Windows 7 Hope

[vegaseat]

I just read that the Microsoft Windows 7 OS may appear on PCs by October 22 this year. That is seemingly good news for those of us who are sitting on aging XP desktop PCs in the hope of skipping the dreadful Vista OS. The hope is also for the new OS to be actually lean (unbloated), secure and friendly.

[jephthah]

but isnt 7 just a watered down Vista? i dont' know anyone who's especially excited about 7.

[jlm699]

but isnt 7 just a watered down Vista? i dont' know anyone who's especially excited about 7.

No, it's a fixed Vista. I'm genuinely excited about 7. I had the beta and now am running the RC1 on my home desktop. It's fantastically amazing and is what Vistashould have been.

[scru]

I won't go as far as to call it amazing, but yes its definitely a step (or several) in the right direction from Vista. Some of the new APIs are nice to play around with (note verb play) too.

I definitely prefer it to Vista and XP.

[MosaicFuneral]

I'm only considering Windows 7 as a replacement, to my 2kPro installation on one machine, since everyone is dropping support for 2k. Besides that, I'm keeping XP.

[hcwebb]

I've been putting off installing XP, but, as you say, 2k support is waning.

Is XP Pro reliable enough to depend on? Any ongoing complaints?

Windows 7, eh? Will it be a thorn initially, as Windows updates all tend to be, or will it be a pleasure to see, as OS-X updates are?

Or shall we wait for version 7.1 as we did v3.1?

[jephthah]

I've been putting off installing XP, but, as you say, 2k support is waning.

wow. that's some tenacity.

XP Pro is reliable, and since we already have it, i intend to keep XP on our production floor indefinitely.

But XP support will soon be disappearing. So, if you haven't gone to XP yet, then don't bother now -- skip XP, hold out another year or so, and just go to 7.

[scru]

I've been putting off installing XP, but, as you say, 2k support is waning.

Is XP Pro reliable enough to depend on? Any ongoing complaints?

Windows 7, eh? Will it be a thorn initially, as Windows updates all tend to be, or will it be a pleasure to see, as OS-X updates are?

Or shall we wait for version 7.1 as we did v3.1?

:|

Something to note though, Windows 7 is definitely not faster than XP (not comparable to XP speeds either). It won't run well on XP class hardware. That said, if you still have XP class hardware and don't want to upgrade it, you should be seriously considering running a non-Windows OS at this point.

[hcwebb]

Yes, but.....

One of the (many) reasons I've avoided "upgrading" from Win2k is that I have many and varied 'customizations' that I've created over the years, to make my system work as I want.

Things as arcane as a CP/M emulator to run my Borland Turbo-Pascal software. And macros in Wordstar-for-Windows (Win3.1) (it really should be dumped though). And many custom batch files..... and my many AutoIt scripts.... Custom Logitech keyboard/mouse, and and and.....

And then there's the software that will need to be reinstalled, and customized (toolbars or custom menus or macros).

It would take forever to update these tools, and then it'd be time to upgrade Windows again. Yuk.

A re-install of Windows is bad enough - 2 to 3 months of use and 'adjustments' - but installing a completely new OS? It's just doesn't sound fun.

What's the way to avoid the above re-install nightmare? Maybe I shouldn't be utilizing the many capabilities of these systems as much as I do...?

I like OS-X but it does seem more difficult to 'customize' to my exact specs. But reinstalls are much cleaner.

I hear tell that the migration from Win2K is still painful, but that from XP onward tends to retain previous preferences, etc. Is this true?

[scru]

Upgrading from Linux is the "stickiest" of all, and it doesn't really get any more customizable when it comes to OSes.

That said yes, XP (forward only), Vista and Windows 7 do come with migration tools that help move your preferences from the previous OS to the new one. I couldn't tell you how well they work as I never used them myself (I see OS upgrades/reinstalls as a chance to start anew--well, Windows that is) so you may have to do some research on these.

[hcwebb]

The 'fresh start' idea is understandable. It's like cleaning out your desk in the spring. But for me, reinstalling all the tools is more like trashing the whole office, and building a new one from parts. I just don't have that much extra time...

Except, of course, when I'm forced to make time, by a system crash (or an obsolete OS)!

Upgrading from Win3.1 to WinNT was a real pleasure...less DOS 'overhead', and fewer crashes. And then the upgrade from NT to 2K was a pleasure; fewer bluescreens, and more software integration.

