I have nearly completed my new build and will be getting Windows 7 64-bit. Question: How good is it really? I have used XP for the past 7 years or so and only recently discovered Ubuntu. I currently have Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit and XP on my system. I know Windows is more advanced for graphics and gaming but what about every day usage? I have gone bonkers for Ubuntu and use it way more than XP at the moment for non-gaming sessions. I love the way I can use 4-5 desktops at the same time as this allows me to run many programs at once without the screen getting cluttered. I have used windows since 3.1/95 and have found the Ubuntu layout and apps. a breath of fresh air. I'm hoping Windows 7 does not dissappoint. I will keep multiple systems going to get the best of both worlds but what are the advantages of Windows 7?
This. Not much else, I've found. I only keep my Win7 installation around for the wife to update her iphone, and the Steam games I already have. Although I have been playing MineCraft on Ubuntu lately...
i personally think its the best operating system so far. in most cases it just works. home premium is enough for most users, professional give you the xpmode if you need to(has to be downloaded though.) you can have location based settings, do you connect your laptop to a printer at work, and then one at home, win7 can sort that automatically for you. windows snap, allows you to resize windows for comparison by dragging 1 left and 1 right, or full screen by draging to top. problem steps recorder, run into a problem you cant sort, start the recorder and show every step you took to get the error, then send the resulting file to someone who knows these things, and its easier for them to say your a muppet, do it this way. troubleshooter, will try and fix things for you, ie no sound, i t checks various things and if you muted it, it unmutes it for you. it works with most games ummm the list is endless
I use Ubuntu and Windows 7 a lot. And I can tell you, when I work, once you get to know and be comfortable with Win7, it far far far better than Ubuntu or any Linux distro, in terms or GUI. Areo snap is one of the most used feature with my wide screen monitor, putting 2 document next to each other which just great ease, is a real WIN! With instant Search, I can launch any programs super fast. I want Firefox (let's say), I hit the Windows key (start menu opens, and the built-in search box is selected), and I just type: f, Firefox appears top of the list (as I run it often), is is selected by default, so I just hit Enter key. So, it's Win key > f > Enter, I have Firefox. Imagine the same for all your programs. Files are also easy to find. Another killers features is the libraries. It allows you to join several folders into one, without actually doing to your folder structure. Also the Libraries are easy accessible from the navigation pane (left side columns) of any folder, where you can decide which one to always show or not. Windows already comes with a Music, Video, Document, Podcast (if you have the Zune software), and Picture library made for you. Another killer features, is the task bar. Imagine you take: Live preview from Vista AND Alt+tab AND the task bar AND 3D Flip (from Vista), and merge them, smartly, together. The task bar is so easy to use, I stop using Alt+Tab all together (other than get out of a full screen game). There is one thing that I don't like about the task bar, is the combining task features.. it makes me a bit more time to switch between applications. BUT it's OK! Because on the task bar properties, you can change it to only combine when it's full, or simple, never combine. Font rendering. Windows 7 is by far provide the best font rendering than any OS so far. The new Font engine means: - More fonts installed does not mean slower startup - Impressive performance - Super easy to read, no mater how the font is layout.. even upside-down or vertical. The new start menu navigation introduced in Vista makes is easy and organize to look something in there. Then we have GPU interface rendering. a background doesn't slow down your computer, your CPU doesn't draw the interface. So the interface can be as fancy, and it's no problem for any GPU's. Even an Intel GPU doesn't struggle. Windows Live Essential. An amazing download to get from Microsoft. This feature Windows Live Gallery which allows you to quickly view and edit pictures, the pretty cool Movie Maker, and Live Mesh (Sync between computer over network only, or internet only, or allow it to smartly choose the best options. I made it so that my documents and Desktop is in sync between my desktop and laptop. It's really cool!). Microsoft Security Essential - Forget any Anti-virus that you have. This anti-virus is the best you can get for free (from reviews - 0 bad reviews on it). Well probably you have it for XP, BUT it's 64-bit for Vista/Win7 users. Meaning more performance! Device & Printer panel, allows you to easily manage your peripheral on your computer, and get a better visual view of everything, instead of using the device manager, for peripherals, and connected Bluetooth devices. Auto maintenance system and auto-optimization system, means you do nothing. Your computer will defrag and optimizes itself over time. It will start faster and be faster. New services engines, meaning that disabling service = no benefits. As services, unlike XP, are not running programs. They ARE services. Meaning they are event driven programs. Real firewall, with complete inbound and outbound control. You don't need a firewall replacement for a home computer (well having a router is always nice). Windows 7 is packed with options in the control panel (set it to view small or large icon instead of category). Really, I can talk all day about Windows 7 kick-ass features. XP is complete vomit beyond belief. I promise you that if you use Windows 7 for 2 month straight. You will NEVER touch an XP computer EVER! In fact, you will REFUSE to help anyone using XP. OH WAIT, I forgot to mention another cool WIn7 feature (well Vista as well). - Ability to to back in time on a file, folder, drive, registry, or even your whole computer - And let';s not forget the same layering technology of Linux/Unix, with User Account Control (no one is the real admin).
