Major benefits of Windows 7?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Status
Not open for further replies.

incurablegeek

Distinguished
Jun 20, 2009
31
0
18,530



I respect your difference of opinion which was presented in a very constructive way. Here is where I must differ:

1) "Vista is far from "dead". Considering that Windows 7 is merely an incremental release with a bit more polish, any positive opinion of Windows 7 must also be shared with Vista. Just because you don't like it or use it doesn't make it dead.

It's not that I in particular don't like it. Most everybody considers it to be a resource hog and an embarrassment to MS. Perhaps I read too much.

Certainly I am sure you have read the many sarcastic comments by folks who bought machines pre-loaded with Vista and who then requested an "upgrade to Win XP).


2) "The only thing that might interest you as a business user is the fact that you get a Windows XP Pro virtual machine license with Business and Ultimate versions."

Only problem: Currently I use XP Pro (since its inception), SP3, 2 GB RAM; and the poor thing is choking on the workload.

New system: Quad 4 Black Box AMD CPU, Athlon MB, 8 GB DDR-2 RAM (Sorry, not DDR-3 cause it's not really faster than DDR-2 and the ASUS board only accepts DDR-2; Besides the on-board CPU trumps the RAM requirements), ASUS motherboard, 4 22 in. Acer monitors + network.

Thanks for your kind assistance. At no time do I intend sarcasm or put-down, nor shall I respond to those who comment on my posts in such a manner. In the interest of advancing your knowledge and mine, I will do my best to supply URL's that support my statements which some folks may disagree with.

Re the comment by someone else that this site is for collaborative fun, I must say that I don't see it that way. I joined the site for information, suggestions, and shoot-downs of my ideas/statements/etc. that anyone thinks are wrong. That is how I learn.

For those looking for fun and games, and not information, please check out this site: http://www.thesimpsons.com/index.html
 
@incurablegeek

Well, most of us like to have fun, and I enjoy the conversations on here most of the time. I'd rather not have it as an expert collaboration rather than a normal people who do cool things with their computers collaboration.

As for Windows Vista being an embarrassment, you are sadly misinformed. Vista is not a resource hog, and everyone that says they hate it does not really pay attention to what's happening in their OS/try to understand it. Many people I know on this forum prefer Vista over XP, as do I. The interface is better and it's more usable. Vista appears from the task manager to use lots of memory, but this is really untrue - Vista is pre-loading your commonly used applications in expectation for you to use them...so Windows really isn't using that memory at all. If in the event another program needs that memory, Vista will free it. This is called Superfetch, and if you've read any sort of review of Vista that doesn't say that word, the review is pretty much invalid.

Windows NT and the others you mentioned are far from bulletproof, as are all OSs. They all have inherent, critical flaws and security breaches. Considering those you mention are many years old, now, they are much less secure than Vista. Software doesn't age like wine.

The only real difference between 64 and 32 bit is the memory addressing, and the need for 64 bit drivers/processor on the respective OS. That's about it. 64 bit technology is actually fairly old now...the first consumer 64 bit processor (the Athlon 64) is archaic, and Windows XP x64 is pretty elderly, too. I don't know how you've lasted this long in the field without knowing much about 64 bit software. Windows 7's implementation of 64 bit computing won't be very far from Vista's, which is to say, pretty darn good. Some drivers for more obscure hardware is still lacking, but that's happened for all obscure hardware for a long time now.

And, if anything, Windows XP is the dead one. The only domain it holds is on netbooks, which will soon be replaced with the superior Windows 7.
 

randomizer

Champion
Moderator
Vista's only overused resource is HDD space. Everything else like memory usage (not prefetching) has gone up by a relatively small percentage, whereas disk space usage went up by approximately 1000% compared to XP and continues to grow as you add patches. I started off with a 15GB installation (including all directories), I'm now up to 27GB just for C:\Windows after 9 months or so and installing 2 service packs and countless updates.
 


