Windows 7 - What are your thoughts on the operating system?

I have not tried it, but I was speaking to one of techies at work, and they believe that it will be much better than Vista and XP. I believe it will also require a lot less roesources alowing it to run on smaller and older machines. Of course this is all hearsay, only time will tell.

I ran the 64 bit version from beta through the release candidate and it was very stable and everything just worked including all the Garmin software and Garmin Communicator. What surprised me was how rock solid it was even in the beta versions.

Have already pre-ordered for the October 22nd release date for all my computers.

Does anyone also hear or know if the 64-version version will run the older 32-bit apps fine without issues?

I haven't tried Win7 but my 64-bit Vista machine runs most of the 32-bit apps I use. The only problem was my company's VPN client.

Still feels like vista with the old Windows XP name.

I ran every 32 bit program I had in 64 bit Windows 7 without a problem except for an older version of PaperPort.

Keep in mind they have a XP mode free download for the Pro and Ultimate versions of windows 7 that should allow for just about anything that was written to run in XP.

There are very specific upgrade paths for Windows 7 and you can only upgrade without a fresh install from Vista and only under very specific paths.

You will receive both 32 bit and 64 bit versions in the retail software release but you will have to do a clean install if you are running 32 bit Vista and you want to go to 64 bit Windows 7.

With XP you will have to do a clean install and reinstall all your software again. There is no in place upgrade available.

Link to chart:

http://mossblog.allthingsd.com/files/2009/08/windows-upgrade...

I am running Windows 7 RC on an MSI U120 netbook. Works great, stable, has drivers for everything! Seems like MS finally got it right!

I have been able to run all my garmin gps software either in native or XP simulation and have had no problems.

... Macs don't have any of those problems

--

it's the dog's fault

I have a couple of Macs, and a couple of PCs. Sadly, Apple has forgotten us who own PowerPC macs (not the new Intel based). The next Snow Leopard release forgets us PowerMac users. I am sure there are a lot of us out there!

Don't get me wrong, I really like my Dual 2.5Ghz G5 PowerPC, it works great! But Apple has abandoned me! I do not appreciate it. I have installed Windows 7 on my 2 desktop PCs and my little Netbook, and unless Apple starts providing updates for us PowerPC users, my mac will slowly fade away!

Remember those commercials for Vista where they showed people a "new" operating system called "Mohave", then after people said that they liked the "new" operating system they were told that it was really Vista? Well, I firmly believe that Windows 7 is just that, it's Vista with a new "service pack" where they finally got around to fixing some (not all) of the many many bugs that needed fixing and with a somewhat modified GUI so that they could claim it is a "new" OS. The only difference is that this time Microsoft will never admit that they pulled a fast one and that the OS is really Vista.

Why would they do such a thing? Well, they have admitted themselves that Vista is a disaster, even the Mohave commercials admitted that indirectly. So they finally got around to fixing things that needed to be fixed. What were their options? One was to give people the fixes for defective software that they already bought, but still fight with the bad reputation that this OS had brought upon itself. The other was to pull a "Mohave" and claim it was a new OS. That not only distanced them somewhat from the bad taste that Vista leaves in people's mouths, but also gave them a chance to sell another copy of the OS to people who had bought it but couldn't use what they had already paid for.

And I can tell you that there are people like that, I own a perfectly legal copy of Vista, but other than trying to install it on a computer that has a "certified for Vista" sticker on it and finding that it was completely worthless, I've never used Vista (and still am running Xp on that computer). Windows 7 is no more that a typical Microsoft scam to try to get more money from Micrsoft customers for something that they should have already provided, something that the customer purchased, and something that the customer should be entitled to as a repair of previously defective software.

Well, of course Windows 7 isn't going to run on old PC hardware either, so in a sense those older PCs will fade away too.

One nice thing to do with older hardware is convert it to Ubuntu linux. Here's a link for PowerPC/Ubuntu:
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/installation-guide/powerpc/inde...

It was obvious to me after reading your dissertation that you have very little experience with Vista and absolutely no experience with Windows 7.

I left XP in the dust 2 1/2 years ago and never looked back. I have been running Vista on both of my laptops and my desktop in a home network since Vista rolled out with little to no problems. I also have been running Windows 7 since the first beta and it is very much a new operating system and in no way any kind of a scam.

I said that I never was able to use the copy of Vista that I paid for. And actually I've never used any version of software that Microsoft calls Vista beyond typing on it in a store or trying to get a friend's copy working. I have tried the Win 7 beta releases (in virtual machines, since I'm not going to install it on a computer only to have it expire. But I have plenty of experience with Xp and other OSs in virtual machines to compare against.) And I do have the professional background to support that opinion.

