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Main Area and Open Discussion => General Software Discussion => Topic started by: zridling on September 28, 2009, 08:34 AM
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I know it's not a super/major change, but seems like Windows 7 is going to be a lot of fun. Heck, custom PC manufacturer, Puget Systems (http://www.pugetsystems.com/all_news.php?newsid=4561), says it will begin shipping Windows 7 machines on October 13th, nine days before its release date.
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I've been running the 64bit Ultimate version on all 3 of my home's machines. I installed it the day it went RTM. I have a Technet sub. I wouldn't call it that revolutionary but I am very pleased with it. I have yet to see a crash and I have had zero problems finding drivers for anything. Most of my software is compatible with the OS and the rest have beta versions out there that are compatible (DirOpus for example).
The interface is slick. I am coming from XP, having skipped Vista. I did try Vista a couple of times but always got frustrated by it and uninstalled it. I don't see any of those frustrations with Win 7.
Win 7 is solid and the UI is nice. But, I don't see any compelling reason to pay hundreds of dollars for it over XP.
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Ditto edbro's comments (except I am running the Win 7 Pro version on a MAP subscription).
It just works and has lost the annoying feel of Vista - especially UAC which I eventually turned off in Vista Ultimate as it drove me mad.
I really like the new task bar - it does what QuickLaunch should have done ever since it appeared and removes the need for the traditional taskbar.
Win 7 also feels a bit quicker and less resource intensive than Vista (I haven't done any tests but I would say it feels slightly nippier than XP too).
Whether it is worth the cost of the upgrade from XP (and the lack of proper upgrade route hassle) is debatable but if you have Vista I would say it was worth the upgrade - especially if you managed to order early and get the discount prices.
Having said that XP is on the way out and I'd guess Windows 7 will be around for quite a while. Manufacturer's will start producing drivers for Windows 7 only at some point and then an upgrade will be needed to buy new equipment.
Final comment - I really can't see the point of buying into Win 7 ultimate. OK you get Bitlocker and a few language packs but is it really worth the extra cost? Plus MS are probably going to drop Ultimate altogether by Windows 8 and that can only be helped along if people don't get suckered into the Ultimate version again! I have a free license for Win7 ultimate (sorry not transferable) but I won't even be installing it as Win 7 Pro is more than adequate for anything I am likely to do and Ultimate will only make future upgrades difficult.
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I really like the new task bar - it does what QuickLaunch should have done
-Carol Haynes
Will the new task bar make programs like True Launch Bar redundant? :tellme:
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I'm so excited that I could barely finish my rice pudding!
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Windows 7 is really an awesome addition to the Windows dynasty. It's going to make a lot of people happy & feel good where Windows is going as an operating system. If you have been unhappy with a lot of niggles and complaints in past versions of Windows then Windows 7 is probably going to be enough to keep you from switching to another OS or if you have switched it might be enough to get you to switch back.
If, however, you hate everything Windows & Microsoft stand for or are perfectly happy with your non-Microsoft Windows OS then I don't think there's enough magic in Windows 7 to make a compelling argument for you to come into the Windows fold, but there's still a bit of good news for you in that as with any new OS release Microsoft or otherwise, there are some nifty tricks & features present that other OS software authors will take notice of & they'll be mimicked in the OS of your choice.
As for upgrading from Windows XP, that was a fine OS in its day and may feel like it has some life left in it, but the time is approaching that one must face the fact that XP is a seven year old operating system. That's a lifetime in the realm of computers. Many innovations have happened across all operating system platforms & it's just not as secure as a modern operating system can and should be. On October 22nd if you are one of the people running around desperately clinging to Windows XP as an operating system you are going to be roughly equivalent to that group of people who were desperately clinging to Windows 98 when Windows XP was released...and there's only a gap of four years between those OSes!
If you don't like any Microsoft OS after Windows XP then fine. Get a Mac. Switch to a recent Linux distro, but it's time to embrace a more secure operating system where it is much more difficult for trojans, viruses, and botnets to infiltrate and proliferate.
Will the new task bar make programs like True Launch Bar redundant?-Curt
The new task bar unfortunately makes True Launch Bar near inoperable. Gone are the days of being able to imbed all of TLB's nifty features into the Windows Task Bar. It's unknown if the author is going to be able to bring that functionality back, but now the way things are you have to set up a separate toolbar using a stand-alone version of TLB which, IMHO, takes away a lot of the gee-whiz handy benefits of the program.
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I went to one of the boring windows 7 launch things today, and got much schwag- And a free copy!
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I went to one of the boring windows 7 launch things today, and got much schwag- And a free copy!
-wraith808
Sweet!
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I'm so excited that I could barely finish my rice pudding!
-cranioscopical
heheheh.
(oh, is that with jam?)
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I'm so excited that I could barely finish my rice pudding!
-cranioscopical
heheheh.
(oh, is that with jam?)
-nudone
Some of you guys are so affluent! I couldn't aspire to that.
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AIUI, you can't upgrade an XP system directly to 7 -- the upgrade program only works from Vista. XP users must repave their whole darned system. In the end that's not a show stopper, but it means it's going to take at least 2 years for 7 to really take hold.
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As for upgrading from Windows XP, that was a fine OS in its day and may feel like it has some life left in it, but the time is approaching that one must face the fact that XP is a seven year old operating system. That's a lifetime in the realm of computers. Many innovations have happened across all operating system platforms & it's just not as secure as a modern operating system can and should be.
-Innuendo
Hi Innuendo! What innovations are there in Windows 7 that make people's lives easier? Not challenging, just asking, because I've seen plenty of screenshots, but haven't read much about any feature or usability improvements.
Win2K was a plus because it was very stable. XP was better, because it made networking nearly painless, particularly setting up a home (W)LAN.
In Vista I couldn't find a similar redeeming feature. Security doesn't count really, first of all because I think UAC is a terrible idea (and I've already debated this with some who think otherwise :) ), but also because I don't consider security a feature - it's partly a prerequisite (any issues should be fixed through the update mechanism, not in a separate new version), and partly a process in which user behavior plays the biggest part. My XP boxen have always been pretty secure, regardless of how I connected. (I've only ever contracted an actual hostile virus once, in DOS/Windows 3.1 days, through a friend's infected diskette.)
