Gaming World Forums

General Category => Technology and Programming => Topic started by: Cirno on January 03, 2009, 09:49:39 pm

Title: Windows 7
Post by: Cirno on January 03, 2009, 09:49:39 pm
Hello Gaming World. I wanted to know what you guys think about Windows 7, for those of us who have used it.
Currently it's in Beta 1, and I find it to be VERY stable and fast.
Apparently from some other people I've heard it runs better than XP on some systems (especially netbooks)

Anyone else use it? What are your thoughts.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: hingedshinobi on January 07, 2009, 03:59:06 pm
I installed it the other day. It's amazing, even though it's a beta I haven't had any problems with it (except the current WMP 12 deleting seconds off the front of your MP3s but that's easily fixed by making them read only). Everything I've thrown at it (which isn't a lot at the moment) has worked perfectly, the new taskbar is a really good idea and works really well. It's actually fun to do stuff on the desktop now, wait, that sounds retarded, I mean it's not a chore to work with anymore. The new photo gallery software is good as well, it has automatic face detection, tagging and facebook uploading.

The actual public beta is supposed to hit either today or sometime between now and next week.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 07, 2009, 04:16:26 pm
I wish I had a machine that wasn't so full of FILES and stuff to install it on. I was half tempted to get a new HD to try out the new windows on but I spent that money elsewhere.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: goldenratio on January 08, 2009, 06:47:13 am
i've heard lots of good things about windows 7, and after reading this article (http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2008/11/20/happy-anniversary-windows-on-the-evolution-of-the-taskbar.aspx) about the new taskbar, i just have to download it and give it a try. I'll probably install it on a virtual machine first, but i've decided im going to skip vista altogether and adopt windows 7 as early as possible.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Mama Luigi on January 08, 2009, 07:24:57 am
Windows 7 is basically what Vista should have been. It's a more polished and much better performing Vista (even outperforms XP in many areas). I'm just echoing dozens of articles you can find online. The verdict on the beta thusfar - it rocks.

As a Vista user, I'm excited at the prospect of upgrading come release day.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Cardinal Ximenez on January 08, 2009, 07:28:16 am
Windows has precisely one advantage over other operating systems: historical compatibility.

Windows 7, and indeed, the entire glut of non-free software, does little but force more licenses down the throats of end-users for a marginal upgrade.

At least they are making measures towards the laughable "anti-monopoly" regulations by getting rid of their DRM-infested media player.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 08, 2009, 08:24:29 am
Quote from: Mama Luigi on January 08, 2009, 07:24:57 am
As a Vista user, I'm excited at the prospect of upgrading come release day.

Pretty much this - my machine runs vista really well because I built it with that in mind. Given that some are saying that Windows 7 uses less resources that XP its going to make a lot of difference to the amount of memory used when idling (When mine starts up it's 1 gig used just for Vista which is a bit of a pisstake).
Title: Windows 7
Post by: 2beers on January 09, 2009, 04:34:03 am
It's on bittorrent of course, but I'm waiting for the legit beta...

Quote from: The
On January 9th, the Windows 7 Beta will be available for Windows enthusiasts to download via the Windows 7 page (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/) on Windows.com. The Windows 7 Beta is going to be available download-only (we’re not sending out physical media) and available for a limited time to the first 2.5 million people who download the beta.

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/01/07/information-on-downloading-and-installing-windows-7-beta.aspx

Edit: Ah shit, it's only an upgrade from Vista SP1
Title: Windows 7
Post by: hingedshinobi on January 10, 2009, 10:08:38 pm
Quote from: 2beers on January 09, 2009, 04:34:03 am
It's on bittorrent of course, but I'm waiting for the legit beta...

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/01/07/information-on-downloading-and-installing-windows-7-beta.aspx

Edit: Ah shit, it's only an upgrade from Vista SP1

Thats only if you choose upgrade when you are installing it. it'll only upgrade from Vista SP1. You shouldn't completely replace your original OS anyway seeing as it is only a beta. you can just partition your drive and install 7 on that and still be able to access your Vista (or whatever) stuff.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 10, 2009, 10:20:46 pm
I did this tonight and it's pretty fucking sweet. I am very impressed.

My system:
AMD 5000+ X2 @ 2.6
8800 GTS 320MB
2GB DDR2 PC6400

It runs a lot more smoothly than vista, nothing about it lags. Vista would idle on startup with a gig of ram in use, this uses about 500/600 depending on whats going on when you switch on.

It got all the drivers for all my things within 5 mins of me turning it on and it didn't need to restart for 90% of them.

Did I mention its blisteringly fast?

My only concern is that it has not mounted one of my partitions. I think I will be able to solve that with a little foolery.

http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/52348/screenshot.png

Installation was a breeze, I just made a partition and did a custom install - when you restart it asks you if you want to boot in 7 or Vista so you don't have to replace your OS.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: xanque on January 11, 2009, 01:09:37 am
I'm downloading the beta now, and I've got my key.  I can't wait to get in on this.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: 2beers on January 11, 2009, 01:28:41 am
Quote from: hingedshinobi on January 10, 2009, 10:08:38 pm
Thats only if you choose upgrade when you are installing it. it'll only upgrade from Vista SP1. You shouldn't completely replace your original OS anyway seeing as it is only a beta. you can just partition your drive and install 7 on that and still be able to access your Vista (or whatever) stuff.

Oh, haha. I should have noticed that. Thanks for clearing that up.

I've been planning to do a clean install of XP again, so I'll dual boot it with Windows 7 this time. My system isn't nearly as powerful as crumply's, but I gotta try it anyway.

Title: Windows 7
Post by: xanque on January 11, 2009, 02:32:34 am
I'm on Windows 7 now, and it's pretty nice so far.  It installed without a hitch, and now I'm checking to see if some of my favorite programs work okay.

So far Rough Draft (my favorite free word processor ever) works just fine.  This is good because it didn't work with Vista until SP1.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: xanque on January 11, 2009, 02:48:43 am
Okay, I just experienced my first glitch, but it's more funny than bad.  It's not harming anything, so it's not really a big deal.

In Windows Media Player, one song that is only 6 minutes long is listed as over an hour long.  While playing, if I skip to another part of the song, it says 45 minutes or whatever. 

I'm wondering if it's listing songs that are six minutes long as 60 minutes long.  It doesn't do this to any other songs.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Verne on January 11, 2009, 03:22:29 am
Just installed Windows 7 beta on my HP Mini 2133 netbook and it runs smooth, even with all eye candy enabled. Windows 7 is just amazing. Last time I was this hyped by an operating system was Windows 95.

