User Panel
Posted: 8/8/2009 9:56:56 AM EDT
When Vista was released, I did like any good IT guy would do and installed it on my work machine, so that I could use the snot out of it and see what worked well, and what didn't. Like anything else, it took a little getting used to. The networking configuration was all different, the endless UAC nagging was a little much (I ended up turning it off), and as one might expect - some of my hardware was a little flaky (driver issues), and I had a few apps I needed at work that flat out wouldn't install in anything but XP. I had it joined to a domain, but when I was disconnected from the domain and logged in using cached credentials, it behaved very strangely (common file dialogs would take literally 5 minutes to open 30 minutes after logging in...shit like that).
When SP1 was released, most of the annoyances were gone. This, along with installing updated device drivers as they were released, made my machine perfectly stable and fine. Most of my apps now worked in Vista (updated versions and all that). At this point, I didn't dislike Vista (it worked just fine - rock solid) but I didn't really "like" it better than XP either. I appreciated the eye candy and all, but truth be told - a clean XP install on my dual core laptop + 3GB RAM was a little snappier. Vista wasn't really slow or anything, but it just didn't have Teh Snappy™, know what I mean? I used it for months, more or less liked it just fine for what it was, then went back to running Linux with XP in a virtual machine. So I get a new job, and one of the developers is goofing around with the Windows 7 release candidate. He wouldn't shut up about how nice he thought it was (the phrase "Everything Vista should have been" kept coming up), so I decided that I'd do just as I did with Vista, and install it on my personal laptop, but use it for both work and play. I wanted it to be my primary machine, so that I could give it a thorough test. I've been using it for 2 weeks now, and....holy shit. I LOVE IT. The install (clean, from scratch) was so damn easy, I'm pretty sure my grandmother could figure it out. Nearly every device on my Thinkpad T61 was recognized right out of the gate, and the couple that weren't were installed as soon as I hit Windows Update. I did not have to download and install a single driver manually. Shit, even my fingerprint reader was recognized. It's fast. Real fast. As a matter of fact, it runs faster on this laptop than a clean XP install. I did NOT expect that. It doesn't have that "sluggish" feel that Vista did. Applications pop open very quickly, and you don't get that "Wow, this thing is working way too hard to do something this trivial" feeling. And get this - I have ALL of the eye candy turned on. I haven't "optimized" anything, turned off Aero, etc. It's actually a pleasure to use this. I haven't even booted my Linux box since installing Windows 7. I can't believe how much of a pleasure this is to use. The interface improvements are VERY well thought out, and they MAKE SENSE. The new taskbar...all I can say is "It's about damn time!". A few years ago, i was helping a friend and fellow arfcommer with his Mac (wireless thing). I had never even seen OSX at that point and it was just fine, but the one thing that stood out to me was the dock. After using it for a bit, I said "This is cool as shit, and a much better way of managing open applications". I liked it so much, that I set out to see if somebody had ripped off the idea under Linux and sure enough - they did. I've been using a dock clone on my Linux boxen ever since. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that Microsoft has more or less adapted a similar concept with the new taskbar. Somebody will be quick to point out that Apple has been doing this for years, and Microsoft is Johnny Come Lately with it. That's exactly right, and I don't give a shit. The fact is, it works, and it's about time that I have it available under Windows. A good idea, is a good idea - stolen, or otherwise. I like it. For those that don't know, it's a different way of thinking about launching applications, and switching between open ones. The same icon that opens your app from the taskbar is the same icon that switches to it once it's open. It's the equivalent of saying "I want to open Outlook. I don't care if it's open or not, this is the Outlook icon. Show it to me.". If the application is not open, it will be opened. If it is already open, it will be shown to you. Multiple instances of the same application are grouped together. When you hover your mouse over the application's icon in the taskbar, it immediately shows you a thumbnailed list of each instance (and fast! I can't believe how quickly the eye candy functions. There's no perceptible performance tradeoff). The system tray