One of the ideas MS floated around for Vista was the database-backed filesystem. That would have been an innovation, and a fantastic one at that, especially if they published a nice API to use in third-party applications. We know what happened to that. Aero is kind of innovative, but it's just for the looks.
So what about 7?
The new task bar unfortunately makes True Launch Bar near inoperable. Gone are the days of being able to imbed all of TLB's nifty features into the Windows Task Bar. -Innuendo
Yow, that's really bad. It's reminiscent of the Office 2007 ribbon, which pretty much removed users' ability to customize it. What does the new taskbar have to make up for the loss, then? (In the screenshots I can see there are no captions on the buttons. That's bad too - I use the captions.) I couldn't live without TrueLaunchBar!
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I went to one of the boring windows 7 launch things today, and got much schwag- And a free copy!
-wraith808
Sweet!
-40hz
The funny thing is that I plan to use it on my MacBook Pro when I get it :)
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I'm so excited that I could barely finish my rice pudding!
-cranioscopical
Chris - you must have British blood! ;D
Jam? Sacrilege to spoil Rice Pudding with jam... ;)
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Rice pudding without jam - you gotta be kidding! And don't forget the dried mixed fruit and a good dollop of nutmeg.
Actually rice pudding without jam is like Windows without security problems - no fun at all ;)
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I like mine plain... and Mum uses soya milk because I'm lactose intolerant! Makes it creamy... ;D
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Hi Innuendo! What innovations are there in Windows 7 that make people's lives easier? Not challenging, just asking, because I've seen plenty of screenshots, but haven't read much about any feature or usability improvements.-tranglos
Oh, I know you aren't challenging as everyone I have discussed Win 7 with has seen plenty of screenshots, but a lot of what Win 7 is about can't be seen in the screenshots. Microsoft has improved the driver model for graphics drivers. If you use a WDM 1.1-capable video card you are going to see even more of the graphics load put upon the GPU which means you are going to have a faster Windows experience for one thing.
Aero Peek, Aero Shake, and Jump Lists are something that can be shown in screenshots, but you really don't start to realize how easier they make things for you till you start using them day to day. Keyboard shortcuts for launching apps that have been pinned to the start bar will be a welcome addition for those who are more keyboard-centric than mouse-centric. While we're talking about the taskbar, I'll mentioned that the system tray has enhanced functionality that will keep those two billion icons everyone has sitting in their system tray in line.
Vista had added security over XP, but that slowed down Vista's speed in some areas. Windows 7 has been optimized & now one would be hard pressed to find any area of Windows 7 that didn't behave as quickly as XP. Miminum system requirements have been dropped as compared to Vista as well. Older systems that could run XP, but choked on Vista will be able to run Win 7 as well or better than they ran XP.
Windows Explorer has been optimized and streamlined. Managing your files is easier as the more common file management functions are close at hand. My Documents has been put on steroids with the Library feature. Configure multiple directories for each category and all those files in multiple directories appear in one Explorer window.
Since you brought up UAC, you might be pleased to know that's been re-worked and optimized as well. There's now a four-position slider so you can fine-tune how you want UAC to work for you or even turn it off entirely. I will tell you, though, that I have been running it in the maximum protection mode & while I enjoy the same amount of protection Vista gave me I have seen maybe 1/10th of the UAC prompts that I saw with Vista. Part of that I attribute to MS adjusting things, but it's partly due to software authors finally starting to program in a more security-conscious way.
Faster boot and shutdown times magnitudes faster than previous Windows versions. What more can be said? Start working quicker. Finish working quicker. Those are the major highlights although there are a lot of little things you'll run into where you'll think, "Oh, that's nice. Why didn't they always do it that way?".
What does the new taskbar have to make up for the loss, then? (In the screenshots I can see there are no captions on the buttons. That's bad too - I use the captions.) I couldn't live without TrueLaunchBar!
First, let me say that you can bring back the captions and the old taskbar behavior if you want to, but I urge you to try the new way for a week or two as you may come to love it. Without the captions you can have a lot more programs open & the taskbar doesn't get as crowded or as unwieldy as the old way. With Aero Peek it's easy to see what each button is doing. Also, if a program has more than one Window open, just hover your mouse over it's icon on the taskbar & Aero Peek will show you thumbnails of all the app's windows & you are free to click on any of those thumbnails to bring the program to the front with the focus on the window you clicked. Trust me, it works a lot better than it does in the screenshots. Three people I know have said they'd hate having no captions when they looked at the articles on the internet. Once I sat them down in front of the Real Thing, however, they've all walked away with changed minds thinking the new way is way cool.
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I don't know what kind of job you have, Innuendo, but you should be working in the sales department :-) You have made me really want to have Win 7, despite the fact that I apparently will have to say good-bye to my beloved True Launch Bar. And, like Tranglos, I really am addicted to this little wonder-app! Now, that is something!
One or two questions: Does Win 7 carry on with the "downloads" folder concept? ((Because if it does, then we really must have some program to make it a lot easier to open the folders that we move things to, after they have been downloaded and sorted out. Example: I just downloaded ReOpen from MilesAhead's site and, knowing it shouldn't be installed, I moved it (in a folder) to Program Files. But then I had to navigate to it and realized I already had forgotten the name (because I was thinking "MilesAhead" (obviously not!) instead of "ReOpen"). This is kind of silly, but must happen a lot to certain kinds of people, like me.)) Or does Win 7 have some kind of "Move Folder And Open It"?
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Keyboard shortcuts for launching apps that have been pinned to the start bar will be a welcome addition for those who are more keyboard-centric than mouse-centric.-Innuendo
Vista already supported Win+num for quicklaunch icons, which is pretty nice :) - win7 has added better keyboard navigation of taskbar+quicklaunch area iirc, but all I find myself using is Win+num.
Vista had added security over XP, but that slowed down Vista's speed in some areas. Windows 7 has been optimized & now one would be hard pressed to find any area of Windows 7 that didn't behave as quickly as XP. Miminum system requirements have been dropped as compared to Vista as well. Older systems that could run XP, but choked on Vista will be able to run Win 7 as well or better than they ran XP.-Innuendo
While Win7 is somewhat lighter than Vista, it's wrong saying that any hardware will run Win7 as well as or better than XP... this goes for memory, CPU and GPU. Win7 requires a relatively hefty GPU (shader support) to get GDI acceleration (which Vista has basically none of), whereas XP has GDI acceleration even on simple graphics cards. XP would run acceptably on 256meg, comfortably on 512meg, whereas Win7 is at 512/1gig instead. For CPU I'm not sure what the figures are (it's been a long time since I had a slow CPU :)), but Win7 definitely is heavier.
