Windows 7 impressions

[Seanz0rz]

So i will start this thread off. i got win 7 early through university. i installed win 7 professional 64 bit on my desktop computer. 1.86ghz core 2 duo, 4 gb ram, evga nforce 680i motherboard, nvidia 8800 gts 640mb video card, 1tb seagate hard drive.

install: overall, HORRIBLE! yes, i grew up with windows being installed through a text based GUI, and i really had no problem with that. i also have enjoyed a proper GUI install with the most recent versions of linux, and those work excellently. unfortunately, microsoft decided to neuter its true GUI installer, and strip any functionality out of it for formatting drives, etc. if my memory serves me correctly, there is less functionality than the XP text installer. other than that, it went smoothly and no major hangups. install was fairly quick. unlike previous windows versions that ive used, the product key was not entered until after all the software was installed. i could see this being a problem, especially if the key was invalid for whatever reason (its happened to me a few times on XP, but i was alerted before installing the OS.)

user experience: terrific! everything is very snappy, loads quickly, looks amazing, etc. im liking the new task bar, the control panel is well organized (as soon as you switch out of category view) and everything, even if i has changed since XP, is where you would normally think to find it.

now i have to say, i HATED vista, and avoided it like the plague. however, microsoft really did something right this time as far as im concerned. ive been using it for about 12 hours total, and im very happy thus far. everything i have installed has worked no problem, all my usual programs like itunes, pidgin, firefox, utorrent, etc haven't had any issues. all my hardware was supported out of the box, even my 1 year old HP printer. i must say this experience is very linux like, with out alot of the command line based hassle of linux.

bottom line: if you have windows vista right now, you really should think about upgrading as soon as possible. i think you will be impressed with their solution to a lot of the problems created in vista. if you are still using xp like i was, its a worthy upgrade to xp.

please, if you have windows 7, share your experience here. i am pleasantly surprised by its performance and features! also, please ask questions. theres no way i could cover everything, nor have i even seen everything. if you have specific questions i can look, post up screenshots, etc.

[troyboy162]

its working great for me as well in my new computer. id be most interested in how it would work on an older computer. certainly it would be better then vista but could it rival xp if you turned off all the visuals? 7 will be the first Microsoft OS that i will be buying

[YotaFun]

I don't know if it would be worth trying on my PC.
I have a HP Pavilion Media Center m7250n - Pentium D 820 2.8 GHz
400 GB WD HD
1 GB RAM Currently (once I find more for it I can up grade to 4 which I will do)
Mainboard Intel 945P Express
ATI Radeon X300 SE graphics card 128.0 MB DDR SDRAM


I am sure there is more I am missing, but what you can gather from what I have (or will be upgrading) do you think I should even attempt this upgrade when I have the chance?

[Seanz0rz]

* 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
* 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
* 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
* DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver


here are some helpful links:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare?T1=tab20

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare?T1=tab01

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features

[YotaFun]

So in all technicality my 2.8 GHZ dual core with 64-bit technology and my soon to be upgraded to 4 GD memory with a 400 GB hard drive in a pc with the proper graphics car needed (or can be obtained, then I should in all technicality be able to squeeze by with the upgrade if I choose to do so?

[Seanz0rz]

it has been my experience that upgrades are riddled with problems, especially jumping from something like xp to 7. i would do a fresh install. but yes, your hardware should be able to run it.

[mastacox]

I've been using the Windows 7 RC 64-bit (a.k.a. Beta) for about 5 months now, and have been very happy with it. Overall I've been suprised by the fit & finish of this pre-release version, love the fully-activated Aero interface, and have had little trouble with driver support. My Windows 7 Install Thread (http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=7765.0)

I'm running the release candidate on 2 machines-

Link: My beastly machine (http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=7862.0):
3.0GHz AMD Phenom II X4 940 Processor
ASUS M4N72-E SLI Motherboard
XFX GeForce GTX 260 Core 216- 896MB RAM
OCZ Platinum Edition 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR2 800 SDRAM
960GB total hard drive space

Wife's machine (mainly a printer server :P)
2.4GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Processor
ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe Motherboard
GeForce 7600GT- 256MB RAM
4GB DDR2 800 RAM
160GB PATA Hard Drive

Windows 7 is a real treat on the beast machine, and runs fine on my wife's computer as well. The only things I could not find drivers for were my old scanner (oh well) and the wireless network card for my wife's computer (Netgear WG311v2, the WG311v3 supposedly is supported). Overall I found the install to be very straightforward, I was able to format the drives and select partitions and the whole nine yards. I like that this Windows relies heavily on Windows Update for driver upport, instead of installing a billion legacy drivers on your hard drive (thank god).

