Windows 8 preview now available...

[Jazzy_Jeffaz]

Originally Posted by AndrewH

Windows 7 only came out three years ago. Why do we need a new version already?

If I didn't have to use Windows for certain applications, I'd toss it in a second and use some flavor of Linux or BSD.

That is all I use now is Linux. I haven't used Windows since XP SP2. I only use a couple of Windows programs and they run great under wine.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by CyGuy

Removable media is an absolute must-have feature, not optional. Cloud storage is taking a huge step backwards. What is next, terminals?

In the business world, yes, for several years now.
Look to have the cheapest lightweight PC on the desktop, and run all the apps on central servers via Citrix. A modern equivalent of mainframe terminals.

[nogle]

Originally Posted by VaporPunk

You and a lot of others, as in gazillions. XP is/was a good OS and while I like 7, the first thing I did was make it look as much as possible like XP.

Hmmm... I am running Xp and the first thing I did was make it look like Windows 2000. I guess it all depends on when you got anchored on a UI that works for you.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by VaporPunk

I had a mixed experience trying to run legacy games on 7, something I rarely encountered with XP. Still, games designed for 7 run well, no complaints and far less time spent getting things to run properly/optimized.

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

Mixed experience here too. I have a few golden oldies I'd love to be able to run under Win7, but which plain refuses either to run, or to run with any kind of stability. Still, if I was really bothered I could dual boot with WinXP, but I'm not, so I don't. Too much hassle for a couple of games, even if I loved them dearly back then.

GOG.com is your new friend.

Windows 7 shipped with DirectX 11, and games made for XP were made for DirectX 9. Dx11 is supposed to be backwards compatible, but as usual with computer, how they are supposed to work and how they actually work aren't always one and the same. A lot of compatibility problems with XP games in 7 can be removed/resolved by running both the installer and the game in compatibility mode for XP SP2, and having Dx 9 installed.

Just in case anyone was wondering.

over.

[HansTWN]

Or you can install and run XP mode, or XP in a virtual PC. But this isn't available in the pre-release versions of Windows 8 yet.

[Quexos]

I'm not so excited about new iterations of the Windows OS anymore. My 7 works fine so yeah, maybe in a year or so when I get a new computer but I'm not looking forward to it.

[VaporPunk]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

GOG.com is your new friend.

Windows 7 shipped with DirectX 11, and games made for XP were made for DirectX 9. Dx11 is supposed to be backwards compatible, but as usual with computer, how they are supposed to work and how they actually work aren't always one and the same. A lot of compatibility problems with XP games in 7 can be removed/resolved by running both the installer and the game in compatibility mode for XP SP2, and having Dx 9 installed.

Just in case anyone was wondering.

over.

GOG is great, I've bought more than a few oldies from them!

Thanks and Karma for the tip. I've tried the above, its hit or miss. Never got IWD to work, for example. But GOG will scratch that itch, if need be.

[VaporPunk]

Latest rumor.

Hardware is something I did not expect. If true, I think its a good move. This isn't a google branded Asus, by the way, its an MS designed tablet. Xbox 360 + SmartGlass + Tablet = ?

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by jocampo

If you don't play games, there is little or no reason to keep using Windows, trust me.

I use windows because Linux cannot compete with the plethora of software available. I suppose I could run them under wine, but why? I'm very comfortable with unix / linux as I used it professionally, but I don't see the point. Also, it's just not as user-friendly. I don't don't want to jump through hoops or use a command-line to install a program.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of windows. I think W7 is a joke. The search still doesn't work and wexplorer is terrible (files don't refresh, the tree doesn't sync with the file, etc). W7 has been out several years and still contains these horrors. MS just doesn't seem to care. Use the stock Windows Live Mail at your peril...

Basically I replace the rubbish aspect of W7 with off-the-shelf programs.

