Windows 7 - User experiences?

**steve.ledger** · 15 January 2009, 06:41 AM

Microsoft Windows 7 Beta has been officially released for public testing since 9th January.
Both 32bit and 64bit versions are available for free download from the Windows-7 website.
Microsoft are capping the downloads to 2.5 million.
You are able to use the software without any restrictions until August 2009.

So - have you downloaded and installed Windows-7 on your PC?

Tell us about your experiences here.

**Soquili** · 15 January 2009, 03:43 PM

So far testing Windows 7 has gone well.

A new feature is called Library. It is not a folder or file but is a way to group related files and folders. If you have documents and text files in serveral locations like different folders on the hard drive, removeable flash drive, network folder, etc. You can use a library to see all the files in those locations collectively in one Library. The files will remain in their respective location, the library contains an index to the file or folder.

**remi** · 15 January 2009, 04:00 PM

Hi Bill,

this Library feature sounds like a directory with symbolic links to the files (as you would do it in Linux/UNIX/Mac OS X).

Remi

**Soquili** · 15 January 2009, 05:12 PM

Hi Remi,

That does appear to be the way Libraries work. I will do a hex examination of a Library to see if the similarity is only skin deep or all the way to the core.

EDIT: The similarity is purely cosmetic. Windows 7 uses standard windows links and ini files to determine how the links are displayed.

**jyoung** · 15 January 2009, 09:40 PM

Bill, does it look like a better product than Vista. I am still using XP Pro and I hope Windows 7 is more "user friendly" than Vista.

**Soquili** · 15 January 2009, 10:10 PM

Hi Joe,

I think it is more user friendly than Vista. Probably because of a lot of feedback about Vista.

The User Account Control (UAC) defaults to a moderate level so it does not constantly pop up asking about everything. In Windows Vista I disabled UAC almost immediately because of the pop ups. UAC is still enabled on Windows 7 and I have not been tempted to disable it.

Personally I find Vista to be user friendly accept for UAC and more stable than XP.

**jyoung** · 15 January 2009, 10:14 PM

Danka, Bill.

**Soquili** · 16 January 2009, 05:33 PM

Glad to help Joe.

I was testing to see if some of my old scripts for windows administration would work on Windows 7.

Windows 7 reports the version as 6.1.7000 rather than version 7

OS Name: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate |C:\Windows|\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1
Version: 6.1.7000
Service Pack: 0.0
OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation
Windows Directory: C:\Windows
Locale: 0409
Available Physical Memory: 572184
Total Virtual Memory: 2402796
Available Virtual Memory: 1815520
OS Name: 1354628
Last Boot Time: 20090116120938.500000-360
System Name: BILL-PC
System Manufacturer: HP Pavilion 04
System Model: P5269A-ABA 7955
Time Zone: -360
Total Physical Memory: 1022.87890625MB
System Type: 0
Processor: x86 Family 15 Model 0 Stepping 10
BIOS Version: ASUS - 42302e31

**Regular** · 16 January 2009, 05:40 PM

Does anyone know if Windows 7 addresses FPS issues with games? I understand it's because that older games use previous versions of DirectX and Vista address them incorrectly and causes low FPS(Frames Per Second) in the games.

Sorry, I play a few games, so was interested if any has heard.

**Soquili** · 16 January 2009, 05:54 PM

Sorry Regular I don't recall hearing there was a problem with Vista and games.

My test system wouldn't be suitable for testing games, only a generic VGA graphics card.