You are replying to the stranger who has no knowledge of Vista 64 since M$ released it in January 2007. So far we know this much:

1) The fellow who commented that some members/posters need to get a life was SPOT ON. There's too much posturing.

Not bad for a first comment from a guy who has worked his way up to now 4 useless posts.


2) As a Newbie to computers with only 25 years experience, I so dislike the Rubix Cube circular speak of some members, the sarcasm, ie "repackaged Vista" and the oh-so-clever' technobabble of the no-nothings, ie "my rig", have a hot swap cage", etc

Technobabble?! And with an attitude.

Sorry but I am desperate for clearly stated info about Win 7 RC. My business depends on it.

Thanks for apologizing before blaming all the inept people on this derilict forum, but the internet is filled with information. Like this.

Help me with my business you inferior bunch of toothless, barefooted people.

3) The contributor to whom I am responding has made a REAL CONTRIBUTION. In philosophy we say it is more important to ask the right question than to get an answer. To that end, this member, as with the fellow who commented about extended battery life with Win 7, are to be both APPRECIATED AND RESPECTED.

Where did he get this...to the end stuff?

In philosophy we say it is more important to ask the right question than to get an answer.

4) By way of conjecture, XP is dead, 32 bit is dead -- and will not be supported. My opinion: MS's best OS have been Win 3.11 for workgroups, Win NT 4.0 (couldn't kill it) and now Win XP Pro (dead and buried).

IMHO, it's your brain that has expired. Or at least any tissue you possess that resembles one.


5) THE WORLD IS MOVING TO 64 BIT. Accept it or continue to teethe on your rattle.

Knaw on this genius.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Woman-Severely-Injured-in-Sex-ToyPower-Tool-Encounter.html


6) Why? 32 bit only can address 3.45 GB. of RAM.

:heink: Pinch me.

Happy days to all - and thanks for the meaningful and most helpful posts. Dennis@ incurablegeek@yahoo.com

You are welcome. :eek:






























 
I have the same question as FL, but I AM typing this on Vista 64 in spite of my Windows 7 machine. I consider this privy to the topic at hand whatever that is.


cat-driving-truck.jpg
 

JDogg

Distinguished
May 17, 2009
97
0
18,630
I've had no problems with 7, besides the PB issue in CoD4 :(, but other than that, I get awesome fps in games, and the cpu never goes past 20 percent load, right now for example, I have CS:S minimized(In a game), Xfire, Thunderbird, Itunes, and Firefox, and the cpu is only on 3percent :D, it feels really smooth, and I love it. I am speaking as someone who went from XP to 7, and skipped Vista.
 

incurablegeek

Distinguished
Jun 20, 2009
31
0
18,530



Dear Zoron,

For what it's worth, I'm closing out these dialogues, because they are off-topic and not grounded in fact.

1) By its very label THIS IS A WINDOWS 7 FORUM - not (oh my gosh, Win 2K, Vista, Win XP or all the other "good-bye" technologies from MS that are now in the Smithsonian)

2) MS is quietly letting Vista die and will not support it.

3) Win 7 is the NOW (and its successor is Win 8: If you have the skills, MS is searching for a Lead Man for the Win 8 project)

4) Corporations and Universities never embraced Vista, nor did anyone for that matter.

5) 32 bit has gone the way of your 8-track; Why do you think 4 Gig. per slot RAM is just over the horizon? I am not going to insult your intelligence by reminding you that 32 bit cannot address the DDR-2 and DDR-3 RAM that is now the commodity standard. And what can you do with 3.45 Gig of RAM, the max that 32 bit can address.

