Windows 7 = AWESOMENESS

[findingreason]

Soo, anyone considering upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7.....do it!

Seriously, this was probably the smartest move I could've made with my laptop. The difference is amazing. My laptop was slow as heck before even at base factory install of Vista, and now it's blazing fast, it solved virtually every computer problem I've had so far.

[Janet_Girl]

If I can afford it I will switch, I so hate Vista,  It runs junk in the background.

[Laura91]

I checked out Windows 7 (it's pre-installed on my mom's new laptop) and it seems pretty cool. I may  convert my laptop over to it from Vista but I got a few other things to take care of first.

[Sandy]

Micro$oft in it's infinite wisdom does not make a migration path for XP->W7.  Only for vi$ta->W7.

I ran vista for about 30 seconds and retrofitted xp on my machine and have been running that way ever since.  Going to W7 will be a tedious task for me, I fear.

I would have run linux exclusively except my work-from-home software only supports windoze.

-Sandy

[BunnyBee]

MS finally designed an OS almost as elegant as OSX, 10 years later...  I'm very much in love with it.

I'm not sure what 'migration path' is Sandy, but I upgraded from XP to W7 without a single problem.  I know people say you should reformat and start over, but I just put in the disc and let it do it's thing, and it works great- zero problems, and it even backed up all the programs and files it thought I would want, and guessed right pretty much.. and I can run most of the programs out of the windows.old folder.

[Sandy]

MS finally designed an OS almost as elegant as OSX, 10 years later...  I'm very much in love with it.

I'm not sure what 'migration path' is Sandy, but I upgraded from XP to W7 without a single problem.  I know people say you should reformat and start over, but I just put in the disc and let it do it's thing, and it works great- zero problems, and it even backed up all the programs and files it thought I would want, and guessed right pretty much.. and I can run most of the programs out of the windows.old folder.

I had heard that MS finally figured it out, but I had heard initially that W7 wanted a clean install if you were running XP so I just stopped listening.  If there is a way to drop it in and go, then I'll check it out again.

Migration means, to me, that settings of file folders, properties, registry values and program environments are migrated to the new OS. 

I tweak and twiddle a lot.

-Sandy

[lizbeth]

I recommend that upgrades are only done in the same family of OS. for instance, 95/98/me is all one family and could be upgraded with minimal problems. then there is XP/2k and now vista/7. you may be able to upgrade and migrate most of your programs from windows XP to windows 7 but I imagine it would be a major headache especially since windows vista/7 doesn't use the registry the same way, has a new home directory structure and in the case of 64bit uses a different program files folder and envorinment for 32 bit apps. you would wind up with some hybrid of windows XP's registry settings and folder structure on top of windows 7 new folder structure.
besides, many apps that ran on XP need a new version to run n windows 7 so I say use this as a chance for a fresh start (as far as the OS is concerned).

my 2 cents.


Post Merge: February 17, 2010, 11:47:44 AM
oh, and it's funny what microsoft can accomplish in the public's image with a simple service pack and cosmetic makeover.

[BunnyBee]

Lol, well I don' t know about all that Sandy,  all I know is I put in the disc, and 30 mins later I had a new pretty OS and to my surprise the programs were still there, many of them working.  Some don't, but I didn't really expect anything to, since W7 is so majorly different from XP.

I did it "the bad way" and have had no headaches whatsoever.  I went from 32 bit to 32 bit, maybe that is why?

PS the difference from XP is more than cosmetic, Beth.  There are many changes that make using the OS easier for me.  Though as a designer I very much appreciate the cosmetic changes as well.  Beauty has value imo.

[rejennyrated]

While I agree that it is, at last, a fairly competent job, I don't think I'll be ditching my OsX and Linux systems just yet.

One thing which didn't impress was when I upgraded a friends machine from Vista for him, to be confronted by the famous blank screen on startup bug that W7 originally shipped with! Fortunately I managed to fix the issue, but it wasn't a promising start. Though in fairness the machine in question has been rock solid ever since.

OsX I like because it is relatively reliable secure and pain free for when i'm feeling lazy, and Linux I like because I can roll up my sleeves and rewrite bits of it! W7 falls in between the two.

I'm no windows hater... and as someone with IT origins I'm perfectly competant in all the versions. I've just never felt the appeal so I've mostly used linux and various macos derivatives since 1994...

[lizbeth]

PS the difference from XP is more than cosmetic, Beth.  There are many changes that make using the OS easier for me.  Though as a designer I very much appreciate the cosmetic changes as well.  Beauty has value imo.

oh, for sure. from XP to vista/win7 is drastic. I was referring to windows vista => windows 7. I find it funny that an OS that everyone hated can be praised by everyone with just a service pack and new taskbar.   (for the record, I like vista and windows 7 and both run fine on my machines)

[BunnyBee]

Oh okay .  I can't comment on Vista because I never hung that albatross around my neck .