no longer sucks. All applications that also run in the system tray are now completely configuable. You have the ability to hide ones you don't want to see, show the ones that you do, and even hide them while allowing them to show notifications. In XP, each applicaton in the system tray has it's own (hopefully) options for configuring options like this. In Windows 7, the OS handles it. Much easier. There is no longer a way to revert to the "classic" Start Menu. I thought this would piss me off to no end, but I was mistaken. This is clearly better anyway. The one thing that I LOVE LOVE LOVE, is the search that's available right from the Start Menu. It is so freaking comprehensive, it blows my mind. I don't even bother looking for apps under "All Programs". I just start typing the name of the app I want and it pops right up as I'm typing. Oh, and it also starts showing me everything else on my machine that matches what I'm typing - emals, tags I've given pictures, docs and spreadsheets (contents included), shit...ALBUM NAMES in the id3 tags on my MP3's...!!! And it categorizes these "search as you type" results, so that it's very readable. It's. Freaking. Awesome. "Gosh, where did I store that design document I wrote last week? Let's type something from it...uh...'Java Telephony Application Programming Interf....' Oh, look! There's my design doc, and the emails where I referenced it, and the Cisco PDF's that document that subsystem, and my Visio for it, and....". It's extremely comprehensive. And oddly enough, there seems to be NO performance hit for all this indexing that's going on. It obviously runs as a low priority task, because again - my machine hauls ass, and it's faster than a bone stock XP install. I've "optimized" nothing. All the goodies are turned on. The UAC in Vista pissed me off enough, that I ended up turning it off. Not so in Windows 7. I've completely left it alone. The only time that it prompts me to allow an action (in the two weeks that I've been using this thing), is when I'm installing new software, or doing something that would require Administrator priviledges (sysadmin stuff, in other words). It's so non-obtrusive and rational, that I've left it alone. It actually prompts about as much as Ubuntu does - in other words, only when it actually matters. Awesome. I'm really loving the UI improvements. Not only are they fun, but after using this for 12 hours a day at work and at home, they're FUNCTIONAL. Everything is easier, and saves time. A few seconds here a few seconds there - it adds up. I love that when I'm sitting on the couch (and I don't have my dual displays hooked up), that I can drag a window to one side of my screen and it's automatically resized at half screen width. As I'm writing documentation, or following a howto, I'm constantly finding myself with two windows side by side. Without two displays, this used to mean manually sizing the left window, then the right one, so I could look at them both. Now I just drag one window all the way to the left, and the other one to the right, and bam! Two adjacent Windows, sized perfectly. I've become so used to this, that when I sit at an XP box, I forget that this isn't available and I get irritated when it "fails". I could go on, but man...I really love Windows 7. A lot. It actually makes using your computer a pleasant experience. The general impression that you get while using it is... Clean. Polished. Refined. Extremely well thought out. Whereas Vista (or even Linux + Gnome with Beryl and all that turned on) seems to cheaply wow you with the eye candy, Windows 7 manages to pull it off without it looking tacky, and while giving the impression that this is functional first, pleasing to the senses second. It's professional, not "Let's impress teenagers with the whiz bang shit". I'm going to go ahead right here and now, and proclaim Windows XP dead. This is rock solid, faster, easier to use, and you know something? When I use an XP box now, I feel like one might when using an early copy of Windows 95. Compared to this, it looks and feels...well...old. Almost cartoonish, really. Dated. I almost never compliment Microsoft on anything, but this is very, very, very well done. I'm had pressed to find anything I really don't like about it. Every time I turn around, I'm finding something new that makes me say "Well shit, why didn't they think of that sooner?". So, consider this a ringing endorsement from a hard core Linux freak (and always will be). I haven't used Linux for anything other than server tasks, or really custom stuff that I need to script, since installing Windows 7 two weeks ago. For a guy like me, THAT'S really saying something. I like using this that much. So there you have it. |
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Holy crap... They got to subnet!
