Windows 7 Hits The Market

[JAS21]

32bit can handle just up to 3.2 GB and 64bit up to 196(!)GB

And, with Moore's Law and all its permutations, that 196GB "limit" probably will be an issue in the not-too-distant future.

Who's "Moore"? Is he any relation to "Murphy"?

Looks like not..Moore's Law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware, in which the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has doubled approximately every two years. Rather than being a naturally-occurring "law" that cannot be controlled, however, Moore's Law is effectively a business practice in which the advancement of transistor counts occurs at a fixed rate. etc etc

I, 'same same' as you didn't know what it was...now we both do ...well a little bit anyway...

[JAS21]

GOOD!!! Try to run a 286sx with Windows XP

What I'm doing on this forum to read this kind of things??? Better to go back to real computer users forum...

There was an earlier thread where some users, including a mod in the computer section, reported it ran faster than Win XP when they tested it out on the same hardware.

PS try a forum to improve your English lol

As I mentioned earlier, I am waiting for my copy of Ultimate to come from the UK..in the meantime I managed to load the Enterprise edition. Honestly my computer is so much faster, even on the internet and everything seems to work. I was using XP on about a six month old Presario CQ45 102TU with 3GB RAM. ps I also know not much more that sweet FA about these things...just that it is a lot faster than it was.

[2008bangkok]

I was wonderign when this thread would come i.. the simple fact is that Win7 is the new OS or those people who dont upgrade then they are missing out, as much as xp was a solid OS its finished, its old news... why people go out and buy a new laptop, netbook, pc whatever and then say iv put XP on it very happy, you woulnt buy a car and put 7 year old wheels on it, these people are the same people who are security consisous a hackers dream, hackers are waiting for those grumps who dont upgrade because they know that MS wont be issuing anymore security patches so there flawless OS is as now open foranybody to spy in...

My reccommendation to all my fans is to upgrade as soon as possible and enjoy Win7, its the same as Vista apart from the desktop but at least its not called vista..

I personally loved vista and now 7

[Spoonman]

Demps1, what are these bugs you talk off ??

If you are asserting that MS has launched an OS that is completely bug free I'd be interested to know which planet you have been living on these last twenty years.

Demps1, what are these bugs you talk off ??

A lot of new products/programs have bugs "as yet to be discovered" It's up to eagle eyed punters like your good self to report them.

I'll just wait till next year and visit a torrent site and get it for nicks. Like all Thai schools and Govt. Depts do. Hey ! "When in Rome etc"

Well come on then, your talking the big game, how bout some facts ...........

Dont get me wrong, im not a windows fanboi, i have had issues with win7, but the issues are hardware based (new pc i built myself), having said that, iam also running the same RTM on my 3yr old acer lappy, that install has been rock solid.

Edited October 23, 2009 by Spoonman

[klikster]

I think you will find that people with experience of Windows 7 will generally echo my comments

I have found that the vast majority of people that are slagging Win 7 have never even seen it, let alone installed it and used it. Or they are typical MAC/Linux trolls with nothing better to do. PC's are a tool that's it, its not a religion and not a reason to spend all your day crapping on other people's opinions. I too have been using 7 since the Beta and could not be happier with it. I laugh when I read all these trolls complaining about this that and the other.. when I did ZERO hardware upgrades to a two year old machine and it runs much faster than XP (benchmarked) and I find it much easier to move around with the repeated locations for so many functions..

If you are happy with your MAC or your NIX box, great and good for you. But until you actually install and use a product day in and day out, assuming it sucks based on a previous product by the same company you are simply painting yourself as ignorant. You might actually like the product if you open your mind.

For the record I have a MAC and run Linux on my netbook, so please spare me the flames... I also run Solaris on a web server, if you really want to talk OS comparisons...

Good post, Traderjim.

For me, it's much more about the software I run than the OS. I use Adobe Illustrator a lot. Yes, Linux has vector graphics software. But how much time and effort is required to learn what I already know in AI? What functions that AI has are available/missing from the Linux equivalent. Same issue.

Okay, maybe it runs on WINE. But AI is already slow enough on XP. If it's slower on WINE, I have to pass.

And I sure could use more RAM with some of my big vector files.

