Windows 7 or vista..?

[nikgary]

Hi to all
I am planning to buy new laptop.But confused little which system to buy.So please share your experience so i can get some ideas.which one is better..?

[BlueRob]

I recently moved to Vista Ultimate 64 bit after been a very happy XP 32 bit user for many many years. Did this do to my new workstation having 8 megs of RAM...The only thing I can say is that if you are using some "old" hardware stay away from Vista....you might have trouble with the drivers. Same applies to software. I have read a little about the new 7 OS but seems better than Vista...tho I must say that being a new OS is guaranteed to have some glitches that will be corrected with the updates as time passes.
One thing you must be aware is that Vista prefers no doubt chunky and powerful machines.
So far Vista has been OK but you must definitely update it all the way...at a beginning I had stability issues prior the updates.
If I get to choose between the 2 I`ll go with 7...it`s the new thing, meant to correct MS Vista failure...so I assume its better all around.
Some body with Win7 experience will give you more input.
HTH

[Canuck935]

Easy choice. Win7.

[BlueRob]

Easy choice. Win7.

Why? any facts to support the comment?

[Canuck935]

Why? any facts to support the comment?

Windows 7 is just usable in ways that Vista couldn't even dream about. I am about ten times more productive/efficient using Win7 over Vista or XP. It's hard for me to be more specific than that. It's all about experiencing it. Also you can read comments made in in this thread, though most of it is about installation.

[SmartWombat]

XP for me.
It works, and there are drivers for my hardware.
Vista was a total failure, and I have no reason to give MSFT more of my money.
When this computer breaks, then perhaps we'll have SP1 of Win7.
At which point it'll probably be robust enough for me to use.

[Canuck935]

Anyone looking to buy a new computer should go with Windows 7. Given the same hardware, Windows 7 will run better than Vista. As for upgrading, XP users might think twice. Vista users should upgrade. XP users can upgrade, but they will have to reinstall all their software and settings since nothing will migrate to Windows 7. Also, anyone using XP era hardware may have problems finding drivers for older hardware. However, Like I mentioned in my other post in the off-topic forum, I upgraded my XP-era laptop to Windows 7 and the only driver Windows 7 couldn't find was the display driver. I installed the XP version off the driver disc that came with the laptop and everything is peachy. Installing Windows 7 on the laptop was much easier than XP was to install. XP involved hours and hours of searching for and installing drivers and updating. Oh and Windows 7 runs better on this old laptop than XP did. Brilliant! The only other thing XP users need to worry about is XP-era software that they just can't live without. Though Windows 7 pro and higher versions do have XP-mode to help alleviate the issue. Really though, XP and XP-era hw/sw is ancient. I'm surprised there's still support for this stuff. It's like buying a new car today and expecting its radio will play my old cassette tapes.

[Liz]

The person who sets up, repairs, installs and does miscellaneous upgrades, etc. to my computer builds computers for a living. He obtains the beta versions of all Windows software long before it's released to the public (not sure if he is an "official tester" but he always gets the beta versions months ahead).

For what it's worth:

About 6 months ago when he set up my new computer including Vista, he already had the Win7 beta on his computer at home. He told me Win7 is the best Windows version yet, light years ahead and easy to operate. I'm "technically challenged" and he said I would have no problems - nothing like the Vista version. He also said Win7 corrects all the "glitches" from Vista. He is a pro - and I trust his judgment as he has been working on my computers for a few years - and has always given me good leads!

I pre-ordered Win7 for $47 from Costco a couple of months ago - so far they only have Win7 installed in the new computers, but no stand alone yet.

Liz

[SmartWombat]

I'll put it on a sacrificial computer as an upgrade from XP
Then check device driver and software compatibility

[Canuck935]

The Windows 7 upgrade advisor will point out any known incompatibilities.

[SmartWombat]

It's the unknown ones I'm intrested in
Like my SCSI interface card and the Dimage Scan Dual (vintage neg/slide scanner!)

[nikgary]

Hi to all
I am planning to buy new laptop.But confused little which system to buy.So please share your experience so i can get some ideas.which one is better..?

Thanks for your reply..

[BlueRob]

I'll put it on a sacrificial computer as an upgrade from XP
Then check device driver and software compatibility

That is a smart move...Actually is what I did...almost.. on my "old" workstation installed XP64 vs 32 bit version installed and in the new machine tried Vista 64...funny thing I ended up playing with vista till now and at least for me its works just fine...tho I have to accept that I have the addiction of buying new software often which definitely aids in the smooth work flow.
One of this days I will give Win7 a go to see how it feels.

[Liz]

I just got an email from B&H which included a short review of Windows 7

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/n.../Windows-7.jsp

Liz

[CaraRose]

My new machine has Win7, which replaced my XP64 machine. My laptop is Vista.

Windows 7 is a vast improvement over Vista, but it's still much more vista like than I prefer. It still has a lot of that 'let's protect folks from themselves' mentality that Vista had a crap load of.

Far less buggy than Vista so far.

--Cara

[Canuck935]

You can change the UAC settings under User Accounts in Control Panel. In Vista you could just turn it off. Takes about 15 seconds of work. In Win7 you can choose between 4 settings. Win7's default setting is still far less of an annoyance than Vista's UAC.

[CaraRose]

You can change the UAC settings under User Accounts in Control Panel. In Vista you could just turn it off. Takes about 15 seconds of work. In Win7 you can choose between 4 settings. Win7's default setting is still far less of an annoyance than Vista's UAC.

Even with it off it still is trying to protect you from yourself I've had UAC off on my laptop and I still want to chuck it across the room sometimes. UAC was about trying to protect you from everything and anything.

Of course, I still think the windows heyday was 3.1... so take what I say with a grain of salt.

[SmartWombat]

Vista UAC is truly a bad idea implemented badly.
It encourages uses to press yes, yes go away, leave me alone - to a dialog that one day you will need to tell it NO Don't run that trojan/virus.

[CaraRose]

Vista UAC is truly a bad idea implemented badly.
It encourages uses to press yes, yes go away, leave me alone - to a dialog that one day you will need to tell it NO Don't run that trojan/virus.

Yep. Put incredibly well, Paul.

[embertin]

Hi all,
How is Windows 7 different from Vista or XP?

Generally:
Faster, less requirements to run, new features.

Features: "Compare" Slide one window all the way to the side and it will cover the screen. Same for another window. Good for comparing and swapping files.

Different interface with different task-bar.

A few more control panel options.
Overall, it's really just a major update of Vista. Such as Mac OS X Snow Leopard vs. Snow Leopard.