Well everything works well. Only software I needed to download was webcam stuff from Acer.

All my games run great - if not better - than they did with Vista. I did use "Driver Genius" to update some drivers but all smooth sailing.

Crucual applications like Dreamweaver/Photoshop CS4 function great. ColdFusion 9. SQL Server. All happy.

I am running Ultimate so download the Virtual PC and XP Mode. All work but a LOT of updating beyond the standard SP3 XP build. I guess MS is offering compatibilty of security here. Also Security Essentials works on XP? Buggered if I could find it again on the MS site.

A win for Microsoft just when they needed one.

However. Price. I got my copy for free (Party) but if you are happy wait until you get a better deal.

I still haven't even used it at all but everyone here keeps blowing over how awesome it is. I am pretty happy with XP for now though; I think I'll wait til I get hardware upgrade next year before moving to Win7.

Win7 proTip: don't delete s*** at random from your roaming profile thinking your local profile covers it when fighting for space on your undersized Boot partition.

Best out of box OS since Win2000/XP imo. (98 didnt get good untill the service packs imo)

On my computer it's inbuilt driver cache picks up every peice of hardware, including my driving wheel, printer, webcam, camera and my phone (k800i). The only thing I need to install is my graphics drivers (and my north/south bridge if i really cbf'ed).

Also I love a fair few of the features but something that isnt well documented by reviews is how much quicker alt+tabbing from games is in 7 then in xp etc... its instant for me. Which is awsome.

Some features I never thought i would use but now couldnt live without are... SSD optimisations, all in one almost instant search, the new taskbar (took ages to accept this puppy), the new snipping tool, duel monitor/projector quick app thingo, WAY faster file copies to my nas (not sure why? - now uses 100% of my 100mbit network, used to only use a few mbit/s?), better games performace in terms of fps, the ability to choose from a list of options like 'skip and try next one' when a file copy fails or a delete operation fails, diskpart (FINALLY RESIZE MY PARTIIONS), powershell (FINALLY the power of .net but in shell format <3 ) .. i could go ooonnn and oonnnn and oonnnn

It's here to stay. I love it. I refuse to pay the prices they are asking for it though, thank god i get it from MSDN/Technet.

It seems, so far, that the people who like it, are part of the Microsoft Fan Club, and got it for free.

Oh also, a cool little powertool you can get for Windows vista/7 allows you to flick a regitry flag that when a new program tries to send or receive info pops up an 'allow or deny' thing lik zonealarm... and you can go in at any time to change those settings. Perfect for seeing if games or apps are trying to phone home or if you have any viruses or something you dont know about etc. Thats great.

(tried a quick google but couldnt find it - ill find it later)

It seems, so far, that the people who like it, are part of the Microsoft Fan Club, and got it for free.

otherwise known as viral marketing. but hell, i'm gonna buy it because it sounds so delish.

last edited by infi at 16:48:04 28/Oct/09

It seems, so far, that the people who like it, are part of the Microsoft Fan Club, and got it for free.

well they were giving it out for free in beta/RC stage; eventually they'll have to shell out the moneyz for it if they want to stay legit. I'm just surprised cuz so many people seem so incredibly positive about it - there's certainly more people talking about the fastest/best/cheapest way to purchase a legitimate copy than I've ever seen. Maybe all the juarezmonkeys have grown up now and have disposable income and morals :)

ive only had a few days with it, but im pretty happy so far:

loving all the keyboard short cuts!

that said i was happy with vista, and was just waiting for windows7 to be released to upgrade

gonna chill on RC for a few more months until hopefully a small price drop :D

Well everything works well. Only software I needed to download was webcam stuff from Acer.

I could not open .doc files or .pdfs. Seriously f***ing gay.

I could not open .doc files or .pdfs. Seriously f***ing gay.

i could!

:( What program???

I'm glad it doesn't come with a PDF reader out of the box, because it would probably be Adobe's. You should have been able to open doc files though with WordPad?

Windows isn't like Apple, they don't bundle anything but the most basic of apps with the OS. In fact, they aren't allowed to.

i used office and adobe reader!

I used a version of it (i think it was the prerealease demo) when I did work experience a little while back, and it looks very nice from what I saw.

fyi: Office 2007 SP2 has a PDF printer built in.

TheMoreYouKnow.

Well everything works well. Only software I needed to download was webcam stuff from Acer.

