qb says:

I’ve used it off and on for a year and it runs fine. If you have Vista do it right away. If you have XP, there is no compelling reason (well it is prettier).

The problem with Win7 is that it’s only “fine”.

LibertyLover says:

#3, I agree. I’m running it now and there is nothing in there I really need. Nice eye candy, but that’s about it. It is light years ahead of Vista, though (which isn’t hard to do).

I will say there are still a few applications that don’t work right (my scanner and Outlook using HTTP over RDP).

XP was certainly faster.

I may still go back . . .

Benjamin says:

My computer is so slow, it won’t run Vista, let alone Windows 7. My netbook runs XP and Ubuntu and it is faster than my computer.

I am holding out for a Mac for the next computer. I might run Windows 7 as a virtual machine on the Mac if I get one, but I will not buy another standalone Windoze box.

ECA says:

#3,4..

1. windows BROKE the mode, in NOT sticking to STANDARD programming architecture.
Hmm, why is that BAD?
RULE 1..
NEVER ADD TO THE KERNAL AREA, unless you KNOW what it is and does. you dont ADD, things into C:\windows PERIOD, END. that is the RULE.
so insted of making a DIR outside of the WINDOWS area, they SLAM it all into a couple areas in WINDOWS..
Problem:
BOTS, VIRUS, Program removal, DLL’s, INF’s that you DONT KNOW who owns what, and WHAT is doing WHAT, and cant find that BASTARD thing running that SHOULDNT need to be run.

2.
BAD programming on ALL SIDES.
A program does not NEED to install ANYTHING in the windows DIR. They can set a reference to the dir it was INSTALLED and grab all they need THERE. NOT depend on windows to KEEP that 10 year OLD DLL, that JUST got upgraded and no longer WORKS with your program.
THE DLL that works is IN THE PROGRAMS dir.
AND you can BACK UP ALL THE PROGRAMS WITH THE DRIVERS..

3. Hardware drivers can SET RIGHT WHERE YOU PUT THEM. OR make an external DIR for them..THAT WAY you can BACK the bastards UP..

At this time..
If you wished to BACKUP programs, you really couldnt. Unless you BACKED UP windows with it.
Adding 18 gigs to a BACKUP.
Standard practice, MEANS..that windows can be BACKED UP, and the programs can BE backed up SEPARATELY..Cool.
Even if you had DATA in with the programs it was ALOT smaller then adding ALL OF WINDOWS to your backup.

AND removing a NON-working or OLD program meant you could DELETE 1 WHOLE dir, and it was gone. you didnt have to worry that 1000 EXTRA parts were floating around. THAT WERNT NEEDED.

IF windows wishes to HOLD all the drivers and DLL, INF in a seperate DIR…FINE..BUT NOT IN WINDOWS DIR.

IF’ windows kept the SAME CRAP architecture.
SCREW THEM.

WHO remembers when..IF you OVEr filled a HD that it OVER wrote the BEGINNING of the HD?? and killed the WHOLE OS?? it wasnt that LOng ago that MS fixed it..

Dennis says:

I have run Vista for over a year now, without issue. I bought it when it came out, and waited for the patches (to fix USB and Printers and Copying and…) to be released before I installed it. It runs fine (x64 with 8GB RAM) and I like the Aero interface. My machine is used for any number of things, as well as the latest games that require a beefy machine to even load.
That being said: Windows 7 does nothing for me. Vista works. XP works. Win7 will more than likely work also.
Are there flaws? Sure, as there are flaws in ALL OS’s.
Do I think the Vista flaws are worse than the XP flaws? No, but The Win 7 version flaws are unknowns, so at this point in time, I will stick to the known flaws rather than experiencing the joy of ‘discovery’.
I run Linux on my netbook. Why not on my main system? Because I like to run GAMES. I like to have software that does what I need it to OUT OF THE BOX, rather than taking the week to get it configured, only to realize I needed another library, or alter a config, or hope that THIS time THIS application will work for what I need it to. Not saying there is anything wrong with Linux, as it handles the chores of my Netbook just fine. I just like to use the hardware I have to run Games occasionally, which I cannot do with any form of Linux (other than the simple games that are available for LINUX) even trying to use any type of emulator.