The interface is very clean and slick, multi-tasking is effortless even with Photoshop, Sony Vegas 9.0 Platinum, Zune software, and many Chrome windows running (although that probably has more to do with my processor and RAM). My Windows Experience Index is pretty high, I think my lowest is my hard drive at something like 5.6, where as my processor is rated at 7.2 ish, and the graphics card is like 6.7.

I have been able to run all of my games that I have, Crysis runs like a dream under DirectX 10. Half-Life 2, Fallout 3, BioShock, Need For Speed Pro Street, Flight Simulator X, all have run no problem. I also have run some older games such as Ground Control II and 1nsane without too much trouble, although I think I had to mess around with administrative privelages and compatability modes with a few installers. Overall I do think this OS will run anything you've got, you may just have to make sure to run the installer as an administrator with WinXP compatability mode.

Rating for me is 10/10 after upgrading from dreary WinXP. The interface is great, it does everything I want, runs all of the software I want, supports all of the hardware I want, what more could I ask for :thumbup:

[DHC6twinotter]

Sweet! I may have to upgrade soon. I'd probably upgrade to 4 gigs of RAM for now, but how much RAM does 7 support?


Dumb question: Do I need to purchase Office again for 7, or can I re-install what I already have on my pc?

2.4 GHz E6600 Core 2 Duo processor
2 gigs RAM
250 gig HD
ATI All-In-Wonder 2006 graphics card (X1300)

[Seanz0rz]

32 bit versions (x86) support about 2.5gb of ram. if you have more, you must go to a 64 bit system, however, your processor must support that. you are fine with that processor dan.

as for office, you should be able to reinstall no problem. whether or not thats "legal" as far as M$ is concerned, im not sure. but i wouldnt worry too much about it. im about to reinstall my legit office 2007, from my last windows incarnation.

[DHC6twinotter]

Thanks Sean.

I just realized my previous boss was the one that put Office on the PC, so I don't even have the activation number. Doh. Oh well.

[mastacox]

Thanks Sean.

I just realized my previous boss was the one that put Office on the PC, so I don't even have the activation number. Doh. Oh well.


I've been running OpenOffice for about a year now and it's alright. Sure, it's got little quirks here and there, but hey it's free and supports all of the standard MS Office files. Formatting back and forth between OpenOffice and MS Word or Excel can have some wierd effects, so if you're planning on taking your work home or something you're better off buying MS Office (or getting it from work). I just use it for writing letters and making simple excel spreadsheets, so it does ok for me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org

EDIT: now that I think about it, if you currently have Office installed you can get the product key out of your registry:

How To: Find Your Office 2007 Product Key (http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/ht/findof2007key.htm)

[Okie81]

Good info here. I've been looking into a new computer and a lot of the new systems out there have a disclaimer that says something like, "Windows Vista included, with free upgrade to Windows 7 when it is released". With the installation problems mentioned above, I'm wondering if I should just wait until the systems come preloaded with Windows 7 instead of dealing with an upgrade from Vista.

[Seanz0rz]

i had no installation problems, just a lack of features that 75% of the population couldnt care less about. just upsetting to us power users who have been in the biz for a decade. weird how they would take features away. an upgrade from vista should have no problems because they are so similar. i think an upgrade from xp is pushing it though.

[2ndGen]

i'll stick to Xp till the sp1 is out. i stayed on W2k for 2 years after Xp, never used Vista on my own computer, plus my Xps 600 is 3+ years old. probably i'll switch when i feel i need a new desktop, in couple years.

