Windows 7

[caravel]

They are stopping support for XP.

As they've said many times before. Ceasing "support" does not usually stop people using the OS for a few years afterwards anyway.

My point: There is no compulsion, requirement or obligation to upgrade any OS. It's up to the individual.

[pevergreen]

As they've said many times before. Ceasing "support" does not usually stop people using the OS for a few years afterwards anyway.

My point: There is no compulsion, requirement or obligation to upgrade any OS. It's up to the individual.

Very true. I went to a doctors surgery to do some work on the phone system, and they were running NT 4.0

[Furunculus]

It's a good year for operating systems all around:

Windows 7 - finally a decent gaming platform
Opensuse 11.2 - KDE 4.3.1, kernel 2.6.31 (hopefully) and X.org 7.5 (hopefully)
OSX: Snow leopard - for macophiles.

I will certainly buy a copy of Opensuse 11.2 in addition to Windows 7, and a Nehalem based 13" mac with an OpenCL capable GPU may result in me buying a system with Snow leopard installed on it too!

[Lemur]

Why does Microsoft hate the U.S.A. and love the British?

In the UK, full versions of Windows 7 Home Premium -- not an upgrade edition -- are going to cost around £65. That's less than the price the Yanks have to pay just for an upgrade version -- $120 (£72) -- and half what they'll have to cough up for a full version -- $200 (£122).

[pevergreen]

Can I order my copy from England?

[Husar]

Captain Obvious strikes again...

I mean games, BluRays and DVDs have been cheaper in the UK for a while now, at least compared to Germany, when I buy hardware I pay dollar prices except with a Euro sign slapped on and now you have to pay a bit more for a single piece of software in the USA and it's a national emergency...

[Lemur]

The contrary view: 7 Reasons to Avoid Windows 7. No mention of Ubuntu, strangely.

[Beskar]

r, but from my own perspective as a long-time Mac user, I will say I already prefer the current Mac OS X Leopard to Windows 7

Case in point?

[Lemur]

Yeah, Beskar, I noticed that too. Doesn't do much for his geek cred. And how can you write an entire article about alternatives to Win7 without mentioning the 800-pound penguin in the room?

[Beskar]

There are a couple of points, but end of the day, I can turn around and say "Hey, can Mac play games?" and he just breaks down crying, then he wipe his tears away and go "That's why I got bootcamp, so I can go on Windows!".

(I own a Mac, so I am allowed to make fun of it.)

However, that 800-pound Penguin is as welcome as finding one in your room. Unless it is a server or a very low-key computer used literally only for Firefox and Open-office, then it is fine (if the hardware is supported at all) but for any real personal-usage machines, it is horrible. Ubuntu can't even load on my machine and Knoppix looks and acts just like Windows 95.

[caravel]

However, that 800-pound Penguin is as welcome as finding one in your room. Unless it is a server or a very low-key computer used literally only for Firefox and Open-office, then it is fine (if the hardware is supported at all) but for any real personal-usage machines, it is horrible. Ubuntu can't even load on my machine and Knoppix looks and acts just like Windows 95.

I must be some kind of 'super geek' then because I can get every currenty major Linux distro working perfectly on my machine - and any other machine I've tried to install it on for that matter.

You give two examples of distros out of quite literally hundreds. Knoppix is meant to be a lightweight bootable livecd distro - it's not a general use desktop distro. Ubuntu is marketed as a desktop distro suitable for beginners - I've never yet encountered a PC that I couldn't get it running on. The main issue is laptops but they're always a pain when it comes to OS reinstalls anyway. I'm not a great fan of Ubuntu due to how they operate and how the OS is marketed and developed - but in general Ubuntu is easier to install than Windows.

You should give Mandriva or Opensuse a try.

[Husar]

I must be some kind of 'super geek' then

I've thought that for a long time actually.

[Beskar]

I am guessing Ubuntu doesn't have the drivers to run my machine, hence why it just screwed up and wouldn't even get to the boot screen.

I was only using the LIve CD's granted, as they are a free alternative for backing up a failed hard drive. The hard drive's OS got trashed and the only way to get the computer working was a re-format. However, I had many important files on the computer which needed retrieving, hence why I used the Live CD's.

I used Linux ages ago, but it is really mostly all talk. Only things I really use the computer for is Microsoft Office (as my work, and study use that suite), playing PC games, then just playing DVD/CD etc. Over all, pretty simply tasks.