But how much does XP really offer that's better than 2K (or Vista, or '7')? That's not a rhetorical question, I'd like to know...

I might finally look into Linux (will I find Windows or DOS emulators to make the switch gradual?), and see if it will make the migration less painful than 'upgrading' Windows yet again.

[scru]

But how much does XP really offer that's better than 2K (or Vista, or '7')? That's not a rhetorical question, I'd like to know...

If you have to ask, then you probably don't need an upgrade :P . I dunno, I'd say that would be up to you and what you consider better and relevant to your needs. For instance, much of Vista's upgrade incentive may be considered "superficial" by some, while utterly cool for others. Same goes for 7.

That said there are some serious disadvantages to using a dated OS that you should consider, such as diminished mainstream and software support, and less (or no) attention to security issues.

This one is more whining than anything (feel free to ignore), but programmers like myself would often have to wrestle with legacy APIs to support you when there is a fairly recent one that does something better.

Anyway, you should give this a round on the Windows forums where somebody more knowledgeable than I am can help you.

[jephthah]

at this late stage in the game, i would not waste my time "upgrading" from 2K to XP.

If you already had XP, i'd say to keep it, but since you dont even have it, dont bother "upgrading" to something that's already on it's way to forced obsolescence.

personally i think XP is a lot better/more reliable than Vista. it's a sad state of affairs. i would not ever recommend vista. i dont know enough about Win7 to say how well it works.

if you've made it this long with 2K theres no hurry or reason to go to XP now. just wait until 7 is released and stable and go with that.

[scru]

at this late stage in the game, i would not waste my time "upgrading" from 2K to XP.

If you already had XP, i'd say to keep it, but since you dont even have it, dont bother "upgrading" to something that's already on it's way to forced obsolescence.

personally i think XP is a lot better/more reliable than Vista. it's a sad state of affairs. i would not ever recommend vista. i dont know enough about Win7 to say how well it works.

if you've made it this long with 2K theres no hurry or reason to go to XP now. just wait until 7 is released and stable and go with that.

What he said.

[vegaseat]

Maybe I ought to wait till the Google Chrome OS comes out a year later. That one is supposed to be safe from virus attack.

[shadwickman]

Maybe I ought to wait till the Google Chrome OS comes out a year later. That one is supposed to be safe from virus attack.

Ah, but I don't trust Google with my whole OS :P They already know enough about me... (my paranoia is kicking in) And it'll just be one more Linux distro out there, only with a big name plastered onto it.

As for Windows 2k, the lack of updates will be a bit of an issue, but to be honest, I'd say keep what you're comfortable with. If your computer is customized for you and everything's golden, then there's not a huge issue with using an outdated version.

I love XP (Vista was awful), and I've tried Windows 7 (rc1?), but to be honest, 7 seems to be able to do all I need out of XP, but with more eye-candy and bugginess (at least until it's fully stable). I still run XP on my home computer and will be happy to stick with it into the future.

P.S. to jephthah, nice idea about sticking with XP indefinitely :P

[Hiroshe]

Yeah, I kinda don't like the idea of google making an os... I can see google becoming an open source version of microsoft, trying to dominate every single market it see's.
I don't think windows seven will run vary well on my poor little aspire one, so I have to use linux (or buy a copy of windows xp becouse all we have is vista disks lying around the house.)

[jephthah]

Ah, but I don't trust Google with my whole OS :P They already know enough about me... (my paranoia is kicking in) And it'll just be one more Linux distro out there, only with a big name plastered onto it.

QFMFT.

google has got their fingers in too many pies. i'm considering getting rid of my gmail account just on general principles.

[Ene Uran]

Yeah, I kinda don't like the idea of google making an os... I can see google becoming an open source version of microsoft, trying to dominate every single market it see's. I don't think windows seven will run vary well on my poor little aspire one, so I have to use linux (or buy a copy of windows xp becouse all we have is vista disks lying around the house.)

My little Aspire1 came with XP installed. God bless it!

But the basic problem with any Windows OS, it's like Swiss Cheese to malware attacks.

[jephthah]

if you want to try linux and/or are considering google's linux OS...

i'd recommend you first try Ubuntu 's linux distribution. it's very user friendly and works out-of-the box with most hardware.