Windows 7 RC Update to Shoot Blanks Soon

[Marcus Yam]

Some of us are happily running Windows 7 RC now, which is provided to the public for free in exchange of testing feedback. Now, it’s time for testing.

Windows 7 RC Update to Shoot Blanks Soon : Read more

 

[chripuck]

Been happy with the RC so far, haven't gotten any updates yet though.

 

[mcnuggetofdeath]

Not a single lasting problem. Had trouble with my HDTV detecting an input when I used it as a second monitor after a reboot but that could be the TV so idk. After an update Windows lost my Catalyst 9.4 Drivers and installed its own ( 8.12 for those interested )but a quick visit to ATIs website remedied the problem and hasnt showed up again since. DX10 works great which was my primary concern. All i really do is game and browse in Windows. Ubuntu for the rest.

 

[tester3000]

The RC has been a great experience so far. Win7 is freaking awesome!

 

[Nossy]

I ran into a few problems with RC1. The sound keeps dropping, onboard realtek. When playing a movie files it keeps saying something like "recently modification to audio device" blah blah blah and mute. Or some of the games I installed wont work, like Gears of War, UT3, etc.

Otherwise GRID, WOW, Prince of Persia works.

 

[norbs]

Anyone try RC as a media center yet? I'm looking to replacing vista on my media center but i don't want to get stuck without a tv.

 

[Tedders]

I love it so far. It seems to be taking a greater toll on my netbook than the beta did, but I dont expect it to scream either. I have noticed that on my main test rig that Media Center and Media Player operate much quicker and smoother than in the beta. I can't wait for it to be released so I can build a new gaming rig!

 

[ipolski]

The only issue is a driver (or rather the lack of) for my video card, which is an older ATI 9600XT. Vista driver does not install so I'm running default Win7 at the moment. Otherwise on problems.

 

[cadder]

media center? read the new article on the homepage about the mini atom motherboard

 

[3p0cHx]

No problems at all, running it on a Ferrari 5000 and only driver issues were with the SD card reader and Webcam drivers not installed by windows. Used the vista 64bit drivers from the Acer site. Windows 7 is really growing on me especially the app previews on the task bar. Just hovering your mouse over the tile on the taskbar shows you all windows that app has open, and hovering over each preview brings the window full screen. Also little stuff like desktop background slideshows is nice.

 

[baddad]

I went from Vista 64 to Windows 7 on my media center PC http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/67/l_25a6006a94934c3abd7d0a69b574a70f.jpg , it took a couple of hours because I did a upgrade, it fail to upgrade the first time. On the second time it went faster and without a hitch. The media center software is much better then the Vista version, and they’ve made some good improvements to the OS. I like it a lot.

 

[HolyCrusader]

I've had surprisingly few problems with Win7 so far (64-bit version). Most of my core drivers are all beta drivers, but all have been working just fine. Fallout3 has been giving me freezing problems, but I was getting that with Vista64 as well. EVE Online and Guildwars have worked without problems as well - I plan to try UT3 and Left 4 Dead soon.

The one problem I've had is I've been unable to use the XP Compatability mode - but from what I can tell this is not a fault of Windows 7. XP Compatibility mode needs a processor and board that's compliant with Hyper-V. My processor supports it (Phenom 9950), and my board *should* support it (Gigabyte board, model not handy atm), but the utility I've used to check for compatibility seems to indicate the motherboard is the problem. I'm sending e-mails to Gigabyte to see if we can resolve the problem - according to them it should work also. *shrugs*

 

[blarneypete]

@norbs
I'm using Win7 RC as a media center, and it works great. Full functionality, smooth operation. I'm using it on a computer monitor, no tv out. Maybe there are issues, but I haven't seen them yet.

 

[ohim]

Problem with Windows 7 and Premiere Pro CS3 and CS4 slow timeline workflow while aero functions are on. And one ruller inside the timeline contiunous flashing , other minor bugs sometimes Windows fails to "alt tab" to some Yahoo messenger windows in the bar.

