Windows 7 as good as Vista (M$)

[Grey Fox]

It's fairly Ironic that I am running into my first real technical problems with Windows 7 on the day of it's release.

Mine's supposed to ship as close to today as possible, but I'm gonna wait on an install for that reason- let some of the early installers put up the bug reports and let M$ come up with hotfixes.

I had the pro version for about a month now. It's pretty good.

[Barrister]

Don't see any reason to change from XP.  Don't understand why people change OS unless something is wrong or it comes with a new computer.  I'll upgrade when Microsoft stops supporting XP and I can no longer run the programs and games that I want.

Because I'm a computer geek and have to have the latest and greatest technology.  D'uh.

[Barrister]

But more seriously - the only reason I'm planning to upgrade (though not today) is because I'm not replacing the Mac anytime soon, but after upgrading to 10GB RAM I need to move to 64-bit Windows to take advantage of it all.  And so it might as well be 64-bit Windows 7.

[viper37]

I don't buy the '7 is as good as Vista' line... or the 'just the same happened with XP' either.

Vista is the very first Windows System that no one I know installed willingly on his PC (and I work in IT). Every person I know that bought a new PC minus one (and that one is a complete ignoramus) removed Vista as a matter of course.

Further, when Vista was new I did my round of blogs, articles, etc. If Ballmer says beta testers were enthusiastic, then he should have got new beta testers (and perhaps did)... the unanimous opinion was Vista had very serious issues. Slow, heavy, error prone and bothersome doesn't even start to describe them. Now I'm doing the same and 7 is getting far better results.

When XP came out, it was touted as the "best OS ever from M$".  Yet, it turned out to be buggy&unstable until the 2nd service pack.
People were saying how good was Windows 98 compared to this.

Vista was slow until the first service pack.
People were saying how good XP was compared to this.

Windows 7 is apparently faster&better than Vista and XP.  We'll see.

[viper37]

You save $50 but cannot transfer the program to new computers,

That's only the theory.  Wait 4 months, do it without calling M$.  Did it before, all you have to do is call them and tell them you have not installed the OS on more than one computer (wich is the truth) and you're ok.

nor get technical support.  If you are comfortable with those restrictions, then yes.

Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but Microsoft does not offer free tech support for Windows, you have to pay to get support beyond 90 days?

[Barrister]

You save $50 but cannot transfer the program to new computers,

That's only the theory.  Wait 4 months, do it without calling M$.  Do it before, all you have to do is call them and tell them you have not installed the OS on more than one computer (wich is the truth) and you're ok.

So I can take my copy of OEM XP, which I installed 2 years ago, and do a fresh install on a different computer?

[viper37]

I got windows 7 pro for free through MSDNAA. My question is, should I put the 64bit edition on my laptop with only 1 Gb of memory? It runs Vista obnoxiously slow so it can't be much worse in that regard, but I'm worried about stability/compatibility issues.

Stick with 32 bit, or get at least 4gb of RAM.
In fact, Vista 64 is slower than Vista 32 with only 4gb of ram, because of the way it runs 32 bit applications.  With 8gb, it's a different story.

[viper37]

Don't see any reason to change from XP.  Don't understand why people change OS unless something is wrong or it comes with a new computer.

New functionalities. Less hassles.  Better drivers.  Better support of emerging technologies.

[viper37]

So I can take my copy of OEM XP, which I installed 2 years ago, and do a fresh install on a different computer?

As long as you have the disc, yes.  Use the activation button in the menu and it will activate over the web painlessly.  Done it multiple times with XP and Vista.  The key used for the activation reset itselfs after 4 months.  And there's a (100% legal) trick to install an upgrade version of Vista on a new machine/formatted HDD too...   I'm hoping it works with Win 7   But I'll eventually buy an OEM version too, just in case.

It's your OS anyway, you paid for it, and you installed it.

It's only really a problem when you get a laptop that has Windows pre-installed without discs.  Then it's really a pain in the ass...  Microsoft will not give you the OS discs and the manufacturer will often refuse to give you discs... so you really paid for an exclusive license.

[derspiess]

Some of the best improvements IMO with Win7 are in Media Center & WMP12.  Media Center finally supports QAM for HDTV tuners as well as satellite tuners and better support for cable cards.  And I think the interface is cleaner-- looks similar to the "twist" interface the Zune and Xbox 360 are using.

With WMP12 you can push music or video to capable PCs or devices on your network with the "Play To" function and can set up to stream music between two PCs no matter where they are (which itself is not "new" but it's cool to have it integrated with WMP12).

And there's probably some other cool crap I'm forgetting.

[Alatriste]

Don't see any reason to change from XP.  Don't understand why people change OS unless something is wrong or it comes with a new computer.

New functionalities. Less hassles.  Better drivers.  Better support of emerging technologies.

Very minor new functionalities. New errors. New vulnerabilities. New incompatibilities. Old software and hardware that refuses to work or exhibits odd anomalies... and about less hassles, I beg to differ. The coup de grace is the price: 200-300 bucks. The improvements, even if they finally work as advertised, just aren't worth that money.

[MadBurgerMaker]

There's no way in hell I would ever go back to XP Pro from Vista Business.  Occasionally using it for work and such reminds me how clunky and just...old...it is now.  Then again, every computer I use Vista on has more than enough "juice" to run it really quite nicely, so...

Anyway...I imagine I'll be picking up 7 once the first SP comes out, or possibly before if people who I know aren't morons think it's alright (or if I just do that MSDNAA thing heh fuck it).

[derspiess]

Don't see any reason to change from XP.  Don't understand why people change OS unless something is wrong or it comes with a new computer.

New functionalities. Less hassles.  Better drivers.  Better support of emerging technologies.

Very minor new functionalities. New errors. New vulnerabilities. New incompatibilities. Old software and hardware that refuses to work or exhibits odd anomalies... and about less hassles, I beg to differ. The coup de grace is the price: 200-300 bucks. The improvements, even if they finally work as advertised, just aren't worth that money.

Re: drivers, software, and hardware-- generally speaking, if it worked on Vista it works on Win7.  Not that that helps DP since he's currently on XP, but I thought I'd mention it anyway

[Iormlund]

The main problem I have with Vista is that I can't find anything. Why the fuck did they move things around? That wasn't broken. That, the requirements/bloatware, the DRM, and the price. That as a home user.
As a professional I'm not touching it until XP is buried. Known bugs and shortcomings > unknown bugs and shortcomings. Not to mention all the legacy crap we run.

[Grey Fox]

They moved shit even more in Win7.

Classic control panel is gone