On adequate hardware, you don't feel the speed hit; on a dualcore machine the extra CPU cycles spent isn't something you notice, but the extra features are. With 2GB of memory, the extra ram gobbled up is pretty irrelevant (but the advantages of SuperFetch definitely aren't!). With a nice GPU, Aero is nice. But if you try to run Win7 on 5 year old hardware that ran XP fine, you'll likely be disappointed.
Part of what reduces memory footprint a fair amount compared to Vista is WDDM 1.1 drivers. If you only get WDDM 1.0 for your hardware (which might be the case with some slightly older), Win7 will work just like Vista, which means very little GUI acceleration, and all bitmap surfaces present both on GPU and in system RAM.
Since you brought up UAC, you might be pleased to know that's been re-worked and optimized as well. There's now a four-position slider so you can fine-tune how you want UAC to work for you or even turn it off entirely. I will tell you, though, that I have been running it in the maximum protection mode & while I enjoy the same amount of protection Vista gave me I have seen maybe 1/10th of the UAC prompts that I saw with Vista. Part of that I attribute to MS adjusting things, but it's partly due to software authors finally starting to program in a more security-conscious way.-Innuendo
Adding those security levels, or at least the way they implemented them, is one of the stupidest bend-over-for-morons things that MS has done for quite a while. Run anything but the max setting, and you're once again wide open to exploits.
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They could wake me up by offering a Turn in one pre SP1 Vista and get 2 Win7 of the same tier free sale. 2 and a half years in and I still can't get it to SP1. Talk about busted out of the box! That's why I try to get my machines with the first service pack already on. I should have gotten a quad core with XP instead of a dual core with Vista. Live and learn.
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Adding those security levels, or at least the way they implemented them, is one of the stupidest bend-over-for-morons things that MS has done for quite a while. Run anything but the max setting, and you're once again wide open to exploits.
-f0dder
Is that still the case? I did a search for any recent reports of UAC issues and couldn't find any. The results that were returned by Google all related to either the beta or RC with MS promising to address those issues for RTM
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I don't know what kind of job you have, Innuendo, but you should be working in the sales department :-) You have made me really want to have Win 7, despite the fact that I apparently will have to say good-bye to my beloved True Launch Bar.-Curt
Heh...I just get enthused about technology. The great thing about new MS OSes is they can be run as trial versions so you'll be able to try it before you buy it.
One or two questions: Does Win 7 carry on with the "downloads" folder concept? ....Or does Win 7 have some kind of "Move Folder And Open It"?
Now someone else will have to answer these questions. For downloads I use FlashGot on Firefox in tandem with Internet Download Accelerator that I use to segregate my downloads into various folders & for 90% of my file management I use a tweaked-out copy of Total Commander.
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On adequate hardware, you don't feel the speed hit; on a dualcore machine the extra CPU cycles spent isn't something you notice, but the extra features are. With 2GB of memory, the extra ram gobbled up is pretty irrelevant (but the advantages of SuperFetch definitely aren't!). With a nice GPU, Aero is nice. But if you try to run Win7 on 5 year old hardware that ran XP fine, you'll likely be disappointed.-f0dder
f0dder, I have to respectfully disagree about older hardware at least in some cases. I'm running Windows 7 on a 6 year old PC from before the days of dual core processors that has a video card that is 4 generations old and Windows 7 is a LOT faster on this PC than XP was. I understand it won't be like this for everyone, but if you've got a pretty fast video card there's a pretty good chance the experience will be the same as I'm experiencing.
With Vista's release I had just about resigned myself to having to buy a new PC for Microsoft's next OS. However, Windows 7 has breathed new life into this old hardware & the improvements are so many over Vista that I'll probably be able to wait till Windows 8 (or whatever it's called) to upgrade my PC.
Disclaimer: Results not typical. Objects may be closer than they appear. Product sold by weight not volume. Contents may settle during shipping. Void where prohibited by law.
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I have to agree - I am running Win 7 Pro on an old single core computer (along with multibooting XP and Vista Professional SP2) and using onboard graphics (so no great shakes) and it runs as fast (if not slightly faster) than XP on the same machine and significantly better than Vista.
All of these of 32 bit editions of the OS, granted they have 2Gb of memory to play with but I have been pleased with the way Win 7 has pumped a bit more life into this system. With Vista I was thinking of looking for a new mobo to use a multicore processor but now I am not going to bother.
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All of these of 32 bit editions of the OS, granted they have 2Gb of memory to play with but I have been pleased with the way Win 7 has pumped a bit more life into this system. With Vista I was thinking of looking for a new mobo to use a multicore processor but now I am not going to bother.-Carol Haynes
I'm glad your experience mirrors my own, Carol. I think a lot of people are going to be happy with this release. Little Kylie didn't lie to us. More happy *really* is coming.
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If you use a WDM 1.1-capable video card you are going to see even more of the graphics load put upon the GPU which means you are going to have a faster Windows experience for one thing.
-Innuendo
Part of what reduces memory footprint a fair amount compared to Vista is WDDM 1.1 drivers. If you only get WDDM 1.0 for your hardware (which might be the case with some slightly older), Win7 will work just like Vista, which means very little GUI acceleration, and all bitmap surfaces present both on GPU and in system RAM.
-f0dder
There, now I can upgrade the GPU with a clean conscience. "Are you wasting 200 € to play games?" "No, I swear Windows requires it!"
Windows Explorer has been optimized and streamlined. Managing your files is easier as the more common file management functions are close at hand. My Documents has been put on steroids with the Library feature. Configure multiple directories for each category and all those files in multiple directories appear in one Explorer window.
-Innuendo
I hope software starts to support Libraries, since Windows 7 changed quite a bit the "My Documents" paradigm for what I saw in the Win7 beta. All the folders contained under it are now located in what is the new "Documents and Settings" folder, and I didn't see any way to move them elsewhere, just like you could with "My Documents". Since my data is located in a secondary drive, Libraries would help a lot here.
