Windows 7, would you switch?

[Sephi]

I must be the only one who thinks 2Gb is perfectly fine for Vista... don't know what problems others face when switching tasks. But i don't notice any slowdowns or anything with mine. If anything... I haven't managed to get my 2GB ram full yet...

I had 2x2Gb for a week, and i notice it wasn't faster at all. When playing my most ram demanding game Warhammer Soulstorm i didn't even saw it use more than 2GB total system memory when i had 4Gb. Total system memory usage got close to 2GB, but never went over it.

I only notice my Vista boottime taking a slight hit as Vista thinks more memory is more memory it must use, thus slowing my boottime a bit by loading more from harddisk to ram, though only minimal. Next to that, i had strange crashes with playing Grid. Which seems to be the result of using 4GB on a 32Bit Vista. Problem was gone when using 2Gb again... Could be falty ram so i decided to do some test, tested it with Orthos 8 Hours, as well as Memtest+ for a night, no errors. Don't know if the ram was falty or anything, but i cba with it and send the memory back and got my self some 2x1Gb 5-5-5-15 @1066Mhz memory. No problems anymore as of so far.

As for memory usage, it's only using 650MB atm with 2x FF open, and Foobar. My notebook devours about 400Mb, and the XP is also quite clean, minimal processes running. , but it isn't nearly as responsive as my Vista. So no complaints at all about Vista.

And i would definitely consider Windows 7. It's suppose to be what Vista should of been. Less resource usage, faster boottimes. Which are the things i miss the most in Vista. And of course making the Vista install smaller... My Vista is taking 12.5Gb ~~ And all big programs are installed on the D partition. Hope Windows 7 gives you a option to not install some useless Windows components people don't use anyway. Like god knows how much Gb of languages...

As for the Beta, i have downloaded it. And if i had a extra test system i would of installed the Beta already. But unfortunately i don't have one, nor do i have the time to test it atm due to exams and work. CBA with VMware or something like that either. Installs a bunch of services that gets loaded on startup. I hate those kind of things >.<

[felix]

I think they are measuring the wrong thing. I'm sure its better speed rather then capacity or a similar explanation. How much memory you have will only show up if you're a heavy multitasker (and touching the limit).

Originally Posted by problemedchild

Windows 7 has a smaller footprint than Vista AFAIK.

For you Vista haters out there, have you guys tried Vista? Granted, the launch wasn't very smooth, but you can't fault Microsoft when OEM's shitty drivers are causing a majority of the crashes and problems Vista had. It just seems like that the majority of the people saying Vista sucks heard it from a friend, who heard it from another friend that knows something about computers, who read about it online at 4chan of all places.

Hm? is that directed at me?

I installed it in beta, used it for a short while, then re-installed it again later after release and used it for a few weeks after which I got frustrated with it and w/e shine the interface had did not make up for the extra crap I would have to put up with. I reinstalled later when some updates had piled up and it was still major failure as before. Evenatually retried again after Service Pack 1. Some issues were fixed but in the end the operating system design itself is a mojor headache. Simply put it is a hog and non-productive.

Just because we have more memory now does not mean the operating system has to by default use more as well? I really have to wonder what is it in Vista that actually requires all that memory, since I do not see how the graphics in the interface can be responsible?!

Also, FYI the "Vista is the greatest next windows blah blah" is the more common word running around the internet (and not only).
Unless you only hang out at /. or linux groups all day.

[KholdStare]

Originally Posted by Sephi

<clip>

Well, it kinda depends on what you do. Firefox often reaches 250-400 mb (especially if you leave PhotoBucket on one tab and have some java running in other tabs). Then after I open Photoshop, Azureus, it's done. The problem for me is more loading time. Everything runs without a problem when it's loaded, but switching between applications seems to lag.

When I boot up, I notice that my free memory usually goes to 1200. Right now I'm using 1 FireFox, 1 mIRC, and 1 MPC HC and my ram is at 840. It's not rare that I have 300-400 ram free when I use Photoshop.

