Windows 7

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I've been playing with the RC (build 7100) release on the following machine I built for video encoding:

Tyan S2895 motherboard
Two AMD Opteron 285 processors (4 cores @ 2.6ghz)
8GB RAM
ATI Radeon 4870x2 video card
3Ware SATA RAID controller
4 Seagate 7200rpm 1TB disks as a RAID0 array
some cheap-o 20X DVD burner

This machine used to run mostly Linux (sometimes Ubuntu and sometimes CentOS 5.3), but I have to say that Windows 7 is growing on me, even with all the eye candy turned on (though this machine is likely so fast that the eye candy on/off is more an aesthetic issue than a performance one). I tried Vista on the machine about a year ago and I had stability issues so I went back to Linux.

Do I like it better than XP? After the initial learning curve, I'd have to say yes. Does it feel faster than Vista? Yes, it sure does. I'm using it quite a bit now and still dual booting back into Ubuntu when I need to get real work done (my video encoding workflow is all based on Linux).

All of the OS's mentioned above were the 64-bit versions. I've been toying with the idea of playing around with the RTM 7600.16385 build, but the 7100 build has been working well and I just don't have the spare time to fiddle with it. Anyone else here gone that route yet? Seems like if you stick to the RC/7100 build you've got a solid 6 months of legitimate freeloading before M$ asks you to dump or get off the pot whereas the RTM would necessitate a valid license key in a month or two. While Win7 seems nice, I don't think I'd pay a few hundred bucks for it just to scratch the occasional Crysis itch. :)
 
Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
Originally Posted By: Familyguy
Tyan S2895 motherboard


*Well played*. This is a fantastic motherboard.


Yeah, though I had some initial teething pains with it when I bought it (in mid-2006) that were ultimately ironed out after a few iterations of bios upgrades. It's been a real workhorse since then.

At some point in the spring, I'll probably "upgrade" to a 6-core PhenomII processor so I can lower my power usage a bit and have a couple of extra cores at a higher clock speed for encoding projects.
 
Originally Posted By: Volvohead

Unless you are running Win2k, I understand it kills dead the old OS from further reactivation.


This is simply not true.
 
If Windows 7 is running good with 2 GB ram, I may stay with Windows. I'm using XP on both of my P 4, 3 ghz boxes. When XP wasn't going to have updates anymore, I was going to switch to ubuntu 100% of the time.
 
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
Originally Posted By: Volvohead

Unless you are running Win2k, I understand it kills dead the old OS from further reactivation.


This is simply not true.


It's all over the MS boards and this is coming from MS people. It's an EULA issue. Google it. You can reinstall the old OS to reinstall the upgrade, but it retires the original OS from their server once you activate the upgrade.

If you've proof to the contrary, I'd be VERY happy to see it.
 
Windows 7 RC 64-bit ran well enough on my Athlon 64 X2 4200+ w/2gb RAM, but the 32-bit version ran better. I used each version for about three days doing normal surfing and emailing and tinkering, nothing serious, with no problems. But after about a week total of Windows 7 I was tired of the new interface and switched back to trusty XP.

I really dislike what Microsoft has done with the taskbar and especially the Start menu, and nothing seems to be in a logical place anymore. Some might say "You're just used to XP" and they would be right, but there's a reason why it was the way it was for so long- it worked, and it was (for the most part) pretty intuitive. It looks like they changed it just for the sake of changing it, not because it brings anything new or better to the table.
 
Whats wrong with the interface, specifically? I love it. I dont touch the start menu, I have all my programs pinned to the taskbar. Really easy and intuitive for me at least.
 
I have been using the RTM build of Win7 (32 bit) as my primary desktop/laptop OS since it became available on MSDN in early August. It is fast, stable, and after a small learning curve I have come to love the Superbar. Thanks to the Superbar, I seldom use the Start menu anymore and can view/select windows from multiple instances of open applications and folders by mousing over the associated Superbar icons. Long story short, Win7 has a lot of nice features and is very polished.

My advice for those planning to use Win7:

1) Perform clean installation (do not upgrade). Yes it takes longer to reinstall programs, transfer pictures, videos, music and documents, but you will end up with a fresh installation and leave a lot of baggage behind.

2) Step #1 holds true even if you buy a new OEM computer. I can buy a computer cheaper than I can build one these days, but I don't like the junk software that comes pre-installed on most OEM computers. I bought a $349 Acer AX1300-U1801A from Fry's that came loaded with Vista Home Premium, reformatted the hard drive and performed a clean installation of Win7. Result, the computer's boot time and resource usage were drastically reduced. Also, there are no nag pop-ups prompting me to buy software or extended service contracts that I don't want or need.

