Windows 7 - User experiences?

[steve.ledger]

I'm no gamer, but my son and some friends are, they have never reported problems running older games on Vista (Quake for example runs perfectly)

[Scotty]

Hi,
Ok so now you have windows 7 (beta) and it is good what happens whould you not want to upgrade to Windows 7, and remove the beta? or Wait for Windows 7 to be out a while before upgraing can you roll-back to previous version?
Jim

[steve.ledger]

Jim the purpose of the beta is mostly for IT people to evaluate and familiarise, this prepares them ahead of the commercial release.
The general public are invited to try the Beta version also, and Microsoft encourages feedback from all Beta users so that any issues can be addressed before commercial release.
It isn't recommended for installing on your primary 'everyday' computer.
The beta expires in August, there will be no rolling back as you are advised not to go the upgrade path over your everyday OS.
Removing the 'For testing purposes only' notice which appears on the desktop will only happen once the commercial release is installed.
I'd assume that the commercial release could be used to upgrade the Beta version, (though I can't be certain of that yet), but personally I would advise against it.

[RTK]

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

I don't have much time for games anymore... However, when I did -- finding appropriate patches on the game developer sites to speed things up, used to be quite painless. Vista has been the "default" installation on DELL, HP etc. systems for a long time now... Any "Vista" game related issues would have been long solved with patches by the developer. Unless of course, the developer no longer supports the game.

Poorly coded DirectX support in games is probably more a game developer/hardware issue than a V.V.I.A.N.E.B.A.A.D.I.A.M.C... . "vague-Vista-"issues"-as-non-explained-by-an-actor-dude-in-a-MAC-commercial."

If you are having problems -- your best bet: the game developer. Second, best, a designated (and friendly) gaming forum.

Sorry, Mods, slightly off-topic.

Back OT. I will be reading this thread with interest. I have been googling -- and I'm yet to find any real-life reasons to upgrade from Vista to 7? The only issues I ever had with Vista -- a Canon scanner driver than Canon couldn't bother to update, because it was a piece of junk in the first place. Any future (if not already in place) Vista problems, will be self-inflicted (doing stuff you really, really, really shouldn't do). Or it will be related to HP -- not knowing exactly what's in that shiny case, and not knowing where to start looking for a solution.

I'm sure, I will eventually need a local "Steve" -- but I will also know for sure, it will be a self-caused problem. Which are probably the most expensive to fix, eh? (Cue our Sledger... )

Carry on. Will be reading with interest. Thanks.

Risto

[Soquili]

Jim when the release version of Vista came out I simply did a fresh install over the beta version.

So far my favorite update (other than a well behaved UAC) on Windows 7 over Vista is the Calculator.
The Programmer mode was the first thing that caught my eye then I found the built in conversions, Angles, Area, Power, Energy, Velocity (no Warp Factor though ), Weight & Mass, Volume, and a few others. Did you know that a Chain is 66 feet and a Link is 9 inches? I didn't until I played with the Windows 7 calculator. I also found that I weigh 11 stone.

So far I like what I have seen of Windows 7.

[Egg Bramhill]

... /hardware issue than a V.V.I.A.N.E.B.A.A.D.I.A.M.C... . "vague-Vista-"issues"-as-non-explained-by-an-actor-dude-in-a-MAC-commercial."

You're really losing it now Risto, do you know that?

Your new assignment is "Sketch and describe a V.V.I.A.N.E.B.A.A.D.I.A.M.C." ... Oh okay just sketch one.

[steve.ledger]

Although I'm still waiting for the new HDD for the laptop before giving W7 a good run, I have installed it on an older P4 2.8GHZ system with 1GB DDR400.

I spent a brief hour('ish) looking through it and installing some basic software (sorry, not Xtreme - I'll wait for the Laptop test, hopefully Monday or Tuesday).

So far I am a bit underwhelmed. As they say, "First impressions last"

I'm undecided about the new look rather flat taskbar (or it's much altered functions)
Also, users accustomed to pressing Ctrl+E to open My Computer (Computer in Vista) will now find that the shortcut keys open "Libraries" in W7.
There are no default shortcut keys to open 'Computer' in W7 (though you can create a desktop shortcut and then assign shortcut keys to it).

I do like the enhanced UI of Paint and Wordpad though. These programs have changed little since the Windows 3.1 days - now they are more in line with Office 2007 appearance, sharing the 'ribbon' design toolbar.

MS Paint


Wordpad


Although W7 reports that all drivers are installed and working fine, the SoundMax audio does not work.

Incidentally, for those without a spare PC to try Windows 7, you can install Microsofts VirtualPC 2007 (SP1) software and then install Windows 7 to this.

Windows 7 can then be run in a 'window' from your regular Windows Vista or XP.

[RTK]

Your new assignment is "Sketch and describe a V.V.I.A.N.E.B.A.A.D.I.A.M.C." ... Oh okay just sketch one.

Sorry, no time to sketch or bathe... The kids are busy with a Ringette tournament this weekend, I'm just getting up early in the morning for games and playing catch-up at night.

To illustrate... Hmmm... Maybe the "Mac Dude" / "Windows Bumbling Fool" is only a North American thing?! Never occured to me... Curious now?! Mac Vs. PC on YouTube

Sorry, Egg, no time time to sketch -- just added a visual element here below.

Attachment deleted on my own accord (not sure if that is the proper definition) based on Sledger's point of OT in the next post. (I agree). I want to read about memeber W7 experiences myself.

[steve.ledger]

...........anyhoooo - getting back to Windows 7

[steve.ledger]

I've installed W7 32bit on my Toshiba Laptop (TURION 64 DualCore Mobile 2.20Ghz 3GB DDR2 250GB 7200rpm Black Scorpio drive) without any dramas at all.
Installation took less time than installing Vista, with minimal input required from the user.
W7 had no native support for the ATI Radeon X1200, Realtek Ethernet and Wireless or Richo SD Host adapter (card reader) therefore the drivers needed installing from the TOSHIBA utility CD I'd created from the Utilities folder supplied with the laptop when purchased. All drivers installed without any problems.
AVG8 (Free) works fine, XtremePro 4 installed without issue using Vista compatibility mode (the Unrecognised OS error appears when compat' mode isn't selected) Xtreme 4 works fine so far.
Office 2007 installed without a hitch and my preferred 'Object Dock' also went on without complaint.
UAC is quieter as mentioned by others, though you will still see it for program installations and any action which requires access to the Windows registry (which means quite often when setting up a new installation and installing your required applications).

One of the promised features of W7 is simplified networking and sharing.
While networking discovery is practically automatic, and the new Homegroup concept (when connecting to other Windows 7 machines) sharing with earlier OSes is no simpler that Vista.

Local and network folder access/logging is faster than Vista (even with SP1)

Boot time is no faster (that I can tell so far) than Vista when comparing new clean installs.

The 'show desktop' feature is kind of neat visually, but I can't see any practical purpose to it. (when the desktop or partially or fully covered by applications, hover the mouse over the small tile far right of task bar).

I'll continue to report for the duration.

Note: I plan to install the 64bit version after some time using the 32bit version.