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General discussion

Windows 7: What should I expect?

Dec 20, 2009 10:15PM PST

Hi there. I need suggestions about Windows 7. Currently I'm using Vista and fine with it. Heard a lot about Windows 7, which is so-called MUCH better than Vista. So what should I expect from Windows 7? I've got a few opinions:
-Vista's power management is good enough. Got 4 hours battery life in my Aspire 2930
-Have no probs in Vista's performance. Keep doing system maintenance regularly
-Vista's eye candy is enough Wink
-No need XP Mode, VirtualBox worked fine WITHOUT hardware assisted virtualization
-Jump List? No. Vista get Quick Launch, it's also "pinned" to the taskbar.
-Touch? Unfortunately, I haven't got Tablet PC.
-HomeGroup? Workgroup works fine, my network is good.
-Peek, Shake, Snap: Only these features interests me. Wonder is it going to be included in Vista?
Any suggestions everyone?

Discussion is locked

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You don't want it.
Dec 20, 2009 11:05PM PST

You've written why you don't need to make the change so go with that.

Here, simple things made me move. There are dozens of little things so I'll just share one and stop. The simple EJECTION of the USB memory stick is just one click so that saves me time every day. I am writing some Windows Mobile applications so I put that on the memory cards for testing so this one tiny feature is worth the full price of Windows 7.

Amazing.
Bob

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I'd Agree
Dec 20, 2009 11:23PM PST

I'd agree. Sounds like you're happy with Vista, so no real need to bother with Win7. You can probably just wait things out until you need a new computer.

I also tend to agree that Vista is judged a bit harshly. Granted some people say that it was pretty bad pre-SP1, and I can't really comment on that.

I like Win7 a bit better than Vista on the whole. I use it on a home theater PC, so the streamlined boot process is quite handy for me. Vista took maybe 1-2 minutes, and Win7 is more like 1 minute. So those nights when I wake up and can't get back to sleep for an hour or two, I spend less time waiting for my system to get started.

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try it out
Dec 21, 2009 3:36AM PST

Have you taken the time to try it out? If you have the time (maybe wait until stores calm down a bit after the holidays) stop by a local computer store and play around with it for a while. Hands on experience never hurts.

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Upgrading to Windows 7
Dec 21, 2009 6:53PM PST

Sounds like you're pretty satisfied with Vista. I would say there's no need to upgrade to 7. My old desktop had XP but it had a slow processor and a small amount of RAM. My new desktop came loaded with 7. The visual stuff is nicer to look at. A few things are a bit different than XP but mostly everything works the same. Somebody told me that 7 uses the same kernal(?) as XP so they're fairly identical. My biggest problem has been having to download new drivers for things like printers that aren't recognized by 7. When shopping for new stuff many products don't mention whether they're compatible with the 7 OS.

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Not quite
Dec 21, 2009 11:32PM PST

Not quite. Windows 7 uses an evolution of the XP kernel, which is essentially the brain of an OS, or it's most core component. It's really an evolution of the kernel that started with NT 3.1 many years ago. It's completely separate from the DOS line of Windows which was the entire 9x line and Me. Win2000, XP, Vista, and Win7 are all evolutions of the NT kernel.

And Win7 and Vista are nearly identical. Win7 is really just a minor update to Vista. So if an app says it's compatible with XP and/or Vista, there's an excellent chance it'll work just fine with Win7. But considering how new Win7 is, and the amount of time it takes companies to really test their products, not to mention print up new packing material, takes time. Don't be surprised if it's 6 months or more before you start seeing things like that. XP was around for about 8 years, but even when it first came out, it was such a big departure from Win9x/Me under the hood, many programs didn't work, and it took quite a while before companies had XP drivers, let alone packaging that claimed XP compatibility. Also, I've often found that claims made on a box aren't always to be trusted. It always reminds me of a couple of lines from the movie Tommy Boy.

- Well why do they put a guarantee on the box?
- Because they know all they sold you is a guaranteed piece of sh*t. Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I have spare time.

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Comp. Center
Dec 22, 2009 4:30AM PST