What do you think about Windows 7?

I will be receiving mine later today (pre-ordered from Amazon.com). I’ll let you know in a few days, unless of course my computer crashes and burns. Btw….I am upgrading from Home Vista-64 bit. See ya….Gary/wtf

I have been using the evaluation version for a couple of months now. It’s far cleaner than Vista, but I would not be in a hurry to dump XP for it. There are still the annoying security issues. For example, I tried to open an instance of Notepad as administrator, then drag a configuration file into it. It would not allow me to do that. I had to open it from the File->Open menu, which is far more tedious. Microsoft still seems intent on protecting users from themselves.

On the other hand – it’s easier to shut off UAC or to adjust its settings to be less annoying. I would run with it off, as I do with Vista, but I use this on a test rig that’s set up to evaluate end-user impact.

If, however, you have been holding off buying a new computer because of Vista, then wait no longer.

Is it made by Microsoft?

It is nice and easy to handle.

Xp is obsolete. I’ve been using Win7 for months and even the release candidate I have is worlds better than Vista.

I haven’t had any problems with Vista. I have had it on several laptops and it doesn’t seem to crash at all, while my XP periodically freezes up so I have to hit CTL-ALT-Delete.

However, I use Firefox, rather than IE, so that could be a big part of it.

I did have some Problems with it.
1st of all for a long Time I could not find the “show Desktop” Button, until just yesterday I, by Accident, I found out it is that glassy Button at the right End of the task bar. Way to hide an important Function, MS.

Second, Win 7 (the 64 bit Version at least) prevents any non-certified Drivers from being loaded, and there is no Way to deactivate this function (not even by deactivating UAC) except to select a special boot Mode with F8 every time you start the System.
This was especially annoying since I use a Freeware Disk Encryption Programme, whose Drivers and Cypher Drivers are not certified by Microsoft (since that apparently costs a lot of Money). I had to install a special Bootloader that selects the special Bootmode automatically at System Boot.

Third, the Control Panel is unnecessarily convoluted, finding the Settings Page you want is a real Pain in the Arse, and there is no Way anymore to activate the Classic View.

But apart from that I had no Problems.

I’ve been using it for a few months now. XP was the shit, but i think 7 may have won me over.I cant really say i have any complaints with it yet.

@IchtheosaurusRex you can turn all that off. I did shortly after installation :P

@uberbatman , I don’t have that option because the machine does not belong to me. It’s a test rig we put together so I don’t run into any unpleasant surprises when the application I maintain is released the public next quarter. When Vista hit, I had to fix a critical compatibility problem and issue a patch in less than 8 hours. I need to keep the system set up the way a typical end user would have it.

I did, however, install FireFox on it. There are some things I just won’t put up with, test bed or no.

So far, so good, tho I’ve not tested or run much. My Logitech Webcam no longer works. I downloaded the one and only Windows7–64 bit driver with no success. Guess I’ll be emailing Logitech on that one. See ya….Gary/wtf

Any OS that requires more ram than it can address is a joke.

Edit above: I reinstalled the Logitech driver with success. No new problems to report (tho, I have been avoiding IE, which had previously been a problem, but will give it a fresh look soon). See ya….Gary/wtf

The thing that everyone loved about XP was that it enabled users to be massively productive. Vista, on the other hand, looked pretty but was slow and tedious to use. I have a lot of friends running Windows 7 and they all tell me it’s the best of both worlds – the usability of XP, but with the nice interface of Vista. I’ve also heard a lot of people say that it’s got great hardware compatibility – it picked up all the installed devices without needing to get drivers from a 3rd-party source.

Hi, I’m now using 7 for one week. LOVE IT!
It is so fast, never seen my computer that fast.

I was so disgusted with XP that I had been planning to install Linux on my new PC. But I love Win7 (except for a few annoyances like I can’t run DOS programs any more unless I boot from a DOS floppy, and I can’t convert my old email from Outlook into Live Mail).

From the moment I turned my old XP machine on, I didn’t get to the desktop for about a half hour, and it wasn’t for another 15 minutes before I could actually do anything. Even then, it always took XP a minute or two to respond to my mouse clicks. Or I would type something, and my words wouldn’t appear on screen for a minute or more. And it took several minutes to launch anything or open a document.

But my new PC, I press the power switch and I’m right there at the Win7 desktop (even from a cold start)! w00t!

BTW, @ragingloli, you can download the WIndows Classic look as a theme, which I have done :-)

Update: after seven months, Windows7–64 works marvelously and I have no complaints. I did finally give up on IE, have downloaded Firefox, and use it and Safari exclusively as browsers now. That’s a one win/one lose for Microsoft.
See ya…..Gary/wtf

One thing you might want to do is ditch Norton that comes with Win7 and install Microsoft Security Essentials. A magazine write up in PC World says Microsoft’s A/V is just as good as Norton, and is free.

I take that back what I said above!

Microsoft Security Essentials is total garbage! A while ago, I got a virus that made Windows think it was an illegal copy. Instead of helping me clean my PC, MSE disabled Windows. When I called Microsoft, they told me that my only option was to buy a “legal” copy of Windows. I bought my eMachines PC at Best Buy, not some off-brand PC at some fly-by-night place, so I know it came with a perfectly legal copy of Windows.

I called eMachines, and they walked me through the steps to reinstall a new copy of Windows from a hidden partition on the hard disk. Virus gone! Windows good! Happy camper!

The moral? The only security that MSE is protecting is Microsoft’s. Get a third-party A/V…