I have had absolutely no problem so far except for Google Chrome crashing once but that was only a minor crash since I can not duplicate it. Even the Internet Explorer 8 works like a charm.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 11, 2009, 11:38:15 am
Yeah some people have mentioned that WMP deletes music randomly so watch out for that one. I have been playing tracks for hours now and it hasn't done it.

I also lol'ed at the track timer. Something's pretty wrong there.

I preferred the black WMP I wish I could change it back.

It has a cool feature where it randomises desktop wallpapers.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: hingedshinobi on January 11, 2009, 02:00:14 pm
Quote from: crumply on January 11, 2009, 11:38:15 am
Yeah some people have mentioned that WMP deletes music randomly so watch out for that one. I have been playing tracks for hours now and it hasn't done it.

I also lol'ed at the track timer. Something's pretty wrong there.

I preferred the black WMP I wish I could change it back.

It has a cool feature where it randomises desktop wallpapers.

There is a fix for that WMP bug now, not sure if it is on Windows Update yet though. All it did was cut about 2 seconds off the start of a track if the metadata header thing was over 16k, which is most common with tracks that have their album artwork in the header. But it isn't a problem anymore.

I have found another bug though, I created an auto playlist for songs I rated 4+ stars and then put it on shuffle. Then went through my library and rated some more songs and it added them to the playlist but when I play them it plays the other songs in the playlist. I had to restart WMP to get it work.

Also, to do with the superbar. When you pin an application to it and then uninstall the program you can't remove the icon. It gives you the option to but it doesn't actually do anything.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 11, 2009, 02:01:52 pm
Gadgets are also somewhat nonexistent. I wanna know what the temperature is outside goddammit!
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Vellfire on January 11, 2009, 02:09:10 pm
Quote from: crumply on January 11, 2009, 11:38:15 am
It has a cool feature where it randomises desktop wallpapers.

heh....u fool....macs....macs have had this a longt ime....he..heh... :fogetshifty:
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 11, 2009, 03:11:47 pm
[macwars]If they released new game titles for the mac and the hardware was 1/2 the price I'd be typing this message on one right now![/macwars]

Bang for buck.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Vellfire on January 11, 2009, 03:22:03 pm
seriously though if windows 7 lives up to my expectations (which are based on what people have said about it so far so that is very possible) it will be the first time i have enjoyed using a windows machine in a long long time

i'm not going to ditch my mac for it but i will be HAPPY to use my windows machine again instead of just going along with it out of necessity for a few programs that are too complex to run properly in a virtual box, and that is a good feeling
Title: Windows 7
Post by: 2beers on January 11, 2009, 03:29:39 pm
I'm fucking loving this guys. I don't think I'll even bother customizing my XP (which I reinstalled on dual boot).

So far most of my programs work as well as they did on XP, with some minor drawbacks (e.g. dialog sizes for certain firefox extensions). As long as foobar2000, MPC + porn, firefox, and mIRC continue work I'll be set.

oh and solitaire is sorta fun now

7-zip Benchmark
Windows XP
CPU Usage   184%
Rating/Usage   1592 MIPS
Rating      2937 MIPS

Windows 7
CPU Usage   181%
Rating/Usage   1569 MIPS
Rating      2852 MIPS

PerformanceTest 6.1 System-wide Benchmark
Windows XP   467.1
Windows 7   430.7

n2b, microsoft. n2b.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 11, 2009, 03:35:26 pm
It's good in the respect that a lot of people were sold machines that came with intel graphics and 1GB of ram with vista installed - my laptop was like that until I upgraded it to 2 gigs and it was fine, but for all those people who don't know how to upgrade the RAM they have been seriously ripped off because of the OS. The whole rise of "netbooks" and low-power-consumption processor design by intel and ARM means that they've been forced to change so that their OS can run on lower spec machines.

If you remember windows ME/2000 then the release of XP. This situation is analogous to that.

It's funny you should mention Macs since the last OS I used was OS9 and I was very happy and creative with that (think macromedia studio/flash). XP caused me no end of trouble, Vista was a hog but it never caused me problems. 7 was the most streamlined install I have ever had! It found the obscure realtek drivers for my soundcard without me even asking.

Edit: AND THEY UPGRADED PAINT. WTF!

Title: Windows 7
Post by: xanque on January 11, 2009, 04:20:51 pm
Quote from: crumply on January 11, 2009, 03:35:26 pm
Edit: AND THEY UPGRADED PAINT. WTF!
Yeah, and it's about time.  I can't believe you can move objects now without doing the cut/paste routine. 

It's kind of funny that Windows 7 actually feels better even though it has fewer features than Vista.  I admit that I've liked Vista a lot, but that's because my systems have all been pretty powerful.  Still, since Windows 7 uses far less resources, my laptop runs so well now.  The processor isn't a monster, but now everything loads nice and quickly.  Even web pages seem to load faster. 

Also, for anyone who thinks they've missed out on the beta,

The beta will be available until January 24, regardless of how many people download it.

This has to be one of the biggest beta releases of all time.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: xanque on January 11, 2009, 05:44:45 pm
I have just discovered the greatest flaw of all time with Windows 7.

Every time I unplug my laptop on Vista, I get this really loud BEEEEEP.  I love it.  It's the greatest thing about my laptop.  I look forward to hearing it every time.  It's the beep that means I am done with my work. 

But with Windows 7, there is only silence.  Nothing.  No signal that my work has ended.

H-how could you... Microsoft? 

HOW COULD YOU?



Also it sucks because I won't know that my laptop was accidentally unplugged, and that happens often on a college campus.  Anyone know how to fix this?
Title: Windows 7
Post by: goldenratio on January 11, 2009, 06:34:23 pm
~ posting from windows 7 ~

just installed it. installation is so smooth, took maybe 1/2 hour - 45 minutes. im probably just gonna try installing some shit, maybe try to play some games, see whats up.


so far everything has worked, it found all my drivers and everything is working great! photoshop won't install, though...
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 11, 2009, 08:18:09 pm
Adobe's installers and updaters are the most fucking annoying things on the planet.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: hingedshinobi on January 11, 2009, 08:20:55 pm
Quote from: crumply on January 11, 2009, 02:01:52 pm
Gadgets are also somewhat nonexistent. I wanna know what the temperature is outside goddammit!

They are there, they are called Desktop Gadget Gallery and are in the all programs part of the start menu. They aren't on by default and I don't think they work if you have UAC off. Also their is no sidebar any more they just stick to the sides of the screen, but you can adjust transparency and stuff (not sure if you could do that in vista).


Quote from: goldenratio on January 11, 2009, 06:34:23 pm

so far everything has worked, it found all my drivers and everything is working great! photoshop won't install, though...