BTW, one question. I noticed that unlike older versions, file managers have their access to "Program Files" and similar folders restricted, and the only way to see them is either running the file manager with higher privileges, or to grant permanent access using Windows Explorer. What is this restriction all about? Is it just a new way to do the old "Don't show hidden folders"? Is there some security risk by granting permanent access to them? Note that back then both xplorer² and XYplorer (the two apps I used) didn't officially support Win7.
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I don't know what kind of job you have, Innuendo, but you should be working in the sales department :-)
-Curt
What Curt said. That was a really inspired write-up, informative too. Thanks a bunch, Innuendo!
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All of these of 32 bit editions of the OS, granted they have 2Gb of memory to play with but I have been pleased with the way Win 7 has pumped a bit more life into this system. With Vista I was thinking of looking for a new mobo to use a multicore processor but now I am not going to bother.-Carol Haynes
I'm glad your experience mirrors my own, Carol. I think a lot of people are going to be happy with this release. Little Kylie didn't lie to us. More happy *really* is coming.
-Innuendo
Mirrors mine as well. So far, the overall experience has been positive.
I have the 32-bit version of Win7 Pro running quite happily on 'Modest Mouse' which is my low-end test box. 'Mouse' has a 2.2Ghz Athlon 64 mobo with onboard GeForce 6100 graphics + 1.5 Gb RAM. Vista never did run well on this box. Win7, however, seems to be quite happy with it. Overall performance is good.
I sill think the icons could be a little less cartoony. And all those pastel shades remind me of the decor you'd find in a baby's room. But that's just me. :P
Win7 integrates very nicely into a network running Windows Server 2003. Far less hassles on that score than was the case with Vista. Haven't tested it with Server 2008 yet, but I'm sure it will work just as well (or better) in that environment. I'm very curious to see how well it behaves in a non-Windows network, but that will have to wait for a slow rainy day.
Overall, I'm quite impressed. And since I'm bored to tears with WinXP, this new release is a very welcome change. I don't know if I would say I'm excited. But I'm definitely interested...
Either way - it's here to stay. 8)
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I just finished installing my free, completely legal copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. I am running the RTM right now, and it is NICE. I have been running the RC 7100 for a while but this is lighter, with subtle changes all around. It is also a buttload lighter than Vista was, although I cannot complain about Vista, I honestly had no issues with it after a few well placed tweaks. I recieved it for attending the New Efficiency launch event in PGH, PA.
Here are some photos: http://www.y0himba.net/images/win7event (It's ugly, but works. I am tired and made this quickly)
I will put a few videos up tomorrow on my Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/y0himba (There is one there now, streamed from my Smartphone)
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I was kind of indifferent about Windows 7; I planned on getting it eventually but wasn't in any rush to get it.
But now because of this thread I'm excited to get it. ;D
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Friends,
Late on the wagon here but using windows 7 since october 2008 as the Main OS (I know it sounds crazy), In the beginning it used to crash, as with any other Pre-Beta (Alpha) releases, but now it is rock solid and no regrets.
Using it on 2 years old Laptop and on quadcore where drivers are not available for XP.
Quadcore is of very high config and new so it runs easily but Laptop has
Intel Celeron 1.8 Ghz with on board graphics, 1.5 GB DDR2 RAM, 250GB SATA2 HDD, Intel 965 Series MoBo
and I never regret using it, it detects all my drivers automatically after installation, I've really tried badly to install XP and I was able to install it but Drivers were never available, 1 or other always missing...
Previous to this I had Vista X86
Now Im on windows 7 X86 RTM and am happy with it.
Thank you for reading this...
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BTW, one question. I noticed that unlike older versions, file managers have their access to "Program Files" and similar folders restricted, and the only way to see them is either running the file manager with higher privileges, or to grant permanent access using Windows Explorer. What is this restriction all about? Is it just a new way to do the old "Don't show hidden folders"? Is there some security risk by granting permanent access to them? Note that back then both xplorer² and XYplorer (the two apps I used) didn't officially support Win7.-Lashiec
I use Total Commander & I used it with Windows 7 before Total Commander officially supported it & I haven't had to run TC with higher privileges to see any directory on any of my hard drives. Now if you are wanting to delete or edit any files in a protected directory or copy or move any files into a protected directory you will have to elevate the file manager's privileges, but read-only access doesn't require such. At least that's been my experience with TC.
Maybe you need to give your file managers of choice another go once they fully support Windows 7, but things really should work the same way they did with Vista in regards to how protected system directories work.
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I sill think the icons could be a little less cartoony. And all those pastel shades remind me of the decor you'd find in a baby's room. But that's just me. :P-40hz
I found out early on in the beta process that going into the settings and changing the pre-dominant window color from Sky to Slate 'mans' up Windows 7 quite a bit. It'll tide things over till the after-market programs come out that support Windows 7 that will allow us to change the color schemes more to our liking & use alternate icon sets.
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Hmmmmmm, I'd be way more impressed if they could get rid of drive letters altogether! I just wasted an hour with my network shares because my USB dock decided to come up in Windows7 as drives F: and G: instead of H: and I:. Couldn't use Computer Management to shift 'em back because removable drives shifted over to take the letters I want. That and spaces in file paths have to be the biggest time wasters in all of computing!! Sheesh!!
The more it changes the more it remains the same. :(
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The new task bar unfortunately makes True Launch Bar near inoperable.
-Innuendo
Crap! Hopefully it serves as a nice replacement for True Launch Bar?
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I have been running Windows 7 on my laptop for a few weeks and I really like it a lot. I didn't have to install a single driver and it boots up super fast on my ssd. I've been fortunate and haven't bumped into any compatibility issues as of yet. I will definitely buy it when it comes out.
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Crap! Hopefully it serves as a nice replacement for True Launch Bar?-Darwin
It's a nice replacement if your idea of what a taskbar should be matches Microsoft's idea. However, most TLB fans are going to miss the customizability and the plugins. Here's hoping Yuri can figure out how to work it back into Windows.
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Crap! Hopefully it serves as a nice replacement for True Launch Bar?-Darwin
It's a nice replacement if your idea of what a taskbar should be matches Microsoft's idea. However, most TLB fans are going to miss the customizability and the plugins. Here's hoping Yuri can figure out how to work it back into Windows.
