Windows 7
- Thread starter Imgormiel
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Resident Freddy
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- Apr 7, 2004
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Hi Imgormiel not seen you for a while 
Im already running Windows 7, and it has some pros / cons which I like about it. Its taken a few days to get used to the task bar, as I cant find a way to store quicklinks without them unfolding (you will understand when you try it).
Currently you can use pretty much all Vista drivers and the only real problem ive had atm is getting Daemon tools to install which i gave up on and had to install virtual clone. Other than that its ok, it runs DAOC fine, and im hoping it will run Darkfall the same way!
Heres a S/s of how it looks, oh and the new paint looks nifty imo
Im already running Windows 7, and it has some pros / cons which I like about it. Its taken a few days to get used to the task bar, as I cant find a way to store quicklinks without them unfolding (you will understand when you try it).
Currently you can use pretty much all Vista drivers and the only real problem ive had atm is getting Daemon tools to install which i gave up on and had to install virtual clone. Other than that its ok, it runs DAOC fine, and im hoping it will run Darkfall the same way!
Heres a S/s of how it looks, oh and the new paint looks nifty imo
Overdriven
Dumpster Fire of The South
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fettoken
I am a FH squatter
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It doesnt seem to offer more compability than Vista (probably even less) when it comes to programs and games.
Ctuchik
FH is my second home
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need a touch screen for that tho. otherwise its just Vista..
soze
I am a FH squatter
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Don't forget this is a Beta its going to have problems as to why upgrade to it, They same reason you upgrade linux and mac os versions because it is the new version and you get some shiny new toys. Or because you have a computer that can run it and you want to see what the new version is like.
And what are these shiny new toys going to be? I only upgrade when there is something I need/want. The last few upgrades have all been because some windows program has insisted on an upgrade.
Lakih
Resident Freddy
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a new version of paint for one thing
like everything else in beta, download it, try it out and if its good... acquire it
soze
I am a FH squatter
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Its a free beta installing a OS is very easy you get 6 months to try this new OS before having to pay why not give it a look and try to find something you like rather than writing it off because XP is fine.
Fast
Part of the furniture
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Lakih
Resident Freddy
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lol!
Syri
FH is my second home
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I'm going to get the beta, try it and see if the performance really is on par with XP, as some sites are claiming. If it is, then I guess I'll be able to stop looking round for some kind of xp port of direct x 10, for if/when dx10 only games start to show.
BTW, for anyone interested, I'll sum up the differences (that I know of) when upgrading from XP to Vista, and from Vista to Windows 7.
New Vista Features
* Aero user interface (no, not the chocolate), basically fancy transparent windows, revised start menu etc.
* More search usage. instead of the run command, there's a search box on the start menu, so you can type in commands or whatever you want to search for straight from the menu.
* New driver model, someone decided drivers needed re-writing. They worked fine before, they work fine still, just differently. Next on the news, Microsoft invents new Wheel 2009.
* The Windows Shuffle. Programs, control panel applets and much more have been moved around, had options moved and all sorts. Some are made more accessible, some are made slower to get at, some are just as easy but in different places. All part of the new wheel 2009 strategy.
* 64 bit support from the start. No last minute bodged 64 bit edition, it's made for it out the gates. Just most of the 64 bit factory build pcs are still shipping the 32 bit version... DOH!
* Direct X 10. More graphical effects to take advantage of the new features of that radeon HD or geforce 8000+ series card. Due to the previously mentioned driver changes, this won't work with XP's driver model, and nobody could be bothered to make a separate development fork to work on both.
* Resource hogging. Vista swallows resources like never before seen in Windows! System requirements are extremely high, just to get windows itself to run smooth, let alone run anything on top of that. Pre-built manufacturers ignore this and continue to stick 1gb ram in their base models, and an integrated graphics chip that nicks 25% of that 1gb.
As you might guess, I wasn't too impressed with Vista. Most of the changes just didn't seem to justify the huge drain it put on resources, not to mention the wallet. Add to that the fact some companies took a while to get drivers sorted (looking at creative labs here) and some didn't get any done at all, it's no surprise a lot of people are still yet to switch.
That being said, if you're getting a new pc, and it's powerful enough to manage vista with ease, and more on top of that, you may aswell go for it, it has matured since release, drivers aren't much of an issue now unless you've got some seriously old or custom kit in use. If you're using xp and happy with it though, Vista offers very little reason to upgrade.
New Windows 7 Features
* Enhancements to Aero. Aswell as the fancy looks from Vista, you now get automatic side docking for windows, if you drag the window to the far edge of the screen, it docks to fill that half. makes comparing 2 pages side by side easy.
* New task bar, the quick launch bar and task bar have been merged, with a little OS X dock flavouring added. You get static icons placed on the task bar, that just change a bit when they're actually running. Any program launched without an icon on the bar will get a temporary one on the end, that disapears when closed.