Alet! Alet! (thanks for the comprehensive overview... Guess I need to break down and load it up) |
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Heh...
I skipped Vista, and am now rinning W7... My only complaint, is the removal of the *OPTION* to use the old XP-style start menu, and the hiding of the quick-launch bar (as someone who HATES tabbed web browsing with a passion, the inability to click a 'pinned' Firefox icon & get a new window = )... While the old-style quick-launch can be brought back with a few clicks (to 're-add' it as a toolbar option) they never should have 'hid' it in the first place... The traditional START menu, OTOH, is just *not there*... Of course, I also hate the new O2k7 interface... But I will probably get used to no traditional start menu eventually, once I remember it's now 'CTRL+ESC, <command>' rather than 'CTRL+ESC, R, <command>'.... |
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Congrats on the new job and thanks for the 7 review. I'll finish reading your long-ass post later!
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Fun.... functional..... fast..... great, intuitive UI...... 'just works'.....
If you added 'safe from eventually being bogged down by malware', you'd be describing a certain other computer company. Anyway, glad you're happy and I hope all ARFCOM PC users have the same experience. PS: Congrats on the job. |
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i haven't kept up with this, but in addition to the operation and visual improvements are there significant architectural changes? is it just another windows??
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I've been thinking about building a new machine when Windows 7 comes out, but I wasn't sure it was worth jumping on it so soon. I think you might have sold me, though.
I'm pretty much like you. I don't hate Vista, it just isn't better than XP. I've been using it on my home computer for about a year and a half, so I've gotten used to it. If Windows 7 is "Vista, but better" the day it comes out (which is what I've been hearing for a while now, just wasn't quite convinced) then I'm sold. |
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I've heard rumblings that Windows 7 is good, but it's nice to hear some specifics. I'm running XUbuntu as my primary box and an iMac as my second box. If there's a way to install Windows 7 on the iMac, I'm definitely going to do it.
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Been using it since beta, a while back. Loathed Vista, figured I'd be on XP forever. Don't have a single regret going to Win7. They looked at Vista, figured out what was broken and what needed to be included in a next-generation operating system, and got it right. Once I got the hang of the pinned task bar (which I love now), everything was good to go. Little bumpy early in beta with driver availability, but that cleared up relatively quick and I haven't had a single issue since.
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Quoted: Heh... I skipped Vista, and am now rinning W7... My only complaint, is the removal of the *OPTION* to use the old XP-style start menu, and the hiding of the quick-launch bar (as someone who HATES tabbed web browsing with a passion, the inability to click a 'pinned' Firefox icon & get a new window = )... While the old-style quick-launch can be brought back with a few clicks (to 're-add' it as a toolbar option) they never should have 'hid' it in the first place... The traditional START menu, OTOH, is just *not there*... Of course, I also hate the new O2k7 interface... But I will probably get used to no traditional start menu eventually, once I remember it's now 'CTRL+ESC, <command>' rather than 'CTRL+ESC, R, <command>'.... I spend at least 1/3 of my day using every conceivable feature of the various Office products. At first I hated the new ribbon interface, but now I prefer it. I realized that the only reason I didn't like it, was because I wasn't used to it (old dog, new tricks...that sort of thing). I can find what I need MUCH faster, because everything is intelligently laid out. Instead of having a toolbar absolutely CRAMMED with tiny buttons, or having to dig through menus, everything is nice and easy to read with categorized groups. I'd be upset if I was forced to go back to O2k3. And not liking tabbed browsing it just wierd, man. |
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excellent review. i'll be buying a new machine around xmas and it looks like this may the the thing we computer illiterate plebians need
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Quoted: Did they suck out your brain, or is this for serious? I'm not now, nor have ever been a Microsoft "hater". If it's good, it's good. If it sucks, it sucks. It's not religion for me. I use what works for the task I'm doing. |
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Quoted: Fun.... functional..... fast..... great, intuitive UI...... 'just works'..... If you added 'safe from eventually being bogged down by malware', you'd be describing a certain other computer company. Anyway, glad you're happy and I hope all ARFCOM PC users have the same experience. PS: Congrats on the job. I don't dislike OSX either, and never have. I run Linux because I'm a geek and it works the way I think. I run Windows, because a great many applications that I love (or need) are Windows only (ditto for some of my hadware). At work, if I'm on a Linux box, 90% of my day would be spent running Windows in a virtual machine. If I had a Mac, I'd have to do the same thing. For what it's worth, I've never had a problem with malware under Windows. Ever. I think it's because I use my computer differently than non-IT people. The real test I suppose, is seeing how somebody like my mother or my grandmother fare, when they've been running Win7 for a year. Those two could jack up anything. |
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Thanks for the review subnet...