And also, I don't need people to tell me to stop using Azureus. I'm aware of what's going on.

PS: Yeah, I admit that 2 GB would probably be good for Vista for the average user. But sadly, I'm not the average user.

[Miles Teg]

Windows 7 Ultimate (the test version) take, after the install, 6.74Gb of HDD space and 300Mb of RAM.

Vista really need 2Gb of RAM to be usable without problems, but Windows 7 is fine with only 1Gb. After all he should be able to run on a Netbook and replace XP on those computer.

[AnimeTheme]

For some reasons I think 7 is probably just a "redesigned" Vista with a new interface, better compatibility and unnecessary features (UAC?) removed. Not a bad thing really. Vista does have some merits that are often overlooked.

[Sephi]

Originally Posted by KholdStare

Well, it kinda depends on what you do. Firefox often reaches 250-400 mb (especially if you leave PhotoBucket on one tab and have some java running in other tabs). Then after I open Photoshop, Azureus, it's done. The problem for me is more loading time. Everything runs without a problem when it's loaded, but switching between applications seems to lag.

When I boot up, I notice that my free memory usually goes to 1200. Right now I'm using 1 FireFox, 1 mIRC, and 1 MPC HC and my ram is at 840. It's not rare that I have 300-400 ram free when I use Photoshop.

And also, I don't need people to tell me to stop using Azureus. I'm aware of what's going on.

PS: Yeah, I admit that 2 GB would probably be good for Vista for the average user. But sadly, I'm not the average user.

I notice you mentioning something about Bloatware in your previous post. Perhaps that is the reason your Vista has been using that much memory? I was working with Photoshop CS2 and Indesign today, and i didn't notice my memory getting full. Of course there was 2x FF and Thunderbird, Everest, Foobar running. I actually never notice my memory getting close to full, except when playing Warhammer Soulstorm 4v4 on a big map, sometimes i only have 75-100mb left. I thought getting more ram would help, but after sticking 4gb in i notice it just hovered around the same number of memory use...

As for my Vista booting. It's around 750Mb when just loaded, after a few min it goes down to 550Mb, Photoshop + Thunderbird + FF (5 tabs) running.

Don't know how many processes you have running in the background, but disabling useless services can help a lot. My sisters Sony Vaio notebook that obviously has crapload of bloatware takes ages to start up, as well as sometimes being not very responsive at times. Quad/Dual cores can't help when there are too many useless programs running in the background. It's best to uninstall or disable them all. Though sometimes it's a impossible task, and best is to just reinstall a clean Vista.

Originally Posted by Miles Teg

Windows 7 Ultimate (the test version) take, after the install, 6.74Gb of HDD space and 300Mb of RAM.

Vista really need 2Gb of RAM to be usable without problems, but Windows 7 is fine with only 1Gb. After all he should be able to run on a Netbook and replace XP on those computer.

6,74 sounds a lot better than Vista, and only 300Mb Ram . Now i want to get Windows 7 even more now.

If it's as promising as people say, i'm probably going to get myself a 64bit Windows 7. I still don't understand why Windows 7 still comes as 32Bit, MS initial idea was to make it only 64bit... To bad they let that idea go. Sooner or later we have to make the move to 32bit anyway

[KholdStare]

As you can see Firefox usually runs above 200 mb for me. The 67 processes are also quite noticeable. I should really do a clean install of Vista, but I'm not sure what that entails. Do I just pop in a Vista CD? Will all the bloatware automatically go away?

[felix]

Originally Posted by Miles Teg

Windows 7 Ultimate (the test version) take, after the install, 6.74Gb of HDD space and 300Mb of RAM.

Did you do some special configuration or is it like that if you accept the defaults?
Sounds good anyway, thanks for the figures.

[Larthak]

Originally Posted by KholdStare

Here's to hoping Windows 7 will work well (faster) with 2 gigs. From what I've read on Wikipedia about the beta version,

So yeah, I have hope.

