Any one going Windows 7?

[Roseland]

I have used Apple computers since before they were called Macs.  I have also used most versions of Windoze over the years, including Vista.  I have yet to see anyone running Vista SP2 (a.k.a Windows 7) so I can't comment first hand, but I gather it's pretty much like the original Vista.

Until I used Festool I didn't believe they could be worth the extra; now I'm hooked and am working to switch out all my kit in due course.

The only people who say Apple computers are too expensive are folks who've never used one.  Once you've gone Apple you'll wonder why you ever bothered with other OSs.

Andrew

 

[Brice Burrell]

Okay, so who has made the switch and how is it going?

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Bought the family pack (3 licenses @ $149) and have it installed on three of the computers at home.  No issues, seems to be working fine.  Can't say that I see a significant difference in performance on my desktop which is a quad core w/ 8GB and a high end graphics card versus Vista Premium 64-bit.  Not sure that the benefits I gained would have been worth the full price of $99/license or whatever it is.  If you're upgrading from XP, you have to back up your files and then restored them.  If you're upgrading from Vista, Windows 7 migrates everything automatically.

 

[EcoFurniture]

I would rather brush my teeth with a Rotex than use a Microsoft product

[thumbs up] [thumbs up] [thumbs up] [thumbs up] [thanks]

 

[Dan Clark]

I've been using Win 7 for months.   It's fast and MUCH better than Vista.   They don't talk about it much, but a lot of this is because Microsoft re-engineered the video subsystem.  

A large number of crashes in Vista were because of the single-threaded video system and making a dual copy of video memory.  With Vista, if you opened a large number of windows and especially if you have multiple monitors, Vista's video sub-system would keep chewing up memory until it crashed.  Also, all communication with the windows went through ONE portal.  Basically, it was a horrible design.

In Win 7, the video sub-system is multi-threaded and it keeps a single copy of window memory.   You can keep opening windows and not use up much memory.   I've had virtually no problems with Win7.  In fact the Win 7 beta that was available last January was far more stable than the production Vista OS after years of patches.

Another thing to consider is 64 bit processing.   64-bit processing with Vista was questionable - mostly drivers were not available or didn't work well.   With Win7, 64-bit is a production-level reality.  

The big advantage of 64-bit is the ability to use more than about 3.2Gb of memory.   Big apps like photo and video editors work more smoothly.  My office workstation has 8Gb of memory.   It's normal for me to have 8-12 windows open with software development and office tools, a browser running video (YouTube), a couple of resource-intensive chat windows, AND database software running simultaneously.  Sometimes my system uses over 6Gb of memory.  This would not be possible on a 32 bit system.  On my 64-bit system, it runs smoothly.

All of my home systems have been running Win XP for years.   I wouldn't buy Vista under any conditions.  However, I just bought upgrade licenses for all of my home 'puters.   Win 7 is the best thing that Microsoft has produced in years.

Regards,

Dan.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Dan, thanks for the feedback.

Another thing to consider is 64 bit processing.   64-bit processing with Vista was questionable - mostly drivers were not available or didn't work well.   With Win7, 64-bit is a production-level reality.

 

This is particularly helpful.

I would rather brush my teeth with a Rotex than use a Microsoft product

These type of comments are real fun, but can we please stay on topic. [thanks]

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I built a career around and made a good living evaluating operating systems releases and managing transitions for large organizations.  For my personal computer, since its my own time and my money, I mostly change OS's when I buy a new computer, about every 3-5 years.  Life is too short to spend a lot of time searching for drivers for old HW or trying to make that ten year old program run efficiently in today's machines.

Just bought a new computer running Win 7 and it was painless.  Easy transition (from XP in this case).

 

[imaginarynumber]

i love xp pro, hate vista and was impressed by the removal of the worst bits of vista from Windows 7- sadly my S5XP is a bit too old to run windows 7 smoothly.

From time to time i use some of the Linux distros.

I have repaired a few macs but would not ever consider buying one. They are reliable but not because the O/S is any better. The primary reason is that Apple prevent you from upgrading your own components- you cant put any old graphics card in, hence there are no badly written drivers/conflicts to worry about.

Personally I don't like their restrictive policy so if I were to go for a Nix variant it would be one of the linux distros.

I also dislike the fact that Apple remain quiet about the whole virus myths, allowing Apple owners to think that they don't need AV protection.

Ironically Micro$oft are more "open source" than apple...

 

[chrisrosenb]

Okay, so who has made the switch and how is it going?

I upgraded 4 computers to Windows 7 64 bit about a month ago. Two had XP 32 bit  & 2 had Vista 32 bit. The oldest computer was a 5 year old HP Desktop & the newest was a home built that was about 2 years old. These were the easiest OS upgrades I ever did. Being gun shy from other OS upgrades, I decided to install all of the upgrades as dual boot systems. This way if something went wrong I did not lose my old setup. I did add more memory to all 4 computers. I had no problem finding drivers. Programs start & run faster. I have 2 software programs that will not run on Vista or Windows 7. One is an earlier version of my cabinet design program. I was able to run it within Windows 7 with the XP compatibility mode. My Wife has an embroidery program on her computer that I will have too also run in XP compatibility mode.

