Any one going Windows 7?

[mwhafner]

Wow, Is Windows STILL around?

You guys drive Edsels too?

Apple -- you can buy better but you can't pay more!!!!!!

Fred

Hey, that is Cisco's motto.  Apple has just recently adopted it. 

I loved my G4 Powerbook.  Had it for about 5 years, until one of the security updates baked it. 

I don't think that Apple prices are that far out of line, especially considering their innovations.  The Mac Pro's are actually a pretty good deal, compared to a similarly outfitted workstation elsewhere.  They are just inventive enough to make it hard to draw direct comparisons. 

If you are new to computing, go Linux.  My day-job is administration, design and support of a specific Linux app.  The stability of most common Linux distos, compared to either Windows (take your pick) or OS-X, is incredible.  I have systems that have been up and running, without interruption, for 7 years.  No updates, no problems, no worries.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Thanks, again, Steve.  I'll have to try your suggestion of downloading Ubuntu onto a CD and booting from that.  Once I have that CD, how do I stop my PC from booting up using VISTA and to use the CD instead?  I'm guessing I will have to install the CD in the drive, then shutdown and restart but interrupt the  restart early in its process, e.g. by toggling one of the function keys.

Dave R.

 

[Steve Jones]

Dave, most PCs will by default boot to a bootable CD, if yours does not there will be an option to do so in the bootup menu (press some key during bootup, it's almost always shown early in the boot process.

Mine is an old (very old) system, I have to press escape at the appropriate time during boot (while the message is shown) once the option is set it can stay set that way (because you won't usually have a bootable CD in the machine)

In my case it isn't defined as cd boot first (although I usually see that on machines) my old cmos gives options for boot order by defining drive letters, so I can select A,C,D  - C,D,A, OR D,C,A (the last one boots from the cd since mine is defined as drive "D") All that means is that D,C,A, will look for a boot record on drive "D" first, if one is not found it will look on drive C and if all else fails it will look for a bootable floppy disk (told you it was old)

Hope this helps

Steve

 

[nickao]

I have never had an issue with Vista, I must be in the minority.

But I also do not try to run that hog on an old machine which is insane.

With the cost of computers so low these days it is not worth the bother to buy an operating system and put it on an old machine.

Vista 7 still kicking butt and I have tried almost every program I have, only the one glitch with the printer. I have had the machine on 48 hours overclocked to the hilt 3.85GHZ and rock solid. I just can not believe how much faster it is than Vista.

 

[Steve Jones]

I totally agree with Nickao, Buying an operating system is insane. ;D

(no matter how old (or young) your machine is)

 

[bruegf]

Fred I have read so many, many, many disappointed Apple fans of late.

The Apple's latest offerings are crap and that is not from me, but thousands of people all over the Apple enthusiast forums. Straight from the hard line Apple enthusiasts.

Vista may have had some compatibility issues for some, never for me, but it was a beautiful looking Operating system.

And 7 so far is much better I just can not believe how snappy it is!.

I have come into one minor glitch with 7 today, it is not recognizing my wireless printer, but I am sure it just changed a setting somewhere. It is a beta after all.

I do give apple credit for their design and user interface efforts - they have some really innovative, neat stuff.  But I've always felt there stuff was overpriced and (more so in the past) a fairly closed architecture, plus I've been really burned in the past.  I just won't go there again.

Fred

 

[nickao]

Windows 7 BETA still has not crashed, but I have not been able to fix the printer being recognized and the DVD is not getting recognized either.

I'll see if any fixes have been set up for these items. Everything else so far is going well.

 

[marrt]

Nick, are you running this as a dual boot (boot loader) or did you "replace" your existing OS? 

Also, W7 is supposed to use the same underlying architecture as Vista...I believe all the Vista drivers are supposed to work.  MS had big problems with Vista drivers...so, I'd be surprised if they are making further changes.  You might just try installing the Vista driver again (however, the driver's OS detection thread may cause a problem). 

 

[nickao]

Just replaced it, I have a few computers so it is not an issue the other are running Vista.

Its not the drivers, but a glitch in the new Windows 7.

 

[Brice Burrell]

So, any updates?

 

[nickao]

Rock solid so far!

I still can not get any of my older printers to work with it nor can get I get my wireless printer to be seen by this computer..

The operating system other than that is super fast and so pretty! Easy to search you can peek behind windows and and some other neat things like looking through the file folders you can get different views, better than the ones in vista and again so fast.