-Innuendo
Hmm... most disturbing! I'll join you in hoping Yuri can get TLB sorted - I LOVE TLB :-*
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Hmm... most disturbing! I'll join you in hoping Yuri can get TLB sorted - I LOVE TLB :-*
-Darwin
So far he's got it working if you use TLB in stand-alone mode and don't mind another toolbar on your screen, but it's just not the same to me.
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Does anyone know how to change the default Users directory? I can't stand the idea of storing "My Documents" and other personal files on the system partition.
I followed the instructions listed here (http://www.windows7hacker.com/index.php/2009/05/how-to-change-user-profile-default-location-in-windows-7/), but it didn't seem to work.
Downloads still default to C:\Users\[username]\Downloads. And DropBox install defaults to c:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Dropbox\bin.
I vaguely remember changing it three years ago when I had Vista on my PC for a few months, but it's been so long I can't remember how and I'm still getting used to the new interface.
Thanks in advance!
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Does anyone know how to change the default Users directory? I can't stand the idea of storing "My Documents" and other personal files on the system partition.-Deozaan
Can't speak for Dropbox, but with most Windows directories like "My Documents" and "Downloads" you can just right-click on the folder, select Properties, and then go to the Location tab to choose where you want the directory to be stored.
Other directories Windows 7 is smart enough if you try to move the folder somewhere to ask if you want to make the destination the new default location.
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Thanks for that info Innuendo. I was looking for something like that but for some reason I didn't see the Location tab on my first perusal.
I suppose leaving AppData on the system drive isn't that big of a deal to me. :Thmbsup:
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I'm looking forward to it but I'm still ticked about their treatment of the Ultimate version. Both Vista and the Vista to Win7 upgrade path. Unbelievably poor behavior.
Jim
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Both Vista and the Vista to Win7 upgrade path.-J-Mac
Upgrades suck, anyway - clean reinstalls ftw :)
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Both Vista and the Vista to Win7 upgrade path.-J-Mac
Upgrades suck, anyway - clean reinstalls ftw :)
-f0dder
+1 w/f0dder on that. (Except I'd say: "Are not a good idea." ;) ) Save yourself a lot of grief. Do a clean reinstall.
:Thmbsup:
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I heard that an upgrade to Win7 from Vista takes about 3.5 hours, but a clean install takes only about 20 minutes.
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It doesn't take that long.
I did a sequential upgrade from XP to Win 7 Pro via the following route:
Win XP - > Vista HP -> Win 7 HP -> Win 7 Pro
I can't remember how long that all took but it was under 2 hours for the lot.
I don't have a license for Win 7 HP and so I upgraded without a key and then upgraded to the Pro version with the key.
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I just received my signature copy of Windows 7 Ultimate and did an in-place upgrade from Vista 64 bit to 7 64 bit and so far everything is very stable and nothing seems to be broken. In fact, two apps that had mysteriously ceased working under Vista are fine under 7 with no tweaking on my part.
EDIT: PS TrueLaunchBar 64 works fine on my installation. Not sure if that would've been true on a clean install or not...
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I heard that an upgrade to Win7 from Vista takes about 3.5 hours, but a clean install takes only about 20 minutes.-Deozaan
How long an upgrade takes is totally dependent on how much stuff you have installed on the OS you are upgrading. The Windows 7 upgrade installer examines the registry, backs up everything that isn't in a stock install, examines your installed apps, backs up everything that isn't in a stock install, installs a fresh copy of Windows 7, and then finally restores everything that it backed up from the registry & apps.
It can be a very time-consuming process, but I have performed a lot of upgrade installs during the beta cycle and so long as you uninstall first anything the Windows upgrade installer tells you to, chances are you're almost always going to have a 100% working system. I'd do an upgrade install, test things, and then wipe the drive and install everything fresh just to compare & I never once saw a difference in how anything behaved. MS finally got it right.
Old upgrade installers from MS just laid the new OS blindly over the top of the old one without much regard for the repurcussions. Windows 7's upgrade installer takes the time to analyze things and make things work the way they should, i.e. the upgrade installer finally after 20+ years works the way it should have in the first place.
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The upgrade took about 4 hours on my setup (Vista Ultimate 64 to Win 7 Ultimate 64). I pared things down enough to satisfy the installer's free space requirements but didn't uninstall anything (though I should have, given that I have a lot of software that I never use installed). It took a long time but was completely automatic - I didn't have to do a thing.
As Innuendo says, the upgrade is flawless - I still haven't found anything broken but am enjoying a number of features and programs that the installer fixed but that were broken under Vista (I realize now that I should have tried repairing my Vista installation to correct these issues. Live and learn) :Thmbsup:
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I've made no secret of the fact that Vista, both 32 and 64 bit versions, has been a very stable OS for me. As f0dder notes, it really doesn't deserve the negativity that has surrounded it since its release.
-Darwin
I still haven't found anything broken but am enjoying a number of features and programs that the installer fixed but that were broken under Vista (I realize now that I should have tried repairing my Vista installation to correct these issues. Live and learn) :Thmbsup:
-Darwin
:)
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I realize now that I should have tried repairing my Vista installation to correct these issues. Live and learn) :Thmbsup:-Darwin
Why repair today what Microsoft can repair for you tomorrow? :D
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I'm not into building systems so I generally get an HP since it's pretty good price/performance for what you can get at BestBuy(and I can return it in a few minutes if it's a lemon.)
I've been getting a lot of clearance sale flotsam from HP. It will be interesting to see what the new configurations with 7 pre-installed will be like.
Anyone have any inside scoop how many years we have to wait for USB 3.0? Also disappointing is none of the otherwise pretty good deals seem to have Esata. I hate opening boxes just to stick some card in that should already be there.
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I'm not into building systems so I generally get an HP since it's pretty good price/performance for what you can get at BestBuy(and I can return it in a few minutes if it's a lemon.)-MilesAhead
Most people's needs are served perfectly fine by Dells, HPs, Acers, etc. Custom-built PCs anymore are only for people who have specific needs (like gamers) or people who want the satisfaction of choosing every component and putting it all together themselves. For the rest of the world, just getting something from Dell or HP can save a ton of money.
Also disappointing is none of the otherwise pretty good deals seem to have Esata. I hate opening boxes just to stick some card in that should already be there.