Breetai says:

I think the only advantage in 7 from a buisness standpoint is the maximize tool by dragging the window to the top or the side. I’ve found that to be the ONLY advantage over XP. The only advantage is that it’s not Vista, it’s a more functional less bloated version of Vista. That simply isn’t enough to upgrade for a business.

As a gamer however, I seriously did consider DX10. So I tried everything I could think of during the beta but I didn’t see any significant difference in the video quality of the games. I don’t know what the hell people promoting how great DX10 is are talking about. They may as well have been saying how great vista is. On paper it’s great, in the real world, it’s fail. I think DX10 fell into the same category as Vista. They haven’t released a new version in years and managment pressured the design team to push ‘something’ out the door to shut the investors up.

The only advantage I can find is that it “looks sexy.” Granted it is sexy enough that I won’t gripe when I upgrade my PC and 7 comes on it. But There is still no compelling reason to run out and buy it.

bb says:

#11:
Windows 7 *is* Vista SP2. I guess that most of you don’t remember what a dog XP was when it first came out. It wasn’t till XP SP2 that XP because a acceptable OS. I remember thinking then why should I switch from Win98 to something that was both slower and bigger. Times change.

Vista got such a bad name with the public that Microsoft had to change it. Plus this way they get to charge for Win7 too!

sargasso says:

Adroit Windows users, will wait for Windows 7 SP1.

Cap'nKangaroo says:

I just bought a new Dell with Vista x64 on it for the family. I plan to put Win7 x64 as soon as Dell ships the disc. It replaces a HP that I bought just after XP was released. We were constantly fighting viruses and malware on this old PC.

On my laptop and gaming rig I have Vista and will probably update the gaming rig to Win7 x64 just to be able to add more memory. Not sure if I’ll update the laptop unless I know I can put x64 so it will see all 4 GB of memory.

I have noticed that in Vista (and I presume Win7) I still have applications crash, but I don’t remember ever having the OS crash. I had one buggy as hell (and entertaining) game that would crash XP but Vista keeps running and shrugs the app crash off.

But my main hope is that with Vista (and Win7) on the family PC I can make everyone run as standard users and avoid many of the infections.

joaoPT says:

I recently put my dual core pentium 4 3Ghz to pasture on my media center. And at that time tried to use Win7. It worked fantastic. Except for the little matter that it wouldn’t stream properly over wi-fi. It would stop playing movies, it would stutter…and that’s with XBMC. Don’t even get me started on the Media Center software. That’s a downgrade if I ever saw one.
So after a week or so I yanked it away.
Then I tried Ubuntu. That only lasted 12 hours. And that’s considering install and setup.

So, the only sensible thing to do was returning to a Media Center XP. It works flawlessly. And just because XBMC has got so much sexier and plays just about everything, I’m not even using Media Center software.

Win7 is marginally faster than Vista, but when compared to XP, it’s a HOG.

omnicbex says:

I have to say the results of this poll look better for ms (at least at this point in time) since the one I did on hydrogenaudio.org when vista came out that had about 2/3 of people flaking the upgrade altogether if they could help it. I’ve tried it and while it still isn’t exactly what I was hoping for it is better than vista. (although the bar was kinda low on that) It is a step closer to what vista should have been. I myself will still stick with xp for a little longer. Perhaps if I build a new computer or they get sp1 rolled out, but not now. XP works just fine thank you. In rebuttal to the article:

1. Yeah we have been asking for a palatable upgrade from XP… For 6 YEARS. And ya know what we didn’t ask for? The asinine version-ing that Vista started and 7 is keeping. XP was not completely innocent itself but Pro set you back what, 150 bucks. Now we have Ultimate putting 300-dollar dents into wallets just because people want a full-featured version. Seriously- it’s already coded, it’s already pressed on the disc, let people use it.