This can be done in Ubuntu, but yes it is a really useful feature and makes a big difference coming from XP. No more fiddling about resizing windows! I'm glad something like this has made it into Windows 7 and I use it a lot... however Ubuntu has gnome-do, which in my opinion is better because it's more intuitive especially for complex commands such as opening a specific file in a specific program. It also seems to be faster, despite the massive difference in CPU and disk speed between my Windows and Ubuntu machines. I agree, the ability to create and manipulate virtual folders like this is another of my favourite features of 7. It makes setting up sharing especially easy; you just share your music library rather than share the various directories your music might be scattered across on different drives. I like the right-click context menus for items pinned to the taskbar, those are very useful indeed. As for everything else, I think Ubuntu has the edge as it also has live preview and 3d flip equivalents, but combines them with virtual desktops. Microsoft really needs to wake up an implement virtual desktops in the next version of windows, Linux and Mac users have been enjoying them for a while now. Yep no complaints here Personally I dislike the Vista/7 start menu. The introduction of a search fuction was a step forward, the compression of a massive list of folders and shortcuts into a small section in the bottom left of the screen was a step backwards. The windows 95 start menu allowed you to click once and immediately see everything in there spread out across the screen. The new system hides most of it and requires scrolling up and down for no good reason... why not use the space available on my desktop to display the start menu items? I don't understand! Yep, this is a definite plus point. Now imagine if Windows 8 came with multiple desktops and some slick transition animations (which can be customised or disabled of course) that make use of a GPU. I've not tried any of these so I can't comment, other than to say several similar services exist for Ubuntu. I personally use Dropbox to sync a whole load of stuff between my Windows 7 desktop and my Ubuntu laptop. It works great, and uses the network to transfer stuff whenever it can, only resorting to the internet when it has to. There is a size limit though, as I'm only using the free service. Yep, this is my favourite anti-virus as well. It's free, it's fast and it works well without bombarding me with messages all the time. Of course, as this thread is Windows vs. Ubuntu it's only fair to point out that anti-virus software isn't necessary for Ubuntu, as the sort of threats it protects against simply don't exist (or at least not abundantly enough that the average Ubuntu user will ever have any problems). This is also well integrated with networking/homegroup sharing. I have to point out though that Ubuntu remains the only OS I've ever used that "just works" when you plug in a previously unknown printer and click the print button. Windows always makes a fuss over getting exactly the right drivers, though Windows 7 is a definite improvement in this area as it usually manages to find and intall the right ones itself without too much delay, so long as you're online. Driver signing in x64 is a PITA though; having to boot in safe mode and use third party software to modify driver files just to get an original xbox controller to work, or a PCI-e WiFi card... it's really annoying!! Unless I have it switched off it doesn't work all that well. My drives still get fragmented so I do a quick manual defrag every few weeks to keep everything in order. I didn't know that, but it is good news. It's easier to add exceptions in 7 too. Also, I like having the option to set up different firewall rules for different connections; i.e. I could connect to a coffee shop network with a windows 7 laptop and run a tight firewall for that connection, then connect to a friend via hamachi and have a light firewall there to allow us to play LAN games etc. It all seems to work very well, and it's easy to use. Yeah I cringe every time I look at XP now. It's 10 years old and should be expunged from all computers capable of running something more up to date. Yep it's all good My personal reasons for using Windows 7 over Ubuntu on my main machine are; - I don't do much browsing on my desktop, that's all done on my laptop so I can browse/email/chat and game at the same time (without having to use steam's IE). - I have a whole load of software that needs Windows and cannot be replaced realistically under Ubuntu, for example Sonar 8, Lightroom, CS5 and iTunes. I know many people will argue there are Linux equivalents but the truth is they're nowhere near as good and I'm not willing to compromise on these particular things as they're the reasons I have my PC in the first place. - I play games. - I overclock and generally mess about with my PC. Under Ubuntu, options are... limited. With windows i have a plethora of temperature sensors and soft overclocking apps to choose from. In conclusion if you're looking to game, overclock or use any specialist software that you already own or have access to then yes, you'll have a whirlwind romance with Windows 7. If you're literally just browsing, emailing and doing office stuff then Ubuntu is quicker and less prone to being crippled by viruses (though arguably viruses aren't much of a threat these days and Windows is probably more secure against other kinds of attack). They both have comparable features, though Windows requires much less customisation to get it going. My personal favorite feature of Ubuntu is getiplayer, which is the only way I've yet discovered of downloading a program from iplayer and putting it on my ipod. Ironically, I have to use Windows to convert the downloaded file to apple-friendly format and sync it to the device. They work well together
Some great new features listed above - thanks. I doubt I would have tried Ubuntu if I had the funds to go from XP to Win 7 straight away. But I am so glad I did. The virtual desktops is the biggest plus for me. It's so great to have only 3-4 programs per desktop and then flick between each one. This was the biggest problem for me with windows - too much clutter. I will give Win 7 a decent run out. There are programs than only run in Windows so both systems will be needed initially. For printing, Ubuntu automatically found my HP Laser that is connected to my router. Can Win 7 do the same? I do use Microsoft Essentials on XP and it's much better than ones I've used before, with low overheads. And I love Movie Maker in XP so a 64-bit version is a great plus (All Windows Live programs are 64-bit in Win 7 64-bit aren't they?). I'm not looking forward to installing all the relevant drivers in Win 7 as this was done automatically in Ubuntu. But I guess that's the price you pay for a more optimised system. Now I need to read through all the posts above once more..
They are many multi-desktop application for Windows. Some are good, some not so great. I am sure you will find one that fits your needs. One of many free: http://lifehacker.com/5164680/deskhedron-adds-3d-virtual-desktop-eye+candy-to-windows Also read this: Power User Guide to Win7 Task Bar: http://lifehacker.com/5532578/the-power-users-guide-to-the-windows-7-taskbar I have no idea, I never had a network printer before. BUT, what Windows 7 will do, is as soon as you finish installing it (25min BTW with DVD, or 7 min with a high speed USB key), you do Windows update, and it will find all (or almost all) the drivers for your computer which you can download and install. All the drivers are fairly recent or latest version. Usually Microsoft is behind on the graphic drivers, as they are so many releases. If you have a wireless card in your computer, you will appreciate the new Wireless manager and connector new to Win7. Click on the system tray icon of your wireless icon, a small panel appears, where you can pick your wireless connection to connect. If you need a password, Windows will ask you to enter it.... only once (unlike stupid XP). Also, Windows 7 feature a trouble shoot system, which in the case you have a problem with a hardware (let's say you can't connect to a network), it will provide you with the option to automatically troubleshoot it. When you do so, Windows 7 will scan your system, and in this case, network and try to identify the problem, and try a fix or a set of fixes until the problem is solved. If it believe the problem is solved, it will ask you if everything is fine, if not, it will scan again, try a different appropriate fix, and ask you again if everything is fine. If it doesn't know, then it will provide you with some suggestions. And yes, it's able to detect router configuration errors. Correct. Microsoft provides excellent support for 64-bit applications. Also, you don't need to install any codec packs... Windows 7 feature all the popular codecs in both 32 and 64-bit version (which are excellent). Including a DVD codec. The only thing it can't do is play blu-ray's. Now if you have fancy formats like MKV's or FLV's. Let me recommend you the best codec pack for Windows 7. Shark007. Dont' be fooled by the name and website deisgn. This is seirous stuff. - No conflicts - Well packaged - Doesn't conflict with Windows built-in codecs - Available in 32 and 64-bit mode - Features options like enabling 64-bit Windows Media Player, and another to change all file association of Windows Media Player 12 from the 32-bit to the 64-bit. - A nice control panel of sorts, which allows you to configure more advance codec behavior options, and change common options that all codecs have. Oh, and Windows Media Player 12 is some serious player. It beats Media Player Classic BY FAR. Not only the program was made in conjunction with the Zune team (which is an excellent music software, that massacres iTunes (then again it's not hard to beat), but it's also very well made. The program is actually made of 3 components. - Network Service - Full player - Mini Player - Full player is the larger one, with the playlist manager, and see all your music and video's.. like Windows Media Player 11. (Juts looks nice and consistent, this time,) - Mini player, is the one that opens when you double click on a music or video format. it's very light and opens instantly. - Network Service (disabled by default), allows you to stream your music and video's over the network or Internet (yes, internet) to another Windows 7 machine. Very cool stuff. Another thing you will appreciate, is that Windows 7 is the most consistent Windows that Microsoft have ever built, since Windows 95. I know it's hard to believe. It's not perfect, but it's nearly there. Oh boy, there is A LOT to read about Win7.
It found my network attached printer fine after running the "Add printer or scanner" wizard, not automatic, but might as well be. W7 is pretty good about finding generic drivers for most hardware, of course you should download and install specific ones from the manufacturer, but for getting you off the ground its pretty good.
personally i find they both have their plus points, i generally use Ubuntu for the security aspect since i run most things online and no matter how good a virus scanner is non is perfect for example in the latest tests detailed here http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_od_aug2010.pdf shows that in a test of just over 900,000 virus's microsoft security essentials only detected 97.6% of them leaving over 22,000 virus's undetected even Avast 5 free which a much higher detection rate of 99.3% still did not detect over 6,000 virus's taking this into account with the information here http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/idlemem.html shows that some of the anti virus software can seriously attack your system resources
That's one of my biggest gripes in the past about Windows. They don't include things themselves - you have to look far and wide to get the programs you want. Why can't they be inbuilt. I do like the fact that Windows 7 is meant to be a start again from scratch with loads of new features. But the bar has been raised with the new Linux distros around. I will keep my mind open but have never found in the past that Windows troubleshooting was ever any good. It was too generic and never helped me once. My biggest plus for using Ubuntu is that it feels so solid. We all know the problems Windows has had in the past so forgive my initial paranoia. So glad to hear it. The most pain I had with Media Player was the awful library. It was always so hard to find anything. Based on your comments I can look forward to using it again!
What you failed to see, is that a lot of viruses not detected by an A/V is not that it's not detected, but it doesn't cause a treat. In the sense off, if you have a virus that wants to delete all System32 files.. well it can't... because you need to be full administrator, which is something that no one can't. Unless your dumb enough to allow VIRUS.EXE to have elevated privileges. Also, what constitute a virus? Many A/V dont' even know. For example, I like to package my EXE, so that all the needed files are in itself, and and extracts them on the temp directory and load them when you run the program, making it ideal portable applications. Sadly, some A/V says my application, JUST because I packaged is a virus or a trojan or a worm. Heck I package the same way notepad, which is virus free (checked before) with nothing else, and then B00M it's a virus. Lucky it's few A/V that are dumb. Sadly, it involved free and paying ones. This is just an example, of demonstrating that the term "Virus" has many meaning, apparently. Another example, is that if your CPU already detects and kills viruses, why worry the user? It doesn't get executed in any case. The user will get an error message that the program failed to start, that is all. Also, my laptop doesn't have an A/V. Since Vista I don't have an A/V. If I open a picture and it asks for Admin privileges... you know something is wrong. Decline elevation, and delete. My computer is virus free since I switch to Vista 64-bit. As for my desktop, live scan is disabled. I run it once every 3 months just to be sure... but so far, since Vista release, 0. I would not worry about anything. A good Web browser, know what you download, be smart and you have 0 infections. You guys worry to much. Of course, for a person that knows nothing about computer and doesn't read messages... than that is a different story. But, we are not like that.
I used Ubuntu for a few months before buying my laptop (an Asus UL50VT) and I really fell in love with a few features.. Integration of the music player, IM software, email, FB and RSS with the taskbar was amazing, and I loved being able to just open up the software installer thing and just install random games whenever. The biggest thing was the tabbed file browser, is there a way to get that in W7? I would just dual boot, but apparently I can't use hybrid graphics in Ubuntu, might just do it anyway and have it default to Intel graphics, not like I'll need anything more powerful for just general PC use I guess. One thing I miss from XP is how much crisper everything looked, it seemed like font smoothing was very different in XP than in Ubuntu and W7, is there a way to get that back? Sorry for the thread hijack
Windows 7 uses a crumb bar. You have to try it, it's easy to jump between folders. Also, as it uses task regroupement, you can switch between windows easily. To open a folder in as separate just hit and hold the Ctrl Key (or you can always make it separate in the folder options). I suggest to try and check it out. But, you have what you want... Win7 is more flexible that what people think: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/28997/add-tabbed-browsing-to-explorer-in-windows-7/ Sadly, it doesn't look very nice. Oh BTW, guys, unlike XP, IE is completely out of explorer, so we are back in the good old days before this big mess started. And Windows 7/Vista update, uses an built-in update manage, no more crap web browser thing. And is very very very fast in comparison to XP update system. XP has 0 font smoothing. you had the first version of clear type, but it was god awful, few people like it. Usually people with terrible first gen LCD's. However, under Win7 you can adjust the the new ClearType system used on fonts. It's in the Control Panel (Control Panel > display > Adjust Clear type (on the side column)) OR you can just search for it from the start menu search bar or Control Panel search bar. Just type: ClearType, and it should be enough to get exactly what your looking for.
I like the crumb bar, but tabs would be nice as well. Thanks for the link! I ended up disabling cleartype completely and it's actually pretty decent, even after tuning cleartype it still wasn't how I wanted.
I'd say the one of the main advantages of 7 over *nix is that in general things just *work*... I know *nix has come on leaps and bounds in the last couple of years but sometimes there's still a certain amount of messing around involving messing around with conf files, compiling your own software/modules, etc. I know we're enthusiasts and we have the ability to do this stuff but personally I don't have the time or patience for this sort of thing, most of the time. Don't get me wrong, I love *nix for it's flexibility, power and overall design philosophy (some of the best software is open source, period) and it is undoubtedly superior in a number of ways, but Windows can't be faulted for the way you can plug in 99% of hardware on the market and it just works, or there's a driver available for it. In an ideal world *nix would have the same amount of support on the desktop as Windows, but this just isn't the case. I'm sure I'll be flamed for this but it's just my 2 cents
Oh boy, is this thread gonna heat up... Just to put my cards on the table, I'm not a great XP-fan (Win2K was the best MS release IMHO) but when properly configured (meaning extensive registry modifications and use of NLite and/or XPLite) XP can be a good performer with a no-fuss UI that minimises the effort needed to do common tasks. For experimentation I have been trying a Win7 install and would give it a definite thumbs-down in comparison - particular dislikes being its higher resource consumption and wasteful use of screen space (the ribbon interface used on updated applets being a particular dislike of mine). Home Premium is crippled with an artificially low 16GB memory limit on 64-bit systems. In contrast, Win2K/XP with PAE can address up to 64GB, without any of the compromises or problems inherent to 64-bit Windows (driver incompatibilities, inability to run 16-bit code, signed drivers/Patchguard). Professional allows 192GB but even that is pretty meagre given what 64-bit addressing should be capable of (18 exabytes or 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 bytes). Possible in XP/2000 via third-party software (GridMove, AeroSnap or use a macro for AutoHotKey). Several programs provide this functionality in 2000/XP but the typical Bit-Tech forumer should be giving technical help more often than asking for it, in which case remote management software like UltraVNC would be more useful (has to be set up on target system first, but that is a plus in security terms). I've found it no more useful than XP's own Help and Support centre - unless the cause is really basic, you're still on your own. Which makes me wonder why so many games forums have threads on Win 7 compatibility and how to fix "problems" with it. There's only one genuinely new feature I've come across - DirectX 10/11 and given that this does little that can't be done via OpenGL 4.0 (and could have been incorporated into XP if MS really wanted to) I'd consider it more harm than good, forcing games developers to produce code for 2 standards when DirectX was intended to provide a single unified standard, whatever the Windows version. With AutoHotKey you can access key programs faster with a single key press. How so? The Search functionality is no different - if anything I would argue that file finding is harder due to the maze of redirected folders Win 7 has (notably under the Users folders). If libraries were treated like folders themselves in terms of placement, I'd be inclined to agree with them being useful for those unable to organise content themselves. However you can't place libraries anywhere - they are restricted to one particular place ("Libraries" under "Desktop") which makes them largely useless for those who prefer to navigate from the root folder. I beg to differ - the default "icon only" view makes it harder to see at a glance what programs you are running, unless you mouse over it (though you can switch to the icon+text layout used in previous Windows versions). Live preview? Not worth the screen space or CPU in my view - if you've taken the effort to move the pointer down to the taskbar, it's pretty much zero effort to click once on a program's entry to bring its window to the front. The only remotely useful new option is the ability to display program controls on the taskbar popup (e.g. seeing pause, play and fast-forward/rewind buttons for a media player) and this is better handled via "standard" methods anyway. I've seen no difference whatsoever between 7 and XP here - the only possibility I can think of is that you are talking about ClearType (first introduced in XP). Win7 does provide options to configure ClearType but these are identical to the ClearType PowerToy available for XP users. I disagree strongly - the Classic start menu is no longer available and that was the simplest thing to navigate (assuming you took the time to organise it properly). The CPU didn't draw the interface in any version of Windows since 3.x - it has always been left to the graphics card unless you disabled graphics acceleration (which would happen if you started Windows in Safe Mode or uninstalled the GPU driver). Movie Maker and synchronisation (via Briefcase) are old features (Movie Maker came with WinME and was crippled by only using a proprietary format, Briefcase came in Win95). Picture viewing and editing is better done with free third-party software like IrfanView since it has a better, though not perfect, security record (e.g. no WMF/JPG-related vulnerabilities). It may be light and free, but it isn't the best at detection. Microsoft made that promise with the Windows 95 Plus! pack. It wasn't true then and isn't now. Did you bother testing this? No? Well I found it possible to free up about 30-40MB by disabling unnecessary Windows 7 services. Services in Win 7 are identical to those in Win2K/XP - they use memory space when started and CPU time when active - the only difference I have found is that (a) there are more of them and (b) their CPU utilisation is not reported in Task Manager - you have to use a third party process monitoring tool to see service CPU usage. Actually, make that a minus for Windows 7 - Task Manager is no longer useful for finding out what your PC is doing since a CPU-hogging service is no longer reported. Oh yes you do need a replacement firewall (Windows Live Onecare is near the bottom with 4%). +2 here for providing a way of getting rid of the stupid categories - I thought they'd been made compulsory. Unfortunately even with small icons, the window needs more space since there's no way to truncate long titles. There are new options, but these are again available as separate downloads for XP (via the Microsoft PowerToy webpage or via third-party alternatives). Funnily enough, that's the way I feel with Windows 7. I'm looking forward to vaping the configuration on this PC and starting afresh with XP - though in fairness the ridiculous amount of bloatware previously installed is to blame too. You can do that with an image backup like Drive Snapshot, a tiny (250KB) file that could even be placed on a floppy and run in DOS mode if necessary. Sorry, but Vista/7's UAC is in no way comparable to most Unix/Linux distros control on the root user. With 7, you just click on a button with a shield to have that activity performed as Admin - convenient and easy for malware to exploit. You don't need codecs if you use VLC Player either - and that allows you to use video as your desktop wallpaper on any version of Windows from 2K onwards. Viruses are not the main problem, trojans are. And malware writers are not going to make their creations easy to spot with "obvious" names or actions like deleting system files - see Schneier's StuxNet writeup for an overview of a real example. While this malware targeted PCs running control systems, we are likely to see more widespread use of such techniques in future. Well, actually IE is still present in 7 - it's just hidden deep in the WinSxS folders. To find it, open a command prompt window and type the following (assuming C: is your system drive): C: cd \windows dir iexplore.exe /s/p The last command will take a moment or two but should result in something like: C:\Windows>dir iexplore.exe /s/p Volume in drive C has no label. Volume Serial Number is xxx-xxx Directory of C:\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft-windows-i..etexplorer-optional_31b f3856ad364e35_8.0.7600.16385_none_b346f9b4861b55c2 14/07/2009 02:17 673,048 iexplore.exe 1 File(s) 673,048 bytes Font smoothing was first introduced with the Windows 95 Plus! pack (via anti-aliasing - though text had to be above a certain size) while the ClearType used in Win7 is largely identical to XP's - it has the tuning applet built-in and adjusts letter spacing differently. Overall, the only real improvement I see with Win7 is greater ease of installation (not having to rely on a floppy or custom CD image to load new drivers) and for that, users pay a heavy price in terms of system and memory usage (a well configured XP install weighs in at around 200-250MB - Win 7 needs 500-600MB in contrast and runs slower in almost any situation). I would in particular single out those parts of Win7 that now rely on .NET code like the Event Viewer - a small and fast utility in XP has been transformed into a fat, waddling monstrosity in 7 that can't start up or display any data without 10-20 seconds of disk-thrashing. But just to say something nice about 7, the graphics in Spider Solitaire have been juiced up. It seems to me that Windows 7's appeal is for users who had limited knowledge of XP (e.g. many of the keyboard shortcuts highlighted as plus points for 7 have been around since Win2K or earlier) and who don't wish to experiment with or install third party utilities. The examples given above of programs providing functionality equivalent (and in most cases exceeding) Win7's capabilities are really just the icing on the cake.
Nha, it's the same thing. I tried all these "tweaks"... you just remove stuff form the OS, which you can disable in any case. Yes, it easier, as you do it from install, but that's not the point. That is because you don't know how XP and how a computer under-layer works (not insulting you, many don't). Resources are designed to be used. It's not about consumption, it's about optimization in doing the task, and algorithm used to manage data (Computer Science). XP is designed to consume minimal amount of memory so that you have room for applications. Remember that XP was designed for system with under 512MB of RAM, and that the CPU can only execute a program that is on your RAM. If you don't have enough RAM, you can't run it. So in order to allow XP and your applications to run, and allow you to multitask and/or open a large program (remember <512MB of RAM), XP (and older Windows) dumbs everything it can on your HDD (Pagefile to be specific). This sounds stupid, well because it is, but we had no choice (this behavior was the same for all other OS out there for desktop and laptops alike). It's that or no go. This is one of the 2 main reason why we have a pagefile. The second reason has to do with context switch. Read here, as I explain context switch: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showpost.php?p=2416302&postcount=6 Windows 7 uses your RAM first. Once it's near full, it start shrinking superfecth (I'll get there), and once it still need more space, Windows NOW, starts using your pagefile, where it moves what it can to your HDD (minimized applications for exampled, or old ones that has not been used for a long time). SuperFetch is a technology to try and help the slowness of our secondary storage deivice (HDD's and SSD's). Today's, and tomorrow's fastest SSD's on the market are still a fraction of the speed of our RAM. And is the main bottleneck in our computes. To help this, Windows 7 monitor your RAM, and sees what you run and when you run, and how many times. Often used programs, will be pre-loaded before you do, so that when you run it, it's almost all or all (depending on the program you use), on your RAM already, and ready to be executed by the CPU. This is a good thing, and makes a good use of the RAM. Super-fetch allocation size is dynamic (so if you need the space, it will give it to you), and adapts. If you use only Firefox (let's say), then super-fetch size allocation will be very small at startup, compared to if you just installed Windows 7, which takes a percentage of your RAM, or use a lot of large programs (it won't consume more than a certain percentage of your RAM). In result, this is why jumping form 1 to 2GB of RAM or 2 to 4GB of RAM under Win7 provides massive performance increase (especially from 1 to 2GB), as you use superFetch. This is why 2 reasons: - Windows 7 get faster the more you use it - When you re-install Win7, your computer will feel slow. - People are saying on how Win7 is faster than XP on the same system (assuming the system is perfectly compatible between both OS). Sorry no, you got XP and XP 64-bit confused, and Win2k server with professional. - XP 64-bit has no 16-bit application support - XP 32-bit max RAM limit is 4GB of RAM - XP 64-bit RAM limit is 16GB You can fall all that information directly on Microsoft web site and Wikipedia. As topic of conversation is XP, I won't go talk Win2000 which is essential the same OS. "But but but, 32-bit Server edition supports more than 4 GB of RAM". That is what people don't understand. 32-bit architecture doesn't allow to address more than 4GB of RAM. It's not a Windows limit, this is for all OS's, it's a design specification of the Intel x86 (32-bit) architecture. What an Operating System can do, is use some hacks so that the system is able to address more than 4GB of RAM. But at a HUGE cost.... processing power. The option was implemented for those who need large amount of memory more than processing power. The different in performance is very visible. Home Premium edition is designed for home computers, which a 95% of home user don't need or use more than 6GB of RAM, including heavy gamers. Especially that 32-bit application have a limit of 2GB of RAM that they can use (the limit is not there for 64-bit applications). This limit is a Windows architectural decision. It's 16 ExaBytes, not 18 EB Windows 7 Pro, Enterprise and Ultimate editions doesn't have a limit. Microsoft says that Windows 7 has been tested up to 192GB. It may work with more RAM, but it's untested. The problem with those is: - Uses the CPU to draw, due of the way the GUI was designed. So, any animation (if any, depending on the program you use) is taxing for the CPU, even if you have a Core i7. CPU's are not designed to draw. And your complaining about the extra resources that Win7 takes?! - Not well implemented due to the limitation of the explorer. Native support is always better. This is because there was a time where people used to run their computer as Administrator, and that game companies wanted to maximize profit at the cost of bad programming (instead of hiring engineers and computer scientist, they get college tech's who has programming degree). So what happens: - The developers don't read Microsoft own documentation on how to make a program software - They assume that people run there computer as administrator, so, ithey feel free to do what they want, like put files under system32 (usually settings) or where it is installed (usually saved games), which it reads and write, or are stupidly programmed in 16-bit.. not because the market share of DOS was high, but because that is what they know from there degree. A computer engineer and computer scientist are trained to use the latest and greatest technology as they appear, all by being efficient, and provide optimized code. That is why many game companies don't like them. Cost a lot to have them, and takes way more time, as they try to use the best methods, efficient, latest, and optimized solutions. Did you ever put a second account under XP as limited? Try it... and I can tell you that many of your software (versions release BEFORE Vista and Win7 came out) and old games will not work anymore. This was a common problem. After XP was release Microsoft talked a lot about XP issues, including it's memory management which will cause problems when we have more memory, multi-core processors, accounts, security issues, drivers limitation, and a great need to restart from scratch as XP is based on the aging (at the time, now it's an antique) kernel of NT 3. All to promise investors for the development of Longhorn.. which 6 years later became Vista, and now Win7. sign... no. Look at the diagram on Vista/Win7 official blog on the architecture layout (if they are still there). The only way XP is getting DirectX10 is that you change the kernel to be the one of Vista. Remember that DirectX (and OpenGL) is not just pretty pre-made effects. They allow to by pass nearly all OS layers to allow direct communication with the hardware, to allow a massive performance increase, and synchronization between your input controllers (keyboard, mouse, network, joystick, controllers, audio). DirectX 9 is based on DX 7 which is based on DX 6. While DirectX 11 is based on the architecture of DirectX10. Hence, why you need a compatible GPU. Ask yourself, Why Vista had near little feature for the end user? Because the goal of Vista, was not about it, the goal was a new OS architecture, to fit the needs of modern computers. Hence why Vista (ignoring it's bugs), was unusable unless you had the latest and greatest system (usually a gaming machine back in 2006). As it dropped support for many old technologies for room for new ones. Hmm no. They don't do 2 versions. DX10/11 is backward compatible down to the first version of DirectX, same for OpenGL. Today, as XP market share is still bigger than Win7, game studios don't make DX10/11 games. They are all DX9 games, and IF your have DX10 you can access additional visual improvements. And it conflict with your program shortcuts.. brilliant. huh? The idea of using Windows is NOT browse through folders. That is why we have the start menu. So that all your programs are easy to access. Libraries, and the ability to save searches (another cool feature), and the Favorite section on the folders navigation pane help reduce just that. I am confused, what are you saying? ClearType was added later in XP, and was set to disable by default. Also the ClearType of XP, was utter crap. That is because you are used to the old way, and close minded and unable to try something new, and give it a real chance. Nope. What was happening is that the CPU draw everything, and gave everything to the GPU to analyses and output. Back in the old old old days, some graphic cards did not have a real GPU's. GPU's were only used by gamers exclusively. What we had was graphic chips that can only analyses and assemble the CPU "drawings", and convert the signal and output it. Remember Intel graphic solutions, before the X3100. Those who could not draw Aero. That settings that you are talking about, was because some of these graphic cards (the ones with no real GPU's) did not have a circuitry put in place to analyses some of the CPU drawing effects. Shadow, for example, around a Windows. The CPU calculates it (draws it, if you want), and gives it to the graphic card, and it goes "I don't know what this means!". So you have that option to cut down on visuals rendering. To be specific, and this is my mistake, the CPU doesn't do ALL the work, but it does ~90-95% of it. CPU's can't assemble and output an image. They don't have the circuitry to support that. Today the common place where you can see CPU's that can do that are found on select cellphone processors, and chips like Nvidia Tegra. But, we are taking here about desktop and laptop computers, that you and I use everyday. Did you try Win7? or just look at screen shots? It's a NEW Movie Maker (dhu!), and Briefcase is not the same as Live Sync. That is saying that Windows Briefcase is like DropBox... REALLY? Even if you assume DropBox is only for Windows.. Briefcase is extremely primitive. The only reason why it's still exists, is to support this old format. As many businesses used it, and Microsoft wants them to switch, and not stay stuck to Windows 98, because they don't have anymore Briefcase. Windows Live PhotoGallery and Windows PhotoViewer (both Vista and Win7), have that already. In fact I recall even XP had an update to provide that on it's picture viewer. Hmm no. Ok let's assume that all services are background programs, which they are not, the way you are saying they are, so they need to be disabled. - First you cripple the OS. - Second, you save what... 10MB... OH NO!!!! 10MB LOST from my 4GB of RAM.. WHAT WILL EVER DOOO!!!!!!!! Come on dude, it doesn't give you anything. Stop thinking that Win7 is XP with a new interface. IT'S NOT! More signs that you never touched Win7, let alone Vista Magic here and magic there: Resource Monitor is part of Windows Vista and Win7. Notice the bar graph of services CPU consumption... the only service that consume anything is the one for the resource monitor, which is <1%. This demonstrates to you that you are wrong. Services are not background programs, and are event driven. And that disabling them can lead in crippling the system as it disabled features, like this one. OneCare has been discontinued since a long while now. It should be at 0%.. but I guess still people likes it. Microsoft Security Essential is based on Microsoft ForeFront. In fact it's a light version, made free. They share the same database, and Microsoft has a full support system where you can send your virus to them, quarantined or not, and get a definition update soon. Part 2 follows.. due to the forum char limit.