I downloaded the trial of CS 4 and it installed no problems whatsoever, and everything worked in it.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 11, 2009, 08:27:05 pm
Ah, not so keen on knowing the weather that i'll suffer from UAC. Fair trade.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: hingedshinobi on January 11, 2009, 08:34:44 pm
Quote from: crumply on January 11, 2009, 08:27:05 pm
Ah, not so keen on knowing the weather that i'll suffer from UAC. Fair trade.

UAC is much better this time around, it's on by default and it hasn't got in the way of anything for me so far. But you really aren't missing out on anything. I read on the Neowin forums that someone got the vista sidebar working in 7 and I don't think that needs UAC on, let me find the link hang on:

here it is:http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=714702&hl=vista+sidebar

I haven't tried it though.

Title: Windows 7
Post by: dom on January 11, 2009, 08:38:34 pm
Quote from: Cardinal Ximenez on January 08, 2009, 07:28:16 am
Windows has precisely one advantage over other operating systems: historical compatibility.

Windows 7, and indeed, the entire glut of non-free software, does little but force more licenses down the throats of end-users for a marginal upgrade.

At least they are making measures towards the laughable "anti-monopoly" regulations by getting rid of their DRM-infested media player.
youre laughable

also windows 7 more like windows vista with the dock from osx owned  :fogetlaugh: :fogetlaugh: :fogetlaugh:
Title: Windows 7
Post by: YourHero on January 11, 2009, 09:17:54 pm
hmm that screen looks pretty sharp! i'm way too lazy to switch my OS. i'm on vista now. after taking off al the stupid things it has (ie. gadgets) it's been running pretty smoothly. i have not complaints.

i plan on getting another laptop soon though, i'll probably look for one with windows 7.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Vellfire on January 12, 2009, 01:18:54 am
I have to buy a new hard drive because both of the ones in my desktop are failing, does Windows 7 automatically find SATA drives because I remember having to try harder for XP to find my SATA drive.  I want to know before I buy one because I have no problem throwing down a good ol' IDE drive if it'll be an issue.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: YourHero on January 12, 2009, 02:18:49 am
i got a SATA hard drive a few months ago- i've been using at an external in an enclosure. i had two computers at teh time- one was on XP one was on vista. the xp took some playing aroudn to get it to recognize it from what i remember, the vista one was automatic, so i'd assume windows 7 would also be easy.

though... when i bought the hard drive, it was a dud and i had to get a new one the next day :P
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 12, 2009, 09:17:24 am
I have 2 IDEs and 1 SATA and all were recognised.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: 2beers on January 12, 2009, 10:33:28 am
Speaking of recognition, it automatically downloaded and silently installed the proper geforce and realtek audio drivers. It sure beats having to do it all myself.

SPTD (what Daemon Tools & Alcohol use to make virtual devices) doesn't work yet, but an admin on their board said they would take a look at it. In the meantime I'll have to use the actual CD when playing Battlefield 2. I would use a no-cd fix if I didn't think punkbuster would nail me on it.

I have noticed more CPU usage, but when it comes down to benchmarks it's not too far apart from XP. I scored 430 on PerformanceTest 6.1 (everything except CD) compared to 467 on XP. My 7zip benchmark for windows 7 was 2852 MIPS and for XP it was 2937 MIPS. It's a fair price to pay for all the features.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Christophomicus on January 12, 2009, 01:48:05 pm
God damn it this looks so nice. How big is it?
Title: Windows 7
Post by: xanque on January 12, 2009, 03:21:37 pm
Quote from: dom on January 11, 2009, 08:38:34 pm
youre laughable

also windows 7 more like windows vista with the dock from osx owned  :fogetlaugh: :fogetlaugh: :fogetlaugh:
Why are people who use Macs like this?  Whenever Microsoft does something like Apple, Mac users just LOVE to point it out, as if Microsoft users are getting screwed or something.  It's the same as people who hear others listening to a song they like, and then saying "Haha! I've been listening to that song since before it was popular."

Apple is a giant, money-hungry corporation too.  The only people who really have any right to act high-and-mighty are Linux users.  And they rarely ever do.


Anyway, is there a way to move the desktop quick button to the left side of the screen?  It feels weird having it all the way over to the bottom right.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: dom on January 12, 2009, 03:24:11 pm
Quote from: Xanqui on January 12, 2009, 03:21:37 pm
Why are people who use Macs like this?  Whenever Microsoft does something like Apple, Mac users just LOVE to point it out, as if Microsoft users are getting screwed or something.  It's the same as people who hear others listening to a song they like, and then saying "Haha! I've been listening to that song since before it was popular."

Apple is a giant, money-hungry corporation too.  The only people who really have a right to act high-and-mighty are Linux users.  And they rarely ever do.
I Was Being Completely Serious

(theres a lot of thigns people claim are ripped off from apple which aren't really, however the new taskbar really does blatantly take a lot of influence from the dock. it is a good thing, though)

also wtf linux users never act high and mighty. do you live under a rock
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Fallen-Griever on January 12, 2009, 03:56:06 pm
Quote
Edit: AND THEY UPGRADED PAINT. WTF!

HOLY FUCKING SHIT BALLS NEW EDITION OF PAINT I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT! AND YES I AM BEING SERIOUS!
Title: Windows 7
Post by: NES Player on January 12, 2009, 05:11:50 pm
I'm going to download this, can't wait til I install this. Also Paint > Photoshop IMO.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: xanque on January 13, 2009, 03:09:18 pm
Quote from: dom on January 12, 2009, 03:24:11 pm
also wtf linux users never act high and mighty. do you live under a rock
GW is like the only forum I go to so I guess my experience is limited.  I just never see people with Linux stickers all over the place, bragging about their OS. 

If I could just get MS Office 07 on here (I don't know where my disc is), then I'll never need to use Vista on my laptop again.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: dom on January 13, 2009, 03:20:59 pm
Quote from: Xanqui on January 13, 2009, 03:09:18 pm
GW is like the only forum I go to so I guess my experience is limited.  I just never see people with Linux stickers all over the place, bragging about their OS. 

If I could just get MS Office 07 on here (I don't know where my disc is), then I'll never need to use Vista on my laptop again.
anyone who uses linux thinks linux is the best thing ever invented, thats why they bother usin that piece of shit in the first place
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Mama Luigi on January 13, 2009, 03:23:09 pm
Quote from: NES Player on January 12, 2009, 05:11:50 pm
Also Paint > Photoshop IMO.
Unless you're this guy (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uk2sPl_Z7ZU)... WRONG.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Barack Obama on January 13, 2009, 05:01:07 pm
is it worth downloading this shit?
Title: Windows 7
Post by: hingedshinobi on January 13, 2009, 06:34:27 pm
Quote from: DietCoke on January 13, 2009, 05:01:07 pm
is it worth downloading this shit?

it is, if you fancy a change. it is a lot better than vista, it looks better and pretty much everything just works. and I've had no problems with anything at all.