Esata has been disappointing all around. It just hasn't been taking off in popularity. Not a lot of motherboards come with that functionality.
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To me the really bizarre thing is HP putting a bay in the tower case so you can slide a USB 2.0 drive in. I mean, the thing has to connect to the motherboard somehow anyway and the internal drives are Sata. So why not just have a snap in with a Sata connection? Makes no sense at all. They could have had a coup with a built-in docking station that people would actually use. Just slide an internal Sata drive in the bay!!
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To me the really bizarre thing is HP putting a bay in the tower case so you can slide a USB 2.0 drive in. I mean, the thing has to connect to the motherboard somehow anyway and the internal drives are Sata. So why not just have a snap in with a Sata connection? Makes no sense at all. They could have had a coup with a built-in docking station that people would actually use. Just slide an internal Sata drive in the bay!!
-MilesAhead
It does make some sense because many HP models are supplied with a USB drive in a caddy and if your doesn't you can buy a drive (at an extortionate price). The stated intention is so that you can use it as a portable drive to carry data with you on the move. Whilst an eSATA dock would be very nice the majority of people would find a portable USB drive far more useful as every computer can use USB drives whereas relatively few computers have eSATA interfaces - and those that do (like one of my desktops) aren't brilliant at hot swapping drives.
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Whilst an eSATA dock would be very nice the majority of people would find a portable USB drive far more useful as every computer can use USB drives whereas relatively few computers have eSATA interfaces - and those that do (like one of my desktops) aren't brilliant at hot swapping drives.-Carol Haynes
No, they are not 'brilliant' by any stretch of the word. Your SATA drivers have to be aware of eSATA's hot-swap capability (a lot of driver versions aren't), your SATA controllers must be in AHCI mode (which most computers and motherboards ship with that setting disabled), if you run Windows your OS must have been installed with the option turned on or be prepared for much registry hijinx, and finally not all versions of available operating systems out there support it.
Contrast that with the USB way of just plug and go no matter how your hardware & software is set up and you'll see why most vendors stick with USB interfaces.
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Isn't that pretty much what I said?
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You have USB ports. You can plug anything in. The bay thing is just a gimmick to sell you a USB drive that will fit in the hole. Jeez PS/2 machines you could hold down a spring loaded tab and pull the drives out with no tools!! Like it's rocket science! All that's needed is some mechanical engineering.
Looks like HP has gone to a tech job security program. Like the hindrances are designed to discourage the owner of the box from opening it.
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Isn't that pretty much what I said?-Carol Haynes
With all due respect, Carol, but no, it isn't. :)
You described the situation as things stand now. I just merely expounded upon your words and gave the reason why the situation is the way it is.
Sorry if I gave the impression of stepping on your toes. That wasn't my intent. I'm asked all the time about eSATA ports and why they don't work the way they were designed to work and I thought I'd explain that reason here in case anyone was curious.
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Looks like HP has gone to a tech job security program. Like the hindrances are designed to discourage the owner of the box from opening it.-MilesAhead
Like most computer tech companies HP is always actively exploring ways to design their products so that any add-ons a person buys for their HP PC they have to buy it from them. Companies have been doing it since the beginning with their laptops and to a large extent the inside components of their desktop PCs (like proprietary PSUs and motherboards). I'm surprised it's taken so long to implement this design philosophy in regards to external addons for desktop PCs as well.
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Actually HP would make a great poster child for why that sort of behavior is a bad idea. They cronically garbage up their computers with every multi-media widget and budding tecno gadget known to mankind regardless of wheather or not it actually works.
As an example a machine that some nice folks brought to us from two counties over was an HP with Vista x64 and two FireWire 800 ports. Seems the sales drone at BestBuy upsold them the "best" machine they had... *Sigh* ...Which was about 3 times the ($$$) machine they actually needed, which still didn't work. Why? Because Vista x64 & FireWire 800 is a disfunctional, crash prone match made in hell.
Strangely after an hour of searching I could not find a Dell/Vista machine that featured FireWire 800 ports.
On a brighter note if someone wants to try the Vista/FireWire 800 combo an expects it to work the ubCore drivers do work perfectly. As HP still does not have a proper driver for this.
I've wasted more time fighting with HP comps because of their insistance on loading them to the gills with every baubble, bangle, widget & thing-a-ma-jig that I cringe every time I see one.
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It's a shame things can't be kept simple. I like HP machines just for the fact that after buying 6 I think I had one that was bad OOTB. The others have all been plug and play, working until obsolete.
I am amazed at times at the power of the written word though. I had one customer when I was doing auto repair, that got a "winterize" special done. We flushed the radiator, yadda yadda.. then when it came time to put the anti-freeze mix in, he would not allow us to put it in the radiator because it was a Chrysler motors product, and on the radiator it said "use only Mopar anti-freeze." That's like saying "use only snowballs made with General Motors water." I'm serious. The guy actually went down to a parts store and came back with a couple of gallons of Mopar anti-freeze and made us put that in!!!
I wish I had an option on some swamp land for that dude!!! :wallbash:
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My neighbor, who is also a Linux user, invited me to a house party on the 23rd where he'd give me his [host] copy of Win7. I refused the Win7 offer but will attend the party (give it to someone who will use it and enjoy it). The reason I'm going is because he intends to setup a room of similar computers and simultaneously install everything:
— XP-SP3
— Vista
— Win7
— openSUSE Linux
— Linux Mint
— OSX
I'm sure that will break Microsoft's party rules, but it should be interesting if it is able to get anyone to switch from their current OS!
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Heh heh. For a second there I thought you were going to say he'd then blindfold the guests, spin them around, and see if they can sit down and run programs without knowing which OS they are on.