[hn333]

Originally Posted by Rizla

I use windows because Linux cannot compete with the plethora of software available. I suppose I could run them under wine, but why? I'm very comfortable with unix / linux as I used it professionally, but I don't see the point. Also, it's just not as user-friendly. I don't don't want to jump through hoops or use a command-line to install a program.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of windows. I think W7 is a joke. The search still doesn't work and wexplorer is terrible (files don't refresh, the tree doesn't sync with the file, etc). W7 has been out several years and still contains these horrors. MS just doesn't seem to care. Use the stock Windows Live Mail at your peril...

Basically I replace the rubbish aspect of W7 with off-the-shelf programs.

First time I ever heard of any of these problems. Windows 7 works great for me. I've never had a problem with it. Windows 8 is faster and better.

Originally Posted by Rizla

I use windows because Linux cannot compete with the plethora of software available. I suppose I could run them under wine, but why? I'm very comfortable with unix / linux as I used it professionally, but I don't see the point. Also, it's just not as user-friendly. I don't don't want to jump through hoops or use a command-line to install a program.

Agreed on the applications and Wine part, but Linux is definitely on the user-friendly end of the spectrum these days. With products like Ubuntu (and likely Fedora), I would rank Linux as being more user friendly than Windows. Consider the following:

• Many distributions ship as a complete system, down to the applications.
• Most hardware works out of the box, so you don't have to deal with installing drivers.
• Distributions offer centralized and trusted repositories for software.
• The GUI is easy to use, modern, and uses the popular desktop metaphor.

Oh, and I don't remember the last time I had to install a program from the command-line. It must be going onto 10 years now. The only reasons why people still use the command-line to install software are they want to or they want to use development versions of the software.

[Belfaborac]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of windows. I think W7 is a joke. The search still doesn't work and wexplorer is terrible (files don't refresh, the tree doesn't sync with the file, etc). W7 has been out several years and still contains these horrors. MS just doesn't seem to care. Use the stock Windows Live Mail at your peril...

Basically I replace the rubbish aspect of W7 with off-the-shelf programs.

These problems are unknown to me too, although I've been using Win7 since day 1. I agree that Explorer is rubbish, but there's a plethora of replacements, both free and commercial. I'm not a fan either, but then I'm not a fan of anything. I just use whatever I find to be the best alternative (for me) at any particular point in time.

[DarkScribe]

I loaded it onto a Desktop with an I7 processor, eight GB of RAM and a touchscreen monitor. It is NOT ready for public release. In the short time that I have used it there have been nothing but driver problems and memory leaks. Well, Microsoft insists that they are driver problems. Maybe when the third party vendors catch up it might be worth another look. Until then it is little more than a source of frustration. (We have Mothers-in-Law for that - don't need Microsoft.)

[Dulin's Books]

i have the release preview installed on a 4 year old sony vaio with 4 gb of ram Core 2 Duo processor and no touchscreen. have had 0 issues after reloading appropriate drivers for the touchpad and mouse etc. ive had no memory leaks I also have never had a problem with search on Win7 or 8

[plib]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

These problems are unknown to me too, although I've been using Win7 since day 1. I agree that Explorer is rubbish, but there's a plethora of replacements, both free and commercial. I'm not a fan either, but then I'm not a fan of anything. I just use whatever I find to be the best alternative (for me) at any particular point in time.

I agree. As far as I'm concerned Explorer has always been rubbish. I'll put in a little plug for my preferred replacement - Total Commander.

It's multilingual, compatible with everything from Win 3.1 to Win 7, comes in 16, 32 & 64 bit versions, can be installed to run from a standard or U3 USB stick for portability and has free versions for Android, PocketPC and WinCE phones. It has at least 100 plugins/addons which can greatly expand the native functions and has been called "The Most Powerful Windows Application", although it might not be 100% perfect, maybe just 99%

It's shareware, and well worth the money, but it's uncrippled and 100% functional forever in trial mode, you just have to click a button on start. I've used it for as long as I can remember and it's the first program I install on any new machine I use. This may all sound a bit evangelistic but to my mind there just isn't a better file manager. Give it a shot, you won't regret it.