<IRONY>
Ah yes, boot time. Of course it's faster. The results of one of these tests were:

Vista - 24 secs
Win 7 - 22 secs

</IRONY>

Can't really expect any drastic changes there. It's Windows we're talking about.

Originally Posted by Sephi

I actually never notice my memory getting close to full, except when playing Warhammer Soulstorm 4v4 on a big map, sometimes i only have 75-100mb left. I thought getting more ram would help, but after sticking 4gb in i notice it just hovered around the same number of memory use...

Try GTA 4, that'll suck your RAM in a second.

[CollectDust]

Vista is being hated because people tried it once long time ago or heard rumours. I'm not sure so don't crit me but Vista is getting more support than XP. Now days, some product can be only worked on Windows Vista (Like PC games). The reason I think is because they want people to start buying Vista so that they can get profit.

I've used vista for about almost 2 years now and I love it. Its only negative side I think is those "Would you like to continue?" pop ups. Very annoying.

Vista is GOOD ENOUGH for me therefore I will never buy Window 7.

Please don't hate Vista just because you don't own it. And if you own it and used it for long period of time and still hate it, well you don't make sence. You hate the product yet continue to use it. lul.

[martino]

Originally Posted by CollectDust

You hate the product yet continue to use it. lul.

Because some don't have a choice. If somebody wants to use Linux for example as their main OS, and still wants the ability to play games they will have to dual-boot Vista (or XP) since running games under Wine is not always going to work (not the newer ones anyway) and VMs lack graphic acceleration (or if they have some, it's probably nowhere near to allow you to play most games).

And obviously Vista is getting more support these days than XP. So will Windows 7 once it will be out, over Vista. That's just given (unless some extreme screwup).

Not sure about games being compatible only on Vista. I don't play many, but if somebody does this then they are just shooting themselves into the foot (and don't bother with backward compatibility at all). After all, the bigger the market you can reach with your product the more money you can make (and face it, not everyone is running Vista), I'm sure each company would want that.

[Rawgers]

Don't think I'll switch for a while. The computer I mostly use lacks the amount of RAM for Windows 7 and Ubuntu suits me fine. Another computer I use, which is hooked up to TV is Windows XP Media Center. And my lack of knowledge in alternate programs similar to Media Center prevents me from changing.
=/

[Tiberium Wolf]

I think I'll try the beta next weekend when I got time. If it's not way better than Vista then I'll for windows 8.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Rawgers

And my lack of knowledge in alternate programs similar to Media Center prevents me from changing.
=/

Take a look at XBMC or MediaPortal when you have a chance. There's also a substantial amount of information about "media center" PCs at AVS Forum.

Personally I just use a Ubuntu box connected to the TV.

[frankystar]

Originally Posted by guest

I believe that microsoft is offering free download for windows 7 beta for the next two weeks. I have heard a lot about windows 7 being a lot better than vista. Have you tried windows 7? Would you switch now? What do you think of windows 7 vs vista?

I still prefer windows Xp then Vista or the beta windows 7
eventhough windows 7 boast about there booting speed and the like I still like xp heheheh

[Larthak]

Originally Posted by CollectDust

I've used vista for about almost 2 years now and I love it. Its only negative side I think is those "Would you like to continue?" pop ups. Very annoying.

You know, you can turn it off...

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by CollectDust

Vista is being hated because people tried it once long time ago or heard rumours. I'm not sure so don't crit me but Vista is getting more support than XP. Now days, some product can be only worked on Windows Vista (Like PC games). The reason I think is because they want people to start buying Vista so that they can get profit.

I've used vista for about almost 2 years now and I love it. Its only negative side I think is those "Would you like to continue?" pop ups. Very annoying.

Vista is GOOD ENOUGH for me therefore I will never buy Window 7.

Please don't hate Vista just because you don't own it. And if you own it and used it for long period of time and still hate it, well you don't make sence. You hate the product yet continue to use it. lul.