EDIT: also that mona lisa mspaint thing is amazing.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 13, 2009, 07:03:18 pm
man fucking DILBERT had several jokes about the superiority complex of linux/unix users its kind of a thing.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 13, 2009, 09:49:24 pm
Quote from: Magical Negro on January 13, 2009, 07:03:18 pm
man fucking DILBERT had several jokes about the superiority complex of linux/unix users its kind of a thing.

This is so true. There's this linux user who does some of my units in EEng and he has the worst case of this imaginable. He actually gets physically riled up if you wind him up about it so much that it has become a bit of a hobby...

Yes I do spend all my time winding people up... I'm childish
Title: Windows 7
Post by: dicko on January 13, 2009, 10:39:47 pm
okay guys, i am a complete beginner at this thing (i am not going to install windows 7 myself, i am leaving that to my friend who works in an it shop, i'm not THAT stupid to be fooling around with my OS) but basically i have questions:

- if i install windows 7, will i have to back up all my files?
- will this fuck anything up? like hardware/software

i have not heard anything bad said about windows 7 yet, so i am very eager to try it (especially as my laptop has only 1GB RAM and vista hogs that like a bitch) and i will be leaving this to a professional to install etc, but i am pretty clueless when it comes to this sort of stuff. cheers.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 13, 2009, 10:50:42 pm
- if i install windows 7, will i have to back up all my files?
DEFINITELY.

- will this fuck anything up? like hardware/software
Most laptops have a partition that you can backup to if you want to start anew, I am not sure if windows7's bootscreen will accommodate for this.

It goes without saying that you should not attempt this if you do not have troubleshooting/technical expertise yourself as it is only a beta and you will be nagging your nerd friend like a bitch if anything goes wrong.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Dust on January 14, 2009, 12:09:29 am
My opinions on Windows 7:

First of all, I did not have anywhere near as smooth as an installation as any of you say. The first few steps went fine, but then all of a sudden these error messages started popping up out of nowhere about deleted files (I do not remember the exact error messages, but they just kept coming). I then ran check disk and found that there were TONS of errors on that partition. It took about half an hour to fix all of these errors. Then I restarted the Windows 7 installation and everything went fine.

I then started up Windows 7 and found several things I didn't like. First of all, Windows 7 did not detect my video card / monitor. This means that I was stuck with a maximum of 1024 X 1280 (I think) resolution. I then popped in my monitor drivers CD and it installed those. I then clicked on my monitor management icon on my desktop and Windows 7 said "The shortcut has been deleted, do you wish to delete this shortcut?" or something of the same nature. I then tried to change my resolution again and it was the same as before. I then tried my video card drivers and when I put the CD in it gave me the autorun message. I selected the Autorun.exe that was on the disk and it said "The drive E:\ could not be found. The source is either missing or corrupt." Or something like that, I am reciting these from memory. So then I thought, ok the disk is probably screwed up, it is pretty old and it wasn't in any case.

So I wanted to go online to find the drivers. Internet explorer? No thank you. So I went to go download Firefox, a pretty easy process, right? Well I first load up internet explorer and went to Mozilla's website to download Firefox. Once I got there, the little internet explorer download window thing with the progress bar and the "Open", "Open Folder" and "Close" buttons on it and the cute little image of the earth and the piece of paper flying into your documents on it came up. Then a little error message came up saying "The source <some random server url> could not be located." Soon thereafter, it closed the dialog box. I thought to myself, "Ok, what now?" I then went into C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\ and opened the Firefox that I have installed on Windows XP (I have Windows XP installed on the C:\ partition and Windows 7 installed on the W:\ partition). Once I opened firefox.exe another little error message came up that was basically the same thing as when I was trying to read from my CD Rom drive. Eventually I got bored and went back into Windows XP. When I loaded up Windows XP, check disk came up saying something about the W:\ drive. I let it run and sure enough, there were a TON of orphaned files and messed up indexes on it. Once that was done I tried again and Internet Explorer let me download Firefox and it let me load Firefox, but I still couldn't get my video card or monitor drivers to work.

Another thing I didn't like was the lack of a quick launch bar. This is really annoying because I LOVE the quick launch bar. The whole idea of pinning stuff to the task bar is great, but the problem is, if I click the Firefox button that I have pinned, it GOES AWAY. This prevents me from using it to open another Firefox window like I usually do. Also, what the heck is up with the "Show desktop" button being in the lower right hand corner? Is it just me, or is this simply awkward? The "Show desktop" button is probably one of my top 5 most used buttons on my computer, and they had to go and throw it into a very inconvenient place and make it so I can't move it.

Also, what happened to the file, edit, etc menus? I never used Vista, so that might be my problem. I actually only installed Vista to use Windows 7. I always loved the File / Edit / other menus, so why remove them? Are they trying to make life harder?

The final part of my rant is about paint. Why did they have to Office 2007tise it? I hate the layout of Office 2007 and I hate the way the new paint looks. Sure, paint needs an upgrade, but it's not the same anymore. The ONE THING I wanted them to do with paint is make it so you can 1600 X Zoom in on it, but they didn't even do that. They just added some random brush textures, removed the default color palette, which I liked, and butchered the layout. Most of the hotkeys are different, such as Control + R used to be Rotate, but is now Enable/Disable Rulers. They also removed a lot of the simplicity to it. I LOVED using paint because it was extremely simple. Fire it up, do a few simple edits and BOOM I was done. Now I have to navigate through a maze of different drop down menus to find the right tools and brushes. It is quite annoying.

And yes, I know it's a beta, but still. The beta reflects what it will be like in the future, and I do not like where some of the design choices are going. Sure, some of the errors are going to happen, but they shouldn't happen to the extent that they did.

On a positive note, I do think that the visual effects of this windows are really neat. Overall I think it is ok, but I probably wouldn't pay money for this without some serious improvements.

Or maybe I'm just hard to please, who knows :rite:​.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: goldenratio on January 14, 2009, 12:40:52 am
Quote from: Dust on January 14, 2009, 12:09:29 am
Another thing I didn't like was the lack of a quick launch bar. This is really annoying because I LOVE the quick launch bar. The whole idea of pinning stuff to the task bar is great, but the problem is, if I click the Firefox button that I have pinned, it GOES AWAY. This prevents me from using it to open another Firefox window like I usually do. Also, what the heck is up with the "Show desktop" button being in the lower right hand corner? Is it just me, or is this simply awkward? The "Show desktop" button is probably one of my top 5 most used buttons on my computer, and they had to go and throw it into a very inconvenient place and make it so I can't move it.