Will I upgrade from XP? Probably, after SP1? My main board is getting cranky after 4 years so my new one will probably have 8g of RAM.

[brianb1944]

I will stay with my Vista for now, got laptop with licensed Vista, been nothing but a pain, Recently bought Desktop with unlicensed, and so far have had no problems

When I bought desktop, also installed ADSL instead of my "sim card modem" which has never been reliable. Now I am in IT heaven.

[Robbie Dye]

I won't be using it just now, the test program says My graphics card is no good and I will not buy a new card just to upgrade to a new OS.

My computer ex[ert tells me you almost certainly will not be able to upgrade from XP either as many drivers and stuff are differenet, so unless you have VISTA, DON'T GO THERE!!

[chiang mai]

Just watched Steve Balmer answer questions about Windows 7 and he says that upgrades from Vista are possible but if coming from XP then a complete reinstall is required. Personally I'm staying with XP for at least one year more and maybe longer - stayed with 2000 for two years after XP was released and avoided all the pain. Totally happy I adopted that approach with XP which meant I never had to upgrade to Vista which, incidentally, Balmer came very close to admitting was not fit for purpose, some nonesence about having to make design trade offs re security versus performance.

[mamboze]

Why anybody should pay big dollars (or even pirated small dollars) for such a poor quality OS as Windows 7 or any of the previous versions is beyond me. What do you get for your money? Very little so far as I can see. Vista was, by most accounts, a disaster. And every Windows OS I've ever used (up to XP, I bailed out before Vista hit everybody) was virus or malware prone and, as for security patches, well, be prepared to wait, events at MS move slowly.

And let's not even talk about Internet Explorer.

I switched to open source software about 3 years and went with Ubuntu GNU/Linux. It's highly stable (this is one of the reasons Linux servers are the informed choice on the majority of website hosts). Security issues are treated very rapidly, with automatic updates from the Ubuntu software repositories.

There are masses of high quality open source apps available, meeting just about every need. OpenOffice has the functionality of MS Office Suite. Gimp has the functionality of Photoshop (I know this to be the case because I've used both extensively). Blender maps against 3Dmax pretty well.

For those Win apps you love and can't do without, Wine provides a Win virtual machine (more or less) under Ubuntu (it's OK, but not perfect). But one of the great advantages of using Linux is that you have access to numerous forums. The turnaround time, query to answer(s), is often within hours rarely more than a day.

Basically, when you're using open source software you're plugging into a world wide community of users committed to cooperation and mutual aid.

To check Ubuntu out without affecting any existing Windows installation, just download and burn a live CD. Boot from it and away you go. The only OS that comes near to Linux is Mac OS X, not surprising since OS X is based on Unix. If you've got the money for an Apple then that's certainly a good alternative. But it costs.

Don't be put off by the image of Ubuntu as the geek OS. For the great majority of users, software is installed and configuration changes made using GUIs. The command line (terminal) option is there for those that prefer it.

And, BTW, I'm not trolling, it happens that not every computer user worships at the MS altar. I don't care what OS people use. It's their choice and good luck to them. What I am saying is that there is another choice which is far and away better than Windows. Try it out and see for yourself.

[mickjn]

No

[mamboze]

No

Well now there speaks an open mind

[baksiidaa]

Why anybody should pay big dollars (or even pirated small dollars) for such a poor quality OS as Windows 7 or any of the previous versions is beyond me. What do you get for your money? Very little so far as I can see. Vista was, by most accounts, a disaster. And every Windows OS I've ever used (up to XP, I bailed out before Vista hit everybody) was virus or malware prone and, as for security patches, well, be prepared to wait, events at MS move slowly.

And let's not even talk about Internet Explorer.

I switched to open source software about 3 years and went with Ubuntu GNU/Linux. It's highly stable (this is one of the reasons Linux servers are the informed choice on the majority of website hosts). Security issues are treated very rapidly, with automatic updates from the Ubuntu software repositories.

There are masses of high quality open source apps available, meeting just about every need. OpenOffice has the functionality of MS Office Suite. Gimp has the functionality of Photoshop (I know this to be the case because I've used both extensively). Blender maps against 3Dmax pretty well.