There's also some right click options for the new task bar, so supported programs can be told to start in different ways, like jump straight to a document you were working on last etc.
* Updated base apps. Included apps like Paint etc get a much needed overhaul.
* Better media sharing. More features for sharing media between pcs easier and quicker.
* Improved performance. It's pretty much confirmed everywhere that it responds a lot better than vista ever did, and will run on a lower spec system, despite more features. Some claim it's beating xp even. Remains to be proven, but if true, removes a major vista barrier.
Well, I'm a bit more positive about windows 7 than vista, I'll admit. If the performance is better, it should be worth actually making the jump, unless of course, you're not planning to use any of the new features on offer such as the new interface, direct x 10 etc.
I'll post more once I've actually had chance to try it, rather than just speculate on it.
BTW, for anyone interested, I'll sum up the differences (that I know of) when upgrading from XP to Vista, and from Vista to Windows 7.
New Vista Features
* Aero user interface (no, not the chocolate), basically fancy transparent windows, revised start menu etc.
* More search usage. instead of the run command, there's a search box on the start menu, so you can type in commands or whatever you want to search for straight from the menu.
* New driver model, someone decided drivers needed re-writing. They worked fine before, they work fine still, just differently. Next on the news, Microsoft invents new Wheel 2009.
* The Windows Shuffle. Programs, control panel applets and much more have been moved around, had options moved and all sorts. Some are made more accessible, some are made slower to get at, some are just as easy but in different places. All part of the new wheel 2009 strategy.
* 64 bit support from the start. No last minute bodged 64 bit edition, it's made for it out the gates. Just most of the 64 bit factory build pcs are still shipping the 32 bit version... DOH!
* Direct X 10. More graphical effects to take advantage of the new features of that radeon HD or geforce 8000+ series card. Due to the previously mentioned driver changes, this won't work with XP's driver model, and nobody could be bothered to make a separate development fork to work on both.
* Resource hogging. Vista swallows resources like never before seen in Windows! System requirements are extremely high, just to get windows itself to run smooth, let alone run anything on top of that. Pre-built manufacturers ignore this and continue to stick 1gb ram in their base models, and an integrated graphics chip that nicks 25% of that 1gb.
As you might guess, I wasn't too impressed with Vista. Most of the changes just didn't seem to justify the huge drain it put on resources, not to mention the wallet. Add to that the fact some companies took a while to get drivers sorted (looking at creative labs here) and some didn't get any done at all, it's no surprise a lot of people are still yet to switch.
That being said, if you're getting a new pc, and it's powerful enough to manage vista with ease, and more on top of that, you may aswell go for it, it has matured since release, drivers aren't much of an issue now unless you've got some seriously old or custom kit in use. If you're using xp and happy with it though, Vista offers very little reason to upgrade.
New Windows 7 Features
* Enhancements to Aero. Aswell as the fancy looks from Vista, you now get automatic side docking for windows, if you drag the window to the far edge of the screen, it docks to fill that half. makes comparing 2 pages side by side easy.
* New task bar, the quick launch bar and task bar have been merged, with a little OS X dock flavouring added. You get static icons placed on the task bar, that just change a bit when they're actually running. Any program launched without an icon on the bar will get a temporary one on the end, that disapears when closed.
There's also some right click options for the new task bar, so supported programs can be told to start in different ways, like jump straight to a document you were working on last etc.
* Updated base apps. Included apps like Paint etc get a much needed overhaul.
* Better media sharing. More features for sharing media between pcs easier and quicker.
* Improved performance. It's pretty much confirmed everywhere that it responds a lot better than vista ever did, and will run on a lower spec system, despite more features. Some claim it's beating xp even. Remains to be proven, but if true, removes a major vista barrier.
Well, I'm a bit more positive about windows 7 than vista, I'll admit. If the performance is better, it should be worth actually making the jump, unless of course, you're not planning to use any of the new features on offer such as the new interface, direct x 10 etc.
I'll post more once I've actually had chance to try it, rather than just speculate on it.
Danord_durin
Fledgling Freddie
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2004
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- 842
Going to try it aswell just to see. But i don't understand the fuss about vista unless u run a low ram system. I must admit that my vista ultimate runs more stabile than xp ever did, i havent had a single issue with any game or standard programs. But i guess running 8 gb ram sort most problems
Syri
FH is my second home
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- Jan 4, 2004
- Messages
- 1,019
Well, i've got windows 7 up and running, and had a bit of a play. First of all, the system i'm running on:-
Pentium 4 D2.8 (dual core), Intel 945 chipset
2gb pc4200 ddr2 (cheap crap basically)
radeon hd5670 pciex
sound blaster x-fi xtreme music
750gb sata hdd
Had to use vista drivers for graphics and sound, and my wireless lan, other than that it was all picked up by win7. Everything ran fine, so i ran the built in benchmark indicator first. Got an overall 4.5 / 7.9, as the cpu scoring 4.5 dragged the rest down. Got 5.2 for ram, 7.5 for aero, 6.0 for games and 5.8 for hdd performance. So not exactly top spec, but was pleasantly surprised for a cheap pc i got a couple of years back.