Oh come on, you must be living under a rock to say that Microsoft HAS NOW turned to scamming their customers. That has been going on for years. There was even a big federal lawsuit about it in the days of the Clinton Administration. Microsoft even "lost", although when the Bush admin came into power they laughed it all off and went right on with business as usual. Microsoft is above the law, they will keep doing things like this. No other company could have sold a defective product like vista and then told all of the customers that the fix was to buy the repaired version with the name changd.

Whatever!

Frovingslosh there is always the unix os, then you should have no problem!
OR
Go here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/download.aspx

I have tried the beta version and I don't think much of it. It would appear that it is the cut up version of Vista for novices.

I am very much hoping that the final version is 4000% better than Vista, which is horrible.

I always give a new OS a couple of years to flesh out the bugs.

If it appears to be able to survive, then I might consider having it on the computer.

Been running the RC release so far with no problems with the software I normally use.

Nuvi360, c340

I predict Windows 7 will be a big winner for Microsoft.

I have been an Apple fan for years, since my first Apple II (oops that kind of dates me). In addition to my 2 Macs, I also have 2 home made PCs (Asus & Gigabyte MoBo, and AMD Phenom II processors). I also have a small MSI Netbook. I installed RC on all 3 of them and was completely surprised at how smoothly the installation went on all 3 of them. Performance is outstanding, even on the low performance processing of the Atom chip on the Netbook.

Everything runs well and even software that can have difficulty with the native OS, MS made a compatibility mode for XP SP2, allowing me to run all my software! From Lightroom, to Office 2007, Garmin & TomTom s/w.

Only complaint I have is why so many versions!

After trying out Ubuntu last year, it will take a lot for me to want to buy another Windows OS. I don't have any problems with XP. Vista was a big disappointment, and huge resource hog. I installed Ubuntu on a computer I built in 2002, and it was running smoother than Vista on this 3 year old computer.

I'm running it on my torrent box right now. It is nicer and a lot cleaner. Resources though, nu-uh. It's a resource hog unless you turn a lot of the bells and whistles off. And by that point, you might as well keep XP.

This rig is running with an Athlon XP 2800+, nVidia 7600 512mb, 1GB of ram, two 1TB Sata HDD and a 100Gig Sata HDD for page swapping. Running an instance of Firefox takes up 58% of the ram. And sharing files across networked computers is horrible (unless the other computer is also running Win7)

If you're running one program at a time, it's fine with all the neat settings turned on (and Bump.Top). If you're trying to multi task, expect severe slow downs. Some times I walk away from the machine to watch some tv and let the rig catch up.

And I hate how simplified everything is. They've almost hidden every advanced feature. They've made it a scavenger hunt through the menus to do something like adjust audio settings (realtek Sound mixer). I think they went over the top with making it user friendly. And I haven't found an option yet to turn this user friendly stuff off.

Some of my programs don't run under Win7 or XP compatable mode. These are programs like RSD Lite or MotoPhone tools. So I have to keep an XP rig close by. I'm sure that eventually the tools will be updated to include Win7 OS.

Over all though, I like it. And I'll be keeping it. I'd say it's on par with XP. A few issues to correct and it'll be leagues better.

I am running WinXP Pro on both my systems and it just plain works. With all the Vista complaints I heard and read about, I had no desire to even try to install it. "If its not broke, don't fix it."

Vista was fine. The main problem with Vista were the companies like Dell. They'd install it on a computer that barely met Vista's minimum specs. And since most of the useres who buy a computer know very little about the hardware, blamed Vista.

Vista should never be installed on a computer like mine and expect it to run well. Vista was built for the multi core systems with 3 or 4 gigs of ram. Install Vista on a core 2 duo with 2 gigs of ram, and you've got no problems. Install it on a Pentium 4 (thanks for a melt down Toshiba) and you've got issues.

It has to be better than Vista. Took vista off of my 3 machines and went back to XP.

I wouldn't say it was a "user" problem with underpowered processors. Our IT department has over the past 3 years replaced every desktop and laptop in the firm. They all are running XP Pro because of stability issues and program incompatibility problems with Vista. Vista is not an operating system for use in a corporate setting.

Been Using it since its first Beta and I love it. It is Fast, looks like Vista But Acts Like XP.

I tried the first Beta. Setup was very impressive. I completed the setup under 20 minutes on a Centrino 1.8GHz with 1.2GB RAM. Boot time is fast, just like WinXP Home that comes with my notebook. Unfortunately my integrated graphics card isn't supported so I can't get native resolution (nor Aero). In general, I like it. I'm now looking to get a new desktop PC with a free upgrade to Windows 7.

