Windows 7

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
wmrcomputers said:
I'll now probably do as I did with Vista, and wait for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 to be released before I ever consider switching. By that time they've usually sorted out most of the driver issues and updates to the point where MAYBE it's worth shelling out for.
Its a Microsoft OS, what else would you do? :P
 

db

#chaplife
so, surely microsoft will have learned from their mistakes by having only one, perhaps two, versions of their latest OS? they must have realised that one of the major downfalls of vista was the plethora of confusing options available to consumers?

no, of course not :roll:

Engadget said:
The following will be the actual new SKUs for the OS:

* Windows 7 Starter (limited to three apps concurrently)
* Windows 7 Home Basic (for emerging markets)
* Windows 7 Home Premium (adds Aero, Touch, Media Center)
* Windows 7 Professional (Remote Desktop host, Mobility Center, Presentation mode)
* Windows 7 Enterprise (volume license only, boot from virtual drive, BitLocker)
* Windows 7 Ultimate (limited availability, includes everything)

This information has been confirmed by Microsoft.
 

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
Good point, Ultimate it is then!

I use Vista Home Premium at home and its superb for what I need it for tbh although networking is a bit sketchy and its point blank refuses to have anything to do with my mac.
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
shoes said:
Good point, Ultimate it is then!

I use Vista Home Premium at home and its superb for what I need it for tbh although networking is a bit sketchy and its point blank refuses to have anything to do with my mac.
I have vista ultimate dvd if u ever need that shoes
 

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
Cheers Wayne, I might take you up on that offer mate, it's due a rebuild in the not to distant future.
 

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
Well the official Release Candidate version of Windows 7 is available and I'm very impressed. Very very impressed in fact, I am only just getting used to Leopard and how brilliantly easy it is to use when bam! MS drops this in my lap and now I'm not so sure about leopard. I will of course allow for the novelty period to expire before passing full judgement.

Windows 7 is very pretty, themes, changing backgrounds etc. are all very nice touches.

Functionality? Well the install was exactly the same as vista apart from the fact it installed EVERY SINGLE driver on my machine perfectly apart from my webcam, which is actually a Creative Webcam Vista so I think that can be forgiven. Drivers installed with OS without any user input = win!

All the extra pretty functions in aero don't appear to use any more processing oomph that Vista, its very fasr also = win!

Have had absolutely no issues with compatibility thus far, a few warnings but if you let it Windows 7 will deal with them for you and reinstall the software so it works, without any technical jargon whatsoever = win!

New taskbar is definitely better for launching and managing frequently used programs, think of the mac dock you're basically there. Initial fears of it being difficult to tell between whats running and whats not... well the big white rectangle and glossy pebbled effect on open programs is very very easy to understand and gleam information from at a glance. As everything else appears to have in Win 7 there are about a hyperbollion ways of customising this. Combined with the 'live view' preview = win!

Software - I have so far used UT, UT3, Live for Speed, Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere, Illustrator, After Effects, Dreamweaver and Nero all without glitch. Just for the craic I thought I would run the ENTIRE creative suite 4 master collection, office 2008 enterprise and a handfull of other apps simultaneously, and it worked very well = win!





Your comments?



Admin edit: Moved post to correct thread.
 

db

#chaplife
wow, it defo looks good.. i've yet to use it - i figured i might as well hang on until the RTM comes out at least.. i look forward to seeing how my core duo laptop copes with it!
 

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
Frankly I don't think it will have any problem. I was with munch the other day and she has just installed Win7 on her ore 2 duo vaio and she seemed very very pleased. Munch is a die hard apple fan (and pretty good with them too tbh) and is comparing Win7 to leopard, which cannot be bad. IMO apple might have a thorn in their side from this new release, although no doubt they will come back with a new gizmo like iThought or something which indexes your brain for faster information recall or something lol
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
From Vista experiences, i'm tempted to wait until Windows 7 SP1 comes out - it was at that point that i started to enjoy Vista. By the sounds of it MS might have learn a few important lessons now about releasing unstable OS's, but either way i'm not in too much of a hurry.

In some ways, I should get into it for technician purposes, but saying that only about 5% of the PC's i deal with today are even running Vista. There are so many people glued to XP! I think it will more than likely be at least a year away before anyone brings a PCproblem to me that is running Windows 7.

Besides, I'll need a key first! ;) lol
 

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
Wayne - its built on vista, in fact I'd go as far as to say it IS vista with a new shinier GUI, a couple more security things, a handful more apps and a newer media centre (which is the daddy btw) and a load more bundled drivers. Stability wise its rock solid IMO although I did install the ATi driver from their website for my radeon as the one windows installed was a bit glitchy after being in games for 5 minutes, problem seems to be solved now.

As far as personal development goes if you get a couple of years of casual use in with the OS before it starts getting bundled OEM i think you'll be in a much better position to support it.

Key isn't a problem, hit download, sign in with your passport, get a key. hit refresh and get another key and so on, they are not limiting the number of keys per person or in total, simply until the end of this month (IIRC).

Enjoy :)
 

John Marwood

I ♥ cryptic crosswords
Is there a translation page for knuckle draggers like myself?

I was OK with logarithms and slide rules and then the world seem to speed up and suddenly I felt like I had been pushed into a ditch from a speeding TR6

I think its the genes rather than age though, as I have heard of Beige Surfring Clubs springing up all over the Parish

Anyway, I think the FT has been ironed now so must be off
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
@Shoes - but when do these keys expire? If it's only for a few months or whatever I'd rather wait until I can get a "real" key for the main release, so that I know I don't need to go back to Vista again and have the stress of re-installing everything
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
I 'think' that the keys are valid til release? Might give it a go on my main PC, needs a reload anyway.
 

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
The Beta keys run out August 1 2009, the RC keys June 2010. You have a good 12 months left on those.
 

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
shoes said:
The Beta keys run out August 1 2009, the RC keys June 2010. You have a good 12 months left on those.
Okie dokey, cheers. Might have a look in a bit. My hard drive is glitching now in my netbook so I need a new one anyway, so i might as well re-install it with 7. Been running Vista Ultimate fine up till now so i reckon it will handle Win 7 too (he hopes)

Is there any change to minimum memory requirements on Windows 7 compared to Vista do you know? (I have 1.5Gb which due to the 512 which is part of the mainboard is all you can upgrade these to - yet the mobo was designed to recognise 2Gb. How crap is that!)
 

db

#chaplife
shoes said:
Frankly I don't think it will have any problem. I was with munch the other day and she has just installed Win7 on her ore 2 duo vaio and she seemed very very pleased.
bear in mind i said core duo, not core 2 duo! it's a lenovo laptop, core duo (something crap and low range, i would imagine), 1GB, intel graphics, etc.. not a bad machine, does everything i want it to atm with windows xp (photoshop, torrenting, etc.).. when the RTM of windows 7 comes out, i might bite the bullet and see how it copes :)
 
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