3) If possible, use a dual or quad core processor and at least 2GB, preferably 4GB, of memory. For those planning to use the 64 bit version of Win7 you can install even more memory. Take advantage of the current low cost for matched pairs of DDR2 sticks.

4) Consider installing a reasonably priced PCI-E graphics card to unload the processor and free up shared system memory. Unless you are a hardcore gamer, most low end graphics cards will outperform the integrated video options on low/mid price range computers.

5) For those of you that still use CRT monitors, do your eyes a favor and get an LCD monitor. I bought a 20" Acer widescreen for $99 at Best Buy and tossed out my 17" CRT. Seriously, LCD and HD capable monitors are dirt cheap these days.

Anyway, I hope the information above is helpful.
 
Lyondellic,

I'm going to replace my HP desktop with a laptop when Windows 7 hits the market. Is there any reason to wait until the SP1 version comes out? I'd like to take advantage of any December/January sale prices and who knows if SP1 will be out by then?

In terms of the video card, aren't they all integrated onto the motherboard when dealing with laptops? If so, can one use the open PCMIA(?) slot to bypass the video card on the MB and "upgrade" via that method?

Sorry if that's a real basic question, but I'm not a gamer and I don't watch a lot of video on my laptop. That's what the Sony XBR flatscreen is for. At least for me.
 
The video will be probably be integrated, though there has been a move to make these off board pluggable cards, it will probably be on board for a 'sale' unit. But this should be plenty for your uses. PCMCIA does not have the bandwidth or the connections to upgrade the video there.
 
Originally Posted By: dkryan
Lyondellic,

I'm going to replace my HP desktop with a laptop when Windows 7 hits the market. Is there any reason to wait until the SP1 version comes out? I'd like to take advantage of any December/January sale prices and who knows if SP1 will be out by then?

In terms of the video card, aren't they all integrated onto the motherboard when dealing with laptops? If so, can one use the open PCMIA(?) slot to bypass the video card on the MB and "upgrade" via that method?

Sorry if that's a real basic question, but I'm not a gamer and I don't watch a lot of video on my laptop. That's what the Sony XBR flatscreen is for. At least for me.


Sorry about my lack of clarity in the recommedation to install a PCI-E graphics card. This will apply to desktop computers, as I don't think it is feasible to install a graphics card in the majority of laptop computers. Laptop computers usually strike a fine balance between heat generation, battery life, performance and noise. Unless someone plans to do a lot of photo editing or other graphics intensive work on their laptop, my advice would be to stick with the integrated graphics, a fast dual core processor a decent amount of memory.
 
As for waiting until Win7 SP1 is released before buying a new computer, I would not hold off unless we are talking about deploying Win7 in a corporate network.

With that being said, there are a lot of reasons to wait 1-2 months after Win7 is released to the public to ensure that your favorite programs are compatible with the new OS. Let the early adopters identify issues that were missed during beta testing so that developers create patches and upgrades before you upgrade. From my personal experience, anything that worked in Vista has worked in Win7 as well with one exception. My Netgear USB 802.11 Draft-N wireless adapter did not play nice with the 64 bit version of Win7. Netgear states that they do not support 64 bit version of Win7, so I can't complain to loudly. This is why I use the 32 bit version of Win7. 64 bit doesn't do much for me in terms of performance on my home computer anyway, so I am not too concerned.
 
Unlike all other previous Microsoft operating system releases, there is no reason to wait for SP1 this time around.

I'm still amazed at how much faster a Pentium 4 3.8GHZ runs with Win 7 on it and a fresh SATA hard disk compared to XP. The end-user had no idea it was a 3+ year old machine. XP may be more lightweight, but it feels like a slug compared to Win 7 on these machines (Dell Optiplex GX620).
 
College students will be able to get W7 for $30. See the story at C-Net News: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10355710-56.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

Attentive readers will also find something "unusual" on the page.
wink.gif
 
I'm contemplating on purchasing Windows 7 through the student discount deal. My laptop is capable of running 64 bit, but I only have 32 bit Vista Ultimate right now. Is it possible to go to the 64 bit version of Windows 7 even though I only have the 32 bit version of Vista?

Here's a link to the Slickdeals thread is any college students are interested: http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=1562761
 
Lol, I just noticed what the unusual thing was in the cnet article. Didn't read the whole thing the first time. I was thinking that lady looks like a man.
 
I thought it was a strange looking guy. But if the OP hadn't mentioned that there was something unusual, I wouldn't have paid attention.

In any case, good for her.
 
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