New Computer?

[DavidW]

I'm sorry for being a jerk, I had a migraine.  Should have just stayed off of the forum.

[MN Dave]

Jerk!

[drogulus]

     I'm gonna make a system image of my old PC and put it on the new one. To do this I converted my old one from 32 to 64 bit. This was not hard because I went to the Microsoft Windows shop, put in my purchase code for the 32 bit version and it allowed me to DL the 64 bit, which included the same product key! Don't buy twice!

     Now I have ISO's of both 32 bit and 64 bit Home Premium. This is really good, just the pure OS with no artificial ingredients. Now I can make images with drivers, updates and core programs added (already done) which I can install on any machine I acquire. I'll need to get a new product key, but I have one for my new machine so I'm all set. No restore discs, no recovery partitions are needed. Instead I might nuke the old recovery partition and make a smaller one with an ISO on it.

     I am the PC Master! Fear my power...or die!!

     

[Scarpia]

     I'm gonna make a system image of my old PC and put it on the new one. To do this I converted my old one from 32 to 64 bit. This was not hard because I went to the Microsoft Windows shop, put in my purchase code for the 32 bit version and it allowed me to DL the 64 bit, which included the same product key! Don't buy twice!

     Now I have ISO's of both 32 bit and 64 bit Home Premium. This is really good, just the pure OS with no artificial ingredients. Now I can make images with drivers, updates and core programs added (already done) which I can install on any machine I acquire. I'll need to get a new product key, but I have one for my new machine so I'm all set. No restore discs, no recovery partitions are needed. Instead I might nuke the old recovery partition and make a smaller one with an ISO on it.

     I am the PC Master! Fear my power...or die!!

     

If you got a Mac instead you might have time to do something other than fiddle with your computer.

[drogulus]

If you got a Mac instead you might have time to do something other than fiddle with your computer.

     Probably true, but that's not the only reason I don't want a Mac. There's also the price.
   

[DavidW]

Ernie, I bought Windows 7 which has both 32 bit and 64 bit on there.

That being said, you're like the only guy I know that gets excited about upgrading Windows OSs.  You and your betas and your 32 bit and 64 bit this and that.

For me if it works, is not a Vista level pain in the butt, so I can get work done then the OS just disappears into the background as it should be.

[drogulus]

Ernie, I bought Windows 7 which has both 32 bit and 64 bit on there.

That being said, you're like the only guy I know that gets excited about upgrading Windows OSs.  You and your betas and your 32 bit and 64 bit this and that.

     I have a peculiar idea of fun. That's what you're saying, right? Well, it's true.

[DavidW]

     I have a peculiar idea of fun. That's what you're saying, right? Well, it's true.

I guess I'm a hypocrite for mocking your sense of fun while I then go listen to some Xenakis!

[Scarpia]

Ernie, I bought Windows 7 which has both 32 bit and 64 bit on there.

That being said, you're like the only guy I know that gets excited about upgrading Windows OSs.  You and your betas and your 32 bit and 64 bit this and that.

For me if it works, is not a Vista level pain in the butt, so I can get work done then the OS just disappears into the background as it should be.

The notion that Windows 7 somehow "fixes" everything that was wrong with Vista is utterly false.  I have a desktop which runs XP, a Laptop for work purposes that runs Vista, and a laptop for my own use that runs Windows 7, and the Windows 7 is by far the most problematic.  All of the programs and drivers that were broken or half-broken on Vista are still broken on Windows 7, and there are even more programs that don't work right on Windows 7.

What does Windows 7 provide?  A user interface that is more glittery and Mac-like than XP but without any significant new functionality that I have noticed.  Then there is the enormous increase in system resources consumed, so that even with four times as much RAM and perhaps 4 times the processor speed it is generally responsive than the old XP system.   And they think someone will want Window 7 on their phone?  Will you have to wait five minutes for your phone to boot before you can answer a call?

[Lethevich]

I think that W7's problem is the problem of all new software - it's no longer financially viable to produce efficient and fast software, the money is in bloating everything because it's what the market demands.

I do quite like W7's compatability mode, though.

[Scarpia]

I do quite like W7's compatability mode, though.

Vista also has compatibility modes.  I have never encountered an instance when compatibility mode fixed a problem.

I wouldn't mind bloat if it worked.  I would not have minded all the bloat if they had managed it so that it could run software designed for XP properly.