2. Yes, upgrading will screw you over if it isn’t from specific versions of Vista as it will require a format and clean install thereby erasing programs and files from before. Not really my gripe since I always clean install anyways, but this will tick off some. As for XP mode, It’s called virtual machines which is what XP mode runs on anyways. You can have (pretty much anything) mode on (pretty much anything) these days. I have linux-mode on XP, I have Windows7-mode on XP for crying out loud. Most emulators are free. This is almost a non-feature.

3. Common drivers are installed with the OS. The OS can check online if it does not have it pre-installed. OR you could just stick the driver disk in that you should have gotten with said hardware or go right to the vendor’s website and get it. (which is probably best because the vendor tested that driver extensively against the hardware and I have had issues with drivers downloaded by ms, funny the non-digitally signed driver by the vendor works fine) 7 probably goes about this the exact same way.

4. Piracy? Really? DRM was a hot issue with Vista, but any pirate worth two shanks riped/copied whatever he wanted when he wanted on XP or Vista and will with 7 including the OS itself. Also file sharing in windows is NOT a new feature.

5. -Or you could click the taskbar to switch windows, and alt+tab really isn’t hard (oh those arduous TWO keys!) This point does nothing but illustrate what ‘new’ features in windows have been about, 90% of the time- more ways to do the same thing.

6. Hardware support is about the only valid point made here, but gee… I don’t have that many processor cores or an absolutely insane amount of ram and XP runs my other hardware fine for now.

7. Personally, I prefer functionality over looks any day and I absolutely despised the tackiness of the default XP theme. I think Aero isn’t quite as tacky as that was, but I still just reverted to windows classic. Then I installed a desktop replacement in XP that I thought was attractive and functional. Issue resolved.

In conclusion, none of these points except for maybe hardware and software support are valid reasons for me to upgrade- and not right now at least. If you are like me, I hope you can see through all the hype as well and make an informed decision about if and when to upgrade. But alas, who am I kidding? It will be pre-installed on everyone’s next Best-Buy vanillabox which is how ms sells 90% of windows copies. And to Brian Chen, the author of the article in question- don’t drink that ms funded paycheck in one place.

-Omni

Cursor_ says:

No one should switch to an OS until it goes through at least three service packs.

By then they will have the bugs worked out.

Cursor_

The0ne says:

#20
You’re right, many of the anti-win7 haven’t or will most likely never try it. They follow what they’re reading on the net. Common thing to do except try to prove it yourself.

By any means stay with the OS you’re comfortable with. I still like XP myself. But don’t spread false information on something you didn’t even bother to at least install.

I’ve been running and testing Windows 7 on many desktop and laptops and I’ve found no got-to-fix-it gripes. Everything just works after installation, it really is that easy and simple with Windows 7. Yes, it’s not 100% but so far it’s had little problem detecting most hardware and installing drivers for them.

My desktops and laptops that crawled under Vista (all versions) now runs smooth with Windows 7 and all with Aero. Imagine that! If you can’t even believe this simple test, take your old old laptop, not too old now, and see for yourself. Really.

bac says:

I will keep using Linux like I have for the past ten years. It works for me. I do have two Windows XP machines that I barely use, mostly to give me reference when I fix friends’ and co-workers’ PCs. One is a a home built PC. The other is a netbook. The netbook drives me crazy. A dialog box pops up stating I have unused icons on my desktop but when I try to delete said unused icons, I get a dialog box stating I do not have permission to delete said icons. One day I will have to log in a root to delete those pesky icons. Windows XP is a fine OS but it just has too many little quirks that irritate me.

Rick Cain says:

Microsoft needs to stop this “tiered product” nonsense. Sell Windows 7 Ultimate as Windows 7.

Quit selling neutered versions of windows with a $100 “Discount”.