I know 7 changed a setting for my printer I just have not had time to find it. It also changed a setting for my cd/dvd but I repaired that in about 5 minutes using windows 7 problem finder.

Over all it is the best beta I have ever used.

Not once has it locked up or blue screened or anything like that at all and it has been on all the time 24/7 for about a month now.

I can not seem to overclock the system as much as I had it overclocked with vista though. For most I guess that is not an issue. In use though the OS is so much faster I do not notice any decrease in speed, actually it is faster though the computer clock speed is less than when I ran Vista. I guess windows 7 just takes up a lot less resources, it must.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Nick,

Have you tried Internet Explorer 8 yet?  I recently saw some positive promotional articles about it.  Allegedly, it addresses many problems in earlier versions and adds new security and convenience features.

Dave R.

 

[b_m_hart]

Some of the DRM is stunningly annoying.  If you have an Apple TV, for example, it will go and wipe it clean every time your itunes login times out (every 2-3 days, basically).  That's enough to be a deal breaker for me... otherwise, it's very solid.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Thanks.  I don't do iTunes.   

Dave R.

 

[nickao]

No  I do not use Explorer and I do not use itunes either.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Hey,
I use iTunes but not Explorer (I'm a Firefox advocate).
Matthew

 

[b_m_hart]

No  I do not use Explorer and I do not use itunes either.

The upshot of the DRM is that if you decide to convert your music and movies into a digital format, such that they can be streamed or played over a network (by your stereo or television), you can run into some serious headaches with Vista or 7.  I've ripped movies from DVDs I own (yes, purchased legitimately) and watched as Vista wiped them from my hard drive.  Was very annoying.  Now, I have everything segregated from my boot disk to prevent that from happening again - but I shouldn't have to (at least, in my opinion).

 

[daviszr1]

To Steve et al:

You asked for one good reason to go with a Windows based machine.  My answer is games.  I've been around the computer world for quite some time and I'm with you about Linux based OSs (though Ubuntu isn't my favorite distro by a longshot).  We used Solaris at work on the SGI machines and it was flawless.  Command line usage of all the programs is slick and typically way faster than any GUI interface.  Frontends like Gnome and K are becoming better everyday.

I'm currently running OS X and you would certainly like that as well (you'd feel right at home at the terminal screen).  In fact I can run any package software I want and get all the free software I like too.  I'm also not held down by any specific package format.

The problem with OS X and Li/Unix is the near zero support for any games that come out.  Let me be clear... I'm not a gamer.  I do have a few old games that I like really enjoy playing though (Sim City 4, Civilization 4) that were released nearly 5 years ago now.  Other than a terribly overpriced and under supported Mac versions of a limited number of games, there isn't much out there.  If you got kids or any sort of desire to pick up a game made in the last few years, you had better be running a windows machine.

 

[Jerry Work]

Hi Nickao,

All OSs have their proponents and detractors.  Usually, for the proponents it is the only OS they know well.  If it works for you then it is "good".  If it doesn't, then it is "bad".  If it allows you to build a better quality piece of work, faster, so you can sell it to your customer ( or deliver it to your family) at a constantly lower price, then it is really good.  If you spend your time learning or justifying your OS choice at your customer's expense then it is ..... questionable.  My suggestion is to vet all such questions in terms of your customers best interest.  Hope this helps.

Jerry

Any one going Windows 7?

I'll let you know how it works after a week or two so far so good!

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx

 

[BC6738F5BCE98B4]

I have used Microsoft software since before there was a "Windows" brand name.  I bought one of the original Macs (which had to be upgraded to get 256k or a 10 meg disc.  I have played with various other OS over the years.  The moral of this history is that I never ever buy/upgrade an operating system until it has been commercially released (not alpha or beta) for at least 6 months or nine months in the case of Microsoft products.  In my experience that is long enough for the OS to be installed on enough machines to have encountered most of the major problems. For that reason I am still using Windows XP Pro. 

If I were in the market for a new OS I would look seriously at the Ubantu (phonetic) Linux distribution, the Apple OS or the Windows 7 (high end version).  Each has strong and weak points and the one I run on my cpu will probably be different than the one run by my Luddite spouse. 

My primary caution is that unless you are an "early adaptor" and can afford headaches, don't buy a brand new OS.  My grandfather used to say much the same about new models of cars and I suspect the reason for the caution is founded upon lots of experience.