The AM Forum

Microsoft has another OS..............Windows 7.

Wonder how long it will take to de-bug this one. I checked to see what was involved to replace XP with it.
Not worth it. U have to reinstall all your programs and files if u upgrade. It requires a "clean" install.

OH well......... ::)

I have been running it for several months.  No problems at all.


Tom - AB3FL

But What benefits is there over XP..?..My XP is werking fine an dandy, other than they'll force me to upgrade when they quit supporting it.

73
Jack.

Same here Jack...
XP has been fine...........I was just curious about it.
Ill stick with XP.

I dont know if 7 is good or bad........as I said I was just curious.

Bill

You don't have to have M$ support. Some people are still using Windows 95.

I use XP here.  I'll keep on running it till it or the computer craps out.  By then they should have the major bugs worked out of Windows 7, and that's about the time they will announce a new OS is to replace it. Planned obsolescence. The software companies should just start out with a good OS (M$ finally got it right with XP), stay with it and incrementally upgrade it by fixing bugs as they appear and adding optional useful features as they develop.  So far, that's what Apple has done with OSX. Maybe it will be worthwhile and time to go to a new M$ OS when 64 bit becomes mainstream.

Isn't Apple already way ahead of M$ with 64-bit?

with snow leopard yes.

It depends on what machine you have.  My Mac Pro (2007) won't run the 64-bit kernel in OS X because the EFI32 in that machine (sort-of-BIOS-like equivalent) won't boot it.  No word from Apple on a firmware upgrade EFI32->EFI64.  Even on a machine that has EFI64 ( e.g., the MacBook Pro I'm typing this on), the 32-bit kernel is still loaded by default.  I have to load Safari in 32-bit mode because some of the add-ins won't run in 64-bit mode, etc.

Leopard gave you access to 32G of RAM anyway.

So there isn't all that much advantage yet, until app developers catch up.  The biggest is that SL does easily mix 32-bit and 64-bit applications without a problem, and because it does so, you don't have the horrendous missing-driver issue you had with Vista initially (and could still have with Win 7, depending), even though they aren't taking advantage of the 64-bit capability.

I plan to leave XP on my remaining Windows machine until I retire it in favor of an iMac -- which will be sooner than later.  I ran XP x64 for a long time without much trouble (on the Mac Pro under bootcamp), except for drivers of course.  But enough of Bill Gate's legacy is quite enough :-)

We've been running and testing the various versions at work for a few months and no problems like Vista.  So far so good.

Windows 7 was supposed to fix the problems of VISTA

Fred

The only problem that I've had with Vista is that the registry files seem very fragile.  I tried to load a logging program and, for some reason, it crashed.  It somehow corrupted the driver for my CD/DVD drive and it won't work anymore.  I followed the instructions to fix the problem....and, of course, it didn't work.  I may just go have the Geek Squad load 7 & and fix my driver at the same time.  I think XP was much more stable.

Computers are great tools for pursuing my other interests, but they are extremely frustrating for someone like me who does not care to spend a lot of time sorting out bugs with them.

73,  Jack, W9GT

Count me in, Jack.

I have dreaded each time we've gotten a new computer terminal because of the long, drawn-out, "set up" process.

Same when having to troubleshoot. And the LAST place to go for help, is the "Help" dropdown.  Totally useless.

But, here's a guy who has what appears to be a good rundown of the strengths and weaknesses of "7" as compared to both Vista and XP.

http://windowssecrets.com/2009/10/22/01-The-pros-and-cons-of-switching-to-Windows-7

Bottom line for me is to conclude it's NOT worth upgrading from XP with SP3.

Will wait until it's a fully-proven out OS on some future replacement computer we may buy.

(UGH! will it still need to be "set up" ???)

http://movies.apple.com/media/us/mac/getamac/2009/apple-mvp-broken_promises-us-20091023_480x272.mov

I have a few friends who insist that I must install Windows 7 telling me that it's the greatest and I'll love it. What they forget is that I'm a Unix/Linux guy and I barely ever use Windows. I might boot my XP machine one or two times a year.  My Linux systems are up and running 24/7. It is not only my server OS but my desktop , workstation, and multimedia OS as well

Although changing, it seems that some people still cannot fathom the idea that there are other operating systems than Windows and that those operating systems may actually be my preference and where I do virtually all of my work. They cannot seem to comprehend that I like using Linux, it works well for me, it does what I want.