[Lethevich]

Hmm, odd, I've gotten a few games to work with compatability mode. Admittedly the primary reason I use compat mode with W7 is to make Windows Live Messenger work properly

I was looking forward to Vista/W7 lite hacks, but sadly it seems that a lot of the new "features" are built into the architecture

[Scarpia]

Hmm, odd, I've gotten a few games to work with compatability mode. Admittedly the primary reason I use compat mode with W7 is to make Windows Live Messenger work properly

I was looking forward to Vista/W7 lite hacks, but sadly it seems that a lot of the new "features" are built into the architecture

For me it is little things.  I use a text editor for programming (TextPad) and when it installs on Windows 7 it fails to register itself so that it is included as an option when I right-click on a file name.  I have to open the editor and then open the file.  I can't get WinZip to install.  7-Zip also fails to work properly.   My c-compiler (a micosoft product) refuses to install on Windows 7 and tells me to get a newer version.  How convenient for them that I should buy a new c compiler. 

[DavidW]

The notion that Windows 7 somehow "fixes" everything that was wrong with Vista is utterly false.  I have a desktop which runs XP, a Laptop for work purposes that runs Vista, and a laptop for my own use that runs Windows 7, and the Windows 7 is by far the most problematic.  All of the programs and drivers that were broken or half-broken on Vista are still broken on Windows 7, and there are even more programs that don't work right on Windows 7.

You are an idiot for running XP.  It is not as secure as Vista or 7.  Your complaint about the drivers has nothing to do with Windows, because it's not their fault.  The manufacturer supplies the driver, it doesn't work like Linux.  The primary purpose of a new OS is not to run old legacy software anyway.  You seem like the type that would complain that 64 bit Windows can't run the old 16 bit programs!

What does Windows 7 provide?  A user interface that is more glittery and Mac-like than XP but without any significant new functionality that I have noticed.  Then there is the enormous increase in system resources consumed, so that even with four times as much RAM and perhaps 4 times the processor speed it is generally responsive than the old XP system.   

Windows 7 is more secure than XP.  And it runs FASTER than XP on new hardware because it was optimized for new hardware.  Windows 7 has better benchmarks on newer machines than XP does.  The UI is better, and not in a glitzy way-- in a get shit done way.  Who in their right mind besides you would want to comb through menus when you can quickly search instead?  Who wants to toggle through multiple windows and tabs when you can quick view them and also check on the progress of a download or file transfer just by looking down at the taskbar?  And on Windows 7 and Vista if you don't like the UI you can reconfigure it to look and behave like XP. 

My laptop and my desktop boot to a useable desktop raring to go in 20-30 seconds.  I can have eight programs open, twenty tabs going in FF and not feel a thing.  My workstation running XP takes 3x as long to boot, and then takes another 2-3 minutes to become response and slows down quickly when I have multiple programs open.  And while my older home pcs running XP were not as bad, it's not that new.  Windows 7 is just flat out better.

[drogulus]

     I know old games work in XP compatibility mode. Unreal Tournament from 1999 even works in 7 but the sound is bad. XP SP3 mode fixed the sound.

     If anyone would like to get the OEM version of Service Pack 1 (probably identical to the consumer version) I'll provide links. Just uninstall it when the official one becomes available.

     64 bit: windows6.1-KB976932-X64.exe

     32 bit: windows6.1-KB976932-X86.exe

[Josquin des Prez]

I never tried Vista, but Windows 7 is an abomination. The new interface sucks, and the new theme is seizure inducing. It also runs quite slower then XP, and i DID experience a couple of compatibility issues. I have a feeling windows XP SP3 is going to be the last good Microsoft OS.

[drogulus]

     I've come to appreciate the taskbar, and I no longer convert to the Windows 98 look. The preview windows are quite functional, not just decorative. Overall my initial positive impression has held up. So I'll never get bit perfect audio at all sample rates. Too bad, but not a big deal. I'll settle for bit perfect at 44.1k where most of my music is.

[Josquin des Prez]

     I've come to appreciate the taskbar, and I no longer convert to the Windows 98 look.

Mmmh, you can't change to the windows 98 taskbar, unless you use a third party program. If you are talking about the windows 98 theme, you can have it, sort of. Since the entire system is designed with that glittering piece of shit of a theme in mind, switching to the classic theme creates a few discrepancies which are a bit annoying. It just feels tacked on.

[Josquin des Prez]

My laptop and my desktop boot to a useable desktop raring to go in 20-30 seconds.  I can have eight programs open, twenty tabs going in FF and not feel a thing.  My workstation running XP takes 3x as long to boot, and then takes another 2-3 minutes to become response and slows down quickly when I have multiple programs open.  And while my older home pcs running XP were not as bad, it's not that new.  Windows 7 is just flat out better.

I'm sorry, but that's just bullcrap. I'm dual booting Windows 7 and Windows XP on the same machine, and XP is sever order of magnitude faster then Windows 7. And my hardware is quite recent, though i doubt that actually makes a difference.

[drogulus]

     JdP, you do realize that your experience and mine and Davids can't be treated as contradictory propositions? There are no doubt unknown causes for the differences involving hardware, software and user error. Maybe I'm erroneously allowing Win 7 to perform well and could experience how shitty it truly is if I had your skill at making things suck.