graphics card donations anyone ?:whistle:

The good old Ti4200, I used to have one years ago. Great card in their day.

[Leyton]

The good old Ti4200, I used to have one years ago. Great card in their day.

It was only 6-7 years ago!!!! GEEEZ making me feel like an old geeza :P

Yeah it was the best of the best, cost me $800

[Brian d marge]

Don't forget to run a decent virus cleaner ,,,,:whistle:

Stephen

:innocent:

[magicfairy]

Just put Home Basic RTM on my Dell Mini 9 (had to create a usb boot drive). I am a Microsoft Trainer so have access to all the release versions now.

Install went flawlessly,most devices found OK but there are a couple of unknown that I have yet to find drivers for. Dont know what they are, don't seem to be missing any functionality.

Performance is great, I have 2 gig of ram but it is using less than 1 gig with IE and Outlook 03 running. Seems snappier then winxp was.
Installed AVG as Trend that I usually use dont have a win7 version yet.

Garmin GPS maps and GPS drivers installed fine, talks to gps ok.

I am loving it, stable, intuitive, I never want to use Vista again.

[Slicksta]

I still can not test Windows 7 yet :( It does not support my GfTi4200 and I cant get drivers for it!!! My system is too old :(

8xAGP Graphics card donations anyone ?:whistle:

I will pm ya if i find one lying around somewhere

[Leyton]

I will pm ya if i find one lying around somewhere

You are the man!!!! :) Cheers dude ! :)

[sinned]

I have run out of time and need to replace my notebook. Rather than wait for Win7 in a decent laptop I am thinking of buying a 13" Macbook Pro. :crazy:

[PirateJafa]

I still can not test Windows 7 yet :( It does not support my GfTi4200 and I cant get drivers for it!!! My system is too old :(

8xAGP Graphics card donations anyone ?:whistle:

I might have a couple of VooDoo2 cards lying around... ;)

Although I think Squiggles stole my last AGP card - you could give him a kick and try to purloin it.

[Insanity_rules]

I might have a couple of VooDoo2 cards lying around... ;)

Although I think Squiggles stole my last AGP card - you could give him a kick and try to purloin it.

This thread is great. Theres been nostalgia, advice and geek slaps a plenty, Mac heads jumpin up and down.

God the good Ol Voodoo GPU, now that was the freakin business in the day.

[Gremlin]

May as well give this another bump, due to the launch today.

Spent 1.5 hours on Wednesday night installing Windows 7 on my 2007 Toshiba M600 work lappy. I've used the eval on and off, but really more a play than actual work.

The basic install went by pretty easy, it found the partition I had prepped for it (drive split into 3, XP OS, Win7 OS, data) and the dual boot went fine, with 7 actually inserting a "Windows Boot Manager" page just after post recognising it was a dual boot situation.

One oddity (which I swear wasn't the case with XP/2003 etc dual boots) is that when I boot the original OS, XP, the drive is drive C, win7 is drive D and data is drive E (ie, what I set up). When I boot into 7, its OS becomes C and XP becomes D... I swear I haven't seen this before??

Otherwise, the OS itself tootled off and fetched a lot of the hardware drivers I needed, and using it for more than a day now (with no switching to XP) I am surprised to say I am actually enjoying it, and finding it has some useful functions over XP. Quickly viewing open windows without flicking to them is handy, and makes checking on a copy or download clickless. Still missing some hot key functionality from XP, had some games getting VPN to work, but overall, a very pleasant experience.

I'm hardly an early adopter, having specc'd only one Vista laptop for a client and staying with XP since the Vista launch... but errr... well... well done Microsoft :wacko:

[James Deuce]

I've been playing with creating xml file Security templates for 2K8 and Windows 7 and that simple expedient of using a preconfigured xml template for hardening has made my flipping year, I can tell you.

Been doing test deploys in vSphere as well. Windows 7 runs noticeably better in the virtual client space than XP. That was a surprise. Vista was a show pony and could eat your PC resource at just the wrong moment, and at no time would any sane person have suggested using Vista as a Virtual client. Windows 7 seems to have gotten a grip of itself.

[Cajun]

One oddity (which I swear wasn't the case with XP/2003 etc dual boots) is that when I boot the original OS, XP, the drive is drive C, win7 is drive D and data is drive E (ie, what I set up). When I boot into 7, its OS becomes C and XP becomes D... I swear I haven't seen this before??