Neither Linux or Mac can do that, without basically writing your own OS and with Linux, majority of the time, it is that ugly, you think "Just install Windows It works"

[Tellos Athenaios]

Ubuntu has all drivers Debian has (but the proprietary ones are easier to install under Ubuntu than they are under Debian). Drivers are only an issue if the manufacturer of your hardware does not supply Linux drivers and no open source drivers have yet been written.

The thing is that if you burn a LiveCD it is not guaranteed to work because LiveCD's are particularly prone to data-corruption. You must *always* check the CD for defects (any LiveCD should come with an integrity checker boot option): that your burned ISO reads the same as the originally downloaded ISO file is no guarantee for data integrity because the downloaded ISO itself may well be corrupted. (When downloading LiveCD's it's best to use something like wget rather than a browser.)

[Beskar]

The live-cd worked on my laptop (Ubuntu one) as I had a play around with it on that. However, my laptop was a cookie-cut general use model which has been out for a few years, compared to my desktop which was custom build.

[Furunculus]

The contrary view: 7 Reasons to Avoid Windows 7. No mention of Ubuntu, strangely.

all true, and all irrelevant if you are a committed gamer.


been using (open)suse since version 9.1 way back in 2002'ish.

[al Roumi]

The contrary view: 7 Reasons to Avoid Windows 7. No mention of Ubuntu, strangely.

all true, and all irrelevant if you are a committed gamer.

I agree with Furunculus, the whole article is irrelevant nonsense. It's almost oblivious to the fact that many people will be considering an upgrade, not an entirely new machine & OS.

Conclusion
Do the cons outweigh the pros? That probably depends on how committed you already are to Windows.
-If you’re currently using Windows Vista, the upgrade to Windows 7 is a no-brainer.
-Most of those currently using Windows XP should also upgrade, to take advantage of Windows 7’s usability, enhanced device support, and other features.

But if you’re currently using a Linux distribution or a version of Mac OS X, Windows 7 isn’t going to offer much to get you to switch.

ha! i almost wrote something saying I wish "people on the internet" would grow up and face reality...

I ordered my copy of Win7 Home premium last week -i'm particularily glad you don't have to pay more for 32 and 64 bit installs.

[Husar]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10350191-71.html

[Beskar]

They also did this one. I laughed because it is true:
http://news.cnet.com/microsoft-goes-...?tag=mncol;txt

[drone]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10350191-71.html

I'm surprised lolcats didn't make an appearance.

[Lemur]

I'm surprised lolcats didn't make an appearance.

Needs moar My Pretty Pony references.

[Husar]

Well, I'm downloading it now.

[Lemur]

Oh, so the public beta is still open? I thought it had closed or something.

[Husar]

No, I downloaded the original, still got the RC on this notebook and I'm going to install the full version on my gaming PC sometime next month or so I think, not sure yet what to do with the notebook once the RC expires, IIRC the last versions from MSDNAA could be used on several computers.

[Lemur]

Who wants to PAAAAAR-TAY?

"In a lot of ways you're just throwing a party with Windows 7 as an honored guest!"

Of course, the censored version is much funnier.

[Husar]

I already got an email from MS about how to throw a launch party.
I'm sure it'll be a hit.

[A1_Unit]

Apparently some programs have problems with Win7 - perhaps this is the programs fault?

Also, I bought a comp with Vista a year ago (because Vista was the newst MS OS out there - hooray!) and now I'm sad that I will have to spend $350 on a new OS to stay up-to-date... so why is Win7 worth $350 of my valuable money?(that could be spent on a laptop!)?

[Beskar]

It doesn't cost that much.. at least over here at least.

Checked Amazon, and it is $100.

That reminds me, there are meant to be free keys (haven't a clue how legitimate this is) at www.getwindows.info , however, not being in America, I can't access the site.

[Husar]

Upgrading from Vista to 7 is not that much of a necessity unless you really want to stay up-to-date(in which case you should expect having to spend money) or want DX 11(no idea whether this will come for Vista as well) but for DX 11 you also need a new graphics card. If your Vista runs fine, then it does. I wanted to update mine but was a bit hesitant due to laziness and then thought the only real reason I had was to get rid of that 3rd party wallpaper changer that doesn't save my settings so I suspended the upgrade for a while. The notebook can run on the RC until next year anyway.
I'm sure I'll do it some day though as I already got it lying around.
I'm not aware of a single DX 11 game out yet anyway, the step from XP to 7 is more interesting IMO.

[A1_Unit]

It doesn't cost that much.. at least over here at least.

Checked Amazon, and it is $100.

That reminds me, there are meant to be free keys (haven't a clue how legitimate this is) at getwindows.info , however, not being in America, I can't access the site.

Link? This might be for the people who have qualified for the free upgrade...