-----------------------------------------
NOW SOME ON-TOPIC USEFUL INFORMATION

Contribution From Clifford Cooley @ http://www.w7forums.com/windows-7-application-compatibility-t246.html

Note: I did not author this but thought it might get some folks back on track --- in discussing Win 7 64 bit.

http://www.w7forums.com/windows-7-application-compatibility-t246.html --- QUITE A GOOD GROUP ACTUALLY

HOPE THE FOLLOWING HELPS
--------------------------------------

WORKING APPLICATIONS IN WINDOWS 7 -- POSTED BY W7FORUMS MEMBERS


7zip 7.4.65 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Detoxa
Acronis TrueImage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Naggis
Adobe CS4 (Bridge, Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Detoxa
Adobe Flash Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena, Clifford_cooley
Adobe Photoshop CS3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thrax
Adobe Photoshop CS4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thrax, JeeperDon
Adobe Reader 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ian, Detoxa, Martyn, Clifford_cooley
Advanced System Care Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .netizen
Age of Empires Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ryan Ashbrook's
AnyDVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slappydog
AppServ 2.5.10 (Apache 2.2.3, PHP 5.2.x, and MySQL 5) . . . . . . . . . . .Ryan Ashbrook's
ArcSoft Photo Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Draceena
Audacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena, Clifford_cooley
Avast 4.7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena
Avast pro 4.8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Detoxa
Avast! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thrax
Avg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Water_sun_sea
AVG (free version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Geoffers, Draceena
AVG Antivirus Internet Security 8.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Betaman
Avira Antivir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Naggis, Thrax
Avira Premium Security Suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Veteran
Belarc advisor, but operating system shows as vista ultimate . . . . . . . . Water_sun_sea
Bit Comet 1.11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Psikea
Blender 3D 2.48a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Betaman
Blu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Debsuvra
Boot-US 2.1.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Clifford_cooley
CCleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Detoxa, Slappydog, Martyn, Clifford_cooley
Chronicles of Riddick - Escape from Bytcher Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Psikea
Clipmate(Clipboard Extender) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Martyn
Clone CD & Clone DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slappydog
Cowon media center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Martyn
Creative Media Lite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena
Cute PDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Arbethea
Demon Tools working with spdt driver 1.58 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Psikea
Deskspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Betaman
Digital Personal Assistant (fingerprint reader) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Slappydog
Dreamweaver in CS3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian
Dreamweaver in CS4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JeeperDon
DVD Fab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena
DVD Shrink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Draceena
ESET NOD32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thrax
Evernote v3.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Debsuvra
EzGenerator 3.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Slappydog
FireFox 3.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian, Ryan Ashbrook's, Thrax, Slappydog, Draceena
Firetune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thrax
Fireworks CS3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ian
Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena
FlashFXP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Ashbrook's
Foxit PDF Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thrax
Foxit Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Draceena
Freedownload manager 3.848 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Detoxa
FreeRapid downloader 0.82 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Detoxa
Frets on Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Betaman
Gizmo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thrax
Glary utilities pro 2.12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Detoxa
Gom Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Draceena
Google Chrome 1 and 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Debsuvra
Google Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian
Google Earth (New Version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Veteran
Google Sketchup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spearace
HotDocs 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Slappydog
IE Spell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Detoxa
Image converter plus 7.1.20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Detoxa
Incrediflash XTreme 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Detoxa
Internet Download Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martyn
Irfanview 4.23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clifford_cooley
iTunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ian,Arbethea
iTunes 8.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Ashbrook's
IZArc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena
Jack Bridge v4.01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Veteran
Java 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Draceena
Kaspersky AV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thrax
K-Lite Codec Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Clifford_cooley
Last.fm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ryan Ashbrook's
Launchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thrax
