Windows 7 anyone?

Silound · 08-18-2009, 09:06 PM

Overall, I'm impressed by W7. They took Vista's gimpy architecture and cleaned it up to provide a smoother interface and runtime. Programs load and work faster, there are no massive browser slowups (Firefox works far faster than in Vista and uses far less memory), and the interface works smoother and have more useful features. Yes, they're practically knockoffs from other software, but then what isn't?

I installed W7 on a home-built machine. All but two of my drivers were instantly installed, and the last two were related to my Hauppage TV card. The Vista drivers for the Hauppage worked fine. In most cases, the drivers W7 installed were versions not far removed from the current beta/final release versions from nVidia, Creative, and Intel. The current release versions for Vista also seemed to work well, although I lost some video mode support using the Vista driver.

I stress tested the video card and processor in W7 for an extended period (read: > 12 hours) and I never got a BSOD.

The Vista install for Avast antivirus seemed to work fine. Booted CD scans detect no viruses have managed to squeeze past.

I don't get many nagging pop-ups, although I changed a setting somewhere to ensure minor stuff would either be done automatically, or not at all. I think the most common pop-up I see is asking if I want to install something.

Games such as Crysis, Farcry, World of Warcraft, and even old DOS based games like Warcraft and Master of Magic run like a champ. I didn't even need a program to allow me to run old DOS games, the comparability modes handled it like a champ. Oblivion encountered a video glitch, however that was resolved by reverting from the current nVidia beta driver back to the W7 provided drivers.

The media center functionality is greatly improved over XP and Vista. My box currently takes the place of my media PC for the apartment, and I haven't had any complaints about people being unable to stream decent quality video or audio.

Overall, I would say W7 is a major step in the right direction. Hopefully, they will hit another winner with this one.

BORIStheBLADE · 08-19-2009, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silound

Overall, I would say W7 is a major step in the right direction. Hopefully, they will hit another winner with this one.

I agree. The only thing I would wish M$ would do is get it to run on less ram. OSX seems to run on half the ram.

Silound · 08-19-2009, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BORIStheBLADE

I agree. The only thing I would wish M$ would do is get it to run on less ram. OSX seems to run on half the ram.

I could successfully run W7 on 1GB of RAM, I'm sure it could function on less if you disabled a lot of features. It wouldn't be snappy fast, but it would work.

RAM's fairly cheap now anyway

BORIStheBLADE · 08-20-2009, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silound

I could successfully run W7 on 1GB of RAM, I'm sure it could function on less if you disabled a lot of features. It wouldn't be snappy fast, but it would work.

RAM's fairly cheap now anyway

Very true, but my netbook only has 1 gig of ram and you can't upgrade. Either way, it runs very good on my netbook. I just wish sometimes M$ would take a page from Apple when it comes to making a OS.

JE3146 · 08-21-2009, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BORIStheBLADE

Very true, but my netbook only has 1 gig of ram and you can't upgrade. Either way, it runs very good on my netbook. I just wish sometimes M$ would take a page from Apple when it comes to making a OS.

You will see pigs fly before Microsoft switches to a UNIX kernel.

And really to get the RAM usage of OS X, you're gonna need UNIX.

But Microsoft values legacy support too much. Apple started from scratch essentially casting away all previous customers. But really back then they didn't have many so it wasn't that big of a deal. And the gamble worked out well...

Microsoft casting away millions of enterprise licenses for a 'rewrite' would be suicide.

longknocker · 10-04-2009, 11:57 AM

I Have a very Old Computer (More Than 5 Years) Running on Windows XP. Main Problem is occasional freezeups ("Not Responding". Would a new PC running on Windows7 Remedy this and be a big improvement?

Thanks!

68TriShield · 11-29-2009, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by longknocker

I Have a very Old Computer (More Than 5 Years) Running on Windows XP. Main Problem is occasional freezeups ("Not Responding". Would a new PC running on Windows7 Remedy this and be a big improvement?

Thanks!

I just replaced my work laptop,similar age and configuration.
Dell for a new Dell.It has Windows 7 and the speed difference is almost awe inspiring.
The start up and shut down speed alone is a huge improvement.

08-18-2009, 09:06 PM	#1
Silound ex-CS Swamp Gorilla Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Somewhere in a swamp, south of sanity Posts: 802 Trading: (15)	Re: Windows 7 anyone? Overall, I'm impressed by W7. They took Vista's gimpy architecture and cleaned it up to provide a smoother interface and runtime. Programs load and work faster, there are no massive browser slowups (Firefox works far faster than in Vista and uses far less memory), and the interface works smoother and have more useful features. Yes, they're practically knockoffs from other software, but then what isn't? I installed W7 on a home-built machine. All but two of my drivers were instantly installed, and the last two were related to my Hauppage TV card. The Vista drivers for the Hauppage worked fine. In most cases, the drivers W7 installed were versions not far removed from the current beta/final release versions from nVidia, Creative, and Intel. The current release versions for Vista also seemed to work well, although I lost some video mode support using the Vista driver. I stress tested the video card and processor in W7 for an extended period (read: > 12 hours) and I never got a BSOD. The Vista install for Avast antivirus seemed to work fine. Booted CD scans detect no viruses have managed to squeeze past. I don't get many nagging pop-ups, although I changed a setting somewhere to ensure minor stuff would either be done automatically, or not at all. I think the most common pop-up I see is asking if I want to install something. Games such as Crysis, Farcry, World of Warcraft, and even old DOS based games like Warcraft and Master of Magic run like a champ. I didn't even need a program to allow me to run old DOS games, the comparability modes handled it like a champ. Oblivion encountered a video glitch, however that was resolved by reverting from the current nVidia beta driver back to the W7 provided drivers. The media center functionality is greatly improved over XP and Vista. My box currently takes the place of my media PC for the apartment, and I haven't had any complaints about people being unable to stream decent quality video or audio. Overall, I would say W7 is a major step in the right direction. Hopefully, they will hit another winner with this one. __________________ Back in black, and better than ever! You can't keep a good gorilla down! LSU Geaux Tigers!

10-04-2009, 11:57 AM	#6
longknocker Postwhore Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Greg Location: Mobile, Alabama Posts: 11,233 Trading: (82)	Re: Windows 7 anyone? I Have a very Old Computer (More Than 5 Years) Running on Windows XP. Main Problem is occasional freezeups ("Not Responding". Would a new PC running on Windows7 Remedy this and be a big improvement? Thanks!