Anyone running Win7 yet?

Post by **Jacampb2** » Thu May 28, 2009 6:58 pm

I DL'ed it this morning. My components for the new PC should be showing up here tomorrow. I figured, rather than buy Vista 64bit, I would run the RC copy of Win7 until the retail version comes out.

BTW, if any of you didn't know, Microsoft is allowing anyone to DL the RC of Win7 and a free license valid until early June 2010. From what I hear, they will quit handing out product keys for the RC early next month, so if you want to even mess with it, you should DL it now.

My new PC ended up being AMD Phenom II x4 940 3.0Ghz quad core, Geforce 9500 w/ 1Gb of video ram, 1Tb sata HD, and 8Gb of ram. Hopefully I will notice a performance increase...

Later,
Jason

rlockwood · Post by **rlockwood** » Thu May 28, 2009 7:13 pm

using it currently, everything seems great.. been using it a few weeks one the media center pc, and now just a few days on my regular pc. Havent come across any drawbacks yet..

using 32bit version, though.

Post by **Francious70** » Thu May 28, 2009 8:24 pm

I run a network with 5 Vista systems that have been running continuously for over a year now. There have been the odd reset now and again, but less that once a month. So far the only problem that I've come across as an actual problem and not just user error is the copy and extract features. They are sloooooooooow

Audiophiliac · Post by **Audiophiliac** » Thu May 28, 2009 9:32 pm

I never saw ANY benefit to running Vista over my current XP Pro. So I never bothered. I did finally install it on the laptop just to see what it was about, and it sucks...its painfully slow on that machine....XP flies right along. It was just too resource intensive. 7 is supposed to be much better in that regard. But for what I use a PC for, I still will probably not adopt early, if at all.

My next new machine will be a Mac likely.

Post by **Jacampb2** » Thu May 28, 2009 10:41 pm

Blah, blah, blah, I don't want to hear about macs...

I am going with 8gb of ram, so I have to have a 64 bit os. XP 64 bit was almost never supported, Vista 64 has reasonable support, but w/ win 7 around the corner, I couldn't see dropping the coin on Vista, if the release candidate of win 7 is functional, it should hold me over until the retail version hits the streets.

Anyhow, this thread was not supposed to be about why I am going to try it, I just wanted to know if any of you were using it and how you liked it. So far, it looks like Rlockwood is the only one. FWIW, XP has been good to me, but the world is moving on. I like some of the candy that Vista has to offer, and in all honesty, it moves along pretty good on a machine that was built with it in mind. My wife's new lappy has Vista 64 on it and it flys. I think a lot of it just comes down to hardware. I wouldn't think of putting Vista, or win 7 on my old 1.8gHz laptop w/ 40gb hard drive and 1gb of ram, I know if would be a POS...

Later,
Jason

Me-262 · Post by **Me-262** » Fri May 29, 2009 5:06 am

What does RC mean ?

Post by **Francious70** » Fri May 29, 2009 5:20 am

Release Candidate

Me-262 · Post by **Me-262** » Fri May 29, 2009 5:23 am

Ah ! Now would this be less buggy than say a beta relase (as in would it be ok for everyday use ) ?

Post by **fuzzysnuggleduck** » Fri May 29, 2009 6:29 am

RC means it's closer to release ready than a beta is. It's a candidate for the final release version!

bretti_kivi · Post by **bretti_kivi** » Fri May 29, 2009 11:58 am

... which is why I should get an installation of this on this machine next week. Unfortunately, we're going pure 64bit, which means a new box. Which I don't want. Meh.

Bret

Post by **Jacampb2** » Fri May 29, 2009 1:52 pm

I'm back, new box is up and running, and it fuckin' flys. So far Win7 is being solid.

No autorun installers for my hardware have been happy with it. They all flag it as an unsupported OS. So far I have been able to manually install Vista 64 drivers for everything manually, and it is runing w/o a hitch.

