Windows 7: what is your opinion/take?

[gator]

I am *still* using windows XP on all my machines after trying Vista (both before and after SP1) and not liking it. I know, I know, I need to give it more time and I will eventually adjust to Vista's ways and the UI, but I really am very comfortable with XP and it does *all* I need to. I have been eagerly reading news about Windows 7 and seems like it will be released sometime end of this year. Has anyone here seen/used the beta that was released sometime back? What is your opinion?

If windows 7 does not work out, this might be where I switch to Linux fulltime - or OSX - eeeek!

[gator]

Ah never mind, saw the discussisons in the windows 7 area ...

[RealBlackStuff]

From what I have picked up so far, Windows 7 is nothing else but Windows Vista SP3.

Another piece of crippleware from Micro$haft to avoid

[jdhurst]

There is another way to look at this.

I now use Vista Business 64-bit, and it took me a long while to make it work for me, not what Microsoft produced. My take on Windows 7 64-bit is that Vista 64-bit is a necessary stepping stone in terms of both software and learning toward Windows 7. I expect all my software will work (having upgraded the entire lot to either 64-bit or to truly 64-bit compliant). I know pretty much know how Vista goes together - the only part of this I have not explored at all is IPv6. I even got Microsoft to issue their patch to me to fix Windows Explorer and I understand this fix has been properly included in Windows 7. I also understand (posts in this forum) that Windows 7 is somewhat doing away with Windows Classic, which means that future versions of Windows starting with Windows 7 will be slower to use and less productive than XP. That troubles me; however, just like I purchased xPlorer2 to replace Windows Explorer, I expect that Windows Classic interface tools will be for sale as aftermarket software to fix Windows.

So I am happy I spent the time I did with Vista, and the next step for me is purchase a ThinkCentre Desktop certified for and preloaded with Windows 7. ... JDH

[foehammer]

w7 isnt just vista sp3. its been streamlined and extremely optimised for ram use. And the windows classic look is still in there for now.... i don't know if it will get pulled for RTM, but I use it right now. I still maintain that w7 is at least a good percentage ahead of XP for me in terms of everyday performance right now.

[sportfreak]

yeh i would definitely agree with that..its been 7 days or so since i installed the windows 7 as my primary os on my thinkpad..and i must say i m quite impressed with this baby..

with 2gigs of ram, it runs like really cool with all the graphics and stuff..internet, office, media libraries, pics, and pretty much everything..i m quite impressed with it i must say..
if any of you guys need any screenshots or anything just let us know..all of us who installed this baby, will be glad to help!!!

cheers

[iamdmc]

I'll say this... it's a good OS

Downloaded 7 beta 1 (x86 Build 7000) on December 28th. It's been running on a X61s with 4GB of RAM and 250GB 7200RPM HDD.

Works very well so far with some exceptions. I can say this for sure: much better than Windows Vista. I'll be installing the x64 version this week.

Issues:
-Thinkvantage software seems to work OK not great (note: I don't use Access Connections, etc.) Thinkvantage productivity center does not work.
-Thinkvantage Active Protection WORKS (see Sticky in Windows 7 forum for link to download; Vista version does not work in Win7)
-The keyboard hotkeys are all nonfunctional (ie. Fn + F# - which I used to use extensively)
-Wifi and Bluetooth are either both on or both off (by hardware switch only).
-Lenovo System Update recognizes the OS as Windows Vista SP1 so it will give you downloads that do not apply to Win7.
-Microsoft known issue: Windows Media Player 12 beta corrupts MP3s irreversibly, so don't use it (unless you've made a backup of whatever file you want to play). A fix has been issued, but I'm going to play it safe for now.
-Daemon Tools does not work - the driver will not load. Use "Virtual CloneDrive" instead (google it for download location)
-Volume control works, but the mute button does not register muting with Windows 7 (although it does actually mute the sound)
-IE 8 beta 2 crashes immediately at program startup
-When plugging the laptop in while running it is very common to get a "Display Driver has Stopped Working" - after which the driver reloads itself and everything seems normal. However... (see next point)
-Every once in a while (random, or when plugging in) windows explorer stops working and will load the window but none of its contents. At this point you must cold boot the machine, since "Restart" and "Shut down" will not work

These will likely all be fixed by Microsoft and Lenovo by RTM release. For now they're livable.