Decided to fire up some games, so straight to my lord of the rings online folder, double click the launcher... and got an error that it needs .net framework. *sigh*
download .net 2.0, install... unsupported OS. Tried .net 3.5, didn't do anything as it's already in. Tried the 1.1 installer, expecting even worse than the 2.0 one being an older version and all that. braced myself for a blue screen or something, but it worked instead. Odd, but won't argue.
Next problem on the cards... missing d3d9x7.dll or something like that. Tried a couple of other games, WoW ran perfectly, but Call of Duty 5 had the same missing dll error. Tried downloading the direct x 9 runtime (the default one, the web install where it's a small download then grabs what it needs as it goes), not able to install on the OS. *fun*
decided what the heck, try the full redistributable instead, surprisingly, it works. Expected it to be the same installer as the web install, but it ran perfect. installed, restarted, then try some games.
Fired up lotro first, cranked all the details to full, resolution to 1280x1024, direct x 10 features enabled... and it runs perfect. Runs as smooth as xp, smoother in fact, as it seems to suffer less graphics lag from disk access. Even more surprising, it handles alt-tabbing a LOT quicker than xp does.
Tried some other dx9 games that didn't run at first, loading up fine.
So, if you're going to try it, don't just assume direct x 11 is backwards compatible, because it kinda isn't. and the same goes for .net framework. Oh, and I did try the compatibility mode settings first before downloading more stuff, just in case, and got the same results. After the downloads, ran without any compatibility options perfectly.
Overall then, so far impressed. Starts up quick, looks decent, though takes some getting used to, and performs very snappy. Only downside? windows drive is taking up 13gb already, with just windows 7 and the updates needed to run my games. Looks as though the vista performance issues are definitely a thing of the past though on lower end systems.
Next up, I'll try it out on one of my slower pcs, and see how it fares.
Pentium 4 D2.8 (dual core), Intel 945 chipset
2gb pc4200 ddr2 (cheap crap basically)
radeon hd5670 pciex
sound blaster x-fi xtreme music
750gb sata hdd
Had to use vista drivers for graphics and sound, and my wireless lan, other than that it was all picked up by win7. Everything ran fine, so i ran the built in benchmark indicator first. Got an overall 4.5 / 7.9, as the cpu scoring 4.5 dragged the rest down. Got 5.2 for ram, 7.5 for aero, 6.0 for games and 5.8 for hdd performance. So not exactly top spec, but was pleasantly surprised for a cheap pc i got a couple of years back.
Decided to fire up some games, so straight to my lord of the rings online folder, double click the launcher... and got an error that it needs .net framework. *sigh*
download .net 2.0, install... unsupported OS. Tried .net 3.5, didn't do anything as it's already in. Tried the 1.1 installer, expecting even worse than the 2.0 one being an older version and all that. braced myself for a blue screen or something, but it worked instead. Odd, but won't argue.
Next problem on the cards... missing d3d9x7.dll or something like that. Tried a couple of other games, WoW ran perfectly, but Call of Duty 5 had the same missing dll error. Tried downloading the direct x 9 runtime (the default one, the web install where it's a small download then grabs what it needs as it goes), not able to install on the OS. *fun*
decided what the heck, try the full redistributable instead, surprisingly, it works. Expected it to be the same installer as the web install, but it ran perfect. installed, restarted, then try some games.
Fired up lotro first, cranked all the details to full, resolution to 1280x1024, direct x 10 features enabled... and it runs perfect. Runs as smooth as xp, smoother in fact, as it seems to suffer less graphics lag from disk access. Even more surprising, it handles alt-tabbing a LOT quicker than xp does.
Tried some other dx9 games that didn't run at first, loading up fine.
So, if you're going to try it, don't just assume direct x 11 is backwards compatible, because it kinda isn't. and the same goes for .net framework. Oh, and I did try the compatibility mode settings first before downloading more stuff, just in case, and got the same results. After the downloads, ran without any compatibility options perfectly.
Overall then, so far impressed. Starts up quick, looks decent, though takes some getting used to, and performs very snappy. Only downside? windows drive is taking up 13gb already, with just windows 7 and the updates needed to run my games. Looks as though the vista performance issues are definitely a thing of the past though on lower end systems.
Next up, I'll try it out on one of my slower pcs, and see how it fares.
Helme
Resident Freddy
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2004
- Messages
- 3,161
That was the main reason I switched to Vista, it alt tab's faster too
Overall I want to give it a go but I honestly despise having to reinstall all my stuff, hell I've formatted my own PC's maybe 3 times in 5-6 years. The DX9 required for install is the same with Vista then I guess, can't understand why they just can't ship it with both but meh.