Also, what happened to the file, edit, etc menus? I never used Vista, so that might be my problem. I actually only installed Vista to use Windows 7. I always loved the File / Edit / other menus, so why remove them? Are they trying to make life harder?

hey man the new taskbar is awesome. i cannot even begin to fathom why you would want to open a new firefox window, but in the grand scheme of things it's better to go to "file -> new window" (control + n) to open a new window. the way the taskbar functions is far superior, from a usability perspective. Yeah, you don't have the luxury of just clicking the button to open a new window, but seeing as how you should rarely need to do this, it doesnt make sense to make that the default behavior when its much more fluid and intuitive the new way.

Also the reason the show desktop button is there is a very good one, its all about usability: if you are like most people, you only have one monitor, so the show desktop is all the way in the bottom right corner. for the same reason that the start button being in the lower left corner is great (you can get to it quickly), now its the same thing with the show desktop. Because its in the corner, it is effectively an "infinitely tall, infinitely wide button", so if you want to show your desktop? move your cursor all the way to the bottom right.  The corners of your monitor are prime areas because anything placed on them effectively becomes "infinitely" tall and wide. The close button is in the upper right, start button lower-left, application menu upper left (i think office has the quick button menu thing up there, a great feature), and now show desktop. if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. placing it in the quick tray next to the start button makes no sense, its just where you're used to it being for so many years.

i have two monitors so, it is kinda screwed up for me, as i dont have an infinitely wide/tall lower right corner. However, i love how if you just hover over it, you can peek at your desktop. ive already used that feature a TON. also if you hover over one preview on the task bar, all windows will "hide" and you can "peek" at that one, also very useful.

Also the file/edit etc menus will show up if you press "alt" . I noticed this when IE7 first came out. I think there is an option in ie7 to turn it off (always display menu bar) or maybe its defaulted to that, i dunno but perhaps there's an option in the os as well? if you find it let me know, but otherwise alt will make it show up.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Dust on January 14, 2009, 12:54:03 am
Quote from: goldenratio on January 14, 2009, 12:40:52 am
hey man the new taskbar is awesome. i cannot even begin to fathom why you would want to open a new firefox window, but in the grand scheme of things it's better to go to "file -> new window" (control + n) to open a new window. the way the taskbar functions is far superior, from a usability perspective. Yeah, you don't have the luxury of just clicking the button to open a new window, but seeing as how you should rarely need to do this, it doesnt make sense to make that the default behavior when its much more fluid and intuitive the new way.

Also the reason the show desktop button is there is a very good one, its all about usability: if you are like most people, you only have one monitor, so the show desktop is all the way in the bottom right corner. for the same reason that the start button being in the lower left corner is great (you can get to it quickly), now its the same thing with the show desktop. Because its in the corner, it is effectively an "infinitely tall, infinitely wide button", so if you want to show your desktop? move your cursor all the way to the bottom right.  The corners of your monitor are prime areas because anything placed on them effectively becomes "infinitely" tall and wide. The close button is in the upper right, start button lower-left, application menu upper left (i think office has the quick button menu thing up there, a great feature), and now show desktop. if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. placing it in the quick tray next to the start button makes no sense, its just where you're used to it being for so many years.
@New taskbar, what is so good about it? Even if I look past the fact that the quick launch is gone, I still noticed that you cannot use the mouse wheel button (aka the middle button) to close a window. It just flashes the buttons for some reason. I haven't looked into this too much so I'm not sure if I am doing something wrong here. Also I think the new window thing is sort of a habit, but why can't they just have the option there? Why eliminate a perfectly good function (the quick launch)? Furthermore, by "the way the taskbar functions is far superior, from a usability perspective" do you include the fact that you can reorganize the buttons? Because I think you are overlooking the fact that there are programs that allow you to do this in XP and Vista as well. I also don't like the new menu thing that they added when you right click something on the task bar. From what I can remember, there are a very limited number of options that it gives you (pin / unpin and close are the only ones I can remember. I don't remember minimize being there, but it might have been there).

@Show desktop, I think I didn't fully develop that point because I went on about something else and forgot to come back to it. What I was trying to say is that I have a habit of going to the lower left corner (On my computer I have the show desktop button right next to the start button). I do not like going down to the lower right corner because this makes your cursor go off screen. I know this doesn't affect whether you click it or not, but I think it's a bad design choice. I don't know why, but I hate the lower right corner of my screen because when I look at my monitor I look at the upper left corner most of the time. This is just how I prefer it. Again, this is just probably because of the fact that I've always used the button right next to the task bar. I would like it if they would make that element movable; most of the other features are, why can't this one (the show desktop button)?
Title: Windows 7
Post by: big ass skelly on January 14, 2009, 01:12:16 am
I don't know much about the new taskbar but all your complaints seem to be from habit not form any kind of desire for actual usability.

Microsoft have got criticised for not doing anything but reskinning their not especially well designed ui since windows 95, it's nice to hear they've hired some actual human interface experts lmao

You say you look at the top left of the screen mainly? That makes it even better design for a show desktop mouse area to be in the bottom right: you're reading something top left of the screen and you want to look at your desktop icons (also by default located the top left of the screen). Because you can't overshoot the bottom right of the screen you can show desktop without taking your eyes off of the interesting part of the screen. It's the same as most common-sense people on XP getting rid of that show desktop button and using wkey+D shortcut to show desktop, because you can do it without search-and-clicking an icon.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Dust on January 14, 2009, 01:17:39 am
You might be right on that, I didn't exactly think about it that way. My major point is why isn't it movable. I keep saying this which is probably making it seem redundant, but seriously. Why would you make a feature like that unmovable?

I could definitely get used to clicking the right corner, and you're right, it is a smart place to put it, but I would rather it be somewhere else.
Most of my problems probably aren't anything that other people would really care about, they're just things that I noticed that I didn't exactly like. Some people might love them.

Also...
Quote from: goldenratio on January 14, 2009, 12:40:52 am
However, i love how if you just hover over it, you can peek at your desktop. ive already used that feature a TON. also if you hover over one preview on the task bar, all windows will "hide" and you can "peek" at that one, also very useful.
I did not know this :O.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: dragonx on January 14, 2009, 03:10:43 am
i really like windows 7 the only problem was when it first started i had no display drivers and it only found my HDMI out as a sound card...then I deleted all the catalyst software and reinstalled it AND EVERYTHING WORKED

windows7<3
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Verne on January 14, 2009, 03:59:21 am
Quote from: dicko on January 13, 2009, 10:39:47 pm
okay guys, i am a complete beginner at this thing (i am not going to install windows 7 myself, i am leaving that to my friend who works in an it shop, i'm not THAT stupid to be fooling around with my OS) but basically i have questions:

- if i install windows 7, will i have to back up all my files?
- will this fuck anything up? like hardware/software

i have not heard anything bad said about windows 7 yet, so i am very eager to try it (especially as my laptop has only 1GB RAM and vista hogs that like a bitch) and i will be leaving this to a professional to install etc, but i am pretty clueless when it comes to this sort of stuff. cheers.