Logitech SetPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena
Lord of the Rings Online Mines of Moria (although it runs in the basic theme) . . .Betaman
MagicISO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thrax
Mailwasher Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena
Malwarebytes Anti Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arbethea
Mcafee Beta works well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Martyn
Media Player Classic (Home Cinema fork) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thrax
Microsoft Office 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geoffers
Microsoft Office 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ian, Veteran, Detoxa, Clifford_cooley
Microsoft Virtual Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arbethea
Minefield 3.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Debsuvra
Mozbackup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thrax
MP3Tag v2.42 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Debsuvra
My Essentials Wireless Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Betaman
Nero 6.6.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thrax
Nero 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Debsuvra, Clifford_cooley
Nero 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slappydog, Martyn
NetMeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Draceena
Nod 32 ver 2.7 or 4- (30 day trial) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Slappydog
Nokia N95 software - dowloaded and installed automatically . . . . . . . . . . . .Geoffers
Norton 360 Beta for W7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Geoffers
OjoSoft Total Video Converter 2.64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Detoxa
OmniPage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Draceena
Open Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spearace, Draceena
Paint.NET v3.36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Debsuvra, Clifford_cooley
Paperport 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Veteran
PDF-Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Veteran
PeerGuardian2 64bit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pcspeak
PhotoFiltre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Slappydog, Draceena
phpDesigner (All Versions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Ashbrook's
Picasa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Arbethea
PrimoPDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slappydog
Quake 3 Arena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Betaman
Quicktime Alternative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena
Quicktime player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Water_sun_sea
Raxco PerfectDisk 10 build 104 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Detoxa
Read Iris 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slappydog
Real Alternative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Draceena
RealTek audio manager took a bit of sorting out but now works well . . . . . . . . Veteran
Red Alert 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spearace
Revo Uninstaller v1.80 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Debsuvra
RocketDock 1.3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Betaman
Safari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Betaman, Water_sun_sea
Seagate DiscWizard Ver11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clifford_cooley
Skype (All) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thrax
SmartFTP 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Ashbrook's
Sothink SWF Easy 6.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Detoxa
SpeedFan 4.38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Clifford_cooley
Spybot Search And Destoy 1.6.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Detoxa
Spyzooka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Naggis
Stardock Fences Beta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Detoxa
Steam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ryan Ashbrook's
Switcher 3.0.0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Betaman
Synctoy 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Veteran
Threatfire 4.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Detoxa
Thunderbird . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Water_sun_sea
Thunderbird 2.0.0.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ryan Ashbrook's
TortoiseSVN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ryan Ashbrook's
Total Commander 7.04a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Clifford_cooley
Trillian Pro (all) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thrax
Tune Up Utilities 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Debsuvra
uTorrent 1.8.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Draceena, Clifford_cooley, Thrax
Vistabootpro to organise dual booting - works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Veteran
VistaFirewall Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena
VLC Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian
VMWare Workstation 6.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thrax
Wallpaper Master Free 2.16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clifford_cooley
Winamp 5.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thrax
Windows live mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Water_sun_sea
Windows live messenger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Water_sun_sea
Windows Media Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Psikea
Windows Mobile Device Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Veteran
WinDVD Creator V3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geoffers
WinRAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian
WinRAR 3.80 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Betaman
WinZip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Spearace, Arbethea
Xdn tweaker 0.9.1.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Detoxa
Xoteck RipCast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Martyn
Yahoo Messenger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draceena
Yahoo Messenger 9.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Clifford_cooley
 