I am really looking forward to trying it out. Oh and +1 to your comments about Office 2007 |
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Sounds great but since most of the industrial software I use is just recently getting around to working on compatibility with Vista it will likely be a few years before I can use it as a primary OS.
God I wish the control/automation sector was more open to innovation. |
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And just think Sub, I offered you a copy of the Windows 7 RC several months ago, and you weren't that interested.... Bet you're kickin' yourself now
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I'm just waiting for the RTM to be released to MSDNAA folks so I can install a VM of it on my Mac, and then upgrade my work Vista box to Windows 7.
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I'm just waiting for the RTM to be released to MSDNAA folks so I can install a VM of it on my Mac, and then upgrade my work Vista box to Windows 7. Dude, your avatar is disturbing. What the fuck is that? |
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Quoted: My MSDNAA admin told me that MS has it up on their end, but we don't have it on our server yet. Since I don't want to spend 14 hours pulling it from MS, I'll wait until they get it on the server locally.I'm just waiting for the RTM to be released to MSDNAA folks so I can install a VM of it on my Mac, and then upgrade my work Vista box to Windows 7. |
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I am waiting for Windows 7 before I buy a new laptop.
The one I have shipped with Windows 98 SE. |
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I'm just waiting for the RTM to be released to MSDNAA folks so I can install a VM of it on my Mac, and then upgrade my work Vista box to Windows 7. Dude, your avatar is disturbing. What the fuck is that? Have you ever seen the movie Major League? It's the voodoo doll thing that Ceranno (The POTUS from 24, Sgt Major from The Unit) prays to. He brings him Rum, Cigars and Chicken in order to be a better baseball player hahah http://touts.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/the-powers-of-jobu-reality-or-myth/ |
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My MSDNAA admin told me that MS has it up on their end, but we don't have it on our server yet. Since I don't want to spend 14 hours pulling it from MS, I'll wait until they get it on the server locally.
I'm just waiting for the RTM to be released to MSDNAA folks so I can install a VM of it on my Mac, and then upgrade my work Vista box to Windows 7. Hmmm, I haven't asked our admin yet. I may shoot them an email on Monday and see what they say. I know regular MSDN folks already have it. |
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Just started downloading it. . .based solely on Subnet's review.
