Anyone interested in Windows 7?

[lukestephens777]

Hi All,

I've been doing some reading lately about Microsoft's latest incarnation of Windows, version 7. Sounds fairly good, there's a pre-beta version that most people have only praised, so all in all I'm looking forward to Windows 7.

I'm one of the fortunate people who have had rather good experiences from Microsoft. My PC runs Windows Xp Sp3, and has always performed flawlessly. My wife has a 6 month old Laptop with Windows Vista which she loves, and has never had any problems.

So, is anyone else here looking forward to Windows 7? Anyone used the pre-beta version?

 

[Sgt. LED]

NO!!!!!

I have just gotten used to Vista. :candle:

 

[lukestephens777]

Ha! Yeah my Mrs is like that, she won't have a bar of any new OS...
:sick2:

 

[mechBgon]

Hi All,

I've been doing some reading lately about Microsoft's latest incarnation of Windows. version 7. Sounds fairly good, there's a pre-beta version that most people have only praised, so all in all i'm looking forward to Windows 7.

I'm one of the fortunate people who have had rather good experiences from Microsoft. My PC runs Windows Xp Sp3, and has always performed flawlessly. My wife has a 6 month old Laptop with Windows Vista which she loves, and has never had any problems.

So, is ahyone else here looking forward to Windows 7? Anyone used the pre-beta version?

I'm looking forward to trying Windows 7. Its version of Software Restriction Policy, named AppLocker, looks very interesting. article on AppLocker I love SRP and feel it's underutilized, so I'm glad to see AppLocker has a nice catchy name and is getting brought out into the open.

I also heard that Windows 7 will check your installed third-party software for stuff that needs updating, a la the Secunia checkups I keep mentioning. If that's true, then it'll be a very timely feature.

Anything else I might know, I wouldn't be allowed to discuss yet due to my NDA agreement :tinfoil:

 

[da.gee]

I just made the switch to Vista. Finally the hardware to run it well is cheap enough to make it worthwhile and I needed a new PC. Goodbye XP SP3, my old friend.

As long as Win7 runs okay on existing hardware, bring it on.

 

[lukestephens777]

da.gee... From what i've been reading windows 7 will run as good if not better than Vista, well i hope so anyhow!

 

[carrot]

From what I have been reading Win7 is going to have some really great UI improvements. Since I've always been most interested in the UI, and HCI, I am definitely looking forwards to Win7. I may not be using it as my primary OS (seriously doubt it) but I am interested to see what may be MS's biggest update to the UI since 95.

 

[PhotonBoy]

Vista was hurried to market by Microsoft and they bobbled a lot of its new features (e.g. UAC - user access control) rather badly, alienating a lot of people and is being skipped by a large number of IT managers. A lot of people are viewing Windows 7 as being (or may be) what Vista should have been.

Now, however, a lot of people are ignoring the OS as an issue and are looking toward web-based apps as being the main focus for the needs that most people have. Google (with its Google docs - spreadsheets, documents and also Gmail) is a leader in this area. --- 'Webtop' rather than 'desktop.'

Right now, Windows XP does the job for me just fine. When my PC becomes obsolete or is close to dying, I will check the market for what's available at that time. I won't buy a new machine just to get the latest OS.

I think Microsoft has their work cut out for them in trying to keep people on a relentless upgrade path to the newest versions of Windows.

<edit> - Updated with link:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=330964

 

[Crenshaw]

depends...it will have to be alot less like vista and alot more like xp for me to like it....

Crenshaw

 

[Carpenter]

depends...it will have to be alot less like vista and alot more like xp for me to like it....

+1

I keep trying Vista, but going back to XP. Sorry MS, but I don't like Vista's UI.

 

[da.gee]

There are definitely some annoyances with Vista so far but my biggest one, speed, is finally addressed with available hardware. Underneath the graphic crap I see a lot of WinXP. Looking forward to Win7.

 

[Holepuncher]

NO! NO! No! Long live Windows 98. A year ago my a-hole boss bought me a new computer with Vista to take home. I hate it. I was doing just fine with My 10 year old 900Mhz Athlon with with Win 98. It did everything I needed to. Nothing I was using runs properly on Vista. I can live with that just buy new software. What I cant stand is that its clunky and everything takes longer to do - like the screen dimming out and asking if its OK to proceed for every little thing you do. The worst thing is its always busy doing some top secret thing with the hard drive grinding away. WTF is it doing? I usually just get up and walk away till it stops. Sometimes the computer is just on and I'm in another room and all of a sudden I hear it start grinding away doing some really important thing and it will go on for 20 minutes. I wish I kept my old machine

 

[mechBgon]

NO! NO! No! Long live Windows 98. A year ago my a-hole boss bought me a new computer with Vista to take home. I hate it. I was doing just fine with My 10 year old 900Mhz Athlon with with Win 98. It did everything I needed to. Nothing I was using runs properly on Vista. I can live with that just buy new software. What I cant stand is that its clunky and everything takes longer to do - like the screen dimming out and asking if its OK to proceed for every little thing you do. The worst thing is its always busy doing some top secret thing with the hard drive grinding away. WTF is it doing? I usually just get up and walk away till it stops. Sometimes the computer is just on and I'm in another room and all of a sudden I hear it start grinding away doing some really important thing and it will go on for 20 minutes. I wish I kept my old machine

It's indexing stuff for you, most likely. The new search is intended to make it really easy to quickly find that one file... you know, the one that you can't remember the name of, but you know it contained the word "exemplary."