I can't wait to try Win7 on my ThinkPad X31 1GB RAM
... and on my Athlon64 X2 6000+ CPU/Asus M3A78-EM mobo/4GB RAM/820GB HDD/ATi HD3850 desktop

[Temetka]

As I have mentioned elsewhere in the Win7 forum, I love it.

It's faster than XP or Vista. The new taskbar is very, very easy to get used to. The improved network center is great and they finally fixed the file transfer bug across networks.

I've been running it since it was available in Beta 1 form from Microsoft in a production setting on my T60. Minus a few (expected) problems mostly related to the fact that it is a beta, it's been great.

I'd plunk down cold hard cash for this if the dev team continues in this direction of slimming it down and speeding it up. Beta 1 has really managed to impress me and I certainly hope that Beta 2 or RC1 or RC2 will continue in this direction and hopefully be ready soon in the form of a golden master.

[mattbiernat]

after buying X300 and testing 7, I've decide to use 7 as my main operating system (of course i got a good back up). i had no crashes, no lock ups, no BSODs. and i don't use most of the thinkvantage software anyways. there is no need to customize it to make the OS like Vista or XP, it is fast out of the box. i fell in love with it almost instantly unlike Vista which i hated almost the very first moment that i've installed it 2 years ago or so...

[non460725]

Installed Windows beta 7 on my Thinkpad T41 (2373-7FU, upgraded to 1.5GB
ram, Seagate 100GB 7200 rpm drive 0 and Seagate 80GB drive 1) couple weeks
ago.

Runs well, detected all hardware with no problem, including NIC and Atheros WiFi
cards (built-in and PCMCIA Netgear).

pw2buz

[billp117]

I like Vista 7. I downloaded it on Sunday and had one of my T43's working just fine in a couple hours. I loaded MS Office 2003, Streets and Trips, and a couple other programs and they all run fine.

In a nutshell...it is fast and does not require near the resources that Vista requires. It is a good replacment for XP and Vista. When it comes out...I will probably migrate a couple of my primary computers to Windows 7. Hell...is even runs on the picky Intel 915 chip. It runs fantastic on the X300 ATI chip with a graphics score of 2.0, 3.4 for gaming graphics.

For what it is worth...Windows 7 does not continuously access the hard drive. If you run the resources meter you will find that it hardly ever pins the needle when running programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, IE 8.0, etc. It will run just fine with 1 MB of memory...2 MB is even better. It has a nice beat, and is easy to dance to (oh that was American Bandstand). It is stable, looks nice and seems more advanced and compatible than Vista. It can even play DVD's...now that is a treat.

I will be checking the claim about extended battery life...but it does seem to last as good as XP. For now I say it is a winner. Good luck to Microsoft and I hope they release with reasonable pricing. But for now...it will be a way to breath new life into some of the older ThinkPads with draining the bank for hardware. I think I might just install it on an old 570 to see if it will run.

[ZaQ32]

From my point of view W7 still needs way to much resources to just start. After fresh install it already uses more memory than my entire system right now (not counting 1.5G ramdrive). When i install software that i use that level is almost doubled. That level + ramdrive + 750MB for virtual machine on which i work and on my TP there is no memory left for anything else. But at least it is possible, with Vista there is no way to make it work. Another problem is disk footprint. Again fresh install of w7 uses more space than my entire system and gives you nothing in return.
Another problem is that from start system treats me as an incapable to manage my own system. Even as an administrator i am unable to get rid of speach, driver storage and other parts of the system that i will never use. In addition the user "friendly" wizards and centers make doing of simple operations such as setting and ip address or changing dekstop color palete very annoying. I had to go to the right "center" find one small option hidden on a side panel and God knows what else. All i really need is simple way to access and manage system and its settings istead i get tons of wizadrs, centers designed to "help" me solve my problems with the Action Center and "Fix a ...... problem" button everywhere i look. These maybe usefull for those who do not know much about computers and fear that clicking a wrong button will break their computer. For me those wizards and centers only stand in my way and uses resources that i might utilize in much better way.
So my question is what is about this system that make it worth considering to switching to? And do not say it is much more secure because the greatest security risk for system it is his user....

