Windows 7 for Xmass

D

Doug

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I have had some shooters ask me if I feel it is safe to buy a Windows 7 computer or upgrade their present computer to Windows 7?
Everyone’s situation is different but one thing I am comfortable in saying is Windows 7 looks like a great operating system. I played with the Beta version early this year and even in it’s early stages it was better than Vista. In the past I always thought it was best to wait six months or so before upgrading so that most of the bugs had been fixed. This time I think MSFT got it right from the start!
Over the last month I have installed it on three of my computers for testing without any problems. One was even a 6 year old Dell and the most recent was my 1 year old dual core laptop.

Thoughts:
If upgrading make sure you have a minimum of 2 GB of memory.
If buying a new computer get 4 GB of memory.
Get the right version for your computer – 32Bit or 64Bit if you have a Dual Core system.
If your computer has Vista and you are happy with it then why upgrade?
If you are unhappy with Vista then go ahead and upgrade now.
If you bought a computer recently that had a free upgrade I would do that now rather than later.
If you are upgrading a Windows XP machine give me a call or email on what you need to do first.
Happy Computing,
Doug
 
Good post Doug,

I have a Dell Inspiron 1720 laptop. When I look at the machines spec it says it is 32bit but it is a dual core processor – should I go for the 32bit or 64bit operating system?
 
Brian,
I think most of the 1720's were dual core systems but hey came with a Vista 32 bit operating system. Download & Run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...90-7659-4BD9-9E51-2497C146AF15&displaylang=en
You will see a Tab for both the 32 Bit and the 64 Bit.
What I found real interesting was that the 32 bit did not like my sound card and the 64 bit did. I put the 64 Bit on my Dell Latitude D530 laptop and it looks great. It runs a little faster ,even with 32 Bit programs, then it did with XP Pro.
Also go to the Dell support and see if you have the latest BIO’s. If not download and install it. It is always best to enter your Service Tag when looking for drivers and upgrade information.
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=GuidedPathHomePage
One last thought is check how much memory you have. Anything less then 2 GB will cripple your laptop.
 
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Vista was a bust for sure. If I had Vista I would consider Win 7. However time will tell if it is as good as XP. I have three machines with XP. One of my computers is home made and xp works great there also. Don't jump to quickly for Win 7.

Good advice Doug.

Fred K
 
Fred K said:
Vista was a bust for sure. If I had Vista I would consider Win 7. However time will tell if it is as good as XP. I have three machines with XP. One of my computers is home made and xp works great there also. Don't jump to quickly for Win 7.

Good advice Doug.

Fred K
Click to expand...

I guess it's the old Apples & Oranges or Fords and Chevy thing. I bought Vista the first week it came out already installed on a new computer. It has acted perfectly. Family member has several computers in his house running Vista. Nary a problem.........He has used nearly every operating system Windows come up with and he likes it a well as any they've ever had. I switched from 98 so I guess anything was an improvement for me. Computer lockup = Ctrl+Alt+Delete was my favorite key stroke w/98.:mad:
 
My last on this subject;
Why would MS quickly come out with the Win 7 for Vista customers if there were no problems. Win 7 is for updating Vista.
My two
Fred K
 
Brian

There is no advantage to 64 bit operating systems at the current time, unless you are using memory intense applications. 64 bit systems can address an almost infinite amount of memory, 32 bit windows systems can really only use 3.5 gb of memory.


Dave K
 
Doug/Dave K,

Thanks, the memory on the 1720 is at its maximum of 4GB so I think I’ll go for the 32bit system.

Windows 7 Advisor reported that Microsoft IntelliPoint 6.3 was not compatible, which is strange as the WiFi mouse is only three months old?

I’ll certainly be pleased to see the back of Vista, it gets slower by the day, start up time is – press button, go make a coffee :mad:

Brian
 
Office 2010 Beta is available for 32 bit and 64 bit. When we have 64 bit apps for a 64 bit OS then we finally have some improvement. I think the game boxes are up to 128 or 256 bit. PCs are way behind. The hardware has been available for years but its the apps we really use.
 
All the drivers in the opperating system are 64 bit and that helps some. Many games are written in 64 bit now and access to so much memory also helps. One little gotcha is that you can run in xp mode to run an app that won't run on 7. You need a seperate and independent virus program to run in xp or you are not protected.
 
Should I Wait?

My original post was meant to answer the Question –
Should I wait to get Windows? :confused:
And my simple answer would be – No Reason that I know of! ;)

Now for a Rethink of 32 bit versus 64 bit:
If you already have a 64 bit operating system then I would recommend upgrading to the 64 bit version.
If you have a 32bit then it might cost more to upgrade to the 64 bit and this might not be worth the extra cost. Also the average computer user will never need a 64bit system.

Brian’s comment that his Vista takes hours to start brings up One final thought for today:
It is usually always better to do a ‘Clean Install’ rather than just upgrading over top of the old operating system. This keeps you from bringing all of your old problems over to your new system.
 
Why is this in the Rimfire Forum?

Shouldn't this be a General Discussion topic?

Couldn't this be construed as advertising for Gates?
 
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