[Crinale]

an upgrade from vista to 7 should have no problems whatsoever... 7 really isnt a completely new OS like vista was... its more like an extensive service pack that fixes all the complaints from vista... but because of all the bad press around the name vista (with good reason) Microsoft decided to give it a new name, and not just release it as a service pack.

[Seanz0rz]

yeah, having used vista (admittedly limited), 7 FEELS completely different. stuff happens when you click on a program or tab, the computer boots in a reasonable time. generally speaking, everything "just works" as the apple folks would say. everything is quite snappy, looks amazing, and i havent had any programs lock up or crash, even with me trying. it seems to be very stable, and most of it just makes sense. learning curve is there, but very shallow.

here are a few screen shots:

this one shows the general layout of the task bar, etc. notice that every window belonging to a program gets grouped together. a mouse over of that button reveals previews of each window. if one is a movie for example, the movie will still be playing in the preview! very cool stuff!:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m141/hamiltoncomputers/7prtscrn2.jpg

my cursor is actually resting on that vertical bar at the right end of the task bar. a mouse over will make the windows transparent to see the desktop. clicking minimized all, clicking again reverses. very handy!
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m141/hamiltoncomputers/7prtscrn3.jpg

edit: here are links to the full size (well at least by PB standards) screen shots:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m141/hamiltoncomputers/7prtscrn2.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m141/hamiltoncomputers/7prtscrn3.jpg

[Seanz0rz]

just noticed another cool feature, something i missed from linux.

say you have an instant message window in focus on part of your screen. if you place your mouse over say the web page that is not in focus, if you scroll, it will scroll the web page.

its the little things ;)

[Nick]

Cheers for uTorrent! Ah-hem.

I ordered my $30 student discount Win 7 Pro and it hasn't been made commercially available just yet but should ship soon? I guess you're playing with an RTM build? I can't wait to tinker with it. I am a little concerned that some of my older games will not work with it - any idea if stuff that refused to work with Vista will work with 7? It's supposed to have an XP virtulization mode or something.

[Seanz0rz]

i have an RTM (release to manufacturing) version, so its 100% real (not a beta or RC)

the xp software support is suppose to be release on the internet on the 22nd, along side 7, so i havent had a chance to play with it (nor have i needed to)

[Crinale]

i havent heard any complaints yet about compatibility... but how old are the games your talkin about? like Chips Challenge old? or Counterstrike 1.6 old? or Quake 3?

[arjan]

I've been running it on my netbook, laptop, and wifes laptop. Loving it all across the board.
It made my netbook quicker then when it was running XP.

I guess I'll need to buy some copies when the release candidates start quitting.

I've had no issues with vista either, as long as the nag screens are turned off. They drove me crazy when I first got it. After service pack 1 it got a lot quicker also.

[xonetruthcrewx]

I just ordered a new Dell Studio XPS 8000 with Windows 7 Ultimate. Im looking forward to it. It should be pretty good. Intel Core i5-750 processor(8MB Cache, 2.66GHz), 8GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz-4x2GB, 23" HD Monitor, 1024MB nVidia GeForce GT220, 750GB Serial ATA II Hard Drive 7200 RPM, and so on. Its going to be a nice upgrade from the 7 year old Gateway desktop that crashed on me last week. Haha.

[fenrisx]

i havent heard any complaints yet about compatibility... but how old are the games your talkin about? like Chips Challenge old? or Counterstrike 1.6 old? or Quake 3?


I would like to know if Quake 3 works on 7. (Granted Quake Live could be substituted if not.)

[Crinale]

i have no idea, but i would be willing to bet it does, since 7 has the compatibility mode if needed...

[mastacox]

I'm sure Quake III would run fine (especially if you're careful to run the installer with administrative privileges.) Keep in mind that Windows 7 Professional (the version I'm running, 1 step above Home Premium) has XP compatability mode, but I don't think Home Premium does. Not sure if you'll need it, but there you go.

When my Release Candidate ran out a few months ago, I went ahead and got two full installs of Win 7 Pro, mainly for the WinXP compatibility mode (although I haven't needed it yet).

[Crinale]

ya i have a copy of win7 pro thats gonna replace vista HP on my desktop...

[MTL_4runner]

ya i have a copy of win7 pro thats gonna replace vista HP on my desktop...


You should be fine then.