[mattbiernat]

you can try using vLite (yes vLite has been reported to work with 7) or disable some services. i have my xp pro on T23 taking up only 65mb ram.

[Quicklite]

I tried windows 7 a while ago on another Thinkpad, build 6956 I think, general performance was OK, the taskbar had a few bugs, but saddly there is no graphic driver for 7500 mobility card, I disliked how windows basic look; after endless trial and error, endless BSOD, I switched back to XP.

XP decided to crush on me yesterday, so I upgraded to vista SP1 this morning, but the driver stability has gone down pretty badly. I'll install Windows 7 this afternoon again on my new T43p.

[Xenomorph]

The worst thing about Windows 7? It is what Windows Vista should have been. That's right, it should have been released in 2006 as Vista. It really makes Vista look bad.

Windows Vista works. I liked it. It had many quirks though. Weird design choices that didn't make sense (Display Properties broken up into half a dozen windows?). It was also a big resource hog.

Windows 7 builds on Windows Vista, corrects many weird quirks, streamlines much of the OS, and is even optimized to perform better than Vista did on the same hardware. Older systems that couldn't handle Vista may be able to handle Windows 7 just fine.

Not only that, in public beta, it does everything almost perfectly. There are a few bugs, many of which have already been corrected in later builds. Plus, everything on my ThinkPad T43 works great with Windows 7. All drivers load, and all functionality is there.

[mulambo187]

On my old (~2003 model) P4-M 1.6 512MB RAM 160GB hard drive I have to say that for a modern operating system I am happy with my computer that it runs. W7 reminds me a lot of the little experience I have had with OSX and the KDE linux desktop.

It clearly runs with some graphical features turned off on my system (no aero) and I havent seen it run on anything else. I really think M$ should polish up the GUI some more, particularly the taskbar. I think its good and functional how it is actuallly, but I hope they put in the option to customize it and make it more "flashy". (I think modern systems could use a bit of bling), maybe not to the extent of spinnan cubes or windows that burn but maybe rip off that little bar in Mac and they would get what I am talking about.

No vista drivers are out for my R32 so I used the XP drivers in compatiblity mode, at least the video card driver seems to work alright.

All in all, trying the new OS is fun, but XP Pro is still where its at for me, at least on my aging thinkpad, I will likely run with the beta for awhile now that I have got it setup to where it is useful for me. If I had a new system I would stick with Vista SP1 till this is out of beta, not really worth the troubles yet.

[mattbiernat]

make it more "flashy". (I think modern systems could use a bit of bling),

I actually like the plain looking areo without transparency and with all visual effects turned off. It kind of feels neutral to me the way XP feels.

[jdhurst]

<snip> but I hope they put in the option to customize it and make it more "flashy". (I think modern systems could use a bit of bling), maybe not to the extent of spinnan cubes or windows that burn but maybe rip off that little bar in Mac and they would get what I am talking about.
<snip>

That is precisely and exactly what I dislike. At least make it an option. It is a computer, after all, just a piece of sand. I need it to work and nothing more. It doesn't bother me what other people do. But I sure don't want it. ..... JDH

[Marin85]

True, but it is also a fact that leveled "fancy desktop effects" can add to one´s productivity. However, it´s not easy to say exactly what "leveled" should and would be...

Marin

[mulambo187]

just to add W7 is off my computer, sp3 (windows 2000 theme) is back on and i am much happier now. crashed 3 to many times on me....

[archer6]

That is precisely and exactly what I dislike. At least make it an option. It is a computer, after all, just a piece of sand. I need it to work and nothing more. It doesn't bother me what other people do. But I sure don't want it. ..... JDH

I concur... well said... it's simply a computer, thank you very much.