Windows 7 Question

[animus]

So yeah, I'm thinking about getting/pirating/buying/absorbing Windows 7 32 bit or whatever. My comp only has 2 gigs of RAM so there'd be no point in getting 64 bit. I'm still using my old Windows XP SP3 and wanted to upgrade. Is there anything else significant to Windows 7 besides the prettier interface, and the ability to use DirectX10?

What're people's experience with it? Is it worth it? Good? Does it eat up a ton of RAM like Vista used to?

[UChessmaster]

So yeah, I'm thinking about getting/pirating/buying/absorbing Windows 7 32 bit or whatever. My comp only has 2 gigs of RAM so there'd be no point in getting 64 bit. I'm still using my old Windows XP SP3 and wanted to upgrade. Is there anything else significant to Windows 7 besides the prettier interface, and the ability to use DirectX10?

What're people's experience with it? Is it worth it? Good? Does it eat up a ton of RAM like Vista used to?

In my opinion, 7 is was vista was suposed to be.

[The Heretic Azazel]

I have the 64 bit version and my computer boots up super fast. Both versions are still leaps ahead of Vista and neither is nowhere near the drag on your resources Vista was. Definitely worth it.

[Penner]

Yah, i agree with both Chess and Azazel.

Seven is Heaven :D

[animus]

Cool. Now to upgrade my hard drive before I get upgrade to 7.

Does Windows 7 have anything other than a prettier interface and ability to use DirectX10? Not that those aren't awesome already or anything.

[Buffalobiian]

Cool. Now to upgrade my hard drive before I get upgrade to 7.

Does Windows 7 have anything other than a prettier interface and ability to use DirectX10? Not that those aren't awesome already or anything.

Besides a "prettier" interface, I'd also call it a more "functional" interface. The task bar modifications in particular are very nice (window previewing and icon collapsing). Pinning programs to taskbar is a must too.

Boot-up time is also much faster, as commented.

If you don't have a backup software, Windows 7 comes with one. I can't comment on how good it is because I haven't used it yet, but it should be much better than System Restore.

[David75]

Windows 7 and ram management:
You'll read people comment on how windows 7 clutters your ram. This has become bullshit.
Why? Because ram management has become a lot more efficient than it was and 7 always feels quick and reactive to the limits of your harddrive and apps of course.

Windows 7 and harddrives:
It seems the prefetching and system file management is a lot better, alowing for quicker boot times and less hdd access. Just be careful not too install too much third party apps and their preload icons or whatever as you will hurt your boot times a lot, like in any previous version of windows.
SSDs or solid states drives: Windows 7 has specific support for those drives that are the best updgrade you can have for each dollar you spend, if you choose the right one as there are some really bad ssds on the market, and some very good ones. Thing is expensive does not mean good... eventhough SSDs already are 3$/GB and up...

Global use is a lot easier, the global search is really helpful for programs, system tuning and so on.
The integrated backup work very well, the network one with pro/integral version works wonders with a good nas.
I fucked up my win 7 lots of time by playing with system files and was able to restore it to a previous state very easily. Just remember to use the right procedure before any important change to the system so that you can use a save from minutes ago, rather than the one from yesterday as it's a lot better to restore from a very fresh save when fidling with your comp.

The backup is even able to retrieve multiple version of the same file, it was very helpful for one of my game saves. I lost one day of saves, but not the whole thing which was so nice since it was a very slow game and starting all over would have been a real pain in the ass.

Get to learn libraries quickly, at first you think it's a pain in the ass and totally useless, but in fact it's incredibly useful and powerful. Just a warning: erasing a file in a library erases the original. Noob mistake, so remember that.


Other than that, win7 isn't without its bugs and problem, but they are at very low level from what I experienced and the internet still is a great place to get things repaired.

On 7 more than on any previous version, try embed tools first, forget the third party apps reflex, as most of the time embed tools are a lot more powerful/useful and will not clutter your system. It's just it can be a little less user friendly at first.
Restrain yourself from any register direct modifications, most tuning is accessible if you search the right terms.
Backups are easier, so use them to your heart contents.

[Kraco]

I'll be moving to Win7 soon as well, and might as well throw one question here: I have always had my primary HD partitioned in two: System(C) and Games(D), with the C containing Windows and all the software save the games, which I've installed on D. However, if I've understood correctly, Vista wanted to install everything under user accounts. Does this mean it forced everything on C? Maybe I'm totally wrong, having used Vista only now and then, but if I'm not, does Win7 do that as well or does it allow you to install games wherever you want?

This would affect how I partition the new HD.

[David75]

I did not try that, but you can always after the install change your environment variables to have the user, program and data folders in another partition than the system one.

I've read that many times, but did not try it first hand. Used a lot for people with tiny SSDs to boost their system use for a cheaper price. Also useful for backup purposes of course.

[Buffalobiian]

I'll be moving to Win7 soon as well, and might as well throw one question here: I have always had my primary HD partitioned in two: System(C) and Games(D), with the C containing Windows and all the software save the games, which I've installed on D. However, if I've understood correctly, Vista wanted to install everything under user accounts. Does this mean it forced everything on C? Maybe I'm totally wrong, having used Vista only now and then, but if I'm not, does Win7 do that as well or does it allow you to install games wherever you want?

This would affect how I partition the new HD.

I have a similar setup using:

HDD0:
C:\ <- OS files
F:\ <- Games, Programs, Downloads, Music

HDD1:
H:\ <- Mass Download Archive (mostly for completed series)

Windows 7 doesn't force everything onto C:\. You choose your own install path.

I have a small number of programs installed to C:\, but that's only because the installer executable locked the path, not Windows 7.

[Kraco]

That's jolly good news. Thanks!

I was actually wondering about the credibility of my impression because of that SSD thing that David mentioned. Those things are quite small, after all, and games these days eat lots of space.

[David75]

SSDs remain geek/technical/expensive little divas pieces of hardware.
That will eventually change over time, but they are a little hard to deal with at present times.
I've been tracking them for something like 2 years now, that's why I can partly answer for windows 7 and path management.

To this day, windows 7 seems to be the best microsoft OS ever. Or at least, the better polished at launch ever.