Vista and Windows 7 - reactions

[Whiternoise]

If you look at Microsofts product timeline, Win 7 and Longhorn were developed around the same time. According to the wiki, some of the features got slipped into Longhorn, Win 7 was delayed and they released Vista. It's a good OS, there are a lot of things i prefer in Vista than in XP - that said, my issue with Vista was i didn't see any compelling reason to upgrade. I've used Vista on friend's PCs and i've had no problems with it in general. For the price i would have to pay, to get Premium, it wasn't an option for me - for what would mostly be performance tweaks, a few extra doodads and a nicer interface. I'm not saying that it was a bad operating system, it's just that when it was released, there were a few little issues that shouldn't have been there and so everyone took the opportunity to bash. MS naturally never heard the end of it...

Windows 7 is generally pleasing, i'm not a fan of windows media player 12 - they took a step backwards there in my opinion. And i've had to disable the wmpnetworksvc service to stop it loading up WMP continually (and using all my CPU power too). The only issue i've had with applications is SecuRom - it just doesn't work at all - but you can get around most of the issues and no doubt when it's properly released, there will be patches. There's also the emphasis (not that i'm likely to use it any time soon) on the interface being portable friendly, with big taskbar buttons for fat fingers and the like.

The reason i downloaded the Beta was because XP was generally being an arse, things were just not working, drivers were going awry and i think - though i haven't tested it yet - i had a big false alarm about my graphics card being dead. That seemed to be my experience with XP, it works great for a year or so (nowadays) and then eventually starts showing problems and a reinstall is the only option. Vista and 7 seem to be a fair bit more stable for the moment. I think it's generally worth skipping a few dev cycles for operating systems, to date i've gone from 95 to 98 to XP and now to 7 and that's worked just fine for me - at least that way you always think "wow, they've improved X, Y and Z a lot!".

[format]

drivers that dont work yet
Creative X-FI drivers (doesnt support operating system) (will look for win7 beta drivers on creative site later)

The Vista drivers work alright for me on W7

[lodore]

The Vista drivers work alright for me on W7

thanks
did you just extract SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0008 to a folder and then browse to it for the update driver in device manager?

[format]

thanks
did you just extract SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0008 to a folder and then browse to it for the update driver in device manager?

I put in my Creative disc, let it install and update itself then voila!

[digit]

Was just reading through ars technica and came across an interesting point in there quick look at windows 7. http://arstechnica.com/articles/paed...ws-7-beta.ars/

Microsoft has finally decided that it would be a good idea to have keyboard shortcuts to minimize and maximize windows. No more alt+space, N or alt+space, X menu-based shenanigans—we now have Win+Up Arrow to maximize, Win+Down Arrow to restore or minimize. This is a window management godsend. The docking to the left and right is available too, with Win+Left Arrow and Win+Right Arrow. Peeking at the desktop can be done with Win+Space. For those with multiple monitors, there are also shortcuts to move windows between displays; Shift+Win+Arrow will move the current window to a different display.

[synaesthesia]

Ah, didn't know that one - very useful!

As for the x-fi drivers and a couple of others, just run them (even from the downloaded .exe setup file without extracting) in Vista compatibility mode and it'll run and install without hassle. Had the same for my TV card, both now work without any problem at all.

[Dreaming]

You know I just realised in Windows vista, you can happily put sidebar objects anywhere on the desktop. (was using that space and win-key shortcut)

Not that I've ever used the sidebar lol.

[s_kinton]

programs that dont work:
flash player wont install for internet explorer 8.

Flash player installed fine for me. Just make sure you aren't using 64bit IE

[arthurleung]

I wonder could anyone tell me know to get to use the Win+Num shortcut key and not let those icons occupy the taskbar.

Just installed Win7 64bit on my Inspiron 1525.

Good things:
- Drivers all installed, no additional driver hunting is needed
- Taskbar much improved compared to Vista (progress bar looks very nice, wonder if it works on things other than explorer / IE)
- Much lower memory usage compared to Vista (take 1GB after boot for 3G ram)
- Much faster win+tab than before
- New windows shortcut key (half left, half right)
- Open new windows by hitting the shift key and a program on the taskbar (extremely useful)
- No more spike Harddrive / CPU usage experienced in Vista (CPU stays at 25% clock speed most of the time)

Bad things:
- Default install is 13GB in size (though setup says 8GB minimum?)
- Icon spacing is very huge for stuff in the taskbar (especially pinned stuff). Perhaps good for high resolution screen but pinning half a dozen of programs and 1/3 of my taskbar is gone
- As usual, pinning (or quick launch in older windows) doesn't stack when taskbar is double height
- Stack side by side function disappeared (quite annoyed when I can't use 4 explorer windows at the same time)
- Win+E opens "Libraries" which is even worse than Vista's "Documents". Please can I have "Computer" back. Why does Microsoft assume people put everything in the "Libraries" when people DO have partitions to put data.

Odd thing:
The Vcore for my T8300 magically increased by 0.0875V, and my max load temperature increased by 5'C. I tried to dismiss this as a systematic error :S

[lodore]

- Win+E opens "Libraries" which is even worse than Vista's "Documents". Please can I have "Computer" back. Why does Microsoft assume people put everything in the "Libraries" when people DO have partitions to put data.