If your system doesn't have enough RAM, that could also make it slow. How much RAM did your boss buy? 2GB is the sweet spot for routine Vista uses. Also, if the system is a pre-built Happy Meal™ computer, it probably has a bunch of nannyware pre-installed by the manufacturer, which never helps with performance Drop me a PM if you need any help with the RAM, or cleaning up the stupidware that the manufacturer installed.

Vista's security is also completely in a different universe than Win98. If it's a work system, that's definitely a good move to retire the Win98 system. Win98 is Swiss cheese to start with, plus it's no longer supported with security updates.

 

[Holepuncher]

Vista's security is also completely in a different universe than Win98. If it's a work system, that's definitely a good move to retire the Win98 system. Win98 is Swiss cheese to start with, plus it's no longer supported with security updates.

Win 98 may very well be swiss cheese but I never had any antivirus software with it. If there was a problem I knew where to look for it and how get rid of it - registry etc.

Expext a PM from me tomorrow. I have a question about the indexing and if its not serving me any usefull purpose maybe you can tell me how to turn it off. I know how to find any file on the machine without indexing.

 

[mechBgon]

Win 98 may very well be swiss cheese but I never had any antivirus software with it. If there was a problem I knew where to look for it and how get rid of it - registry etc.

It is not the nature of many of today's "problems" to show themselves. Also, if an attacker deletes your files, or steals copies of them, getting rid of their "backdoor" doesn't undo the actual damage. Your stuff's still gone, or in the wrong hands (think about that from your employer's perspective). And if they use a keystroke logger to steal your PayPal log-in and they use it to empty your bank account, then how will you buy flashlights? We're talkin' serious consequences here

Expext a PM from me tomorrow. I have a question about the indexing and if its not serving me any usefull purpose maybe you can tell me how to turn it off. I know how to find any file on the machine without indexing.

Sure thing. Indexing can be fully disabled if you want to. But if the system is starving for RAM, it's still going to be starving for RAM, so you might check to see how much RAM it has, too.

 

[Holepuncher]

It is not the nature of many of today's "problems" to show themselves. Also, if an attacker deletes your files, or steals copies of them, getting rid of their "backdoor" doesn't undo the actual damage. Your stuff's still gone, or in the wrong hands (think about that from your employer's perspective). And if they use a keystroke logger to steal your PayPal log-in and they use it to empty your bank account, then how will you buy flashlights? We're talkin' serious consequences here



Sure thing. Indexing can be fully disabled if you want to. But if the system is starving for RAM, it's still going to be starving for RAM, so you might check to see how much RAM it has, too.

I undertand that the "problems" would try to hide thmselves as much as possible. With WIN 98 it was easy to sense the slightest bit of unusual activity. With Vista its impossible with so much other crap going on all the time.

The machine my boss gave me is strictly for home use and is rarely used for anything work related. There is not one bit of my personal information stored on it nor do I use it for anything like banking. The only thing I might be vulnerable to is something involving a online purchase with a credit card.

The machine has 1GB. In the task manager it shows approx 800MB being used at boot and then it eventually settles down to about 200 - 300.

Having someone empty my bank account might be the cure for flashaholism . I bought 3 new lights in the last week. I simply cannot walk down a flashlight aisle and not buy something.

 

[PhotonBoy]

If you type disable UAC into google search, you'll find lots of easy ways to turn off the major complaint that most people have with Vista, the 'user access control' feature.

 

[mechBgon]

If you type disable UAC into google search, you'll find lots of easy ways to turn off the major complaint that most people have with Vista, the 'user access control' feature.

You will also lose security and functionality if you do that, including file & registry virtualization that helps older software work properly on Vista. Since UAC mitigates many of today's hazards proactively, I value its security enhancements, and I don't mind that it makes my older games work on Vista either

Windows 7 will have an improved UAC where you can adjust its "sensitivity" with a slider.

The machine has 1GB.

Ok, there's one of your computer's problems, especially if it's using onboard video (as many pre-built systems do) because the onboard video will also be using the RAM as its video memory. See if it can be upgraded to 2GB. Crucial.com has a RAM finder. You can also get RAM elsewhere, such as Newegg.com. Holler if you need help.

 

[Holepuncher]

If you type disable UAC into google search, you'll find lots of easy ways to turn off the major complaint that most people have with Vista, the 'user access control' feature.

The UAC is one of the few features in Vista that I think is an improvement. The problem with it is its poorly executed - all or nothing. Now if when I start some action the screen dimmed and the message box that comes up had a checkbox that said "Dont ask me this for this file (or action) again" then it would not become so annoying.

 

[NA8]

I've skipped a lot of M$'s offerings. I've used win3.1, win98, and win2k. I'm a little leary of the way M$ started sticking it's hand in the modern "sock puppet" computer. Between homeland security, digital rights management, and M$ leveraging it's position, current computers are more spyware and approved media delivery systems than multi-use PERSONAL (private) computing machines. I find the idea that companies are into your system enough to scan your system at their leisure and even engage remote command and control features to disable your computer vaguely annoying. We all know politicians are crooks (don't we ?), and we've seen how well free markets work in a rigged game, who TRUSTS M$ in this environment now that Billy's been run out of town and it's a sock puppet for the NSA and gawd knows who else ? All that aside, I've been planning to buy a laptop and let M$ run wild with it to use as a terminal for online business. Been putting it off though, and if Windows7 gets here first, all the better (hopefully).