Windows 7: Everything that Vista Wasn't...

[JeffreyWilliamson]

A few years ago I signed up for an early release of Vista, and after a nightmare experience with it I went back to XP. No drivers, crashed constantly, looked ugly, etc. After building a new computer a I picked up a finished copy of Vista and have used it since, although prior to the release of Service Pack 1 it had its share of regular problems.

So, after much debate I decided to sign up and try out Windows 7. I let a couple of positive reviews convince me that it might be worth giving it a try, even after the Vista experience. I've got to say, it's everything Vista wasn't. Everything recognized on install, faster than my copy of Vista with SP1, easier to use, (particularly the new taskbar layout), and ultra stable--and this is a pre-release copy!

It still doesn't compare to the eye-candy of your typical Mac, but I'm definitely impressed to the point that I'll be in line for a final copy when this is released to stores in a few months. It looks like after the Vista debacle, Microsoft finally got it right.

Has anyone else tried it, and what are your thoughts?

[Pisces]

1. Are you being paid by microsoft?

[Renew Deal]

2. Who pays you?

[JeffreyWilliamson]

4. No.

That would be cool though if I was, they can certainly afford it.

I signed up for a public copy a while back but never used it. They are putting out the final release candidate in a couple of days for public review, and I got a copy of it early. The license I signed up for allows me to activate it so I figured what the hey.

[madokie]

29. could you send us a link to this lastest release?

Please

[Teaser]

25. Obnoxiousness FAIL

.

[onehandle]

3. Yeah. I seem to remember the same claims about Vista... and XP... and 95... and Bob. nt

[JeffreyWilliamson]

5. I remember that as well.

I also remember sucky ME. Trust me though, this one's different. I've been shocked.

[tridim]

6. XP lives up to all claims

It's rock solid. I've run XP-64bit since the day it was released.

Good news about 7, I never made the Vista move just because I didn't need to.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

13. I ran a 64-bit copy on this pc using an extra hard drive...

Yesterday I put a 32-bit copy on my laptop. Both have been perfect experiences. This laptop is a few years old and came with XP. 7 is matching it speed-wise. I was never able to get it to run Vista because it hogged too many system resources.

[Renew Deal]

8. Then your memory is terrible,

Vista got killed in reviews and tests. XP and 95 were highly and deservedly praised.

[av8rdave]

47. In my experience, 95 was the worst OS I ever dealt with

Very unstable, usually required 4 to 5 reboots a day, and unending "illegal operation" popups.

I got along pretty well with Windows 3.1, but have never liked any Microsoft OS since.

[Renew Deal]

61. Yes, but 95 was a major step forward from 3.1

It changed the way people worked and is basically the foundation for modern personal computing. As far as stability... it left a lot to be desired.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

Y'know, I still have a copy of Bob around here somewhere.

Did you know it actually works on XP? (Not that it actually does anything, but it still works...)

:rofl:

[MineralMan]

27. So does Bubba -- My 1994 Spoof of Microsoft Bob

www.osomin.com/bubba.zip

It had more installed copies than Bob, and got worldwide publicity, along with the futile enmity of Bill Gates.

If you download it, unzip the whole thing into its own directory and drag bubba.exe to the desktop. A couple of things are broken, but...nothing serious.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

30. That's a real hoot, y'all!

Thanks!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[MineralMan]

48. Thank ya kindly...

It was written for Windows 3.1. Still runs in Vista. The only flaws are a lack of the Write, Calendar, and Communications program in Vista. Oh, well.

[izquierdista]

7. Microsoft has always gotten it right

Right = Getting the customer to pay for a new operating system like clockwork.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

14. Very true...

:rofl:

[Sal Minella]

39. "Mission Accomplished" in cyberworld = more wealth to the wealthy,

more agonies to the non-wealthy.

[Maven]

9. The "new" taskbar is easier to use

because it's basically a carbon copy of the OS X dock with a few needless bells and whistles, and a predictably clunkier design.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

41. Apple has screwed up the latest instantiation that function. Really a step back

[corkhead]

10. Micro$oft has a history of screwing up every other OS release

dating back to the early versions of Windows. Remember Windows 3.11? how about ME, or 2000. They are due for a good one.
I am of the opinion that their biggest problem with Vista was PR. I was an early adopter of Vista and have had very few problems, except for a licensing snafu where they locked up all of my machines and accused me of not having an "authentic" license. They eventually corrected their mistake after I spent the better part of a day on the phone with India.

All that said, I am a MCSE that is seriously considering a Mac for my next computer purchase.