My thoughts...

The instructions on the box said "Requires Windows 95 or better"...
So I bought a Macintosh!

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670 & 880
Mac Pro & OS 10.5.7

Although they call us cavemen, we really don't live under the rocks, neither do we sleep on trees and the like, except when we have foreign dignitaries and invite them to sleep on trees with us. The federal lawsuit was not about scamming, no matter how defined. You do not actively use Vista for clearly articulated reasons, otherwise it would have been good to know which part of it has been repaired via Windows 7.

I don't get it. MS has been scamming you all this time but you still use their products. You must really love getting scammed or like their products very much.

Windows 7 is a WINNER!
Been using it as Beta, RC, and now RTM. I love it. It runs very nicely. I will be competitive to OSX. Window management has improved dramatically one feature that I loved from OSx, but I enjoy the current one in Windows 7. Also it seems to run better than XP on my netbook, which is a great plus.

Looking forward to it.

It is very hard to buy a computer, particularly a notebook, without also buying a copy of Windows. There have been a few notebooks offered in recent years without a copy of Windows, but they actually cost more than the version with Windows, so that is not a realistic option. And it's not that Microsoft is giving away Windows, they certainly are charging the computer manufacturers for it, but their monopoly position and abuse of same allows them to force vendors to include windows with everything or to inflate prices on systems without windows. Just another abuse by a company above the law.

So yes, I did buy a copy of Vista when I bought my last notebook, although it was useless and I didn't want to buy it. Microsoft themselves has openly called Vista a disaster, that is hardly just my opinion. And now that they have finally fixed Vista they are not releasing the fixes as a service pack that all Vista owners would receive, they are pointing out how bad old Vista is in contrast to the fixed and newly renamed version, and telling people that they should pay for a new software license. (Ok, they do it by calling the new version better, but we all know the background here.)

And it's not just an opinion from briefly looking at a beta that this is a service pack for Vista given a new look and a new name. There are plenty of benchmarks that show extremely close performance numbers to the Vista numbers, which is something that would be pretty unlikely if this was really a "new" OS.

Opinions were asked for by the original poster. I gave mine. I didn't attack anyone who has different opinions that I do. Those of you who who seem to be taking my views personally and feel the need to argue should really do a little self evaluation.

I disagree. There are several Ubuntu notebooks that cost less than those with any flavor of Vista, including the cheapest version, Vista Home Basic.

It's the other way around. PCs with MS Windows normally costs more than those with Ubuntu or any other Linux distro. Some of us call it Microsoft tax.

You should decline MS license agreement. Contact the notebook vendor and ask for a refund for not using MS Windows on your system. I'm not kidding. I've heard stories of users who got their money back by refusing to accept MS EULA and asking for a refund. They got approximately $100 back. Of course it depends on the vendor whether or not you'll get a refund. Your other option is to get system without an OS.

I can't argue with you on this one. Vista is like Windows Millennium Edition, a big failure. Vista has some flaws that are not suitable for the company I work for. I ended up downgrading a Vista Business machine to an XP Pro.

I respect your opinion. I'm not here to defend Microsoft. Just trying to understand why you use a product you hate (that's what it sounds like). You have other cheaper options.

I had the RC of Windows 7 running on a Quad-Core Intel box with a generic Geforce video card. That machine was very stable under XP.

I was playing with the cool Aero effects, hovering over the window thumbnails out of the taskbar. Then I ran the Bing (Windows Live) 3D birds-eye view map using IE8, and continued to flip windows. The machine then locked hard. Screen froze, mouse and keyboard dead. Waited a few minutes to see if it would come back to life. Nah. Power cycled, then windows took forever to try to "repair" the problem.

I've never seen such a system, and I think that you may not be comparing equivalent machines here. I'm certainly not going to buy a computer that has hardware shortcomings just because it doesn't force me to buy a copy of Windows also. I've never seen a system that I would want to use that comes with Linux at a lower cost than a comparable system with Windows, and I have seen reports of comparable models of notebooks from major vendors where the Linux system was actually priced higher.

And I hope you're not talking about tiny little "netbooks" here.

As you say, it depends on the vendor (and maybe even the whim of some customer support manager) if you'll get the refund or not. Not really a good way to make a purchasing decision IMHO. I have used the EULA in one other interesting way though: I bought one notebook at a local store, took it home, and found that it had several dead and stuck on pixels on the screen. I refused the EULA and took the computer back to the store. I tried being honest, and pointed out all of the bad pixels. Their response was that they considered that number of dead and stuck on pixels good enough for their customers and that they would charge me an outrageous "restocking fee" to return the computer. I then pointed out that I found the EULA unacceptable, and as instructed I declined it and was returning the computer to the place of purchase. They grumbled but I got my full refund. About the only thing that I could ever thank Microsoft for.