 

[Guest]

In regards to media center functionality there is now clear qam capability that wasn't in the beta. (Fantastic Picture Quality!)It is a little flaky in 64 bit Win 7 but not as bad as the win tv 7 software. Am using a Hauppage 1600 dual tuner. Sometimes can't lock on to clear Qam channels. Am going to try an amp to see if I get a stronger signal. Hauppage signal monitor says most QAM channels are borderline strength wise. Have had some problems with my maxtor 320gb drive (Running XP)getting lost in the boot loader. No problems at all with my WD 640GB Sata drive (Running Win 7-64 and Win 7-32) Haven't tried media center in 32 bit mode. If you get sound problems with Realtek AC97, install latest Vista drivers. Worked for me. Concentrating on testing 64 bit version, will be upgrading soon and want to use more memory than 2GB on my socket 939 machine.

 

[erichlund]

My only complaint so far is I cannot seem to do anything to restore my Ubuntu Linux. Win7 has control of the master boot record, and it's fighting tooth and nail to not give it up. I've been completely unsuccessful in restoring my Grub bootloader. Fortunately, I use separate machines for my primary Windows and Linux workstations. My dual boot is a laptop that's mostly used for breakfast time web browsing.

 

[martel80]

My analogue TV tuner (driver included in Win7 itself) sound stutters under Win7 Media Center (it doesn't do that in K!TV, the program I normally use).
Other than that, I think that Windows 7 is what Vista should have been in the first place. It runs smoothly without any tweaking.

 

[Marcus Yam]

I did an in-place upgrade from Vista Home Premium on my Dell Studio 15 and everything's been totally smooth sailing. I was apprehensive about doing an in-place upgrade as those things never go well, but I figure I'll be doing a format for the RTM anyway. But I've been pleasantly surprised at how well the in-place upgrade is working so far. I haven't had a single compatibility issue yet aside from needing to update Daemon Tools.

 

[stryk55]

So far I really like everything in Windows 7. Have had no problems in it so far. In fact, I even have Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 running perfectly and it wouldn't even run well in Vista! (insert outdated game comment here)

 

[joscasle]

Works great!! Only I have a problem when windows go to sleep mode, need to restart the system.

 

[matt2k]

running it as my primary OS atm, but i've got vist 64bit and an old xp professional for those stuborn drivers. only played left 4 dead so far and im impressed. for beta drivers (ati) im getting really good graphics.
havent had any bugs yet but its only been a week
i like the addition of the little apps like sticky notes
a pretty good OS so far

 

[Guest]

whats new about win7???? seems like an upgraded version of vista.....

 

[mbmcavoy]

My only significant issue so far is printing to an Epson R200 inkjet via the print server in my Apple Time Capsule; the image is corrupted. This worked perfectly under both XP and Vista, and the printer works when using a direct USB connection (which I don't want to do).

Positives:
+ I can't really put my finger on why; Vista's UI was almost too pretty, and I found it distracting. Win7 seems toned down a bit.
+ I do like the previews and transparency effects from rolling over the taskbar, pretty slick and functional.
+ My PC-centric employer is still on WinXP. I'm hoping they skip over Vista and go right to Win7 quickly.
+ As ugly as the Experience Music Project building is, the wallpapers featuring it are beautiful!

Negatives:
- The McAfee antivirus software provided free from Comcast won't install. I haven't yet installed very many apps, so I can't comment on compatibility issues.
- It's still Windows; my MacBook remains my primary home machine.

 

[WINTERLORD]

To Norbs, actualy windows 7 is alswome id never trade it out on my machine. however about mediea center you might want to look around. but m gf could not get the graphics card drivers the nvidia drivers to dual display onto a TV. other then that there has been no problems what so ever. i think windows 7 works better then vista and i cannot wait for nvidia to update there graphics card drivers, so the TV will work properly again through the computer. for now i installed windows XP and will prolly dual boot and install win 7 again under dual boot.

 

[RADIO_ACTIVE]

I love Windows 7 just don't look forward to paying an arm and a leg for a copy or two when it comes out, being as i juist shelled out a bunch for Vista Ultamate little over a year ago.