If you are going to DL a copy, I suggest you do it soon. MS website says that they will be handing out keys at least through June 1st 2009, but it gives the distinct impression that after that, you won't be able to get one, you will have to wait for retail.

The DL is a 3.5gb .iso for the 64 bit version, they generate a key on the web and you print it out. I DL'ed the OS 2 days ago, just so I wouldn't forget if my hardware did not come in before the 1st.

Later,
Jason

Post by **fuzzysnuggleduck** » Fri May 29, 2009 2:00 pm

Anyone have comments on the interface refinements (read: changes) they made? Something about the Vista UI I didn't like too much but meh, things change, I'll get over it.

This ain't no good reason but I still prefer to admin XP simply because I'm familiar with it. I fumble more on Vista and I would presume with Win 7 as certain UI elements are different.

I still don't like troubleshooting Windows boxes. I feel like I don't have enough information at my fingertips without downloading a zillion little utilities to gather it all.

tail -f /var/log/messages FTW!

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sat May 30, 2009 6:38 am

I don't use Vista much, but to me, this looks just and feels a lot like Vista. I think most of the refinements have been behind the UI. For instance, it automatically set up my home network, properly, where getting the new Vista laptop to connect to the network was like pulling teeth. There are some gagety user interface changes-- i.e. grab a window at the top and shake it with the mouse, and it auto minimizes all other windows... An auto-show desktop hot spot in the lower right corner. Auto-resolves compatibility issues, it goes as far as to report itself as a different OS if an installer fails to complete. This in and of itself has been nice, for instance, my HP printers both bitched that it was an unsupported OS and closed, win7 asked if I would like to run the installer with the recommended compatibility mode, and bingo it went fine.

It no longer flags you with little pop ups in the lower right corner, it has a message center down there that lets you resolve detected issues at your leisure unless they are critical. All in all, I am liking it so far. I have run across three things that wont install or run. My logitech Harmony remote software is incompatible, My old serial Wacom tablet will not work, and my ATI Remote WonderII will not work, all of which suck, but I will look for a different remote, and the harmony thing will likely be fixed soon. There is probably no hope for the wacom tablet, the world has moved on from serial devices...

Later,
Jason

Post by **fuzzysnuggleduck** » Sat May 30, 2009 9:25 am

You could try to look into USB to serial converter cables. Read about it first though as many of these cables/converters are really half-assed and only work in some situations.

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sat May 30, 2009 9:36 am

Wacom specifically warns against trying to use a USB/Serial adapter. "Unexpected results may follow". The 32bit drivers still support the serial tablet, but not the 64bit. It doesn't really matter, I have 4 other computers I can use it with.

I am more worried about my brand new logitech harmony remote-- that has to be programmed by the PC, so, if my home theater setup changes at all in the near future, I am SOL on resetting the remote. I guess, I can install that software on a XP box around here, just a minor PITA.

Later,
Jason

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 5:41 am

Well, that was short lived. I am back to XP now, found a 64 bit torrent and went with it. I really like win 7, but, Thursday I hit a big snag.

I had installed my CAM software for designing parts for the CNC mill as one of the first programs in Win7. I tested it at least twice that night and it worked fine. I installed all of my other software over the next few days. Used the computer for a week or so with no issues. This past thursday, I fired up the cam software, and all of the 2d design stuff worked, but it would not do any of the 3d simulations. It would just not display in the "3d" window. No abnormal processor usage, the software did not hang, I could still switch it back to 2d and edit/save/draw. I tried several different things, but I could not find what I did that caused the incompatibility.

In the end, I said screw it. The main reason for this upgrade was to get the CAD/CAM software running faster, I could have dual booted, but there was not enough in Win7 to make me want to DB it. In the end, XP x64 actually runs quite a bit faster, and is so far running my software.

I will still probably go with Win7 when the retail version comes out. Hopefully the odd software issues will be resolved.