Lots of people talked about how wonderful Vista was. . .lots of people who don't actually *use* computers every day. Sure, it has eye candy, which impress casual users. . .but heaven forbid you try to actually *work* the machine! So, if Subnet is cool with W7, I'll give it a shot. |
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Quoted: Sounds great but since most of the industrial software I use is just recently getting around to working on compatibility with Vista it will likely be a few years before I can use it as a primary OS. God I wish the control/automation sector was more open to innovation. NOT a problem. You can download a free copy of Windows Virtual PC, and a free copy of Windows XP Mode (legally). You install your industrial software inside the XP virtual machine, and Windows 7 will automatically add it to the native Start Menu. It looks and acts as if you're running it under Windows 7, but the application is actually running in a virtualized XP environment. I have an application at work (Cisco Agent and Supervisor Desktops) that will not even install under Windows 7 - the installer does an OS check. No problem at all, with XP Mode and Virtual PC. Again, it's seamless. Instead of firing up the XP virtual machine, *then* launching my old software (like you do with other virtualization products), I simply run my old software right from the Win7 Start Menu. The fact that it's running in a virtual machine is transparent to me, the user. They really did think of everything. |
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definitely an improvement in my mind (on both XP and Vista), but it is not stopping me from migrating everything i can to Mac and Linux
a few short years will give way to more and more netbook-style computers running a google chrome OS (or similar linux distro) connected via WiMAX or other high speed network connections, with more and more apps being web based or hosted. Windows 7 cannot change the fact that heavy desktop OSes are going to be a thing of the past. |
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I've been using Vista since it came out and like it overall, but like everyone says, it has its issues. This is really making me want to swtich to Windows 7. Only problem I have right now is I have no dvd burner to make a RC copy with. dang
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Quoted: Just started downloading it. . .based solely on Subnet's review. Lots of people talked about how wonderful Vista was. . .lots of people who don't actually *use* computers every day. Sure, it has eye candy, which impress casual users. . .but heaven forbid you try to actually *work* the machine! So, if Subnet is cool with W7, I'll give it a shot. You're welcome! I deliberately kept it non-technical. My fellow IT geeks either already know what's up, or they know where to look for that sort of thing. Full disclosure, though: I actually like the new EE better than the old one (it's technically superior). Consider this carefully, when reading my thoughts on something. |
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Did they suck out your brain, or is this for serious? I'm not now, nor have ever been a Microsoft "hater". If it's good, it's good. If it sucks, it sucks. It's not religion for me. I use what works for the task I'm doing. I know it, and that's why I'm so surprised. While I realize MS had more riding on this release than perhaps any previous OS, I just didn't expect them to get it right. I never expect any of them to get it right. |
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Quoted: Quoted: My MSDNAA admin told me that MS has it up on their end, but we don't have it on our server yet. Since I don't want to spend 14 hours pulling it from MS, I'll wait until they get it on the server locally.I'm just waiting for the RTM to be released to MSDNAA folks so I can install a VM of it on my Mac, and then upgrade my work Vista box to Windows 7. My MSDN copy of the RTM will be on my desk early September, I'm told. Even if I didn't have that, I like Win7 Ultimate enough to actually pay for it. |
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NOOO!!! How am I going to keep hating Microsoft with reviews like that??
I had just about decided that as soon as I could find a good stock screener that runs under Linux, I was going to kick Windows to the curb and not look back. The final straw was the WGA thing that Microsoft snuck onto my computer by categorizing it as a "critical update." And they have apparently invested a lot of effort in making it impossible to remove. This kind of shit just pisses me off. I still haven't activated it, so I have to close the window every time. Before that, it was the DRM built into Vista. Something else that uses my computers resources while doing jack for me. And there's a long list of other generally abhorrent stuff that they did before that, that gave me plenty of justification for the M$ hatred that I've become quite comfortable with. But there is always something that doesn't run, or just doesn't work as well, under Linux. Like stock screeners, or games, or even video drivers. I find myself battling with the realization that sometimes you have to compromise your principles so that you can get on with life. And now you, someone whose opinion in computer matters I've come to respect, are tempting me to send money to the Evil Empire. Can I install Windows 7, and still hate Microsoft? |
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I'm just waiting for the RTM to be released to MSDNAA folks so I can install a VM of it on my Mac, and then upgrade my work Vista box to Windows 7. Dude, your avatar is disturbing. What the fuck is that? Have you ever seen the movie Major League? It's the voodoo doll thing that Ceranno (The POTUS from 24, Sgt Major from The Unit) prays to. He brings him Rum, Cigars and Chicken in order to be a better baseball player hahah http://touts.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/the-powers-of-jobu-reality-or-myth/ I forgot all about that movie, LoL |
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My MSDNAA admin told me that MS has it up on their end, but we don't have it on our server yet. Since I don't want to spend 14 hours pulling it from MS, I'll wait until they get it on the server locally.