For those Win apps you love and can't do without, Wine provides a Win virtual machine (more or less) under Ubuntu (it's OK, but not perfect). But one of the great advantages of using Linux is that you have access to numerous forums. The turnaround time, query to answer(s), is often within hours rarely more than a day.

Basically, when you're using open source software you're plugging into a world wide community of users committed to cooperation and mutual aid.

To check Ubuntu out without affecting any existing Windows installation, just download and burn a live CD. Boot from it and away you go. The only OS that comes near to Linux is Mac OS X, not surprising since OS X is based on Unix. If you've got the money for an Apple then that's certainly a good alternative. But it costs.

Don't be put off by the image of Ubuntu as the geek OS. For the great majority of users, software is installed and configuration changes made using GUIs. The command line (terminal) option is there for those that prefer it.

And, BTW, I'm not trolling, it happens that not every computer user worships at the MS altar. I don't care what OS people use. It's their choice and good luck to them. What I am saying is that there is another choice which is far and away better than Windows. Try it out and see for yourself.

Until you've used Windows 7 you have absolutely no right to write negative reviews about it. The OS is the most solid OS I've seen out of Microsoft. Are you really that cheap that you can't pay "big dollars" (a couple hundred bucks every 4 years or free if you get it oem with the system) for a well made OS? I've used Ubuntu and it's not all you hype it up to be. The opensource equivalent of the huge amount of apps available in windows are sub par in comparison. How many games besides UT are even made for Linux? Linux is a fun toy with neat bells and whistles, but Windows is the industry standard. I don't use it because I'm trying to kiss Microsoft's butt. I use it because it supports all the software I want to use. (Photoshop, Premiere, Sony Vegas, Office 2007 - Outlook included, Vdub, a bunch of random video apps either for ripping high def content, encoding, or editing video, and all the new games that I want to try out on my GTX285 that will never be available for Linux. Try emulating a windows game in Linux.) Windows 7 is plenty stable if you aren't an idiot. I usually go three weeks between restarts and only then because I finally decide to install the critical windows updates. (Even some Linux Kernal updates require restarts.) Sounds stable to me.

BTW, where are you getting your facts of Linux being the choice for the majority of web sites?

news.netcraft.com

Apache is the highest but since Apache isn't an OS and can be ported to Windows, the numbers are closer than you think.

Edited October 23, 2009 by baksiidaa

[sabai-dee-man]

just for the record i brought a samsung laptop r series from pantip last week 25k got 2gb standard and 2 extra free, borrowed a mates win7 ultimate who i know in pantip to test b4 i buy the real deal.. loaded 32 bit saw 2.9b then lucky for me the same disk had 64bit so loaded that on and saw all 4 gb..

so if you want 4gb ram 2.4 ghz dula core and 64 bit then go samsung.. there are some issues with the realtek wifi i have mentioned b4 but as i always say on pc's where there's a will there's a way.. and when i find the anwser ill post

Seeing it doesn't necessarily mean utilising it! Please check your facts.

Many chipsets cannot utilise the full 4Gb RAM. Vista 64bit and Win7 64bit can both report 4Gb as installed, but it doesn't always mean it's being used. A HUGE number of even fairly new systems will run equally as well with 3Gb as they will with 4Gb, as they will only actually utilise 3~3.25Gb!

[tracer]

Demps1, what are these bugs you talk off ??

Silly little things at present but more important, have you ever seen MS write any sw which is bug-free???

Also most people will find they need a lot better hardware then they have now and I have no use for reinstalling from scratch....

Lastly you haven't really (normally) total control of the system... wait for the fixes to come out to see what they have forgotten..

[Pib]

I'm waiting for WINDOWS 8

Now you didn't also say "I'm waiting for WINDOWS 7" when Vista came out did you?

I've got Windows 7 Home Premium in the mail to me right now from NewEgg; I just hope it don't take me months to get my computer running smooth under Win 7...I sure remember the pain of Vista, lack of drivers/utilities by hardware/software manufacturers, etc. My gut tells me Win 7 won't have the switchover pains of Vista...I think Vista put many computers into Intensive Care Unit/ICU...hopefully Win 7 will only cause minor headaches. Will a person's computer be stronger, healthier, able to lead tall buildings after Win 7 is installed--I seriously doubt it--but at least a person will probably be more satisfied in having the latest operating system.