I did the upgrade install on my Vista SP1 and all my files and programs were still there after the installation and worked perfectly. However, backing up is always a good idea when switching OS.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: dragonx on January 14, 2009, 04:40:56 am
id say backup anyway since come august..........
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Frisky SKeleton on January 14, 2009, 08:05:50 am
Quote from: Dust on January 14, 2009, 01:17:39 am
You might be right on that, I didn't exactly think about it that way. My major point is why isn't it movable. I keep saying this which is probably making it seem redundant, but seriously. Why would you make a feature like that unmovable?

it means that people don't have to spend an hour customising all the basic functions of windows before they can use it effectively.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: 2beers on January 14, 2009, 01:01:59 pm
Quote from: Dust on January 14, 2009, 12:09:29 am
First of all, I did not have anywhere near as smooth as an installation as any of you say. The first few steps went fine, but then all of a sudden these error messages started popping up out of nowhere about deleted files (I do not remember the exact error messages, but they just kept coming). I then ran check disk and found that there were TONS of errors on that partition. It took about half an hour to fix all of these errors.
Next time perform a complete format (i.e. not a quick format) using NTFS before installing.

Quote from: Dust on January 14, 2009, 12:09:29 am
The whole idea of pinning stuff to the task bar is great, but the problem is, if I click the Firefox button that I have pinned, it GOES AWAY. This prevents me from using it to open another Firefox window like I usually do.
Left click is focus/minimize.

Quote from: Dust on January 14, 2009, 12:54:03 am
I still noticed that you cannot use the mouse wheel button (aka the middle button) to close a window.
Middle click is new instance (e.g. akin to File > New Window). Middle click on the preview image is close/quit.

Quote from: Dust on January 14, 2009, 12:09:29 am
Also, what happened to the file, edit, etc menus? I never used Vista, so that might be my problem. I actually only installed Vista to use Windows 7. I always loved the File / Edit / other menus, so why remove them? Are they trying to make life harder?
Go to "Organize > Layout > Menu bar".
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 14, 2009, 01:15:34 pm
Try dragging the top bar of a window towards the top of the screen quickly.

Also, with a maximised window try dragging the top bar quickly down.

Neeeat.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: 2beers on January 14, 2009, 01:20:55 pm
MP3 issue patch has been released to Windows Update. Those of you who where scared to install the beta before better get your DVD burners ready.

Title: Windows 7
Post by: 2beers on January 14, 2009, 01:23:06 pm
Quote from: crumply on January 14, 2009, 01:15:34 pm
Try dragging the top bar of a window towards the top of the screen quickly.

Also, with a maximised window try dragging the top bar quickly down.

Neeeat.

You can also drag it to the side, which is great if you need to compare two windows.

Try shaking the window too. Do it again to reverse.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: the_nackster on January 14, 2009, 02:41:43 pm
Has anyone used the 64-BIT version? I want to try it, but the only place I can download anything is on these public access computers. And thanks to microsoft requiring you to have silverlight to download the beta, I cannot try it myself.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: 2beers on January 14, 2009, 02:50:35 pm
Quote from: the_nackster on January 14, 2009, 02:41:43 pm
And thanks to microsoft requiring you to have silverlight to download the beta, I cannot try it myself.
:blarg:

Windows 7 Beta (x86) : 7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.ISO (http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/3/3/633118BD-6C3D-45A4-B985-F0FDFFE1B021/EN/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.ISO)
Windows 7 Beta (x64) : 7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULXFRE_EN_DVD.ISO (http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/3/3/633118BD-6C3D-45A4-B985-F0FDFFE1B021/EN/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULXFRE_EN_DVD.ISO)
:shady:


The Bumper List of Windows 7 Secrets
http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2009/01/12/the-bumper-list-of-windows-7-secrets.aspx

Number 13 is for you, dust.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Jayce on January 14, 2009, 06:17:37 pm
okay so the only problems I've hit so far is:

[Shift ][/Shift] = "
[Shift ][/Shift] = @
[Shift ][/Shift] = £

This could of course simply mean that I need another keyboard instead of this one I have now... which sucks...
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Jayce on January 14, 2009, 06:18:31 pm
Also clicking on this quick reply box and hitting enter submits the message rather than going to a new line which is going to SHIT ME if it happens in other browsers other than IE.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: big ass skelly on January 14, 2009, 07:00:32 pm
Quote from: Carius on January 14, 2009, 06:17:37 pm
okay so the only problems I've hit so far is:

[Shift + 2] = "
[Shift + '] = @
[Shift + 3] = £

This could of course simply mean that I need another keyboard instead of this one I have now... which sucks...
That's uk keymap, just try and change it somewhere
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Jayce on January 14, 2009, 07:04:33 pm
oh gay... *changes*
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 14, 2009, 07:20:37 pm
Round of applause for not setting the first box that comes up when you put the disc in you daft kangaroo shagger lol
Title: Windows 7
Post by: big ass skelly on January 14, 2009, 07:46:33 pm
Whoa there crumpy.... whoa
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Dust on January 14, 2009, 08:02:43 pm
Quote from: 2beers on January 14, 2009, 02:50:35 pm
The Bumper List of Windows 7 Secrets
http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2009/01/12/the-bumper-list-of-windows-7-secrets.aspx

Number 13 is for you, dust.
This just made my opinion of Windows 7 skyrocket :)​.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: NES Player on January 14, 2009, 08:19:53 pm
Quote from: Mama Luigi on January 13, 2009, 03:23:09 pm
Unless you're this guy (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uk2sPl_Z7ZU)... WRONG.
Unless you forgot what that acronym stands for.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 14, 2009, 08:22:28 pm
Quote from: Mark on January 14, 2009, 07:46:33 pm
Whoa there crumpy.... whoa

its alright we have this tradition of insulting each other over facebook  :welp:
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Mama Luigi on January 15, 2009, 01:46:30 am
Quote from: NES Player on January 14, 2009, 08:19:53 pm
Unless you forgot what that acronym stands for.
This isn't a matter of opinion, sir. A feature by feature run-down will show that Photoshop cleans Paint's clocks.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Terin on January 15, 2009, 02:01:11 am
I technically work for Microsoft, so I got the beta (build 6800 or something -- upgrade to 7000 this past Friday) like a month or so ago.  Right now, I have it dual-booting with Vista.  If you have Vista, you can resize partitions and choose to "shrink" a volume.  It makes installing it easier.  In any case, yeah, been playing around with it off and on.  As much as I like a lot of the pieces in it, I'm going to miss the classic Windows 95 through Vista interface.  The tasks at the bottom and the system tray being expanded, although I know you can customize them to match the old look -- but I want to try to get on board with the new interface.