I'm just waiting for the RTM to be released to MSDNAA folks so I can install a VM of it on my Mac, and then upgrade my work Vista box to Windows 7. My MSDN copy of the RTM will be on my desk early September, I'm told. Even if I didn't have that, I like Win7 Ultimate enough to actually pay for it. That's weird, from what I was reading the RTM has been out to MSDN folks since Thurs/Fri of last week. I figured the Academic version of it would take a bit longer (considering we aren't paying for anything). |
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Windows 7 RTM is on the downloads section for MSDN subscribers.
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Yup, its a gem. I have been using it since it was first released on technet. I have it running on most of my machines and am going to order the family license when it comes out. The command line / search function in the start menu is amazing. No more navigating with the mouse, I also like having the "connect with remote desktop function when highlighting a networked computer and left clicking the mouse.
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Quoted: The DRM is actually pretty well done. It's doing nothing on my machine at all, unless that subsystem is actually required (while watching a BlueRay DVD, for example). For 99.9% of the things I'm doing on my machine all day long, DRM facilities are neither being used nor are they required. NOOO!!! How am I going to keep hating Microsoft with reviews like that?? I had just about decided that as soon as I could find a good stock screener that runs under Linux, I was going to kick Windows to the curb and not look back. The final straw was the WGA thing that Microsoft snuck onto my computer by categorizing it as a "critical update." And they have apparently invested a lot of effort in making it impossible to remove. This kind of shit just pisses me off. I still haven't activated it, so I have to close the window every time. Before that, it was the DRM built into Vista. Something else that uses my computers resources while doing jack for me. And there's a long list of other generally abhorrent stuff that they did before that, that gave me plenty of justification for the M$ hatred that I've become quite comfortable with. But there is always something that doesn't run, or just doesn't work as well, under Linux. Like stock screeners, or games, or even video drivers. I find myself battling with the realization that sometimes you have to compromise your principles so that you can get on with life. And now you, someone whose opinion in computer matters I've come to respect, are tempting me to send money to the Evil Empire. Can I install Windows 7, and still hate Microsoft? As for WGA...it's a reality of using commercial software. If you actually own a legitimate copy of Windows, you're fine. I installed it with XP the moment Microsoft released it (I actually needed it for things like Windows Media Encoder), and to be honest with you - I'd completely forgotten about it. It's transparent to me, the user. Not one glitch, and as far as resource usage goes...nobody using XP on my personal machine would have ever said it was slow or sluggish. Microsoft has the right to charge for their software if they'd like, and it stands to reason that they want to make sure people aren't pirating it. There are hundereds of thousands of machines running free copies of XP with keys they got from friends, family, etc, so MS is trying to balance keeping things transparent for legitimate users, while crippling those who aren't. For my part, I've never had an issue with any of it. Everybody loves to hate Microsoft, and I can appreciate that. But man...I really like Windows 7. A lot. It's been my contention that the DRM "problem" is waaaaay overblown. |
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Holy crap... They got to subnet!
Seriously, that's about the best review you could get on this thing. I'm using XP Home on a moderately powerful box (Dell 2.8 GHz P4, 2G ram, onboard video) and am perfectly content with it. But, if lightning hits it I would need a new box and sure as hell didn't want to get stuck with Vista or some variety of Linux. I use Linux 95% of the time but Windows is just flat out needed for some things. I'm glad to know there's an alternative to Vista. |
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Quoted: Windows 7 RTM is on the downloads section for MSDN subscribers. I haven't been given the credientials for it, since starting the new gig. One of the other IT guys told me that we were getting a hard copy with the rest of our regular updates, in September. I figured it'd be earlier than that, but that's fine. |
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Meh, I don't know if it's the best thing since sliced bread but I like it.