:beerchug:
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The reason I'm going is because he intends to setup a room of similar computers and simultaneously install everything:
— XP-SP3
— Vista
— Win7
— openSUSE Linux
— Linux Mint
— OSX
-zridling
Hmm.. Wouldn't it be a bit unfair to install OSX on a regular pc and not a mac? (I know about macs being x86, I mean a computer without the keyboard shortcuts, camera, gigantic screen, etc)
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-jgpaiva
Hmm.. Wouldn't it be a bit unfair to install OSX on a regular pc and not a mac? (I know about macs being x86, I mean a computer without the keyboard shortcuts, camera, gigantic screen, etc)
[/quote]You do have the keyboard shortcuts on a regular keyboard, as long as it has the Windows keys :)
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Hmm.. Wouldn't it be a bit unfair to install OSX on a regular pc and not a mac? (I know about macs being x86, I mean a computer without the keyboard shortcuts, camera, gigantic screen, etc)
-jgpaiva
You do have the keyboard shortcuts on a regular keyboard, as long as it has the Windows keys :)
-f0dder
AFAIK, mac uses other keyboard shortcuts (for expose and such), not present in regular keyboards. Also, I'm not sure if it'd make any sense to use a regular keyboard with a mac, since you'd always be thinking "where do those symbols on the screen link?" (regarding alt, ctrl and apple buttons).
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It's a shame things can't be kept simple. I like HP machines just for the fact that after buying 6 I think I had one that was bad OOTB. The others have all been plug and play, working until obsolete.-MilesAhead
True, simple is best in the long run. ...And yes my view is a bit dimmed by seeing mostly (end user) client machines.
I am amazed at times at the power of the written word though. I had one customer when I was doing auto repair, that got a "winterize" special done. We flushed the radiator, yadda yadda.. then when it came time to put the anti-freeze mix in, he would not allow us to put it in the radiator because it was a Chrysler motors product, and on the radiator it said "use only Mopar anti-freeze." That's like saying "use only snowballs made with General Motors water." I'm serious. The guy actually went down to a parts store and came back with a couple of gallons of Mopar anti-freeze and made us put that in!!!
I wish I had an option on some swamp land for that dude!!! :wallbash:
Mechanic Huh? I spent many years as a mechanic in motorcycle shops, If it wasn't for the arthritis I'd probably still be doing that. I still do all my own work (and some specialty work for others) but I pay for it at the end of the (and next) day. I believe I actually liked engines better than computers; engines are visceral, tactile, & soulful... while computers are sterile & in-tangent.
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I believe I actually liked engines better than computers; engines are visceral, tactile, & soulful... while computers are sterile & in-tangent.
-Stoic Joker
Yeah, there was something about diagnosing a problem, like if a car is running rough, by just leaning over the running engine, closing your eyes, and listening. The oscilloscopes and all that are fine. But if you have experience chances are you know the answer in your subconscious. You just have to relax and let it out. Plus it's more fun than running 128 tests in a series that you can't do if the engine doesn't run. ;)
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Hmm.. Wouldn't it be a bit unfair to install OSX on a regular pc and not a mac? (I know about macs being x86, I mean a computer without the keyboard shortcuts, camera, gigantic screen, etc)
-jgpaiva
You do have the keyboard shortcuts on a regular keyboard, as long as it has the Windows keys :)
-f0dder
AFAIK, mac uses other keyboard shortcuts (for expose and such), not present in regular keyboards. Also, I'm not sure if it'd make any sense to use a regular keyboard with a mac, since you'd always be thinking "where do those symbols on the screen link?" (regarding alt, ctrl and apple buttons).
-jgpaiva
Afaik the scancode for "that fancy mac button" is the same as the Win-button.
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Is that still the case? I did a search for any recent reports of UAC issues and couldn't find any. The results that were returned by Google all related to either the beta or RC with MS promising to address those issues for RTM
-Eóin
My proof of concept (http://www.pretentiousname.com/misc/win7_uac_whitelist2.html) UAC-bypass app still works in the Windows 7 RTM if you're using the default settings.
Whether or not it's a big deal is a matter of debate. Personally, I don't care if the UAC prompts are on or off by default; I just want something that is fair to all apps and whose design and implementation actually makes sense, rather than the current worst-of-both-worlds solution which seems to be driven more by appearances than anything else.
Aside from that, and a few minor bugs I've run into on the API side, I quite like Windows 7. It's definitely an improvement and not something anyone should avoid (e.g. if getting a new PC or if they have to reinstall anyway). Once again, Media Center has the biggest set of improvements and, like Vista was to XP, it's a must-have upgrade for people who use that. For everyone else, it's nice and there are some cool tweaks that, IMO, don't justify the upgrade by themselves but that you'll miss if you switch and then have to switch back for some reason. I can still happily use Vista, though, or even XP (although XP feels pretty clunky in a few areas now).
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Thanks Nudel, that very much answers my question :)
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Anyone have any inside scoop how many years we have to wait for USB 3.0? Also disappointing is none of the otherwise pretty good deals seem to have Esata. I hate opening boxes just to stick some card in that should already be there.
-MilesAhead
According to the folks over at Endgadget, Buffalo is shipping at the end of October 2009.
Est. $60 for the 2-port controller card/$225 1TB drive.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/07/buffalo-ships-worlds-first-usb-3-0-hard-disk-drives-this-month/
"Pretty gorram shiny by me!" - Jayne Cobb 8)
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OK. I've been running 32-bit W7 almost exclusively for about a week now...
No problems whatsoever. The only anomaly came when I tried to install Silverlight via IE 8.0. First three tries and IE went out into limbo. One reboot and one more try did the trick however. Works just fine now.
I'm currently only running: Office 2k7, LiveMail, LiveWriter, Firefox, Radik Burner Lite, AVG Free, and Maricum Reflect since I'm still feeling my way into it. To my amazement, there have been no bad surprises, other than IE 8 having occasional issues with font sizes on certain (e.g. HP Driver Downloads) websites.
I can't run Aero eye candy on this machine since it's on-board video isn't up to the requirements (perf score was only 2.0 for video!), but that's no great loss AFAIC. I don't really care for the Aero effects and planned on disabling them anyway.
The only minor qualm I had was having to install a Vista-labeled driver (per Microsoft) for one of my 1Gb NICs. Fortunately, it went in smoothly and works flawlessly. Now, this card works even better than it does under XP, so I probably shouldn't complain.
So far - so good. The system seems to be quite light on it's feet. Even seems even slightly faster that XP in some areas, although that may likely be because I have far less stuff running in the background than I do on my XP setup.
I'm pretty happy so far. (Fingers crossed. ;) )
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I have read most (but not all) of this thread so excuse me if this has already been mentioned ...