[Spoonman]

Demps1, what are these bugs you talk off ??

Silly little things at present but more important, have you ever seen MS write any sw which is bug-free???

Also most people will find they need a lot better hardware then they have now and I have no use for reinstalling from scratch....

Lastly you haven't really (normally) total control of the system... wait for the fixes to come out to see what they have forgotten..

So what are the "bugs"........

Really simple Question .

Edited October 24, 2009 by Spoonman

[spacemunk]

i wanna know what the bugs are too.

[SoMeOnEnUlL]

Best Windows 7 Review..

I get the impression that the Windows 7 launch is a lot like seeing an old girlfriend suddenly show up on your doorstep wanting to get back together. She's had some work done, apparently: stomach stapling to take off some of the weight, breast augmentation, and a radical nosejob to make her look as much like your current girlfriend as medical science will allow.

She's pretty, of course, almost too pretty. She still wears far too much makeup and carries that desperate look in her eyes. The fragrant haze around her is the perfume she overuses to mask the scent of failure.

But standing there in that low-cut top, you'd almost forget for a moment what a psycho she was- how she used to shut down in the middle of a date and forget everything you were talking about and how she was only happy when you were buying her things. You'd almost forget about carrying around her legacy baggage or those nights when, for seemingly no reason at all, she would simply stop speaking to you and when you asked what was wrong she'd just spit a string of hex code at you and expect you to figure it out.

You complained about her for years before finally deciding to get rid of her, and here she is again. Though, somehow she seems like a completely different person now.

"I'm up here," she says when she catches you staring at her chest.

Tempted though you may be, you know that over time she'll get bored and slow down on you just like she always does. And then you'll be right back where you started: trapped. She keeps you by convincing you that you don't have a choice. You're just not smart enough for one option or rich enough to afford the other.

"But I'm different now," she says, batting her eyes innocently. "I've changed."

Indeed she has. Apparently, she's really into Cabala now or something like that. It's helped her discover loads of untapped potential in herself. But it also means that you'll have to buy all new furniture to fit with her understanding of feng shui. That's not the only change she has in store for you. The minute you let her move in, she'll have a new alarm system put in that succeeds only in preventing your friends from coming over on poker night.

She doesn't love you, but she doesn't hate you, either. The truth is that she couldn't care less one way or the other. She's here because she doesn't want to be alone. Like all human beings, especially those well past their prime, she wants to feel wanted and, after a string of lost jobs and bad investments, she needs a place to stay.

But all in all, she's OK. She's a seven. She'll do, I guess.

http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1...mp;cid=29835259

[humqdpf]

I think you will find that people with experience of Windows 7 will generally echo my comments

I have found that the vast majority of people that are slagging Win 7 have never even seen it, let alone installed it and used it. Or they are typical MAC/Linux trolls with nothing better to do. PC's are a tool that's it, its not a religion and not a reason to spend all your day crapping on other people's opinions. I too have been using 7 since the Beta and could not be happier with it. I laugh when I read all these trolls complaining about this that and the other.. when I did ZERO hardware upgrades to a two year old machine and it runs much faster than XP (benchmarked) and I find it much easier to move around with the repeated locations for so many functions..

If you are happy with your MAC or your NIX box, great and good for you. But until you actually install and use a product day in and day out, assuming it sucks based on a previous product by the same company you are simply painting yourself as ignorant. You might actually like the product if you open your mind.

For the record I have a MAC and run Linux on my netbook, so please spare me the flames... I also run Solaris on a web server, if you really want to talk OS comparisons...

You know, I heard the same arguments all those years ago when I upgraded from Windows 3 to whatever version came after it. At each stage I had no choice but to accept the latest Windows OS because either it came preloaded on the machine, was required to run some new applications etc. Back in the early days it was a case of being able to share documents, spreadsheets etc that would run on each other's equipment and one was afraid of deviating from the PC/MS standard because of fears of incompatibility.

But each time I upgraded or accepted the latest version of Windows OS on a desktop/laptop, there were problems. I had to throw out several printers because the drivers no longer worked on the new OS. I found many problems with compatibility with older documents and running earlier versions of software.