Well that's my rant but the point being, stick with whatever tool gets the job done.

I  have a computer repair bizz and here is my professional advise. If you are running a machine with Vista do an upgrade but always run the upgrade adviser first that can be downloaded from Microsoft it will let you know if there will be any issues before the upgrade. If you have xp right now I would continue at least until 2013 that's when Microsoft is going to end the support for it.  Or if you have had it with your old XP machine I would suggest buying a new machine because some of the hardware you have in there might never work out well with windows 7 and I say might. You can also run the update adviser on XP. Just a quick 2 cents.

I would suggest buying a new machine mac

fixed it for you.

The software requirements said "Windows 98 or better" so I installed Linux!!!

HA !

Nice to read your characterization of the G4 laptop, right down to it being "very used." That's the same model and condition of the one I used to ingest the video and edit this piece the other day.  I would never have trusted a typical Billy Gates OS to handle the material and make it all the way through the production.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/10/25/courson.Radio.comes.to.Ocracoke.cnn

My wife, son and daughter-in-law all pitched in and gave me a new laptop as a pre-Xmas gift.  It has windows 7.  Takes some getting used to, but I have managed to figure most of it out so far.  I might buy one of those "dummies" books to help get through some of the unexplainable quirks.

Looks like M$ has made it harder to tweek with the OS. For example, I haven't found any way to disable that @*%!^!! Windows Messenger service (the method I used with XP won't work), and the batch file that allows one to toggle the HOSTS file by renaming and un-renaming it won't work.  I downloaded it, but when I try to use it I get an "access denied" message even though I use an Administrator account.  I am hoping that more hacking and tweaking info will show up on the net as more people start using the new OS.

I still like the desktop better, since I think the finger pad and  keyboard on laptops suck, and I am a lot more comfortable with XP, but it's nice to have a second computer in the house, and this one runs off a wireless router, so I am not tethered to the main machine upstairs. Haven't tested the wireless connection out in the shack yet, but I am doubtful since a metal roof on another building might block the signal. The laptop has a lot more HDD space and RAM than the old machine has.

Windows 7 has ESX-69!
Windows 7 has Tail Fins!!
Windows 7 has More Chrome!!!
Windows 7 will make you the envy of your friends!!!!
Windows 7 will change you into a Movie Star!!!!!

I went to best buy and took a look at the new iMacs. The 27" model has a display that's out of this world. My Dual 1.8Ghz G5 is 6 years old now but if Apple wasnt going Intel, I'm not sure I'd need a new cornputer. The G5 remains amazingly capable.

Having said that....I'd really love a Mac Pro, even a 2007 model.

My old emachine power supply crapped out and took out the motherboard last week.. anyone ever try to troubleshoot a motherboard? lotsa luck.

The new wallyworld emachine came with windows 7, doesn't seem to be a problem here, just takes some getting used to...  dang, I need to do some kinda backup next time...

Windows 7 made remote operation of my Ten-Tec OMNI VII run well. With XP even after many optimization efforts it still suffered clicks, pops and Max Headroom effects. The guys on the Ten-Tec reflector said it would be thus and it was.

Understand, I'm no fan of Windows.  I'm a UNIX guy for decades and use a (marvelous) Macbook Pro for almost everything. But the one Windows machine I have seems to be happier with 7 than it was with XP.

The upgrade was a nightmare even though their upgrade assistant said it would be fine. After installing 7, my machine was deaf, dumb and blind. It would no longer talk to the Internet via the Ethernet port or the WiFi. The sound no longer worked at all. The screen was in VGA mode (or was is SVGA), anyway lousy. It took days of combat to get it working right.

My mom picked up laptop with Windows 7 a month or two ago.

There are some compatibility issues, but MICROS~1 has done a decent job with shimming for XP applications. That doesn't work for hardware drivers, though.

My folks put up a 2.8 kW wind turbine over the summer. The turbine has a 2.4 GHz RF link for management and diagnostics. They provide an XP application and a USB-attached 2.4 GHz radio (actually just a repackaged XBee).

