Windows 7 impressions

[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

[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!:
[img width=800 height=500]http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m141/hamiltoncomputers/7prtscrn2.jpg[/img]

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!
[img width=800 height=500]http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m141/hamiltoncomputers/7prtscrn3.jpg[/img]

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