The final straw came with Vista which it is generally acknowledged MS put pressure on laptop manufacturers to use Vista as the OS and this led to machines not being able to cope with the weight of the bulky software. This led to the almost hilarious result in my case where my old machine was running faster in terms of boot up and generally running software than my old machine. And getting to use WiFi was a nightmare on the new mahine.

At that time there was no choice if you were buying a laptop such as a Lenovo. You could try to take Vista off the machine - good luck if you are not a specialist. And I was not able to find such a specialist in Thailand. Only later did Microsoft issue a software tool that would allow this but by that stage I had bulked up the RAM and found a specialist to remove the gadgets, wigits and whatever other its and make the machine run a bit faster.

Now I hear that Windows 7 is wonderful, stable (wow, a stable OS product from Microsoft! Lets buy it now!) and quick. Too late. More than 20 years of problems and irritations that Microsoft never really addressed or addressed too late. My decision to switch to a Mac was made when I was trying to get my Vista laptop to hook onto Wifi while one of the guys accompanying me who has used Macs all along has no problem. I knew that he has never had a virus, never suffered from any instability and he uses his machines for an average of 5 years or more where I can barely get 2 to 3 years out of mine. During the discussion it was clear that all the problems of incompatibility that we are scared about no longer are an issue.

I agree that computers and OSs are tools, not religion. But, given my experiences, only a kind of deep (and misplaced) religious kind of faith would keep me on the Microsoft road. For me, it is time to try something new.

[Fabdial]

Get a life, get a Mac

Wrong : Get Handcuffs -> Get a Mac

[nikster]

Here's one guy who seems really happy with Win 7

For you non-geeks, that's Linus Torvalds, inventor of Linux... having a laugh at the Win7 booth.

Edited October 24, 2009 by nikster

[Fabdial]

I think you will find that people with experience of Windows 7 will generally echo my comments

I have found that the vast majority of people that are slagging Win 7 have never even seen it, let alone installed it and used it. Or they are typical MAC/Linux trolls with nothing better to do. PC's are a tool that's it, its not a religion and not a reason to spend all your day crapping on other people's opinions. I too have been using 7 since the Beta and could not be happier with it. I laugh when I read all these trolls complaining about this that and the other.. when I did ZERO hardware upgrades to a two year old machine and it runs much faster than XP (benchmarked) and I find it much easier to move around with the repeated locations for so many functions..

If you are happy with your MAC or your NIX box, great and good for you. But until you actually install and use a product day in and day out, assuming it sucks based on a previous product by the same company you are simply painting yourself as ignorant. You might actually like the product if you open your mind.

For the record I have a MAC and run Linux on my netbook, so please spare me the flames... I also run Solaris on a web server, if you really want to talk OS comparisons...

Good post, Traderjim.

For me, it's much more about the software I run than the OS. I use Adobe Illustrator a lot. Yes, Linux has vector graphics software. But how much time and effort is required to learn what I already know in AI? What functions that AI has are available/missing from the Linux equivalent. Same issue.

Okay, maybe it runs on WINE. But AI is already slow enough on XP. If it's slower on WINE, I have to pass.

And I sure could use more RAM with some of my big vector files.

Will I upgrade from XP? Probably, after SP1? My main board is getting cranky after 4 years so my new one will probably have 8g of RAM.

I'm using Adobe CS4 suite on Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bits. I've also 8Gb ram, but I think we will have to wait for the CS5 to see a real improvement. Today, Photoshop only in its 64bits version can take advantage of the 8Gb of Ram. Anyway there's also some bugs with this 64bits version, for example it doesn't respect the proportional text size according the dpi resolution. The text size is still based on 72dpi even on 300dpi, I let you imagine the problem when working in 300 dpi. Anyway, it's really great to use more than 4Gb with Photoshop, much faster, less swap disk and the files are saved much faster. For the other CS4 softwares, I don't think you will be allowed to use more than 3 or 4Gb...

Can't wait for the Adobe CS5 that should make a turn because all softwares will be available in 64Bits especially for Premiere Pro.

Edited October 24, 2009 by Fabdial

[bdenner]

Even though my hardware is current (well near too) and some of the best available, XP Prof SP3 WILL remain my OS of choice whilst it is still supported. It's not only the hardware that one must consider but the Software compatibility issues as well.

