WINDOWS 7 FREE!

[Itch]

As is my habit.. I will try this out on a spare machine I have here at work. I'm not expecting miracles.. nor will I jump to purchase any OS the second it goes retail. But will keep an open mind as far as migrating to the OS once it's established.

[Axel]

Tempted to get it

But I think I'll just leave my windows as Vista

It runs fine now and I like the theme!

[SpEeD]

im debating whether to try this out, im sure it would be a big change from xp though

[Smallsasaurus]

I finally got around to putting the beta on my computer today, and I have to say for a beta that's still almost a year out from publishing, it runs really smooth. My CPU and RAM are at normal levels (comparable to XP), even during start up, and its handled all the programs and drivers I've thrown at it so far, not even a hiccup.

 

I even got CS:S up and running for it and my FPS are definitely better then what I had using Vista, but not quite as good as my current XP install. The task bar on the bottom of it is very OSX-ish and I love it. You can pin icons down there permanently, or less intrusive icons, not whole text items, appear as you open and run the programs.

 

It really has a Vista 2.0 feel to it, but at the same time feels much more comfortable to use then Vista. Maybe its just because I used Vista before and the differences didn't strike me as so major anymore.

 

Anyway, if you have your system well backed up or another computer you don't mind trying a beta OS on, I highly recommend it. If this beta is any sign of how good the final product will be, I'm skipping Vista and just going straight to 7.

[Red]

Glad to hear they unfucked their OS, but I'm still wondering what the pros of upgrading to 7 over XP are.

[Smallsasaurus]

Right now, there is absolutely zero reason too. I just like messing around in Beta's and trying to break them, because oddly enough I enjoy fixing computer crashes.

 

From what I hear though, the improvements in 7 will be a more stable and efficient underlying OS, improved security, newer and more integrated features, better device management and better networking. Vista managed to do some of that (better security, new integrated features), but screwed up the underlying OS so much and used way to many system resources that any gains were outweighed by the poor performance. So far 7 seems to be on the right track to fix that. Also, there seems to be a lot less bloatware involved with 7. I still have the obligatory games, paint, internet explorer and windows media player, but a majority of the other crap (MSN messenger and that whole suite of programs I never touch) don't seem to be included, which is nice.

 

Even once 7 does come out later this year/early 2010, it's still probably worth holding off until the first SP comes out, just to make sure its really going to improve upon XP.

 

That and Microsoft is going to stop offering any support for XP, so at some point, they are almost going to force the switch upon people, and 7 seems the better choice over Vista.

 

Also, I found my first hiccup, that being when I attempted to update my soundcard driver, the installation freaked out and warned me this driver was only for XP or later installations. My card still works fine in XP, but now I'm stuck using on-board audio in Windows 7. At this point though, its sort of to be expected.

[Zero001]

64bit implementation is the reason to change to Vista or Windows 7. Windows 7 will be the last Microsoft OS to be released in both 32bit and 64bit.

[Red]

But I mean other than 64 bit, which basically allows me to use more ram, I don't see the need.

 

I think software has reached a wall. Other than gaming and graphics intensive apps, I don't see a need for such increased hardware specs, and therefore upgrading OS. At least not for a couple years.

[Zero001]

The industry works at a faster pace than the average user.

 

Software has yet to reach it's limits. Even the most basic web browsing, e-mail and chat programs can be taken further. You're just not thinking from a creative point of view.

 

I don't suggest that anyone swap out their current systems OS for a new one, but if you're building a new PC and are in need of an OS then updating isn't a bad thing. With 64bit extra RAM is just the tip of the iceberg. It is not yet mainstream but more and more developers creating software with the new standard. The average user has yet to catch up, but there are industries in which it's practically a requirement to use a 64bit OS.

 

XP has been around for years, so it dominates the market. Support for it isn't going to die anytime soon because change come from a need and the average user won't/doesn't need to update. Everyone didn't go out and by the latest system just because Crysis wouldn't run at 60+fps on their system.

 

XP SP2 doubled the RAM requirement from SP1. There were complains back then, but most aren't aware or seem to have forgotten that part now that hardware has far outpaced the 9 year old OS that has reached it's limit.