You must not have anything to do with Fortune 500 companies or the myriad businesses that opted to stay with XP rather than "downgrade" to Vista. There are specific real problems with Vista for many applications and it continues to have driver support issues because Microsoft wasn't on the mark with all the third party developers.

People use Vista because they need the applications that require it - period. That makes perfect sense.

Windows 7 is an attempt to address the problems so that businesses will stop thrashing Microsoft severely for putting their operations at risk.
Supposedly, it corrects the UAC disaster (noble goal to add security but not if you end up having the user so annoyed they switch it off completely). It also supposedly addresses some back-compatibility issues and corrects a lot of the issues with drivers.

Some PC games only work on Vista - strictly because the game devs were paid by Microsoft to put "IF NOT VISTA, FAIL" in their first line. The DX10 promised better graphics... but so far the game devs have fallen on their ass in providing gamage (e.g. "so when is the latest false promised DX10 date on Age of Conan?").

Windows 7 has purported to be a lot of things including a step back into being an OS rather than a clunky tentacle infested hydra-headed application. Let me know when they pull Internet Explorer back out of the OS and put it back in the application space where it belonged.

Here's a recent Vista "trick" I ran into... my broadband was down so I put a modem on my game machine (Vista 64-bit) so I could do basic things. When I created the dialup connection, things went smoothly enough.... but suddenly every time I initiated dialup, Vista would activate Windows Media Player and force it into priority. When I'd close WMP down it would start back up. It wasn't a malware/virus issue... I scan the machine regularly. From what I analyzed - Vista just assumed that modem connecting meant I *wanted* the Media Player to run and configured it. I had to destroy the connection widget several times before it decided that I wanted IE (which I did not but it was less annoying). When my broadband was restored, I removed the modem and the issue vanished (and it was a brand new PCI card USR modem).

Reminded me of the "tricks" that WinME used to pull...

I'll give Windows 7 a try because its a new OS and I end up helping people with their computer problems anyway. But probably just on my game machine. I'll stick to XP Pro or one of the linux distros for 'serious work' or to keep older machines useful. Microsoft plans to completely discontinue selling XP in June 2009 to force people towards Windows 7 (unless the Fortune 500 corporations rears their head again and says "No F**KING WAY"). It can take a company a year to test an new OS against their critical applications and deploy it.

[Solafighter]

Well im thinking about to switch from XP to windows 7. But uptill now, i wont.

But i will for sure keep an eye on W7.

[problemedchild]

Originally Posted by Vexx

You must not have anything to do with Fortune 500 companies or the myriad businesses that opted to stay with XP rather than "downgrade" to Vista. There are specific real problems with Vista for many applications and it continues to have driver support issues because Microsoft wasn't on the mark with all the third party developers.

The fact that XP and Vista releases were nearly 6 years apart probably didn't help as companies were thoroughly entrenched in XP, having worked out almost all the bugs.

Microsoft can't do much about OEMs such as Creative and Nvidia's shitastic early day drivers though. Granted, the beta could of been extended to work out some driver kinks, but until wide spread adoption it would be nearly impossible to fix all the bugs that can arise from all the configurations possible in PCs.

People use Vista because they need the applications that require it - period. That makes perfect sense.

Some PC games only work on Vista - strictly because the game devs were paid by Microsoft to put "IF NOT VISTA, FAIL" in their first line. The DX10 promised better graphics... but so far the game devs have fallen on their ass in providing gamage (e.g. "so when is the latest false promised DX10 date on Age of Conan?").

I honestly not encountered any programs that besides games made by Microsoft that REQUIRE Vista to run properly. Everything else seem to work fine with XP or Vista. On the other hand, I would LOVE to see games coded in DX10 instead of a shitty DX10 port that tanked in FPS as soon as anything is displayed on screen.... I can dream... right?

[AnimeTheme]

Let's say it this way... if you have a new PC or if your PC is not really that old and you are upgrading with no known compatibility issues in hardware or software (especially after SP1), I don't see why you would still want to use XP instead of Vista.