T40p, Vista or Windows 7?

[synergy]

I've been running the stock Windows XP pro on my T40p but now that I'm familiar with the Vista's Sidebar Gadgets, I do want those goodies on the T40p. I did try the third party gadgets for the XP such as thoosje but I didn't like it as much as the Vista's.

I read on articles that the Windows 7 runs more efficient, faster and more driver friendly than the Vista.
Has anyone installed the Windows 7 on the T40p?

My main concern is the Hotkey functionality. Will I be losing the hotkeys that controls the pop ups for the Access IBM, WIFI, bluetooth, graphic, LED control, battery indicator, etc?
I still do have the original stock OS CD's for the T40p and was wondering if I could use the XP drivers to work on the Windows 7.

I'd like to hear some success stories.

[ajkula66]

I'd go with W7 over Vista on that machine any given day.

A lot of good info in the W7 part of the forum, but I'd start here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=76480

[sktn77a]

I've tried Vista on the T4x (40,41,42) and I wouldn't recommend it . Slower than molasses compared to XP. Windows 7 is supposedly faster than Vista but XP works pretty nice on the T4x.

[synergy]

I've had an old Asus P5AD2E-premium desktop machine installed with the Windows 7 and it was running much smoother and faster than when it had the Vista in it. The only downfall is that it won't allow WPA2 on the built-in WIFI card on the motherboard. Once it was installed, the Windows 7 instantly recognized the card and downloaded the appropriate drivers for it which the Vista couldn't do for the past few years. However, although it allows me to access all the amenities for the WPA2, the soldered-on WIFI card can only do the WAP but not the WPA. I wonder if the WPA encryption is hardware dependent. Your feedback on this is appreciated. I'm still testing it to see how it runs in a long run.

I don't see the Mercedes like luxury of Vista on the Windows 7 (at least for the GUI wise), but it seems the 7 was designed for the efficiency than anything else. The software size was a lot smaller, too. The boot up times seemed faster. Though it might be due to the fresh installation and the increased RAM size from 1GB to 2. I wonder if Microsoft has taken out important goodies out of the Vista.

Thanks again for the link. That certainly gave me a peace of mind. I'll wait and see how the Hotkey functions work. I once lost the hotkey fns even on the XP after I installed the hotkey updates from the IBM Lenovo site and had to reinstall the OS again out of the factory OS CDs (four in all) in order to have the black hotkey pop ups again. Anyway, I can't wait to play my favorite internet radio stations on the T40p.

[sktn77a]

WPA is usually a hardware feature. It can sometimes be added via a firmware update. Odd that a 2005 wireless chipset wouldn't have it (?)

[emeraldgirl08]

Do W7 if you must!

To give you an example of how efficient that OS is it ran on my old T30 with 1.8ghz P4. I had 1 gig of RAM installed and it ran pretty decent. I didn't have aero but that's okay with me. The only time I run eye-candy is when showing off

I also could use the Vista-like widgets on my T30. This is with only a 16mb ATI 7500 card also.

FYI W7 has the same stock-widgets Vista has.

Also if you tried using the WPA with a B card forget it! I've tried that on a Cisco and Actiontec B card for the Thinkpads I've owned. They wouldn't work with it. They would show the access point but would not connect with it.

[synergy]

That's what I figured about the WPA encryption being hardware dependent.
I also find it odd that the Windows 7 on the desktop allows me to choose between the WPA1-2, and the AES-TKIP but only the WAP is actually being supported. At least, the Windows XP on the T40p gave me an error notification that the mini PCI card doesn't support the WPA, however the Windows 7 says nothing about the internal card not being capable of doing WPA. I suppose the Windows 7 needs to iron out minor problems.

[emeraldgirl08]

Don't have the slightest clue about Asus desktops.

Have you gone to their site or googled any relevant keywords for your comp sitch??? Have you updated the BIOS for that Desktop?

Oh and the black pop-ups I have those working on my R52 and R51e. There are also threads on the correct sequence of installing the system interface, hotkey, and power management drivers. Not sure if the sequence has to be followed but trial-and-error'ing stuff isn't very fun when you're extremely busy!

[JessicaD]

Ajkula66,

Thank you for your support of Windows 7! Have you pre-ordered your copy of Win 7 yet? If you are planning on purchasing Windows 7 when it is released it may be helpful to know you don't have to wait until October to reserve your copy of Win 7! You can pre-order your copy of Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional today. For more information, see the Windows 7 Pre-Order offer page here: http://tinyurl.com/nldc8p

Also, if you are currently a student you may qualify for the $30 upgrade to Windows 7. For more information, please go here: http://tinyurl.com/m7nyxa

Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team