OK, since my daughter managed to fry XP MCE on her laptop while partying - er, studying in college :), and she has all her 'invaluable' iTunes & ripped music & pix on the hard drive, and also since she lost the Dell reinstall & XP discs to boot, I bought a new 320GB drive for her XPS 1710 and downloaded W7 32-bit and installed it yesterday. So far, what I have found is:

- W7 "homegroups" appear to be incompatible with XP & Vista workgroups - although I haven't spent much time looking how to fix this, it would have been nice if MS had included the ability to network/share files etc with other computers running different OSes. Guess I'll have to delve into the MS forums or knowledgebase, but if somebody here has a solution, much appreciated!

- W7 seems to have a lot of driver support - it found the MS bluetooth mouse that I had, which I expected since it's Microsoft, but it also found an ancient ATI wireless remote controller that came with a 9800 All-in-Wonder video card, and loaded the drivers. Impressive, except that when I tried to install the remote software downloaded from AMD, I encountered various installation & registration problems so that several DLLs wouldn't load. Tried setting the compatibility all the way back to W2K, no help.

- I like the MCE software in W7, plus the fact that my WinTV USB tuner actually works in it, although some HD channels have gone mysteriously missing and Hauppage says the 950Q is clearQAM HD compatible. MCE also plays DVDs pretty well, although when displaying the movies on an HDTV separate window, the mouse cursor is stuck there until I minimize the window - then I can move it back to the laptop display where I have the desktop located. Also, the bluetooth mouse stopped working on one occasion and I had to reboot W7 and rediscover it before it would work again - possibly the bum ATI driver install had something to do with it as I had tried that immediately before.

- W7 does seem to boot faster than XP, but that's likely because I have only a day & a half of bloatware on W7 installed so far :). Office XP & Nero 9 are the two biggest hogs so far, but more oinkers are scheduled for delivery soon.

Well that's it so far, but then I'm a W7 n00b :D.
 
Perhaps you failed to notice, but I am running 64-bit Vista on both my desktop and laptop... so telling me that 32-bit is going the way of the dodo is moot. Because I've had so few issues with Vista x64, I intend to stick with 64-bit and never go back.

Service pack 2 for Vista was just released. Vista's support cycle is just beginning while XP's is nearing it's end. Vista will continue to be supported for another 6 or 7 years, while XP has 3 - 4 years left. People latched on to and believed the anti-hype surrounding Vista having never even had a casual glance at it. What this tells me is that people blindly believe anything they're told about a product over the internet... rather than use the product and formulate their own opinion.

Your assertion that no-one embraced Vista is very factually incorrect. While Vista hasn't quite enjoyed the success of XP, that doesn't mean that everyone skipped it. I know of at least one University that absolutely LOVES Vista and Server 2008. Of course, they tested it extensively rather than just go along with the negative press.

Windows 7 isn't the NOW, it's the future. It's not scheduled to be release until 4th quarter. MS isn't rushing it out the door... they planned for 3-year product cycles. The reason XP is sticking around so long is because Vista was delayed. I'm not in any way bashing Windows 7, I'm merely saying that for Vista users, Windows 7 looks less impressive than it would to Windows XP users. Normally, I'd upgrade almost immediately to the new OS, but now that I've seen and used Windows 7... I'd be content to wait another year.
 

randomizer

Champion
Moderator
I don't want to use Window 7 in its current state. If I find it faster than Vista (which in my early testing wasn't the case, it was Vista with a modified GUI) then I'm not going to want to go back to a "slow" Vista once the RC expires, and I wouldn't want to go back to a much faster XP because then I'll have to remember what model Ethernet controller I'm using to find drivers for it. I have not paid for Windows since XP and I vowed not to pay for Windows again until at least "Windows 8." If Windows 7 becomes avaliable on MSDN Academic Alliance then I'll grab it ASAP, but until then it's Vista for me.
 
I have four other things to say to incurablegeek -

1. No one here is even mentioning 32/64 bit crap. That field is kind of old now. Everything will eventually be 64 bit. Yay. Why do you keep bringing it up? No one here is talking about it. Old news.

2. The University of Michigan, which I'm pretty sure is in the top 20 universities of the world (but don't quote me! it also depends on who you ask) uses Vista extensively. The only way you can use XP on campus is in a specialized lab or on a virtual client.

3. Windows 7 isn't out yet, which makes it the future, not now.

4. That list of applications is almost completely useless. Do you realize how many applications there are that run on Windows? Trying to round them all up on one list is a waste of time. It's more effective to just go to the manufacturer's website and look it up.

5. (because I feel like it) this thread isn't even about general information on Windows 7, it's about it's advantages. Start a new thread if that what you want, or find one that's already in progress.
 

incurablegeek

Distinguished
Jun 20, 2009
31
0
18,530


Thanks for the post. For once someone actually presented factual experience without excessive condescension or twisted syntax. So thanks again. According to MS, support for XP has already been terminated, though I forget the exact month of termination. Sorry but Vista never caught on - with anyone - such that the word Vista has almost become a vulgar epithet. I remember the days when anyone in a company/university who replaced NT 4.0 with Win 98 were immediately terminated.

