Windows 7

[Rod Stroker]

Anyone running it yet? Just installed the Beta Release 7000, so far so good.
It's basically the Vista platform but with a lot less bugs and instability, and a few new features. Most of my device drivers installed automatically and for the rest Vista drivers worked fine.
It's only taken MS 7 years (8 this year when it's officially released) to bring out a decent OS since XP in 2001!

 

[spitlizard]

Anyone running it yet? Just installed the Beta Release 7000, so far so good.
It's basically the Vista platform but with a lot less bugs and instability, and a few new features. Most of my device drivers installed automatically and for the rest Vista drivers worked fine.
It's only taken MS 7 years (8 this year when it's officially released) to bring out a decent OS since XP in 2001!

I have had no problem with Vista, not one, not even a BSD and neither have my mates

I've been running it for about 2 years.

 

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

I usually wait a while before I get the latest OS. Only moved to Vista after SP1 had been released. Using a beta is just asking for trouble IMO.

 

[weevil]

Anyone running it yet? Just installed the Beta Release 7000, so far so good.
It's basically the Vista platform but with a lot less bugs and instability, and a few new features. Most of my device drivers installed automatically and for the rest Vista drivers worked fine.
It's only taken MS 7 years (8 this year when it's officially released) to bring out a decent OS since XP in 2001!

I’ve never had any issues with Vista. Waited until SP1 but it has been an excellent OS since then.

Lot of good early buzz about 7 though. How are you finding the new taskbar?

 

[Borgsta]

I might chuck it on a spare PC at work to have a play with.

Where can you get the BETA version from?

 

[likka]

Windows 7 is to Vista what XP was to Windows 2000.

I'm still using XP and see no reason to migrate either home or office PCs until SP1 of Windows 7. Vista certainly gave me no real reason to upgrade.

 

[Rod Stroker]

I’ve never had any issues with Vista. Waited until SP1 but it has been an excellent OS since then.

I upgraded to Vista Q1 last year, had all sorts of performance and compatibility issues, lots of wasted time and red faces in front of customers. Too much pain so I got rid of it.

Lot of good early buzz about 7 though. How are you finding the new taskbar?

I like it, easy to use.

 

[Rod Stroker]

I might chuck it on a spare PC at work to have a play with.

That's exactly what I did.

Where can you get the BETA version from?

I got mine from mininova. 2.4GB ISO image. Burnt the image to a disc, booted up from the disc and did a clean install on a freshly formatted hard disk.
You can tell it's basically Vista MkII as during the install they refer to "Windows Vista" in some of the menus and options.

 

[Rod Stroker]

Windows 7 is to Vista what XP was to Windows 2000.

I agree on the first one, not so much on the second.
2K was a very good OS that was rock solid and could stand on it's own 2 feet. It was basically a merging of the bullet proof NT4.0 kernel with the WinME GUI. I still use it today on my work laptop. Never lets me down. Only gripe is that it doesn't have as many internal drivers as XP or Win7, you need to find and install manually.
The XP kernel was an update on the 2K kernel, but with a completely new GUI.

I'm still using XP and see no reason to migrate either home or office PCs until SP1 of Windows 7. Vista certainly gave me no real reason to upgrade.

Haven't MS announced end of life support for XP? I thought I read that somewhere...
From what I've seen, you won't even need to wait for SP1 of Win7, the first commercial release should be OK.
When the MS execs themselves shit-canned Vista, I knew it was in trouble. But I gave up on it based on my own nightmare experience. They look to have corrected a lot of the Vista issues with Win7 though.

 

[abcde]

Are the required specs the same as Vista??

 

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

Haven't MS announced end of life support for XP? I thought I read that somewhere...

I think support is going to officially end in May. It was actually supposed to end June '08 but has had a number of extensions.

 

[Rod Stroker]

Are the required specs the same as Vista??

I'm not a 100% sure but I think so. I didn't do it but you can run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor before the install to see if your system meets the requirements.

 

[Dave The Man]

Nah - I think I will stick to Windows XP

 

[Optimax]

Nah - I think I will stick to Windows XP

yep XP and OSX for me. Possibly ill try 7 on my old desk top but vista left a foul taste in my mouth

 

[Rod Stroker]

Possibly ill try 7 on my old desk top but vista left a foul taste in my mouth

I was same, but they are getting some credibility back from me with Win7.
I was always going to try Win7 anyway though as I like testing out new OS's. Plus XP is now 8 years old and getting a bit long in the tooth.

 

[weevil]

I upgraded to Vista Q1 last year, had all sorts of performance and compatibility issues, lots of wasted time and red faces in front of customers. Too much pain so I got rid of it.

Yeah it’s funny. I heard all the Vista horror stories and was ready for the world to explode when I tried it out.

Ran completely sweetly for me from the get go. Hate having to use XP, feels very, very old and clunky in comparison.

 

[weevil]

Are the required specs the same as Vista??

I believe the codebase has been significantly optimised and the specs, footprint, boot time, etc are actually lower than that of Vista.

They have also changed the way they build their betas these days; apparently they only include features that are virtually complete in each build. So even the early versions have been reported as being very stable.

Official beta should be out within a couple of weeks, if not sooner.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

I got Vista after SP1 and have had no problems what so ever, equally ive had no problems with any virus or bugs.

Ill keep Vista till i get my next computer that should i hope have DVI output and Blueray, finally i should be able to build a quality intergrated system of TV, PC and other media and entertainment devices.

 

[SteeleAt11]

Vista = bloat dog

You can put make up on a whore but she'll still screw ya

 

[weevil]

Vista = bloat dog

You can put make up on a whore but she'll still screw ya

Well the beta version of 7 performs better than both Vista and XP.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=3236&page=1

 

[Borgsta]

Thanks for the advice Rod. Put it on a test PC and I must say I'm very impressed.

Only problem I have found so far is the way to change your desktop image / theme.

The install time on a formatted HDD was incredible.

 

[jazz]

I have had no problem with Vista, not one, not even a BSD and neither have my mates

I've been running it for about 2 years.

Try running it in a professional corporate business environment and get back to me.

 

[Borgsta]

Try running it in a professional corporate business environment and get back to me.

I honestly don't know any businesses that went to Vista.

 

[jazz]

I honestly don't know any businesses that went to Vista.

That's for sure. A lot of tech support organizations have only started supporting it in the last few months, just too many issues.

 

[Rod Stroker]

Thanks for the advice Rod. Put it on a test PC and I must say I'm very impressed.

Only problem I have found so far is the way to change your desktop image / theme.

The install time on a formatted HDD was incredible.

No worries. Being a beta release it does have a couple of bugs, but no show stoppers, and still way better than Vista.
I think W7 is going to win a few people back who were burnt by Vista. I've been using it for over a week now and it's humming along nicely.