[tabatha]

11. Are there a lot of new interface functions to learn, going from XP?

[Regret My New Name]

18. They changed a lot of things from XP...

It's not too hard to figure things out, but there some things that will require either some time guessing or some time searching... But really, it probably takes a few hours of use to get used to it (at least it did for me).

[JeffreyWilliamson]

19. You'll find a few, yes.

Layout of personal folders and system tools will be different. System security will alert you when something tries to make changes to your computer and ask you for permission, but it doesn't do it as much as Vista does. But if you've worked with Vista there's hardly any difference at all.

It's pretty intuitive though so any differences won't cause a lot of problems. Office is another boat entirely. If you use an older copy of Office and then make the upgrade to Office 2007 you're in for a real shock.

[trotsky]

12. I agree with your assessment.

Vista was evidently designed for hardware that still hasn't been invented yet.

Windows 7 is faster, has a lighter feel, and as you note, remarkably stable even when it was beta. I was impressed that it ran quite well on a very old laptop (Dell Latitude D610) and was even able to turn on the Aero features whereas Vista on that old thing was literally unusable.

[Bolo Boffin]

16. I've never had any problems with Vista that I knew about

It runs all right for me. I'm a casual user, though.

I'll probably get my new laptop for Christmas with 7, if it's out. Yay, new toys!

[theblasmo]

58. Me, Either

I 've had no problems with Vista. I like the look and it has never locked up on me, unlike XP and IE8.

[backscatter712]

15. I'll stick with Linux, thank you.

You can have my Ubuntu and Mint when you take my mouse from my cold dead fingers!

[ProgressiveProfessor]

43. Jackalope has tightened things up under the hood

[backscatter712]

52. Indeed!

I haven't gotten around to upgrading my laptop to use it, but I'm gonna be doing just that.

[Toucano]

75. Best upgrade experience so far.

A couple of bugs, but generally nothing critical.

I've been using Ubuntu since Dapper.

[L0oniX]

71. Hack my FreeBSD box.

[Toucano]

74. Here! Here!

Why would anybody pay for an operating system?

[negativenihil]

17. Been using it as my main os on my windows pc since the public beta...

...and have updated to the RC build.

This is what vista should have been. So far no issues with it apart from some apps not being built to take advantage of the new task bar, but that's not a big deal.

[JeffreyWilliamson]

21. I'm debating going ahead and dropping Vista for the RC of 7 as my main OS on this pc...

It's definitely staying on my laptop. It's running equal to or faster than XP was.

[Xithras]

24. That might be a mistake.

With Vista, the Beta and RC builds were not upgradeable to the final version when it was released, which pissed a huge number of people off when the beta clock ran out. My Vista test machine at the time had to be wiped clean and everything had to be reinstalled because that was the only way to get upgraded to the final version.

MS has already indicated that the same will hold true for 7.

[quiller4]

28. Actually Ms has indicated that the pre-release 7

will be upgradeable. It was only after we received confirmation of that that we went ahead.

[Xithras]

42. When did they say that?

The last I heard on the subject (just before the beta was released) was a statement that the beta would follow the same release and expiration parameters as Vista. The assumption at the time was that beta 7 installs would need to be wiped just as the Vista installs were.

Did they clarify that point?

Seriously, if they did, I'm upgrading now. I've only held off because I didn't want to reload twice.

[negativenihil]

33. It's rather simple

to bypass the ms upgrade block. I upgraded my public beta (build 7000) to the RC (build 7100) - and no issues.

i imagine i'll have to do the same once the RTM is released.

Now - before anyone gives me any hell for doing this - a. i dont feel like re-installing and re-doing my entire system right now b. i am well aware of ms' stance on this and their claim it's risky and c. i have current, nightly backups of all my data.

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. Me..I am happy happy with Firefox on XP, 5 speed, and stereo.

Mr. D. is building Linux/Ubuntu something,
I think it has a V-8 with turbo and white sidewalls...don't remember exactly what he said but he is proud of it so far.

Within a week of official release, there will be plenty of reviews for 7 on Cnet and Etc. sites
We will see.

[Regret My New Name]

22. I've been running 7 for a couple months now.

I like Win7 so far, and haven't had any real issues with it. As far as windows goes, I don't think I'll be going back to anything else now that I've become so attached to the new way of things (I completely skipped Vista for personal use though)

[Xithras]

23. Yes, I've used it. The naysayers are letting their MS opinions get in the way.

I've been using my MSDN Windows 7 on a development machine since its release, and I'm extremely impressed. It's what Vista should have been. Smaller memory and disk space requirements, much faster, no stability issues at all, and just enough OSX plagarism to make it easier to work with.