Have this same thing dual booting server 2008 and xp on home machine

[pyrocam]

yeah I have that, it did strike me as a little odd at first, but I prefer it this way.

[Gareth123]

Call me crazy but I've been using vista for almost a year and haven't had any problems. It came with the laptop I bought. I quite like it. Still going to buy windows 7 though.

[Drunken Monkey]

Haven't done anything more than everyday stuff with W7 so far, been busy with a lot of Hyper-V/Hyper-VR2 and Server 2008/Server 2008R2 virtualisation at the moment.
Personally, I don't see what all the hoo-haa around 7 is about. There's much more interesting things going on in the server space.

[Reckless]

OK quick query?? When I bought my new 3D CAD machine, not top of the line but OK for trying to not spend a ridiculous amount.
Core i7 920 2.67GHz o/c to 3.6GHz
Asus P6T DDR3 1333MHz
Patriot Viper 6gig DDR3-2000
2 x GTX275 896mb PCI-e
1 x EVGA 9500GT PCI
Coolermaster HAF 22 Case
NZXT temp & fan controller

I got the free Win 7 upgrade. It takes me a full day to reset my Cad machine up, I don't want to lose that time but want a problem free fast machine. Applies to my laptop as well!

Can I just do an upgrade over Vista or is it best to reformat & do a clean install when going to Win 7.

TIA

[James Deuce]

Always do a clean install mate.

You'll get a much better result.

[Reckless]

Always do a clean install mate.

You'll get a much better result.

Bugger I thought thats what you'd say! Another day down the toilet? Last time it was 6:00pm start 3:30 am finish. OH well it was me that couldn't wait for the new machine till after the release of W7.

Now need a post to tell me all the little switches to activate in Win7 to make it fast as it will go! LOL!!

Hey thanks!! Advice is much appreciated!

[ManDownUnder]

The only thing that can be said for it is that it is less hoggish than Vista.

... you say that like it's a challenge.

[ManDownUnder]

Always do a clean install mate.

You'll get a much better result.

Followed by a full backup.

[bogan]

I got the student licens of win7 bout 6 weeks ago, its a pretty sweet os, loads of nifty features, only problem ive had is with a 32bit version of solidworks, runs alright, but everynow and then it keeps generated error messages when its not running. Also solidcam 32 bit wouldnt install, ill have to upgrade to 64 bit versions of both at some point.

Used it quite a bit for gaming (its got a gtx260m in it) goes pretty hard, and havent had any compatability issues with games.

[James Deuce]

Followed by a full backup.

Or taking an image ;)

[captain_andrey]

its all crap get a mac :eek:

And then install W7 on it!

Anyways, I hated Vista. Running W7 now and its all good. Of course now I have a quad core and 12GB of ram :)

[pyrocam]

dual boot it? then youll get a clean image and the ability to quickly load your old os if you break windows 7

at the sacrifice of hard drive space

[Street Gerbil]

Ok, jokes aside, are there any benefits over XP other than eye candy?
My HTPC is sufficiently specced to run W7, but it runs just fine as it is.

[Disco Dan]

What'da ya need 7 windows for? Apples are far more healthier.

[MaxCannon]

Ok, jokes aside, are there any benefits over XP other than eye candy?
My HTPC is sufficiently specced to run W7, but it runs just fine as it is.

Security is a big one. I've been deploying Vista since it was first released and have never seen a Vista machine with a virus / spyware on it.
Win 7 uses the same security principals so should be sweet in that respect.

Lots of little improvements. I find the search awesome in Vista and it's better in 7.
When I work on an XP machine it just seems so OLD !
Oh yeah - it is old.

If you have the space setup a dual boot.

[pyrocam]

if it aint broke, dont fix it

but I moved to windows 7 from XP on my primary workstation at work, I love it. considering buying for home.

[Gremlin]

Or taking an image ;)
or a snapshot ;)

I used Win7 in eval ages ago, virtual, but didn't really end up using it much. Having an actual release (had the RTM a while ago, but no keys, so didn't bother), its a much better test to make it interact with real hardware, the oddities of hardware/drivers etc, rather than the comfy environment of vmware etc. You also get the nice flashy features the eval didn't show in the virtual environment.

I've been making an effort not to boot in XP, so I can try to find as many issues as poss. Its certainly interesting navigating some of the more hidden features. You can clearly see some stuff hasn't changed since XP (and probably further back), and other stuff is a direct port from Vista.

