Windows users: upgrading to windows 7?

bonovox · 10-29-2009, 09:48 PM

I've just upgraded from Windows Vista to Windows 7 (Home Premium edition) and am very happy with it so far - trouble free and improved usability.

Who else has upgraded?
What are your thoughts? Any issues?
Who plans on upgrading?

Daemos · 10-29-2009, 09:57 PM

I've been running windows 7 since last year (since the beta has been out) and am running the RC now.

No issues.

Will be buying a copy soon.

*photolady* · 10-29-2009, 10:01 PM

Ran the initial beta version and am running the RC version until January. Christmas coming up, can't buy it yet but will.

I have a few issues but these are probably fixed in the full version. But no other issues, and I'm running the 64bit version. Even older programs run on this that wouldn't on Vista.

And I love it!!

**Adam** · 10-29-2009, 10:09 PM

I upgraded my old Vista laptop to 7 (seamlessly) when the beta came out earlier this year, and could definitely say it was better. I would recommend the upgrade to anyone currently using Vista. Networking and boot times seemed to be the major areas of improvement. Interestingly, Windows 7's version number is 6.1, whereas Vista's is 6.0, so I can only conclude this improvement to be logical

My linux laptop has 7 Pro installed as a secondary OS just for shits and giggles, and in case I need to use Photoshop and don't want to carry around my 8-pound windows laptop on a trip. I'm fortunate enough to get free licensing through the MSDNAA, otherwise I'd never buy 7.

My windows laptop (main computer since I don't have a desktop at the moment) runs XP, which I still prefer over both Vista and 7.

A word of caution to those who want to upgrade: the seamless upgrade only works if your edition of Vista matches your edition of 7. Check out http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...derations.aspx

i.e. Vista Home Basic/Premium can only upgrade to 7 Home Edition or Ultimate, Vista Business can only upgrade to 7 Professional, and Vista Ultimate can only upgrade to 7 Ultimate.

Thread moved to General Talk, by the way.

bonovox · 10-29-2009, 10:20 PM

Originally Posted by Adam

A word of caution to those who want to upgrade: the seamless upgrade only works if your edition of Vista matches your edition of 7. Check out Windows 7 Upgrade Considerations

i.e. Vista Home Basic/Premium can only upgrade to 7 Home Edition or Ultimate, Vista Business can only upgrade to 7 Professional, and Vista Ultimate can only upgrade to 7 Ultimate.[/B]

Yep, I upgraded seamlessly from Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium. It would have been a bit of a pain to have to reinstall all my programs and transfer files over, so I went with 7 Home Premium for this specific reason, even though I could have bought Windows 7 Professional for the same price. The extra features weren't worth the pain.

Originally Posted by Adam

Thread moved to General Talk, by the way.

I thought Windows 7 would fall under the "software" part of "Post Processing, Printing, Software, and Darkroom".

Oh well!

**Adam** · 10-29-2009, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by bonovox

I thought Windows 7 would fall under the "software" part of "Post Processing, Printing, Software, and Darkroom".

Oh well!

It's not photo-specific software, but no worries! Back to the topic at hand...

*photolady* · 10-29-2009, 10:49 PM

For those thinking of upgrading you might want to read the below article:

Microsoft SMB Community Blog : Regardless of what any hack says, a Windows 7 Upgrade is an Upgrade. What you need to know.

*res3567* · 10-29-2009, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by Adam

My linux laptop has 7 Pro installed as a secondary OS just for shits and giggles, and in case I need to use Photoshop and don't want to carry around my 8-pound windows laptop on a trip. My windows laptop (main computer since I don't have a desktop at the moment) runs XP, which I still prefer over both Vista and 7.

Ultimate.
.

So those of us who have XP should hold on to it for now? An 8 pound laptop? Wow!

joele · 10-29-2009, 11:57 PM

I think Win 7 is a worthy upgrade from XP.. Vista wasn't so much..

I have been running the final for a month (from work) and it is working fine..

wlachan · 10-30-2009, 02:48 AM

I think XP is still king on stability once properly configurated. Been trying the W7 32/64bit Ultimate. The 64bit has USB issue with nForce 6/7 chipset and the solution is being investigated by MS. Adobe pdf thumbnail won't work on 64bit, and K-lite won't generate thumbnail properly on both editions. I am unable to turn off the annoying Wacom pen tap assist of the mouse curser and PP has been difficult if not impossible (probably Wacom RC driver issue). Other than the fact that the pen curser doesn't lag within Lightroom 2.5, I can feel no advantage over Vista SP2 yet, not even speed improvement most people claimed. To me, it is more accurate to be labeled as Vista SP3 instead of a whole new OS, but a new name sells and people love hype.

*Das Boot* · 10-30-2009, 04:18 AM

I have a home theater PC and a netbook running XP. My HTPC is my primary tuner, DVR, Blu-Ray, and Netflix viewer for the family room television. I use GBPVR and most people don't realize they're even "watching" a computer program. The case and the program would make you think it's just a fancy cable box. Anyways, my biggest issue for upgrading would be the loss of the DVR-MS container. It has been dropped by Microsoft and has/is the most reliable way of recording and playing back HDTV. My netbook is setup to act as a client to my HTPC. What that means is - if my wife is watching something I'd rather not, I can either "tune" something else in (it has 3 tuners) or watch something recorded on my little netbook. I can do this in anyroom in the house - often sitting next to her. Forget about pausing that nail-biting football game - fire up the client on the netbook and take it with you to the fridge, bathroom, answering the front door, or the grill on the back deck to flip the hamburgers. It's a nice setup. So, until I have to change or a better/comparable alternative to DVR-MS comes along, I'm sticking with XP.

*reeftool* · 10-30-2009, 08:40 AM

I have a 7 yr. old P4 desktop running XP and another 4 yr. old Sempron tower running Linux so upgrading either one to Win 7 isn't going to happen. Everything I've heard is positive. I will be building an new desktop this winter I hope and will probably go with Win 7. I can't complain about XP. It is fast, stable and has performed well for me since I got this tower in 2002. I replaced the HD with a 320Gig after filling up the 80Gig. All is still working fine but the age is beginning to concern me.

flippedgazelle · 10-30-2009, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by wlachan

... I can feel no advantage over Vista SP2 yet, not even speed improvement most people claimed. To me, it is more accurate to be labeled as Vista SP3 instead of a whole new OS, but a new name sells and people love hype.

If you have a fairly powerful PC to begin with, there really isn't any performance advantage to 7 over Vista. I think many of those "improved performance" impressions were the result of Vista's aggressive cacheing early on, which could slow things for the 1st few days. Windows 7 does this much less.

*Das Boot* · 10-30-2009, 09:38 AM

I have seen a review comparing XP, Vista, & 7 speed wise. Although it seemed to the reviewer that 7 "appeared" to be the fastest, it wasn't. They compared actions with Office, WMP, etc and most often 7 came in dead last. I wouldn't say it would be a deal breaker - the differences were very small. Suprisingly, though, XP came out ahead in a number of the tests.

*Ratmagiclady* · 10-30-2009, 10:19 AM

I'm still watching, ...my old XP machine, as I often lament, just isn't keeping up, and possible upgrades are at diminishing returns: I've been holding out hope that we can get something with Windows 7 for a reasonable price, soon. And that it'll be OK.

I've just been having a hard time adapting to Mac, old as the Mac I got is, so I'll be interested in hearing reports with much interest.