People like to think that anything made my MS is crap, which is really just a stupid position to take. I think MS is a crap company which has put out many crappy products in the past, but even a crappy company can put out good products from time to time. As of the last release, I have to say that Windows 7 hold the potential to become one of those rare gems from Microsoft.

A good product does nothing to take away from the fact that they're a crappy company, but the fact that they're a crappy company also doesn't detract from the reality that this looks to be a good product.

Of course, we're also talking about Beta software here. MS still has plenty of time to pile more garbage in and screw it up.

[quiller4]

26. For the last month I've been using Windows 7 at a nonprofit

where I volunteer. Prior to that, we'd been using Vista with SP 1. I share your opinion but I'm still in no rush to abandon XP on my home computer.

[Fleshdancer]

31. I haven't tried it yet...

Count me in as one of the many how downgraded after getting frustrated with Vista. Will Microsoft provide Windows 7 to everyone who already purchased Vista?

[ejpoeta]

45. do you realize who you are talking about!! dream on.

[Initech]

32. I'm building a new computer in the next couple months but waiting until Windows 7 is out.

[high density]

34. I put Windows 7 build 7000 on my laptop and it has been great

I am a bit disappointed that the classic start menu has been abandoned (the new one requires way too much scrolling and clicking) but everything else is a huge improvement. I guess I'll just have to pin everything I use the most to the front of the start menu, which makes sense but is simply another list to maintain.

[BlooInBloo]

35. Who cares? It doesn't have the filesystem.

And I won't be touching it until there's a full and good set of drivers anyway. (hugs his xp)

On the flip side, I've had a good experience with Vista Server (2008 Server).

[Sebastian Doyle]

36. W7 definitely IS better than Vista

But then, the only thing WORSE than Vista was Windows ME. And maybe "Bob".

I'd consider Windows 7 if it came pre-installed on a new PC, but I'm keeping XP on the current box (since I use Linux most of the time now anyway)

[Cleita]

37. Sorry but even if Microsoft gets its new software engineers from heaven,

after twenty years of dealing with it and its problems, I am now 100% a Mac person. The most compelling reason is that I can take my computer to an Apple store and have a live person help me fix any problem I might have, which have been almost nada since I got it.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

38. In many ways Vista is to Windows 7 what Win98 was to Win98se

Its not a perfect ananlogy, but most of what is going into Win7 is cleanup and streamlining. Its not a major changes from a user perspective.

Like many I bypassed Vista but will go to Win7, couple with H/W upgrades.

[crimsonblue]

40. I've heard the Windows 7 sucks hardcore...

Namely, that it corrupts all of your music files in media player. I've tried it myself, and was genuinely unimpressed. UNIX and kernal based operating systems are far superior, IMO.

[negativenihil]

44. you heard wrong.

Also - news flash - Windows has a kernel. In fact most every operating system has a kernel or microkernel arch... it's kind of hard to have an operating system without one.

[crimsonblue]

46. so Windows finally got in on the kernal game?

took them long enough... There's a reason Windows is so notorious insecure (and it's not that BS meme about "everybody targets Windows"); it's because the OS is not sandboxed. Plus, as it appears this thread is close to approaching flame war status, I'll go ahead and shoot the first bullet:
Windows will never ever be as good an OS as Mac OS X or Ubuntu.

[EOTE]

51. What on earth are you talking about?

Windows has had a kernel for as long as I can remember, and I've been working with computers for like 20 years now.

[crimsonblue]

55. considering Windows didn't have a kernel until the release of NT...

your memory is very flawed.

[EOTE]

57. As NT came out in 1993, it's not as flawed as your memory.

Considering you thought that Windows "just" obtained a kernel.

[negativenihil]

53. windows

has been using a kernel arch since NT 3.x. It's really nothing new. Windows 2000... XP... Vista and 7 - all are built from what was windows NT.

feel free to flame away - but i have been working professionally with all flavors of unix for about 13 years now (with mac os at home and windows at home for games... as well as on the work issued laptop).

I hate having to sound like a windows fanboy or something - but i cannot deny that MS is in this state of actually trying to do shit right.

[EOTE]

54. And BTW, I'd take Windows 7 over OSX any day.

No matter how much they try to cater towards gamers with virtualization and such, OSX still sucks for gaming. I can do my gaming, burning, torrenting, ripping and far more all simultaneously without a hitch on Windows 7 and it's rock solid reliable. That wasn't a bullet, that was a pea shooter.

[backscatter712]

56. Windows has had a halfway sandboxed kernel since NT.

All the NT-based versions of Windows (that's Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Vista, 7) have a kernel that is advertised to be able to walk and chew bubblegum at the same time (in other words, memory protection and preemptive multitasking that only has mild brain damage.)

Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 98, ME had the old DOS-based kernel (though I'd call that a thown-together mish-mash rather than a coherent kernel) under the hood, with next to no memory protection and cooperative multitasking, which makes those OS's even more crash-happy.

Though even the NT-based Windows OS's have enough holes to cause plenty of grief.

[Xithras]

49. It is beta, and that bug has been addressed.

First, it only impacted a fairly small percentage of MP3 files, and even then only if you had activated a specific setting (to update the MP3 metadata from the Internet every time you load it). When it rewrote the file, it glitched the first few seconds of the audio.

That bug was only present in the very first beta, and was quickly fixed. That's the point of beta software after all...to locate and fix bugs.

[BlooInBloo]

72. The media player fuckup was fixed a long time ago. As for the "kernal" (sic) thing...

You should just stop talking - you sound stupid.

[EOTE]

50. I've been beta testing it for the past few months as well.

I love it. It's a hell of a lot faster and efficient than Vista. It's never had a problem with any of my hardware (a mix of some old and some very new). Finally MS has an OS with true seamless plug 'n play. It looks great and doesn't lag with some of the more intensive Aero features. Searching is super quick, the new start bar is great (though clearly copied from OSX). Also, it works very well with antivirus and antimalware programs (I'm using the Windows 7 trial from Kaspersky and I think I'll stick with it once I've got the Windows 7 release on my system). So far, it's been incredibly stable (the only BSoDs I've gotten have been from extreme overclocking). I've loved it so far. Best OS Microsoft has ever put out, and this is from a beta.

[Papa Boule]

59. I'm tired of the Windows rollercoaster

I was burned by WinME, and avoided Vista. I realize I can't continue to avoid an upgrade forever, but I'm really tired of paying so much money.

So I installed Ubuntu Linux on a laptop to test and see if I can get productive with it. It was really, really easy to install, and there are plenty of free tutorials on YouTube. There's bit of a learning curve with OpenOffice and GIMP (the open source Photoshop replacement), but I'm optimistic about the results so far. If it works for me I'll just go with it.

[Toucano]

76. Good for you!

That's what I did over a year ago, and never looked back.

Cold turkey is what did it for me.

[Kalyke]

60. I never had problems with Vista.

:shrug:

Everything installed fine for me on Vista. I've never had a crash. I like the OS - it's fast and efficient - and the search capabilities are wondermous.

I received a modicum of training since I worked at a computer learning center when it came out; therefore, I was a step or two ahead of most users, but it still wasn't rocket science.

[Midlodemocrat]

69. Same here. I have it on my laptop and my kid's computer. No problems.

[Occam Bandage]

62. Tons of people on anonymous forums all over the internet said the same of Vista.

Not paid guerrilla marketers, most likely. Just fanboys. Oh, Vista's gonna be awesome, it's gonna make XP look like ME, it's gonna kick Mac OSX's ass, it's going to make everything great, it's blah blah blah. Then it was released and it sucked.

I'm sure Windows 7 will be better than Vista is, if only because it would be difficult to be worse. The fact that people are enjoying a near-final build is a very good sign. But still, I'm going to wait until it's been released in its final form for a few months before I believe it's actually good.

[ohheckyeah]

63. I have XP on my desktop

and Vista on my laptop. I would like to have both on the same operating system.

[Selatius]

64. Am I the only guy on this forum that still runs Windows 2000??? nt

[Codeine]

65. I don't understand the anti-Vista rhetoric.

I was a bit short of money late last year when my desktop died so I bought a cheap Acer Aspire laptop to carry me through until I can afford a new Mac this summer. It runs Vista and has been rock-solid. Not a single crash, and I've been known to leave the laptop on and running for literally weeks on end.

[ohheckyeah]

66. I've not had any problems

except when I wanted to watch a DVD on my laptop. I had to install Roxio. (I have Vista Home Basic) But I haven't had any crashes or problems otherwise.

[Kalyke]

73. Acer is the best product out there for the average user.

It's inexpensive, but not "cheap".

I had an Acer PC for years and years and years and years and years - kept upgrading the hardware until it simply wasn't "upgradable" any longer. Then I bought HP. Lousiest machine I ever wasted money on. Kept it three years and then bought another Acer. I've had this one for almost two years and have never had a problem with it - even with kids using it half the time. :)

[Umbral]

67. More like Vista with a makeover. It's still the same shit underneath. nt

[cemaphonic]

68. hardly Hitler-y at all:

http://www.xkcd.com/528/

One of the funnier ones in awhile.

[L0oniX]

70. Looks is everything.

:eyes: