How many People here are using Windows 7 Right now

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by fugazied

Edit: if you want to reduce support calls from family, switch them to macs. I still get calls from windows owning family members who get into trouble with viruses, OS slowdown, unable to install something and registry issues, the ones I've converted to mac skip all of those problems.

The Issue I have with this is thatI don't have a mac either, nor do most of my friends and Family so even if I switch them to OSX, I'm still going to run into support issues, without having any Knowledge or direct help to fall back to.

And Going to an apple store is not really an option, especially when you are travelling a lot and are outside the US.

I'm thinking of getting a Macbook Pro when I upgrade in a couple of months, but the lack of eSata or Expresscard on the 13" and the non removable battery is a major issue for me as I use a lot of eSata Drives and am not keen to have to go back to using USB not to mention I often carry one, if not two spare batter'y at times.

Still, I'm not planning to buy anything before November, so will have to see then, what the best i

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I have tried it (on a virtual machine, so I won't comment on speed as that would be biased).

I hated it. Purely the user interface was horrible. Couldn't find a thing, my taskbar was a mess (I always open applications in a certain order so I can find them easily on my taskbar). Couldn't even go back to my trusty Win2000 interface (which I'm using on my XP as well, only started to use XP when I found out I could do that).

Personally, I'd go to Win2003 before going to Win7.

Well, The interface does take a little getting used to, and I can sympathise with the UI shock. I was still running XP with the classic menu, with all regular programs on the quicklaunch.

Still Once I got past the initial usage issues, I rally fell in love with the quick searcg and the new taskbar icons. I especially love the way that windows now stack, without the complete mess the taskbar used to be when you have multiple Apps and windows open.

I would still suggest trying to use it for a couple of weeks, which is the usual time it takes to get a little used to a compleatly new UI.

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

I am using Windows 7 64-bit on my HP laptop. The only problems I have are networking related. Drivers for 2 several years old laser printers do not work and I cannot reconnect to either wired or wireless networks after waking up from hibernation. Reinstalled a number of drivers, haven't found a solution yet. Other than that, I am impressed. However, due to MS's dumb upgrade pricing for Vista Ultimate users I will most probably go back to Vista after the trial expires.

Originally I had considered an Apple, but after the major disappointment when using my first Apple product, the Iphone, I decided to stick with Windows.

Have you had any luck using the Vista drivers. While I've usually been able to get Win7 to auto download most Drivers, the few times when that's not worked, the Vista drivers have usually worked.

As for the Upgrade price, I agree, the Ultimate price is really stupid. Still, I looked at what was available on Ultimate, and decided I did't really need all the extras like bitlocker. In Fact Home Premium has most everything I want, except the XP Compatibility mode, which require Pro. Have you considered Downgrading to one of the lower editions.

[Alexander Turcic]

I second that I first missed the quick launch bar, but now I prefer the new taskbar which allows to "pin" app icons to the bar instead.

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by bwaldron

I've been using Windows 7 on a couple of my PCs here since the original beta, and like it a lot. I skipped Vista in favor of staying with XP, but it looks like MS got it right this time.

Indeed. I got My current Machine just before the Vista Launc, and was promised a free upgrade to Vista.

Well, I got it and on installing, Vista was so horrible on the "Vista Capable" machine, (And it was a powerfull machine worth about $2200 which I regulary used for Video Editing and rendering) that i got rid of the nVista Install in just a couple of days and went back to XP.

On Win7 on the other hand, not only does it run beautifully, but also does it well on par or better the XP for the most part.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by bbusybookworm

Well, The interface does take a little getting used to, and I can sympathise with the UI shock. I was still running XP with the classic menu, with all regular programs on the quicklaunch.

Still Once I got past the initial usage issues, I rally fell in love with the quick searcg and the new taskbar icons. I especially love the way that windows now stack, without the complete mess the taskbar used to be when you have multiple Apps and windows open.

I would still suggest trying to use it for a couple of weeks, which is the usual time it takes to get a little used to a compleatly new UI.

Actually, that stacking is the reason I don't like Win7's taskbar. It's the first thing I turn off (or make sure it's off) on a new install of XP. If I have 7 copies of a browser open, I want to be able to "open" them with one click of the mouse. And I can't, if they are stacked.

I could get used to that stupid "new" start menu (the one they introduced with XP, never liked it, never used it), but not that taskbar.

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Actually, that stacking is the reason I don't like Win7's taskbar. It's the first thing I turn off (or make sure it's off) on a new install of XP. If I have 7 copies of a browser open, I want to be able to "open" them with one click of the mouse. And I can't, if they are stacked.

Heh, in Win 7 one click is actually sufficient. When you hover over the program in the taskbar, the taskbar automatically unstacks it.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

Heh, in Win 7 one click is actually sufficient. When you hover over the program in the taskbar, the taskbar automatically unstacks it.

Even worse! I already turn off those "help balloons" everywhere. I don't want to have to use my mouse, hover over something and then make the choice which browser I'll open. Right now, I know exactly where which application is on my task bar... (first is IE, second is FF, third VPC, fourth explorer, I open them explicitly in that order every morning...) Even worse, when in my VPC, Visual Studio crashes (it does that sometimes), I'll close down everything, as I want my VS on the first place on my task bar...



(yikes, I suddenly got visions of Office Space after I wrote that!)

[BlackVoid]

In Vista I tried to associate video files with another video player. My settings were ignored by the OS.
I also set my default browser to FF. Ignored by Vista as well.

Is this working now in Windows 7?

I will likely stick to XP as long as possible, Vista also crashed my laptop several times and I could only reset by removing the battery.

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by BlackVoid

In Vista I tried to associate video files with another video player. My settings were ignored by the OS.
I also set my default browser to FF. Ignored by Vista as well.

Is this working now in Windows 7?

Sure. I have Firefox as my default browser, and Media Player Classic HomeCinema as my default video player. No problems.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

Lucky are those can get it through their MSDN subscription soon...

You forgot Technet Plus. I'm installing the RTM on the HTPC come Aug 6.

[RWood]

I just retired the Win2kPro box that has been in service since Win2kPro was the newest and best OS from MS. Other than the older laptop (that runs Win98SE) everything is WinXP. I keep my wife's machines and my Father-in-law's machine at the same release level as mine. This minimizes the support problems. I have made only one "maintenance" call on him this year and that was a repair/upgrade in the music/CD playing software.

XP has been a champ at maintaining a stable platform. Vista was more like WinME Part 2.

[carld]

I installed a late beta version on an ancient Toshiba laptop and found it worked fairly well. It was too slow for real use because of the old hardware, but it worked. I have two copies on order.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by RWood

I just retired the Win2kPro box that has been in service since Win2kPro was the newest and best OS from MS. Other than the older laptop (that runs Win98SE) everything is WinXP. I keep my wife's machines and my Father-in-law's machine at the same release level as mine. This minimizes the support problems. I have made only one "maintenance" call on him this year and that was a repair/upgrade in the music/CD playing software.

XP has been a champ at maintaining a stable platform. Vista was more like WinME Part 2.

The same here. Though, my mother has now Vista. And she's always complaining about it (she knew her way fairly well in XP).

All our machines at home are XP, except our file/db/web-server. That one is running Win2K3.

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by RWood

I keep my wife's machines and my Father-in-law's machine at the same release level as mine. This minimizes the support problems.

I agree, with this, being one of the main reasons i have 4 copies of Win7 on order. With Two comps on XP and two on Vista, support was a bit of an issue, as my own machine was running XP, leaving me unable to replicate actions to talk them through.

With how well Win7 RC is working on my parents Low powered Ultraportable, which came with Vista, upgrading to Win7 is a no brainer. And switching the last, spare machine means that I only have to think about one OS when looking for solutions.

Still This with LogMeIn free is proving to be a bit of a boon for troubleshooting, especially when we are on seperate continents.