Chris
 
 

 

[imaginarynumber]

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..

often you can cheat and pretend that the printer is an old printer and then use old drivers.

for example we have one of those crappy wifi printer scanners at home. I  like HP but hate their bloaty software. I told xp that it was an ancient deskjet 990c and then maually set the (wifi) port number.

I can print over the network without any HP software running in the background- granted I am unable to scan and check ink levels but i can do that from another pc with the software installed.

Your pc doesn't need to be able to see a wifi printer, you can find the ip address of the printer and enter it as a standard tcp/ip port into the printer properties.

 

[sroxberg]

Loaded Windows 7 32 bit a week ago and it's been great. I built my computer several years ago and am using an Asus P5K motherboard and every single on board had a driver loaded by the OS.

Not a single hiccup and some of the new features are great.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Not me.  My next PC will be from Apple.  I've had it with all the glitches, failures, and slow responses of VISTA 32 bit OS.  VISTA's plug and play features do work well, and that is about the only feature I laud them for.  A significant portion of every day is consumed with MS OS preening itself.  That does not happen on any of the three Mac PCs in my family.  I'm not a gamer, so MS OS is not needed. 

Dave R.

 

[joraft]

I recently installed Win 7 on two of my PCs, taking them from 32 bit (XP) to 64 bit, with increased RAM.

The installation went flawlessly and the speed improvement was very noticeable, especially when running the 64 bit Photoshop (CS4).

I like this OS so much I haven't even opened my MacBook Pro since the installation.

 

[jgag]

yes - on my new build PC - I'm very happy with it.
I've been running dual boot XP / Ubuntu for years and am now currently W7pro only.
On fairly high end kit - multi-core processor / oodles of Ram & SSD - it finally delivers competent multitasking
(ie I can do multiple things without inevitably robbing Peter to pay Paul)

and yes I've used and supported Macs in the past

• my only reason for not using one previously was the need to run specific windows apps (hence dual booting)
• one of my greatest reasons for wanting to run one prevously was hypercard; pity as they now do machines that could well run multiple OS that they have dropped Hypercard...
• The ipad looks like it might give me many useful features, but there are many sceptical reviews - I think I'll need to try one out

The festool analogy is mainly good...
the main difference is that I can use B&D dogs (or others) and plug my Fein multimaster into the dust extractors etc.

MS, Apple, Sony etc. also seem to deliberately make aspects of each PC not play nicely with each other...

 

[Brice Burrell]

I recently installed Win 7 on two of my PCs, taking them from 32 bit (XP) to 64 bit, with increased RAM.

The installation went flawlessly and the speed improvement was very noticeable, especially when running the 64 bit Photoshop (CS4).

I like this OS so much I haven't even opened my MacBook Pro since the installation.

You're going to get kicked out of the Mac club with talk like that. [scared]

 

[peter halle]

I recently installed Win 7 on two of my PCs, taking them from 32 bit (XP) to 64 bit, with increased RAM.

The installation went flawlessly and the speed improvement was very noticeable, especially when running the 64 bit Photoshop (CS4).

I like this OS so much I haven't even opened my MacBook Pro since the installation.

I might have to consider then changing a couple of machines over.  The reason I bought my Mac was because Photoshop CS4 wouldn't run on my 64 bit version of Vista.  Adobe said that it wouldn't work on some 64 bit machines.  They were great about replacing my software for free to go the Mac platform.

 

[joraft]

You're going to get kicked out of the Mac club with talk like that. [scared]

I've never really been in the Apple club. The MacBook Pro was actually given to me as an enticement to join. It has been okay, but not really much better than my PC laptop, and now with Win 7, I think the PC even has an edge. I'm sure my bias is due to 30 years on PCs, simply being more comfortable with them, and the fact that as the years have past the difference between the platforms has grown smaller and smaller.

One area where the MacBook really shines is the quality of the machine itself, very, very impressive. And it's made in China!

We have kind of a unique family situation going on. My son-in-law works for Apple (if you cut him I swear he'll bleed Apple juice  ;D) and he has completely indoctrinated my daughter into the Mac world. So many years wasted, raising her to be a good PC girl.

 

[joraft]

I might have to consider then changing a couple of machines over.  The reason I bought my Mac was because Photoshop CS4 wouldn't run on my 64 bit version of Vista.  Adobe said that it wouldn't work on some 64 bit machines.  They were great about replacing my software for free to go the Mac platform.

Peter, the only problem I've had with the 64 bit CS4 is it sometimes locks up trying to open RAW files. If they're opened first in the 32 bit version, or in Lightroom, then there is no problem.

Not a big deal, but certainly an annoyance I'd like to see fixed.