Overall, very impressed with everything.  It's still technically Vista -- the only difference is that the Kernel is upgrade from 6.0 to 6.1 internally.  i.e. It's Vista remade/polished.  That being said, a lot of the features they wanted to put in, but couldn't because they rushed Vista, were finally added.  That's why you're seeing a drastically different UI in some cases -- in some cases, you'll notice the UI and theme just "fits" everything better.  To me, Vista felt a little...  Like they were stepping in a direction, but didn't go all the way.

As far as performance -- you'll notice (if you were on Vista) most of your scores on performance will increase a bit.  Some of my 5's jumped to low 6's.  A huge difference in HDD will be obvious, though, since they're kind of keeping in mind the chance of future SSD's.  My only issue is that software claims to run on a Windows Experience Rating of <x>.  Well, if your other scores are high, i.e. 5-6, and your HDD is a 2, and a program says it runs best on a 3, most people will say, "Crap, I can't run this on my computer!"  Might be good to rework some logic behind it -- I was thinking maybe they botched the code somewhere, but I don't have access to the code -- just the builds when they release them internally.

A big thing to get used to was the ribbon bar -- I don't play around with Office much, so I haven't had time to adjust to it.  However, I was pleased that they still give you options for the menus when you hit alt -- just the way the normal menus used to work.  And in addition to the pretty interface and icons, letters usually show up on the icons to let you know which to press for what.  Pretty cool.

Most importantly, you'll notice a drastically smaller footprint in your memory and CPU cycles from Windows alone -- the only downside (I've discovered...) is that Windows eats up about 10GB of space on its own.  Not sure if there's a lot of stuff dumped in the OS or if part of that is necessary to run it so quickly (I doubt it -- but it's possible they make some weird cache's on the disk).

Looking forward to switching when it becomes affordable/within reason.

--Terin
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Jayce on January 15, 2009, 09:12:25 am
Quote from: crumply on January 14, 2009, 07:20:37 pm
Round of applause for not setting the first box that comes up when you put the disc in you daft kangaroo shagger lol

I read it quickly at like 2am and thought it was the language (dictionary) settings so I set it as UK rather than US...

Also eat poo
Title: Windows 7
Post by: NES Player on January 15, 2009, 06:51:36 pm
Quote from: Mama Luigi on January 15, 2009, 01:46:30 am
This isn't a matter of opinion, sir. A feature by feature run-down will show that Photoshop cleans Paint's clocks.
Yes, I am quite aware of the features of Photoshop but too bad I don't give a rat's ass about any of them. I enjoy and prefer making graphics from Paint to use in many of my projects including RPG Maker projects, 8-bit games, and even classic gaming website layouts. Although Paint is a rather time-consuming method the interface is classic and fits well with my work. If I needed a photo manipulation tool I also resort to GIMP, mainly when I use a Linux system. That being said Photoshop is something I don't need, don't want, nor ever use. Such a resource hog Photoshop is to the point of draining my battery on my notebook PC quite a bit.

Also no offense but opinions is a matter here and why I like Paint is only because of my personal preference. Windows 7 may (or may not) kick XP in the ass in terms of "features," the composite desktop, the revamped graphics and icons, the eye candy, DirectX10 compatibility, and what have you. However these additional features do not degrade my opinion toward Windows XP. What I feel more comfortable using is what I prefer. The same applies to Paint vs. Photoshop.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: 2beers on January 15, 2009, 06:59:26 pm
If you're a silly goose like and installed XP on a second partition you might notice that windows 7 isn't loading as it should.

This article is the solution for such silly goosery:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919529
Title: Windows 7
Post by: dragonx on January 16, 2009, 03:25:44 am
Quote from: NES Player on January 15, 2009, 06:51:36 pm
Such a resource hog Photoshop is to the point of draining my battery on my notebook PC quite a bit.

 :fogetmmh: plug it in you silly xD!
Title: Windows 7
Post by: hobo2 on January 16, 2009, 05:16:29 am
I installed this a few days back and it's awesome. I ran into a few problems beforehand but they were mainly from what I did. I burned the image thrice because the first two times I used this brand of DVD-Rs that were terrible and ended up with errors. Then when I finally got the image on a decent disc, it seemed to be stuck on the "completing installation" part so I restarted (huge mistake) and that caused it to say something like "setup couldn't finish, restarting to finish" every single time it started up. So it was effectively stuck in a loop. Reinstalling and waiting until the setup properly finished fixed this. I didn't really test it for game performance but I think I'll stick with Windows XP for that anyway (unless there are some DirectX 10 exclusive features that actually matter). It's so smooth and shiny that it's enjoyable just using going through the menus and all that. I would be using it as my main operating system if there were an easier way to have all my settings from my Windows XP partition transfer over to Windows 7.

I'm using the 64-bit version, by the way. Here are my main computer specs in case you're wondering:

CPU: Q6600 at stock 2.4GHz speed
GPU: 8800GT 512MB at stock speed
RAM: 4GB of DDR2 800 ram

I set out a 50GB partition for it and it's using a good 20GB or so of that (I did install a few things, though). I'm using the nVidia drivers that came through windows update. I tried using later ones (181.10 and 185.20) and while they installed and worked (with better performance than the windows update one), they gave me some ugly graphical glitches. One of the reasons for me installing this was to see DirectX 10 in action. Not really impressed but the Cryostasis tech demo (which is DirectX 10 only for some reason) was rather awesome. One thing that I don't like about Windows 7 is that I can't install unsigned drivers. I think this only applies to the 64-bit edition. It's not that big of a problem but it can get in the way. Other than that, I like this a lot and I will most likely purchase the retail version when it's available and at a reasonable price.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Jayce on January 16, 2009, 09:59:34 am
Have you tried right clicking and selecting "Run as Administrator"?
It wouldn't let me install simple things like IRC unless I did it that way...
Title: Windows 7
Post by: hobo2 on January 16, 2009, 04:04:46 pm
I can install most things just fine, it's just when it's trying to install unsigned drivers where it's a problem. Even running it as administrator doesn't work.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: dragonx on January 16, 2009, 04:59:40 pm
if you want to install those when you are starting up go into the boot menu for windows by pressing F8 or SOMETHING(im pretty sure its f8)  then in that menu it says something about DISABLE ONLY LETTING ME INSTALL SIGNED DRIVERS

i had to do that for ddr :(
Title: Windows 7
Post by: hobo2 on January 16, 2009, 05:18:14 pm
Oh, cool. I'll try that the next time I reboot. Thanks.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: VinceP on January 16, 2009, 06:08:24 pm
I don't care about the new taskbar, desktop features, blah blah.