I could not open .doc files or .pdfs. Seriously f***ing gay.

that's because every time Microsoft include applications to do things like that, all these people bitch that they're 'abusing their monopoly", like they shouldn't be able to do whatever the hell they feel like with the operating system they created and sold. What is WITH that!!@#

I can't believe some of the ads I'm seeing about it
seriously, its an OS - its nothing special

why people don't just upgrade at their leisure is beyond me, I am really quite happy on XP as I'm sure millions of others are

I use it at work (technet) and its not bad, but still...

Ubuntu > Win*

nah not even close

Windows 7 is very nice. I've been running Home Premium RTM for the last two/three? months and it's great.

Can't wait for work to upgrade to it (they've skipped Vista, no surprise there).

Windows 7 is very nice. I've been running Home Premium RTM for the last two/three? months and it's great.

Can't wait for work to upgrade to it (they've skipped Vista, no surprise there).

Vista was OK if you had decent drivers for everything. A few things in Vista I am missing out of Win7 but will get over with. For everything else Adobe AIR and Flex are filling the gaps.

I can't believe some of the ads I'm seeing about it
seriously, its an OS - its nothing special

why people don't just upgrade at their leisure is beyond me, I am really quite happy on XP as I'm sure millions of others are

You should be happy but Hardware and Software has come a long way since the now 7 year old XP. But if it does what you need to why upgrade?

Yeah I'm tempted to try it at home but I really couldn't be f***ed simply because I try to use my PC as little as possible when I'm not at work. One of these days...

spook - did you cheat and upgrade? Cause that doesn't count.

so what the hell was the point of vista anyway?

To rort me out of $150 and introduce me to the world of Macs. Well worth it.

so what the hell was the point of vista anyway?

Without Vista there could be no 7.

Without Mac OSX... ;)

vista was a money making beta testing exercise for them?

Not at all.

Vista made a lot of changes to the driver model, default user security context and HAL. These changes were necessary to properly secure the operating system. In particular the de facto Administrator user made the OS inherently insecure. This s*** had to change as MS was taking massive heat in terms of security fomr its competitors.

A lot of software vendors and driver manufacturers were slow to catch up with these changes (and for some they didn't bother, making the hardware obsolete). This invoked a lot of e-rage towards MS instead of the lazy vendors.

Much (but not all) of the criticism of Vista is the failure of 3rd parties and ignorance in general.

Especially following SP1, Vista is a robust and solid OS. If you have a Vista license, there is no compelling reason to upgrade to 7 unless your system is a bit old (as 7 has improvements over Vista on lower-spec computers) or you like the new s*** like the taskbar etc.

Windows7 kept the guts of Vista under the hood, and improved in a few areas, so there was less for 3rd party vendors to do. If app/driver/hardware worked on Vista, it probably works on 7. They also engaged in a massive shareware exercise with the betas and RC to improve the launch cf. Vista.

Another criticism is that Vista hasn't been out long. Historically its not that Vista has had a short time in the sun, its that XP has had a mammoth stay. This is because of the huge headaches in development of Vista, probably because they were trying to overcome the large problems noted above.

I've been using Win7 since RC1, the RTM is not so different from what I've experienced. I've got it running on my HTPC, my work laptop, wifeys laptop and my home PC and it's all good - it's the best Windows OS ever@!#%

(plus it runs well in VMWare Fusion3)

Have been running 7 for a few months in test environments at the office, and took the plunge today and installed it on my home PC.

I am stunned at how fast it runs. My home PC is not new, in fact its quite old, and has lowly specs that most forum members iphones can outperform. Yet it runs just as fast as XP did.

P4 2.4ghz, 2gb ram, 200gb pata hdd, radeon pro 9600. Everything on full visual, aero in use, visual effects on, blah blah. 1.4gb ram free.

Stunned!

Yeh they've done a heap of work with 7 to make sure it runs well on bottom-end computers.

I'm assuming this is because they need to replace XP for the suddenly massive netbook market, where Vista really wasn't suitable at all. Being a MS I don't think they like to have a growing segment of the market they can't provide a modern OS for.

Haha crushles, my iPhone runs Win7 better than your desktop!

Ive posted this pic before, but it is apt.

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/697221235_AxzRa-L.jpg

Also, I made the jump from XP to 7, skipping Vista.

I find Windows 7 has slightly better performance and much better multi-tasking then XP.

Thumbs Up.

I wouldn't mind trying Win7 but I only updated to Vista64 earlier this year so I dunno if it's worth the money and re-install. Plus Vista is working fine for me.

Also, id it just me or does anyone find they hardly install as many programs as they used to years ago or after a few installs? I used to have heaps of stuff that I might sometimes use but now I only have the things I use often and just not bother with anything else.

the beauty of cloud computing and web based applications.

yep i've run out of nerd jargon.