Well, several points to make here. I don't use the product (Vista), as it is defective, which is pretty well known. I use a different product, XP (although I would only consider it less defective, not good). What I hate isn't the product, it's the company behind the product.

As to why I use XP, there are several reasons. One is that I do a lot of support work and that mandates that I use the same family of OS that other who I have contact with use. (Not using Vista is sometimes an issue but Vista has been so bad that few people ever migrated to it and some who did such as yourself went back to XP anyway, so this has not been a major issue.) I can't resolve Windows problems or write windows code from Ubuntu. And yes I've looked at Wine and it just does not cut it. Even for personal use like on-line gaming I need to run the same game software that other friends that I play on-line with use, and that has ment windows. Yes, there are good Linux and even cross platform games out there, but I don't want to be the crybaby that insists the whole group switch from a game that they like to some less well known open source game just because I want to run Linux. That kind of thing only ends up fragmenting and destroying the group.

Also, I use Windows for one of the same reasons that many of the people who I support do; Linux still just isn't ready for the desktop! Before you dismiss me as some windows fanboy, let me say that I've had Linux (Debian) systems running here for years, and that I moderate a popular Linux Live CD forum. But Linux just isn't ready for the non-geek, and is not even all that ready for some of us geeks. That not just my opinion, even Linux/Unix centric sites such as Shashdot run frequent articles that make this point.

Ok, you've made your point. All Microsoft products suck. Can you not highjack this thread any longer. If you feel the need to continue your discussion start your own thread "Why I hate Microsoft"

And of course if I didn't respond to those who debated my posting rather than just let me say my piece, other would say I was ignoring criticism and take that as a sign that I was acknowledging that I was wrong.

Since you seem to have appointed yourself in charge of who can and who can not post, and freely throw around offensive terms like "hijacking", please tell me at what point I transgressed and hijacked anything. Was it in my first response to the question (that really has nothing to do with GPS or POIs anyway) about what I thought about Win 7, or was it when I responded to posts that were clearly addresses to me?

When the company's annual bonus comes out after the first of the year, I'm getting an iMac to complement my Mac Book Pro.

I have not seen a bonus in quite a few years!

I hate it. Too restrictive on what the user can or cannot do. It tries so hard to protect the computer from anything that tries to startup that it's annoying and it wastes time.

Been using RC1 for a while and I'm loving it.

A co-worker of mine recently purchased a laptop with 64bit Vista. All of the programs run ok, but none of the drivers worked. She had to download new drivers for her pc. The biggest problem is in getting a new driver for using the VPN. We use the VPN to access our work pc's from home. Right now that is reason enough for me NOT to go to 64 bit, at least not yet.

Ask yourself this question: What will Windows 7 do that my current operating system will not do. If you can think of anything, then find out how much it will cost, plus consider the time you will need to invest to learn it, and then ask yourself if its worth it to do that thing(s) you cannot currently do.

In my opinion, if you are running XP, stay with XP. Windows 7 is not better then XP - it has XP mode where it runs XP within it (on the higher end versions of 7 only).

XP will be supported by Microsoft by 2014 and, so far as I can tell, neither Vista or 7 can do anything Windows XP doesn't already do.

If you are running Vista, you should definately upgrade to 7, as there will be almost no learning curve and your computer will run faster as a result.

If you buy a new computer now, be sure a free upgrade to 7 is included (not all current PCs for sale offer this free upgrade and you don't want to get stuck with Vista).

In short, if you buy a new computer, be sure to get 7. If you run a Vista computer, be sure to upgrade to 7. If you run XP, leave it alone until you buy a new computer.

Thats my advice.

Carey Holzman
co-host: Computer America Show

I have been running Windows 7 RC on my 7 year old Motion Tablet PC with a 1Gig CPU and 1GB of RAM. It runs as good as XP, and faster than Vista did for the short time I kept it on the tablet. Tablets add about 150-200 MB of used up RAM, so this is impressive and should allow other older PCs to have new life. Best thing to do is to add the most RAM as you can and certainly do a fresh wipe and install after backing up all your personal files. I plan to replace my Tablet disk drive with an SSD flash drive if they make them in IDE format. This should make this thing into a 7 year old speed demon

We have an evaluation copy here at work. We have several different applications that we use in our business. So far, everything seems to be working fine with only one exception. We are having a few printer driver issues that we are working through. Other than that, it is like Vista, but runs faster and more stable. We will be interested to see how the final release turns out.