Later,
Jason

rlockwood · Post by **rlockwood** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 9:09 am

Jacampb2 wrote:Well, that was short lived. I am back to XP now, found a 64 bit torrent and went with it. I really like win 7, but, Thursday I hit a big snag.

I had installed my CAM software for designing parts for the CNC mill as one of the first programs in Win7. I tested it at least twice that night and it worked fine. I installed all of my other software over the next few days. Used the computer for a week or so with no issues. This past thursday, I fired up the cam software, and all of the 2d design stuff worked, but it would not do any of the 3d simulations. It would just not display in the "3d" window. No abnormal processor usage, the software did not hang, I could still switch it back to 2d and edit/save/draw. I tried several different things, but I could not find what I did that caused the incompatibility.

In the end, I said screw it. The main reason for this upgrade was to get the CAD/CAM software running faster, I could have dual booted, but there was not enough in Win7 to make me want to DB it. In the end, XP x64 actually runs quite a bit faster, and is so far running my software.

I will still probably go with Win7 when the retail version comes out. Hopefully the odd software issues will be resolved.

Later,
Jason

did you try using the winxp compatability mode?

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 5:20 am

Yes, I tried several different compatibility options, I suspect it was some driver or auto update that did it. I tried rolling back all my drivers to where I started, and that did not work. Short of uninstalling every piece of software and hardware, I wasn't going to be able to track it down. Especially since the software did not hang or generate and faults. It just simply would not render any 3d.

Later,
Jason

bretti_kivi · Post by **bretti_kivi** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:12 am

win7 now on the work laptop here.... not bad. Faster than Vista, too, though that's not difficult

Bret

rlockwood · Post by **rlockwood** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:04 am

the biggest advancements in win7 are, atleast imo, the taskbar, the addition of 'libraries' that work WAY better than the 'my' folder of past, especially vista's, and media sharing.

Its amazing how well these things come together.. the ONLY issue I have to date is with wmp12. It seems VERY sluggish when picking up new music, where as wmp11 always instantly found new stuff in my watched folders. There also seems to be no way to force a refresh of music, so I wind up having to wait close to a day before newly added music is located. It could be a result of my large music library (~22gb) but I dont think its large enough to be out of the norm these days..

wash with gasoline · Post by **wash with gasoline** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:40 am

...it sounds like its turning into osx a little more everyday. i havent run win7 yet (nothing to install it on at the moment) but i do run vista in bootcamp to run speaker box programs and it just updated to service pac2 last night, wonder what they fixed? since sevice pac1 ive been happy with it for what i do, its deff a resource hog though. how does the battery life on win7 compare with vista?

bretti_kivi · Post by **bretti_kivi** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:34 am

will tell you when I know

Right now i'm missing my openTTD installation and just got connected to WLAN, so it's still playtime.

USB Soundcard needed a driver, though, which is a huge minus. Might have to get a couple of those DIY USB DACs....

Bret

Post by **smgreen20** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:53 am

I know it's late and how I missed this in the first place???? I'm Dling it right now, but before I install it what's the issue/s I would have if I can't get said key? I don't want to DL this and install it only to find out I'm screwed out of using my computer.

Post by **stipud** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:26 am

smgreen20 wrote:I know it's late and how I missed this in the first place???? I'm Dling it right now, but before I install it what's the issue/s I would have if I can't get said key? I don't want to DL this and install it only to find out I'm screwed out of using my computer.

Then don't install it... It's a stripped out beta operating system, not intended for average consumer use. If you're feeling nerdy and want to test it out, by all means... but don't use it if you're not willing to deal with problems that will undoubtedly arise.

Post by **Jacampb2** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:54 am

When I DLed it, the windows page generated a key for me on the spot that I was to print out before installing. If I remember correctly, it generated the key before the download...

Technically it is still beta, but for a pre-release OS it was rock solid. I have beta tested some niche software in the past, and in every case it was quite evident that it was still in development. The Win7 RC didn't have that feel to me. My assumption is that they want a broad test group to help identify software incompatibilities.

Later,
Jason