[Flan]

the biggest problem (with a xp to win7 upgrade) is vista/win7 has enough kernel changes (from win server 2007) to break apps and services.

granted it's lazy on microsoft's part to not offer an in place path for xp users (just clean install) but since they are getting sick of the security bugs in xp, I suppose it was oversight to not do the highly difficult task of making a registry parsing tool so the xp users have an excuse to upgrade.

Oh okay .  I can't comment on Vista because I never hung that albatross around my neck .

I wear mine with pride.

[spacial]

Like Sandy, I also ran Vista for a very short while then bought an XP disc.

My wife uses Win7. It's a nice system. But having used XP for so long, I'm use to being able to search for specific things for example, which W7 seems to have a problem with. Also, finding folders can be a bit of a drag. I recall, when I upgraded from W98 to XP, these functions were drastically cut back. Not really sure what Microsoft is thinking about.

I'm sure W7 is a good OS. But XP is doing the job. I can't really see any reasons to upgrade. W7 doesn't seem to do anything more.

[Sandy]

I just checked the M$ site again and the only way to go (not upgrade) to W7 from XP is through a clean install.

I ran the upgrade advisor and it said I had the proper hardware but it would be a custom/clean install.

Their so-called "easy" transfer method copies some files and the user accounts and settings to an external hard drive which can then be re-installed on the W7 side.

But, all programs must be re-installed from their original installation CD's or setup files. Their optimistic installation advice is that it could take as much as a couple of hours to go through the installation process.  How about DAYS instead of hours.

Honestly, I went through less hassle changing my gender!

I'll wait until I buy a new machine (not soon) and it will have W7 already installed on it and I'll bite the bullet then.

-Sandy(yuck!)

[Miniar]

We bought two new laptops in the last two years.
Both came with Vista.
Vista was EXHAUSTING!
We even "obtained" a copy of xp to install instead when they crashed.

then 7 came out.. and we went.. "okay, lets try that, it seems like ppl are saying it's a step up"...

And I think this is my favorite windows so far.

[BunnyBee]

Sandy I feel confused now.  When I upgraded, it copied all of those files onto the same harddrive for me, I know this because I subsequently decided to xfer them to a different drive to create space on my C:.  80-90% of the programs it retained work just fine and I def didn't have to reinstall most of them.  The only drivers I had to redo were the sound and video cards- everything else ...just ...worked.  Okay besides CS4, but what were the chances of that working?

Literally, my upgrade took 30 minutes, not counting reinstalling CS4.

Maybe my machine was more compatible for some reason?

[Julie Marie]

Having built many systems over the years and done many hardware upgrades, the thing that bothered me almost as much as reloading all the programs when doing a clean install is the limits many programs, MS especially, have on how many times the program can be loaded.  Some of the programs I have are as old as 2002, MS Office for instance.  And I'm tired of calling them and getting the run around until I finally convince them I'm just upgrading my hardware.

Is there a way you can save the data that makes your programs "registered" without having to call the places that have loading limits?

Something I just learned...  I'm doing a new hardware upgrade cuz some of the old stuff failed.  I found out you have to reload Windows to make sure all the new stuff works.  One person at EVGA recommended deleting the Windows directory from the command prompt and then reloading Windows.  In the past I just changed out the hardware and booted it back up no problem.  Guess you can't do that now.

BTW, would that method qualify as a clean install when upgrading to Win7?

[Flan]

Something I just learned...  I'm doing a new hardware upgrade cuz some of the old stuff failed.  I found out you have to reload Windows to make sure all the new stuff works.  One person at EVGA recommended deleting the Windows directory from the command prompt and then reloading Windows.  In the past I just changed out the hardware and booted it back up no problem.  Guess you can't do that now.

Windows activation had hardware upgrading in mind where you can swap out 3 components before it will require reactivating.

[spacial]

I dumped MS Office when I moved to XP. It was slow, cumbersum and bulky.

I've used Open office ever since. It seems to do everything MS Office does but without the hassle.

And, it's free.

If you can, you should really try it out. Best place to download is direct from Sun Microsystems.

I'm pretty sure you can run both together while you get use to it.

[Jasmine.m]

Coming from a long history of Linux use, I'd have to say that I'm quite impressed with Windows 7. They took most of the desktop ideas KDE/Compiz have been using for years and made them work quite nicely. And they took a few ideas from Mac with the same results. In fact it's so nice, I decided to duel boot my new laptop between 7 and Ubuntu. That's a big step for me... Usually I just get rid of it all together!

Nice to see so many Linux users here... I wonder if we've maybe met before on another forum? ha ha ha!! That'd be too weird!!

~Jasmine