Truecrypt, Winrar, VLC, virtual clonedrive etc are all running fine (usually the more odd programs, ie, not Microsoft will be the ones to catch you out). Only problem is, that unless you completely alter the interface appearance, you can't turn off services such as themes, search etc. OS (pretty much built) has over 60 processes running at idle, and using 25-35% of 3GB ram. I wouldn't suggest you would want to run this on 1GB of ram. Not quite an accurate comparison, but XP I would run on 30-40 processes, not a special version of XP, just services etc cut down.

So far the main foreseeable issue has been the Network and Sharing Centre. The classification of networks into Home Work or Public can cause issues. It would appear that unless Win7 has a default gateway on the adapter, it automatically classifies it as public, placing much tighter security on it. A real issue for VPN, as you can't force change a public network to be home or work (the option simply doesn't exist).

[Morcs]

Ill let all you guys test it for me for a bit longer...

Ive had no problems with Vista Pro, works very fast, there are no extra features which I wish it had (particularly like the complete pc backup feature) and dont find it resource hogging either, and ive got a budge system - Core 2 E7200, 2gb DDR2 etc..

[Forest]

Always do a clean install mate.

You'll get a much better result.

I was interested to see that Windows 7 doesn't include an option to upgrade from Windows XP.

If you're running XP then you can only do a format and fresh install i.e. nuke and pave.

It's probably a good thing (since XP installs normally end up filled with crap, cruft, and spyware). But it makes it harder if you want to migrate data and applications.

[vifferman]

It was installed on my 'new' computer at work yesterday. Shame that Simon buggered off after delivering it to me, and after I'd crawled around under my desk plugging in the network cable, power, monitors, mouse, keyboard and headphones, the bloody thing wouldn't go, and he was gone. Perhaps I should phone him at home...
Maybe its requisitioning as a server prior to it making it to my desk tired it out.
Bugrit - it's not like I need a PC anyway - a netbook to browse KB would do.

[sinned]

its all crap get a mac :eek:

And then install W7 on it!

Next week I will install W7 on a MacBook Pro. Best of both worlds and I can run a few PC apps on the notebook.
It has and still is a struggle learning some of the differences Apple to PC.

[DJSin]

I just upgraded to Windows 7 today - so far so good :)

[Forest]

Next week I will install W7 on a MacBook Pro. Best of both worlds and I can run a few PC apps on the notebook.
It has and still is a struggle learning some of the differences Apple to PC.

Be aware that Apple hasn't yet released bootcamp drivers for W7.

[NighthawkNZ]

so what does it do that XP not do?????

[Gremlin]

so what does it do that XP not do?????
urrr lessee... uses more resources. Higher security so its harder to connect to various networks. Windows Update is actually useful and will also download drivers for relevant hardware.

It does warn you about various things more than XP (when you run some installers etc) and has an amusing warning now and then that say, copying from/to your other boot partition requires administrative priviledges, and do you want to do this. You click yes, and away it goes... :eek:

If you have a bunch of stuff open, say, its doing stuff and you want to check how its going. Without clicking anything, just mousing over something you can preview windows (even close them) or just return back to your work. You also have the handy snipping tool, that makes easier work of snapshotting a piece of your screen (and way easier to walk a user through the process)

[jonbuoy]

so what does it do that XP not do?????

As a home PC it makes a great media centre with 10 foot interface (looks good on a big screen LCD TV) I have it working with a TV/Satellite tuner to watch record and pause TV no driver issues. Nice options to add files to folders that already have the same name (like when you copy someones MP3 collection...) Stream media directly to other devices over WiFi or network - ie stream a movie onto your Xbox without having to copy and paste it.

All you really need is a Windows 7 pc a decent amp and you got a pretty flexible AV setup. Still think they could have made a 10 foot desktop interface I know you can make icons bigger but I still end up squinting or moving closer. New Windows media player is nice too, retrieves album artwork etc...

[sinned]

Be aware that Apple hasn't yet released bootcamp drivers for W7.
A good point and a matter under discussion on Apple forums.

[Hoon]

Ok, jokes aside, are there any benefits over XP other than eye candy?
My HTPC is sufficiently specced to run W7, but it runs just fine as it is.
Win7 comes with the new Win7 Media Center built in and it kicks arse. I used to use Media Portal but Win7 MCE blows it out of the water. Way smoother interface and minimal setup required. My HTPC build is bulletproof, zero issues and the amazing thing is it only takes about 15 mins (on top of the Win7 install).

Image your HTPC or get a new drive, try Windows7 and I bet you'll never look back.