I wouldn't mind trying Win7 but I only updated to Vista64 earlier this year so I dunno if it's worth the money and re-install. Plus Vista is working fine for me.

I saw a nice improvement in performance upgrading from Vista to Windows 7... and while the UI changes seem small, they make a big difference in overall user experience, imo.

And because you're running Vista, you can do an in-place upgrade (first time an upgrade's gone flawlessly for me).

Also, id it just me or does anyone find they hardly install as many programs as they used to years ago or after a few installs? I used to have heaps of stuff that I might sometimes use but now I only have the things I use often and just not bother with anything else.

It just means your getting old now, those new fangled computer aplimeacations scare you.

loving it. just got out the bluetooth mouse. litterly one click to get him installed and working. cant beat that.

no clicks would beat that

sounds like the win7 thing could be a goer

can you install straight from the itsnotcheating download?

As in if I download it (I guess I'd have to burn it to a disk?) then chuck in a new hd - will it install straight on to the new HD or do I have to reinstall Vista and then 'upgrade' it?

I can't speak for the copy from itsnotcheating with 100% certainty, but the upgrade media you buy from a retail store will let you install straight to a new HDD. the info is in the second page (if you have 100 items per page set) of that windows 7 price check thread

I'll check it out, cheers!

no clicks would beat that

Bluetooth devices installed without user acknowledgement? No thanks.

can you install straight from the itsnotcheating download?

As in if I download it (I guess I'd have to burn it to a disk?) then chuck in a new hd - will it install straight on to the new HD or do I have to reinstall Vista and then 'upgrade' it?

As Jim said, plus check the last post I made in the same thread.
Info from http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5198870

Only thing win 7 didnt pick up for me was the SB Live! card. Apparently they didnt bother including drivers for it.

Ended up finding an article on how to install 2003 build XP drivers to get audio working. Bit poor effort from MS there, theres gotta be squillions of SB Live's out there.

SBLive! is a long-discontinued product from Creative, that didn't even get a Vista driver.

Your disappointment seems misdirected?

I used the itsnotcheating version to do a fresh install on my hdd, works 100%.

SBLive! is a long-discontinued product from Creative, that didn't even get a Vista driver.

under that basis, any product which is not current in retailers shouldnt really have driver support as its discontinued.

Thats the exact driver BS that was vista's woes for years.

Win 7 will be replacing XP on a lot of machines, it should at least come with a range of drivers for a range of hardware popular from the last 5 or so years.

Win 7 will be replacing XP on a lot of machines, it should at least come with a range of drivers for a range of hardware popular from the last 5 or so years.

I'd call that bloatware. Safe rule of thumb is: if hardware didn't work on Vista, it likely won't work on Windows 7 as they haven't changed the driver model.

And don't blame Microsoft, blame Creative for not bothering to develop a Vista/Win7 driver for their legacy products.

Win 7 will be replacing XP on a lot of machines, it should at least come with a range of drivers for a range of hardware popular from the last 5 or so years.

Creative Labs produce, support and maintain the drivers for your sound card - not Microsoft.

Win 7 will be replacing XP on a lot of machines, it should at least come with a range of drivers for a range of hardware popular from the last 5 or so years.

Creative Labs produce, support and maintain the drivers for your sound card - not Microsoft.

Try "Driver Genius" to help find missing drivers.

last edited by trog at 14:18:16 01/Nov/09

Best out of box OS since Win2000/XP imo.

XP sucked out of the box.

Try "Driver Genius" to help find missing drivers.

All those type of programs suck, it's not that hard to use google.

Well in more exciting news I just changed the motherboard (so NIC & Audio) and video on my HTPC which runs Win7 Ultimate and all it did was pop up a balloon saying I needed to re-activate as my hardware had changed. Doing this sort of hardware change on XP was just unheard of and it would result in blue screens, not booting up, etc.

Very very impressed with how Win7 handled this.

the missus just got window 7 price list from her work, $28 for 7 ult 64bit. yay.

ok, got a few minor issues ive found with win7;

first of all, you arent admin on your machine, had to fiddle with it to get admin working;

monitor powering down seems to only work if the screen saver is running .. . .

fine, ill use a screen saver then;

Why do you need to be admin. That's silly

my monitor turns off, but only if I minimise everything first. If I leave active windows viewable sometimes it doesn't turn off

the single most annoying thing with win7 is the folder tree doesn't expand and follow you when browsing through the right pane. I like that it doesn't require tree expansion to dive in to folders in that pane, but it should follow along unobtrusively behind my Folder diving

the single most annoying thing with win7 is the folder tree doesn't expand and follow you when browsing through the right pane. I like that it doesn't require tree expansion to dive in to folders in that pane, but it should follow along unobtrusively behind my Folder diving

http://i34.tinypic.com/e9f9qb.png

Win 7 will be replacing XP on a lot of machines, it should at least come with a range of drivers for a range of hardware popular from the last 5 or so years.

