Windows 7 anyone?

[Poe]

Originally Posted by Chris.

How does the current version hold up? I've been thinking about upgrading from Vista for the reduced price they are offering.

I've been running the final version (64 bit Ultimate) for a few days and so far its its rock solid. Seems a alot more peppy than a fresh vista install runs on this same machine. No issues out of it other than a few minor issues with IE 8. Has ran everything I've tried to run on it with no problems other than a few old DOS games that wouldn't launch (won't work in Vista either but i figured it was worth a shot). I'm running a ATI HD3870 video card in this machine and under vista it always seems to have issues when using dual monitors (to the point i just unhooked one monitor most of the time), no issues so far with windows 7 and the same drivers.

[Chris.]

Nice!

[King James]

Thinking bout getting it and running it w/ bootcamp while it still has a version out that is free

[Silound]

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]

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.

[JE3146]

Im downloading the Windows 7 Professional x86 & x64 RTM DVD ISO's right now.

Might give it a whirl after I finish some work. Don't want to do a format mid-job, but odds are I'll start the school year with Windows 7 at least on one machine. Might just install it on a Macbook for S&G

[Chris.]

where are you guys downloading the ISO's?

[JE3146]

Originally Posted by Chris.

where are you guys downloading the ISO's?

MSDN AA through my school. One of the few 'free' perks of college.

[G G]

I preordered two copies, will let you know when I get it.

[Silound]

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

[Chris.]

yea but with 32 bit you can only get up to what? 2.5 usable gigs?

[JE3146]

Originally Posted by Chris.

yea but with 32 bit you can only get up to what? 2.5 usable gigs?

3.33GB utilized.

[BORIStheBLADE]

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]

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]

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!

[Chris.]

Not responding has more to do with how fast your processor it than anything else. Ask anyone...windows XP is one of the best OS's MS has ever created.

[longknocker]

Originally Posted by Chris.

Not responding has more to do with how fast your processor it than anything else. Ask anyone...windows XP is one of the best OS's MS has ever created.

So If I Buy a new Processor, would you go with XP or 7?

[Chris.]

Depends....what do you use your computer for? Gaming, photo/video processing, simple Office tasks, just internet. It really depends on how much of a load you are putting on it. I'd use XP 90% of the time. It doesnt rape your system of it's resources just to run, and it runs quickly with todays computers that have 3 gigs of ram out of the box. 7 is just a slightly more refined version of Vista. It still uses a lot of resources (not as much as vista). I am running vista on my machine. I never had a problem with it other than some program compatibility issues that still havent been fixed. I also have gig of ram and an intel 2 core duo e4300 processor. I would like a better one, but it gets the job done for most things. What are the specs of your computer? Really, a brand new computer can be had for under $700 nowadays. It's almost not worth it to upgrade the motherboard/processor.

[Sauer Grapes]

I'd recommend you buy a whole new computer. You can get a pretty decent brand new one for $400-500 if you are patient. Heck, if you like your monitor you can keep it and maybe even get a desktop cheaper.

[longknocker]

Originally Posted by Chris.

Depends....what do you use your computer for? Gaming, photo/video processing, simple Office tasks, just internet. It really depends on how much of a load you are putting on it. I'd use XP 90% of the time. It doesnt rape your system of it's resources just to run, and it runs quickly with todays computers that have 3 gigs of ram out of the box. 7 is just a slightly more refined version of Vista. It still uses a lot of resources (not as much as vista). I am running vista on my machine. I never had a problem with it other than some program compatibility issues that still havent been fixed. I also have gig of ram and an intel 2 core duo e4300 processor. I would like a better one, but it gets the job done for most things. What are the specs of your computer? Really, a brand new computer can be had for under $700 nowadays. It's almost not worth it to upgrade the motherboard/processor.

:

My Computer:

Compaq 686 P2 V. 3.08 8/07/2001. (512KB)/ 65K Memory Application/ Physical 511MB/ Virtual Total 2,047 MB. I mostly e-mail & Surf The Web, use Office Occasionally. Thanks For The Advice!

Greg