Most of the really annoying shit that vista did is nowhere to be found. It runs pretty snappy and 64/32 compatibility is a whole lot better. It will frigging hog the memory though... Uptime of three days and like 800 megs of 8 gigs free. Not a problem. Just shocked to see a desktop OS suck up 8 gigs of ram. |
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I dunno. I kinda like XP, I've used it for a while and I'm really comfortable with it. A few programs I use for work are not supported under Vista or 7 (their words, not mine, I can't see why they wouldn't work, but anyways).
That said, my work laptop is getting a little long in the tooth. I'll probably get another one at the end of this year or whenever this one blows up, whichever comes first, and then I won't really have any option but to go with Vista or Windows 7. |
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Quoted: I've heard rumblings that Windows 7 is good, but it's nice to hear some specifics. I'm running XUbuntu as my primary box and an iMac as my second box. If there's a way to install Windows 7 on the iMac, I'm definitely going to do it. If it's an x86 based mac, then Apple's 'BootCamp' will let you run Windows... |
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The upgrade path is terrible... and there's no Vista discount.
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I wonder if they're going to have another ad campaign telling everyone if they don't upgrade they're flat-eather neanderthals. It worked so well for Vista.
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It will frigging hog the memory though... Uptime of three days and like 800 megs of 8 gigs free. Not a problem. Just shocked to see a desktop OS suck up 8 gigs of ram. Meanwhile Linux and OSX have little problem operating with 512MB of total RAM, they're just a little slower than normal. I've got YD Linux going on my PS3 with a whole 256MB of system RAM with the option to use the 256MB of VRAM to bolster that when necessary, and still have MB left over for applications. Got MacOS 10.4.11 running on my G5 with 6.5GB of RAM, a pile of apps open in addition to the OS, and only 2 GB of RAM are in use at the moment. What can you say, when the competitors' programmers are better, they're better. |
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Quoted: Meh, I don't know if it's the best thing since sliced bread but I like it. Most of the really annoying shit that vista did is nowhere to be found. It runs pretty snappy and 64/32 compatibility is a whole lot better. It will frigging hog the memory though... Uptime of three days and like 800 megs of 8 gigs free. Jot a problem. Just shocked to see a desktop OS suck up 8 gigs of ram. I don't know for sure, but I'm almost positive is that it's caching frequently used data (for speed). Might as well use the RAM for something, since you've got 8GB of it. I don't see a problem, unless it doens't free the RAM it's using when another application needs it (or is slow to release it). On my machine, the Task Manager shows that I have 67MB (out of 3GB) "free". But a closer look shows that 2004MB of memory is being used as a cache. As I sit here and open memory hogging apps, the allocated "cached' memory is reduced immediately (as is the real available memory), while the "free" memory remains more or less the same. If you take the cached memory out of the equation, I'm using around 950MB of RAM right now, in reality. 4 years ago, I would have screamed "BLOAT!!!". But today, in 2009, 3GB of RAM costs next to nothing. And it's certainly not being wasted in my opinion, given how impressive the final result is. |
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I was equally impressed with the RC. It installed just as easily on my laptop and recognized all devices. Windows update automatically, and correctly, identified my video chipset and downloaded the correct drivers. That was pretty impressive to me as it was a specialized hacked driver specifically for this machine. It also did a very good job of recognizing the Vista install already present, partitioning my hard drive and installing a plain but entirely functional boot loader. Not even Ubuntu has that done as well.
Win7 has been pretty well thought out. I expect I'll actually go out and buy it when my RC starts complaining, and I certainly wouldn't consider buying a computer right now unless it offered a free upgrade when win7 is available. |
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What can you say, when the competitors' programmers are better, they're better. From what I'm reading, it's designed to use 90-95% of whatever ram you have available. It just keeps your most commonly used libraries in ram because it makes apps load without hitting the disk. The differences in speed for an app like Office or PhotoShop are noticeable. Opening a gigantic excel spreadsheet now takes no longer than opening a tiny one... as an example. |
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