Hey arthurleung,
i find the libaries thing annoying as well.
same thing happerns when i go to the start menu and click on my name
it should open (drive letter):\users\(name) but instead it just opens libaries.. then i have to browse to the location i want which takes longer...

as for the not able to have multiple explorer windows side by side i found a worse issue based on the same principle.
windows live messenger no longer has the icon in the tray. instead when messenger is open i have to hover over the icon and select the window on the right. if i hover over the icon and click on the window to the left it does nothing.
it becomes even worse when you start using the application. if i get a new messeage the WLM stack icon flashes. then i have to hover over the icon to find out who sent me a messenger and then finaly click on the right conversation. its really annoying..

i like the way microsoft has locked down the tray by default but not having a WLM tray icon is stupid and annoying.

[Camrada]

i guess we are going to be seeing a lot of red outlines around images from people with problems in the future

have the seen the black box recorder? psr.exe - it records actions...

There is a great article with some hidden feature here that is worth a glance...

so far I'm loving it, from the rotating desktop backgrounds cycling through different images, to the speed and efficiency improvements. Even though it is still a beta, it feels more solid and stable than vista did. Sure there are little bits and pieces that need to be addressed, but we're still months away from an RC and a good 10/11 months away from retail... from what I've seen so far, you couldn't pay me to go back to XP (and i'm hoping to stick with beta/RC until retail)

[lodore]

have the seen the black box recorder? psr.exe - it records actions...

There is a great article with some hidden feature here that is worth a glance...

so far I'm loving it, from the rotating desktop backgrounds cycling through different images, to the speed and efficiency improvements. Even though it is still a beta, it feels more solid and stable than vista did. Sure there are little bits and pieces that need to be addressed, but we're still months away from an RC and a good 10/11 months away from retail... from what I've seen so far, you couldn't pay me to go back to XP (and i'm hoping to stick with beta/RC until retail)

Hey Camrada,
strange thing is the nothing bultin crashes. i was very surprised.
i may use windows 7 beta alot once i have found out how to sort out a few new things i dont like:
how to stop the libaries thing coming up everytime i try to lanch explorer. such as username on start menu, windows+E etc.
plus how to sort how the grouping of all applications and the lack of WLM tray icon. i did try customising the tray but couldnt find a hidden wlm icon.

[Camrada]

drivers that dont work yet:
Creative X-FI drivers (doesnt support operating system) (will look for win7 beta drivers on creative site later)

got them working here and I've noticed a few others have too, but took a bit of playing around. I downloaded the latest drivers from CL's site, and the latest apps too, righ-click on download, change compatibility to Vista, and install. installed drivers, rebooted, console launcher, rebooted, DDL, reboot, DTS, reboot, Alchemy, reboot. then found all the applications that were installed in the creative directory (prog files) and shared files and changed each of their compatibility tabs to vista, reboot and it all works. only DTS and CMSS are stumping me now... You can even put the original CD in and "ADD" any apps that are missing, I used this to add back in the Volume Control.

programs i havent tested yet:
skype

Skype 4.0 Beta 3 for windows - it works When you initially run it, just cancel on the "create new account" page and it'll then take you to log on page

windows 7 is definatly lighter and faster than vista.

Totally agree

[Camrada]

i may use windows 7 beta alot once i have found out how to sort out a few new things i dont like:
how to stop the libaries thing coming up everytime i try to lanch explorer.

Step 24.

how to sort how the grouping of all applications

How do you mean? you know everying is dragable now?

the lack of WLM tray icon

WLM context menu bugs me, the radial dot should move when you change status for example and if you "close window" option the context menu remains until you click elsewhere, also why take up the space of two taskbar buttons/icons (one for username logged ina dn one for the app).

[Camrada]

there are so many improvments and new little bits and pieces it's exciting to play with it... almost like Christmas, but better, lol...

Windows 7 now includes the ability to create a system repair disc, which is essentially a CD-bootable version of Windows that just includes the command prompt and a suite of system tools. Just type “system repair disc” in the Start Menu search box, and you’ll be led to the utility.

[lodore]

Step 24.



How do you mean? you know everying is dragable now?


WLM context menu bugs me, the radial dot should move when you change status for example and if you "close window" option the context menu remains until you click elsewhere, also why take up the space of two taskbar buttons/icons (one for username logged ina dn one for the app).

heyCamrada,
ok ill check step 24 thanks. dont completely understand how to change it.. plus still cant change windows+E
yes i know everything is draggable now. what i mean is all the WLM conversations are under one stack WLM icon. on every version of windows except windows 7 every conversation had a seprate window. that way i know who sent me a message. when every conversation is under one icon and the icon flashes i have to hover over the icon and look at all the windows to find out who sent me a message. do you know what i mean?
guessing there is a no grouping option under taskbar and start menu properties? (not using it atm)

it suddenly came to me that i think the wlm tray icon has been replaced with a jump list which isnt so bad. i want all my conversation windows to be seprate on the taskbar. so i have a WLM icon on the taskbar which i can click on to open up the main window. i can use the jump list on the icon to change status etc.
would i just turn off grouping of applications?

woop learned something new in vista. step 5. i had no idea you could open up the the directory in cmd using the context menu.