Dude, the SB Live! is over 10 years old (1998). SB Audigy is over 7 years old, and the X-Fi is nearly 5 years old.

last edited by Mantorok at 11:19:56 03/Nov/09

Why do you need to be admin. That's silly

im the boss of my machine, if i want to write files to a directory, i dont want my machine stopping me

first of all, you arent admin on your machine, had to fiddle with it to get admin working;

heh you're funny

my monitors seem to power off fine, no need for screensaver or minimising windows
apps I have running 24/7 include ssh, firefox, ie, chrome, passwordsafe, mstsc, vnc, freenx client, mirc, thunderbird, outlook, notepad, wmp

the single most annoying thing with win7 is the folder tree doesn't expand and follow you when browsing through the right pane. I like that it doesn't require tree expansion to dive in to folders in that pane, but it should follow along unobtrusively behind my Folder diving

this is a setting under folder options->general I think

I recall enabling it for my home machine so the pane on the left expands down into the dir I am browsing - is that what you mean? Another semi-related thing I noticed was there's no longer a 'up one' dir button/link - but I got used to the clickable address bar items instead, which now actually seems like a better idea cos you can 'go up' as many dirs as you like in a single click

im the boss of my machine, if i want to write files to a directory, i dont want my machine stopping me

it doesn't stop you, you're provided with means of privilege escalation. what it does stop, is naughty software

also if you run as administrator all the time, you're definitely not going to be the boss of your machine for long :)


last edited by Jim at 11:24:18 03/Nov/09

Do you REALLY have notepad open 24x7 jim.. REALLY?

To say if it didn't work under vista it won't work under 7 is bulls***

I don't think I have come across anything seven hasn't found a driver for by itself and I have done about 25 installs

I do ticman!!
several of them
it's a nifty scratchpad

Thanks for pointing out the option

I run notepad all the timetoo, an multiple calcs cause I forget it's open

Maybe it's TheSims that's messing with my monitor powersaving. Something that gets run busts it.

I don't think I have come across anything seven hasn't found a driver for by itself and I have done about 25 installs

Apparently if you install a SBLive! sound card you're in for a surprise.

Its not that something 100% won't work if it didn't work under Vista. Its that the driver model is almost identical, so if there isn't a Vista driver by now you're probably f***ed (or will need to use whatever Vista workaround exists).

oh yer, i forgot to add before, ive had to update a few drivers, because the out of the box drivers were s***;

my webcam, onboard nic, video card drivers so far;

still sus on the mobo drivers too;

also, ive always had full admin on all my other windows installs and no harm ever became of it, why should windows 7 be any different;

also, ive always had full admin on all my other windows installs and no harm ever became of it, why should windows 7 be any different;

Running around with full admin is silly, and has been the cause of almost all of Windows' historical security woes.

Wanting local admin all the time makes you look like a dummy Spook, especially since you work in the field. Do you roll as root on a linux box, or sudo as needed? Of course you sudo.

last edited by Hogfather at 12:46:03 03/Nov/09

its not a work machine, its my home entertainment box;

i want non fun things to be done as painless as possible;

if i want to uncheck a directory permissions from being readonly, i dont want to have to fark around to get that done;

Change UAC settings?
http://i37.tinypic.com/vy641u.png

yup, still doesnt give you admin;

Found every single driver on my wife's 4-5 year notebook, installed without fault on my xw9300 workstation that's my work desktop, even detected the on-board SCSI driver had no problems with it.

Sound cards aren't exactly expensive so why all the bitching, especially if your stupid enough to buy creative products in the first place

Yeah, he could get a X-Fi card for under $40.

Was a big Fista hater but jumped straight into win 7 and I am loving it as a media centre. It just goes and finds the guide on it's own. 10 times better than XP Media centre edition.
Only issue I've had is getting diablo 2 to run without glitching.

so, no matter how i try i can't get a cd shortcut on my quickbar, what the s***ity s***?

whered windows movie maker go?

its here

You have to DL it now spook.