Edited October 24, 2009 by bdenner

[tropo]

No

Well now there speaks an open mind

Yeah, about as open minded as a person who rejects Windows 7 out of hand before it has even hit the shelves.

[nikster]

I think it's really simple - if you are using any Windows version and you really want to continue doing so - Windows 7 is great! Best Windows ever, no doubt. It's better than XP because XP is not being improved anymore. It only receives security patches, but no new features, no improved search, nothing. Gotta go with 7, and it's mighty fine compared to other Windows versions.

For those of us who have switched to OS X there is no reason to look back. Features-wise, you are looking at OS X 10.4. There's no "oh, dam_n, Windows is looking so good now"-moment there. It's still unmistakably Windows. It's not bad. It's also not particularly good. I'll be able to work with it if I have to and it's still as clunky as it was.

Likewise for Linux people - those who are happy with Linux have no reason to switch.

See? All is good.

Edited October 24, 2009 by nikster

[RKASA]

I ran the win7 releases as they came out on a newer PC, but I never ran vista so can't compair them.  I didn't get all turned on by it and deleted it.

I run XP native in the first place so I don't need win7 for the vm. It only comes in the high end version, plus I never got to see the vm in testing so I don't even know what will work in that anyway. 

I found no real bugs but the EBCK type and it worked vary well, but its just not necessary for me.  

I maintain images of my XP installs and never use them online so they will run another 15years if I like. Thats much cheaper then win7 Ultimate.  Buying 4X 500g drives would be money better spent. IMHO

Vista's biggest problem was its an Edsel and was never necessary at the time,  Most likely nothing wrong with ether of them in the end, and at least I have run one of them.  I never found a need for XP until 2005 when I got a newer PC.  gee thats not to long ago ether.

I use XP for a few programs and with an image of the install I don't ever have to even reinstall if it were to crash just dd and restore MBR, (drives are cheap always get matching sets it makes image backups a dream)  plus its not online so security is never as big an issue for me.  

If I do replace XP, it might be with a console because a few games are the only thing I really need windows for anyway.

Some people have special needs for windows, but most things that most people do can be done without windows and done for free if they try.

At some point I am sure I ll get a new desktop and win7 will be on it, but then I ll just install more drives and put Linux on it and start making image back ups for them also.  I have never bought a new OS without it per-installed and working on a new PC anyway 

If you really want win7 get a new PC with it and turn your old one into a safe surf and downloader PC and protect that win7 with the best firewall they make (thin air).   How can anyone survive with only one PC? that would be like a single desktop in a windows environment.

Those that love it I hope you have many hours of enjoyment and few problems,  Cheers    Well that old lemel box keeps rebooting at random where did I put that hammer.......,  no no the big one.... no bigger then that.

[Camelot]

I seem to be one of the small number of people in the world who are quite happy with Vista Home Premium. I see no reason to change my OS for now.

Edited October 24, 2009 by Camelot

[Arkady]

I think the poll should be reworded to "Will you down-grade to windows 7?". Considering you'll have to upgrade to higher end computers, receive the same performance as XP on older hardware, and be prevented from using pirated software/music by the OS, I'd say it's a down-grade...

Does Windows 7 prevent the use of pirated software and music?

[phetaroi]

I seem to be one of the small number of people in the world who are quite happy with Vista Home Premium. I see no reason to change my OS for now.

Although I've only been using it for a month, I have found it to be stable and I like the features. I feel like you.

Of course, it's my impression that initially Vista was plagued with problems and the resulting negative publicity made it the Edsel another poster mentioned.

[OriginalPoster]

I seem to be one of the small number of people in the world who are quite happy with Vista Home Premium. I see no reason to change my OS for now.

I don't have significant problems with Vista Home either, nor do I with XP. If I switch one of my machines over to Windows 7 it will just be in the interests if learning more about it. Win 7 (or earlier versions of Windows for that matter) versus other operating systems is another matter though. I've often found it strange that evangelists slagging Windows claim to be so smart and yet find Windows to be so difficult. If they were that smart (as opposed to being mere rigid and condescending) they wouldn't have so much trouble with it. Particularly in the case of Linux the evanglism is absurd - to try to portray it as being more suited for non-expert users and having less hardware compatibility issues is just plain daffy.

Edited October 25, 2009 by OriginalPoster