My main concern for Windows 7 is compatibility. Seriously, Vista has SO many problems with software compatibility it's ridiculous. I'd be on XP right now if Dell would give me the proper drivers for my laptop, but they won't. Also, if Microsoft wanted to actually be cool, they'd make a proper emulation system for DOS in Windows 7. It would be awesome to play ancient DOS games in Windows 7 right out of the box; WITHOUT having to use Dosbox!
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Vellfire on January 16, 2009, 06:21:30 pm
Quote from: VinceP on January 16, 2009, 06:08:24 pm
I don't care about the new taskbar, desktop features, blah blah.

My main concern for Windows 7 is compatibility. Seriously, Vista has SO many problems with software compatibility it's ridiculous. I'd be on XP right now if Dell would give me the proper drivers for my laptop, but they won't. Also, if Microsoft wanted to actually be cool, they'd make a proper emulation system for DOS in Windows 7. It would be awesome to play ancient DOS games in Windows 7 right out of the box; WITHOUT having to use Dosbox!

I don't know the details but I know Microsoft took a different approach to compatibility in Windows 7 than they did in Vista so let's hope it's a good change.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: NES Player on January 16, 2009, 06:58:21 pm
Quote from: dragonx on January 16, 2009, 03:25:44 am
:fogetmmh: plug it in you silly xD!
On the go is a different story.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: dragonx on January 16, 2009, 08:33:15 pm
Quote from: NES Player on January 16, 2009, 06:58:21 pm
On the go is a different story.

i have never had to photoshop while walking!

that sounds crazy  :fogetmmh:
Title: Windows 7
Post by: big ass skelly on January 16, 2009, 11:11:46 pm
Don't mind me, just removing some redeye from last night's snaps while on the bus home :fogethappy:
Title: Windows 7
Post by: 2beers on January 17, 2009, 12:43:32 am
http://lifehacker.com/5132073/the-best-new-windows-7-keyboard-shortcuts

Windows key + up/down arrow controls maximize and minimize. It's about friggen time.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: goldenratio on January 17, 2009, 01:03:18 am
also win+left/right will maximize a window to the left/right half of the screen. I've been reading a programming book, and its awesome to have the PDF on left and the IDE on the right.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: ATARI on January 17, 2009, 02:04:19 am
Quote from: dragonx on January 16, 2009, 08:33:15 pm
i have never had to photoshop while walking!

that sounds crazy  :fogetmmh:
i photoshop on the subway everyday
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Carrion Crow on January 17, 2009, 02:11:36 am
Quote from: Mark on January 16, 2009, 11:11:46 pm
Don't mind me, just removing some redeye from last night's snaps while on the bus home :fogethappy:

You could do that with Vistas built in image editor you cheeky monkey!!!
Title: Windows 7
Post by: NES Player on January 17, 2009, 07:12:12 am
Quote from: dragonx on January 16, 2009, 08:33:15 pm
i have never had to photoshop while walking!

that sounds crazy  :fogetmmh:
I use paint while I walk!
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Cirno on January 19, 2009, 05:54:12 am
Just an FYI for the guys talking about compatibility, I can't see how it could get better than Vista, seeing as it's kernel is an updated Vista Kernel (NT 6.1)

If you really need the computability stick to XP, Windows 7 won't be any better than Vista for that.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Vellfire on January 19, 2009, 01:15:01 pm
I won't get to install Windows 7 until later today, I just read about Microsoft saying that they were approaching compatibility differently.  And like I said before, it's just a DIFFERENT approach, so I'm just hoping it's a good one, I have no idea!
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Jayce on January 19, 2009, 01:30:20 pm
I found UltraISO works for virtual drives which saved me a few issues since a lot of my installers were .mds/.mdf based...
Daemon Tool and MagicISO crapped out and didn't work at all...

Also I hate how java based things (like in vista) change the theme to aero, it's so annoying.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: goldenratio on January 19, 2009, 04:47:10 pm
Quote from: Velfarre on January 19, 2009, 01:15:01 pm
I won't get to install Windows 7 until later today, I just read about Microsoft saying that they were approaching compatibility differently.  And like I said before, it's just a DIFFERENT approach, so I'm just hoping it's a good one, I have no idea!
differently how? do you mean besides leaving the api version 6.1 instead of making it 7.0?
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Cirno on January 19, 2009, 05:23:34 pm
Quote from: Velfarre on January 19, 2009, 01:15:01 pm
I won't get to install Windows 7 until later today, I just read about Microsoft saying that they were approaching compatibility differently.  And like I said before, it's just a DIFFERENT approach, so I'm just hoping it's a good one, I have no idea!

My understanding is that they didn't name the Kernel NT 7.0, instead naming it 6.1

Really they only way they could make computability better than Vista is to base Windows 7 on XP, but then again I know nothing about programming or how everything works under the hood, I'm sure if they really wanted to they could do it, all I know right now is that they haven't.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Vellfire on January 19, 2009, 05:45:42 pm
Quote from: goldenratio on January 19, 2009, 04:47:10 pm
differently how? do you mean besides leaving the api version 6.1 instead of making it 7.0?

See that's just it--none of the articles I read that in ever said HOW, they just said "microsoft is handling it differently", I couldn't find any real information on how!  That's why I don't know if it's good different or bad different.
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Jayce on January 19, 2009, 06:24:33 pm
Perhaps to overcome this; what programs are you needing compatibility for?
I'm sure at least ONE of us will be able to tell you what works and what doesn't...
Title: Windows 7
Post by: Vellfire on January 19, 2009, 07:21:04 pm
VinceP seemed like he wanted to play DOS games without dosbox.

I finally got a harddrive so I could install this, and it's still giving me the same error about having some failing device.  The ONLY device I can think of at this point would have to be my CD drive, yet unlike my old harddrives it's not having any actual problems.  The only advice I could find online about this (besides other ones that I've tried that haven't helped at all) are that it's giving me that for not having the SATA drivers, but I don't have a floppy sitting around to copy them from the CD.  Why couldn't my dang motherboard just come with the drivers ON a floppy?

So, I'm putting XP on that machine (which is going just fine so I don't know what Windows 7's problem is) because I really want a Windows machine right now for a handful of games and it's the machine I have hooked up to my TV to watch videos from.  I guess when I can get a hold of a floppy I'll try again, but did anyone else get this error before?

Also has anyone installed the 32 bit version on a 64 bit machine?  I doubt that would be the error it would give me for that but that's the only other conflict I could think of, which still shouldn't be an issue, I just downloaded the wrong one and didn't want to redownload it.