I just spotted this on Amazon UK:
Important--changes to EU release of Microsoft Windows 7
Please note that Microsoft have recently made a number of changes to the European release of Microsoft Windows 7. Please be aware that while this is subject to change, the latest information that Amazon has is:
* This version of Windows 7 ships as a full edition, suitable for both new Windows users and Windows Vista users looking to upgrade. Although a ‘clean install’ is not essential for existing Windows Vista users, this is recommended by Microsoft UK.
* All editions of Windows 7 will now include the Internet Explorer 8 web browser as standard.
Amazon.co.uk will continue to update this page as and when further information becomes available.
So it appears that MS or the EU has backtracked on the original decision not to include Internet Explorer. Presumably the EU and US versions are now identical again or where there other differences I have forgotten about?
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So it appears that MS or the EU has backtracked on the original decision not to include Internet Explorer.
-Carol Haynes
In Win7, Microsoft now allows you to disable IE using the Windows Feature panel. Windows does get rather 'snarky' about it when you tell it to do so - and just how much of IE actually does get disabled is anybody's guess. But it's a start.
I wonder if that's the bone MS threw to the EU?
Presumably the EU and US versions are now identical again or where there other differences I have forgotten about?
-Carol Haynes
Nope. We're one Big Happy World again. "Yesterday's Technology at Tomorrow's Prices" courtesy of those good folks in Seattle.
Hopefully your local price tag will be better than ours. ;)
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Hopefully your local price tag will be better than ours. ;)-40hz
Chances are poor Carol, and other UKers, will get the screw. Lots of software companies when setting UK software prices usually just remove the $ off of the US price tag and replace it with a £.
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Chances are poor Carol, and other UKers, will get the screw. Lots of software companies when setting UK software prices usually just remove the $ off of the US price tag and replace it with a £.
-Innuendo
Well, last time I looked $1.00 ≈ 0.68€ or £0.62 - so that amounts to a pretty nice discount if that's how the distributors handle currency conversions. ;D
<Edit: NOT! See Carol's comment directly below...> :'(
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Chances are poor Carol, and other UKers, will get the screw. Lots of software companies when setting UK software prices usually just remove the $ off of the US price tag and replace it with a £.
-Innuendo
Well, last time I looked $1.00 ≈ 0.68€ or £0.62 - so that amounts to a pretty nice discount if that's how the distributors handle currency conversions. ;D
-40hz
How do you work that out? If $1=£0.62 that means MS charge £1 in the UK so we pay $1.61 for the same item (give or take a cent). Doesn't looklike much of a discount to me.
Actually I now have a MAPs subscription so I get 10 copies of Windows Professional included + 10 copies of Office Enterprise (plus copies of Home Server/SB Server/Server Standard/Exchange/SQL Server etc and Visual Studio) for 'in-house' use - on average they all work out about £12 a copy for each even if I only use Windows/Office. OK I am only using 4 copies of each so I don't get the full benefit but it ain't a bad deal.
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How do you work that out? If $1=£0.62 that means MS charge £1 in the UK so we pay $1.61 for the same item (give or take a cent). Doesn't looklike much of a discount to me.
-Carol Haynes
I get that figure by being half awake (up all night last night and today getting a group of servers installed), and watching two other screens while typing, that's how. ;D
Thanks for catching me committing one of the most basic of arithmetic errors. :Thmbsup:
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Re: MAPS subscription
I have that too. I'm running 8 copies each of Windows and Office, along with several of the server products, so it's a very good deal for me.
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On the True Launch Bar issues: It's not at all clear what most of you are saying that 'it doesn't work as a QuickLaunch replacement'?
I installed Win7 Ultimate x64 freshly on my Vista Enterprise x86 system, and moved all documents and settings over to my new install. I just installed all the apps I needed, including TLB 4.4 x64, and I have my TLB toolbar added to the taskbar just as I had it from Win 98, when I first bought it.
This is my taskbar with TLB at double height and small taskbar buttons:
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Or am I missing some point?
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On the True Launch Bar issues: It's not at all clear what most of you are saying that 'it doesn't work as a QuickLaunch replacement'?-Ath
When I wrote that it was true at the time. There was no option in the Toolbars menu for the taskbar to add TrueLaunchBar to the taskbar. Yuri (the author) at the time said he was working hard on a fix because the new Super Task Bar changed the way things worked.
Your screenshot shows the little genius must have figured it out. I'll have to run off and download the latest version & give it a play.
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I just went and downloaded TrueLaunchBar v4.42 Beta and I can confirm the taskbar toolbar is back! Having to run it in stand-alone mode just wasn't the same.
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True Launch Bar v4.4.4 beta released.
I have never had any problems with the beta versions from True Launch bar.
The current beta version 4.4.4 must be much faster especially if you are using the skins. We optimized the virtual folders processing, so TLB will load virtual folder faster then previous versions. Also we've redesigned the way True launch Bar working with the icons. Now True Launch Bar uses much less the GDI resources. This is especially important for Windows 7 users.
What's new:
* Added the options for minimum menu width and height
* 13 buttons can be added on the menu caption to perform some
operation with menu or to open the context menus
* Improved skins format
* Improved performance with the skin
* Some minor improvements
Fixed:
* Arrows now changes on the pressing the toolbar button
* Cut the text of the buttons on some conditions
* Crash on clicking the scroll bar when tooltips are disabled
* The last columns of the lists are zero sized by default
* The layout lost on renaming the subfolders inside the virtual
folders
* The bottom position of the scroll bar
* The "default columns" option is ignored
The search box
We've added the search box support. This looks and works like the search box in the Windows Vista/7. Press CTRL+F, type the part of the name you want to find and True Launch Bar will find the shortcuts
Download: http://download.truelaunchbar.com/install/truelaunchbar444-beta.exe
More information: http://www.truelaunchbar.com/beta/index.html
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True Launch Bar v4.4.4 beta released.
I have never had any problems with the beta versions from True Launch bar.
-Curt
- but apparently someone else had, so: ""True Launch Bar v4.4.6 beta released. This small update fixes the bug:
Explorer hungs and crashes for some conditions.
Download: http://download.truelaunchbar.com/install/truelaunchbar446-beta.exe ""
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Why are we using a Windows 7 thread for TLB announcements?
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Josh - I imagine it's because TLB has been mentioned in this thread a number of times as a means to restore Vista and earlier Quick Launch Bar functionality to Win7.