At first, the application would fire up, but the user interface was mostly non-functional (actually, it's behaving like they've changed the messaging API such that mouse clicks propagate differently). Turning on XP compatibility for the application fixed that.

Unfortunately, the XP driver for the USB XBee (which is what ships with the software) doesn't work under Windows 7, and XBee haven't put out a driver for anything younger than XP yet.

Oddly enough, it works with Vista, which means they must have completely revamped the presentation-layer events and physical-services layer for Windows 7.

This also means you can kiss backwards-compatibility goodbye.

If you're running standalone applications, you'll be fine. If you're running anything with unusual hardware, you'll likely be S.O.L. until Windows 7 gains enough traction for everyone to start porting their hardware drivers.

As with everything in computing, caveat emptor.

--Thom
"I'm a PC, and I run Linux."

Same as it ever was. I was employed for years as a IT guy back in the 3.1 days of yore. It boggles the mind that the windows world is still mostly running on a os introduced in 2001.

the best version of windows ever was Windows 2000. It was still Windows, but it was pretty tight after about a year of patches and security updates. Not a lot of bloat in 2000. it ran pretty good on limited hardware.

The company I worked for for a number of years before 'retiring' to my home county and a slow, rural station used Win 2K for years.  Very stable.  Used it for servers and everything.  Had started to put XL on new desktops and laptops about a year before I retired.  Talked to a corporate IT type some weeks ago; looks like he has been pulling his hair, what he has left.  Apparently some bean counter thought it would be better to put Vista on the newer equipment.  Big mistake.  Ever try to reconstruct a CAD database from scratch?  He thinks Vista thought it was a virus.  Much fun.

My wife and kids gave me a laptop for Xmas.  It came with windows 7.  It seems to work OK, and I have managed to figure out most of the new and different stuff from XP.  But one thing has me baffled... sound adjustments.

Clicking on the Sound icon in the control panel only gives the option of adjustment of sound levels for the speaker, headphones, microphone, etc., and  microphone equalisation settings to compensate for room acoustics.  But there is nothing for setting the frequency response curve for the speakers/headphones.

I was tinkering with a set of cheap powered speakers, hoping they would be an improvement over tin can audio of the laptop (they weren't).  Once when I plugged the cord into the headphone/speaker jack, a very nice graphic equaliser popped up on the screen, which allowed me to fine tune the frequency response of the audio.  I experimented with it a little, with the idea that I could fine tune it later, and then closed it out.  But I have not been able, no matter what, to bring it back up again.  All I can get is audio level settings.

The thing popped up spontaneously the first time, but it was a functioning equaliser, and I could hear the effect of adjustments.  If I could only bring it up again.  It's like when I closed it after that one time, it vanished off the face of the earth just as mysteriously as it appeared, but it has to still be there.

Any ideas?

Don,  Try this:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Change-bass-stereo-and-other-audio-effects-in-Windows-Media-Player

Jim
WD5JKO

Bill

My new HP netbook uses W7 and works very well

Al

PS:  been looking fer u but no Bill

I bought my Daughter a lap top for school that has vista. It really sucks. Leave the mouse in the wrong spot and it selects files by itself. She tells me she is used to it but I'll take XP any day.

Mine does that sometimes, too.  Just move the cursor over the file and it will sometimes open spontaneously without clicking on anything.  A real PITA. Makes it almost impossible to delete a bunch of e-mail messages by clicking on the boxes and then clicking on Delete.  Before I finish going down the list, one of the messages will spontaneously open, and that clears out all the boxes I have checked.   >:(

I have had numerous problems with Vista, as well.  I tried to load a couple of logging programs: N1MM and CT and they both crashed and resulted in the loss of the driver for the DVD drive. (What did that have to do with it?).  I recently discovered that the media center that plays MP3s, etc is all screwed up and won't work.  Seems that when the MS auto-update thing runs...something always gets screwed up.  I can get Windows 7 free, but have to pay them to load it.  Should I upgrade?  Will it solve these problems?

Yeah, I know the Apple freaks will say just dump the PC and the Linux guys will say dump Windows, but I never really had many problems with XP and previous versions.

73,  Jack, W9GT