Win 3.11, then Win NT 4.0 (which required and ran well with only 64 MB of RAM!), then Win 2K (which I loved because it gave me more control and didn't auto-default/select for me) and now XP Pro are MS at its very best. I still maintain that MS has temporarily lost its direction (possibly with all this nouveau "cloud computing" threat). From what I have read, MS is quietly letting Vista die, if for no other reason the fact that "Vista" has a well earned pejorative meaning. I did read where MS is looking for a Project Leader for Win 8 such that I'm sure that Win 7 is the NOW, and not Vista. (Just an educated opinion, and not a dictum). I can say for sure 32 bit is dead. Trust me on that one. The MB and RAM mfrs. are putting out products for which 32 bit is anemic and impotent.

And, yes sir, I do know that 64 bit is not new. It's just now that OS's are being built that can amply use all the features of the new hardware.

So, see we had a difference of opinion. And we chose to disagree like civilized beings. Thanks My opinion: This group is definitely not of Toms Hardware quality. There are too many people chest thumping and fist pumping. I don't want to win at anything. I just want to learn. So if you think I am wrong, please feel free to tell me. And, once again thanks for the info. I will keep my mind open to Vista as well as Win 7. With 5 TB of HD space. I can set up both OS via usb - and experiment. All the best, Dennis
 
That is true, badge, but extended support will continue until 2014... which means MS will still be releasing security patches/critical updates up until that time. Originally, it was only supposed to go to 2011 or 2012... but because Vista was delayed, XP's support cycle was extended.

MS has stated for a while now that mainstream support continues for 5 years after a product release and extended support will go to 10 years. Win 9x was cut short prematurely because it was strictly considered to be a consumer OS. Since all versions of Windows now run on the same kernal... everyone gets the support that businesses enjoy.

I'm glad that after Windows 7, there will be no more 32-bit OS from MS. Now that 64-bit is finally becoming mainstream, there is simply no need. There are some that argue we don't need 64-bit... but as RAM and graphics memory keep increasing, 32-bit will be woefully inadequate.
 
I am currently compiling an author noted list of Vista capable drivers/software which are incompatible with Windows 7. Listed by the day of the week:

Sun....Capote

Mon...Hemingway

Tue...Stalin

Wed...Pol Pot

Thurs...Hitler

Fri...TGI Friday's

Sat...Hemingway, Muriel

Sun...Rivera, Heraldo

Edited for Writer's embellishments.
 

incurablegeek

Distinguished
Jun 20, 2009
31
0
18,530
I shall not waste any more time with this "group". Too many (all?) are frustrated flamers, the likes of which I don't find anywhere else on the net.

It is indeed easy to call someone a mental patient, a sissy, whatever on the net. Those with the courage to do so in person, however, might find themselves with a great view of the ceiling -- when or if they wake up.

For too many, a "white gloves and party manners" class is in order.

New info?:

1) 64 bit is not yet mainstream but is mostly used by hobbyists. 64 bit has been talked about for about 15 years now, but is still not widely accepted.

2) Support for XP (sadly) has been terminated. "Upgrading" to XP Pro has eaten away badly at the profits hoped for, but not gleaned, from the Vista fiasco.

3) Win 7 RC is out (I have it) and the "for sale" version should debut in late fall.

4) FYI, Win 7 is a build on Vista, which MS would very much like to forget. There shall be no future version or upgrade to Vista. Vista was already D.O.A. when it hit the market.

Read, learn and then --- speak. Too much of the info taken here as "common knowledge" is mind-numbingly wrong. And the sarcasm and nastiness is just that.
Over and out.
 


"The more I read the forums, the more I feel that a number of individuals would be well served by skipping their next GPU purchase in favor of a little "Stress Relief" from the local Working Girls

:sol: Stay classy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.