Vista to Win 7 ?

Lee · 27 Dec 2010 at 10:41

Hi, I'm in a position where I need to rebuild my main machine. It's used as a general office PC and for gaming.

I'm currently on Vista, is it worth forking out for Win 7 ? What benefit, if any, will I see ?

Cheers,

Lee.

Meatball · 27 Dec 2010 at 11:04

Definitely worth the upgrade. Even though I loved Vista, Windows 7 feels more 'complete' and polished! For me the virtual Music, Pictures & Video libraries are worthy of the upgrade alone.

3dcandy · 27 Dec 2010 at 11:59

+1.
7 is in my opinion the best version of windows so far. Works well, is quick, and looks good on a wide range of hardware. You will see some speed increases from Vista, as EVERY system I've upgraded has been quicker

edscdk · 27 Dec 2010 at 12:07

I would not upgrade its a waste of £80, you will see very little difference between a w7 machine and a vista sp2 machine...

I would only upgrade if I could get it for free or am getting a new machine anyway

Lee · 27 Dec 2010 at 12:27

Thanks guys. It's probably a good upgrade, but is it worth the £80 ? I guess that's the decision I need to come to.

EniGmA1981 · 27 Dec 2010 at 12:29

edscdk said:
I would not upgrade its a waste of £80, you will see very little difference between a w7 machine and a vista sp2 machine...

Is this from experience? If so, what computers have you installed W7 on?

Just about ANY system running Vista (sp2 or not) will see a benefit by switching to 7

It's simply awesome

This IS from experience as I was running Vista SP2 before I upgraded to Win7 and the speed difference is staggering!

4T5 · 27 Dec 2010 at 12:32

Win7 is worth every single penny you spend on it as it really does produce trouble free computing.
An example is me changing my Mobo & CPU & it just updating itself without me needing to re instal or do owt, Genius. It's stable as well as I've since clocked the **** off it.

It does so much for me it feels alive.

3dcandy · 27 Dec 2010 at 12:35

edscdk said:
I would not upgrade its a waste of £80, you will see very little difference between a w7 machine and a vista sp2 machine...

I would only upgrade if I could get it for free or am getting a new machine anyway

As said above, every pc I've updated has ran better, quicker and been less troublesome. Well worth the upgrade fee. I'm guessing you're not a fan then?

theheyes · 27 Dec 2010 at 12:36

If you're rebuilding with a new motherboard and your Vista is an OEM copy then you need a new copy of Windows anyway.

Lee · 27 Dec 2010 at 12:41

I'm rebuilding as the system has a few strange glitches, and is a bit sluggish. Not rebuilt it since I installed it in March 2008.

Amp34 · 27 Dec 2010 at 13:26

Forget about any speed increases etc, unless you have a very slow computer (1GB of RAM for example). There is very little difference between Win7 and Vista, however there are some nice tweaks that Win7 adds (virtual libraries and the home network thing) which make using it a little nicer overall.

I upgraded my Vista x64 machine a few months ago but found no speed difference at all (oldish machine with 2GB of RAM), however the little added extras meant it was worth the extra £30. If I'd had to pay the full price then it woyldn't have been worth the effort.

I'm currently typing this on my laptop which is similar in performance to my desktop and it's running Vista, I have no plans to upgrade this yet as I see no need.

So yeah, really worth £80? Up to you, just don't expect many differences, it's not like upgrading from XP to Vista or ME to XP (contrary to some).

Smit · 27 Dec 2010 at 14:23

I made the switch last week when my HDD died. Take a look at any new features and see if you would use them. If not then it's not worth the £80 IMO

I was more than happy with Vista which never crashed once for me since it was released. I only upgraded to Windows 7 since I didn't have a Vista disc and the recovery partition was minced due to the broken HDD

robinbredin · 27 Dec 2010 at 14:24

Better off trying it free HERE for 90 days, if you like then upgrade, or wait for Win 8 beta which is coming out in 2011.

tommytinkle · 27 Dec 2010 at 14:35

robinbredin said:
Better off trying it free HERE for 90 days, if you like then upgrade, or wait for Win 8 beta which is coming out in 2011.

Hey,

Good plan, download the trial! I'd bet money on it you'll be buying windows 7 when it runs out

FatRakoon · 27 Dec 2010 at 15:51

Since SP2, Viosta has been every bit as flawless as Win7

There is nothign wrong with Vista anymore and to be honest with you, I think that its not really worth the outlay if you already have Vista.

If its a choice from XP then of course its win7 every time, but really. its not faster than Vista, its a few differences but they are visual, nothing more really.

I will say however that its half the size of vista and the code seems to be a bit cleaner and so it quite probably is a tad nippier coem to think of it, but its not THAT much quicker.

The 90 day trial is a brilliant option.

Its all very well listening to us, but you need to make the decision for yourself of course.

I mean, I love XP64 and I have been using it since day 1 and I have never seen a BSOD with it, I have loved it and it has been flawless for me, but others seem to hate it.

Each to their own.

TheHitMan-1973 · 27 Dec 2010 at 16:21

Please dont say Windows 8 for 2011

Lee · 27 Dec 2010 at 16:27

Well I didn't intend to kick off a Vista v's Win 7 war.....

I think on balance, I'll probably stick with Vista.

Thanks for all your contributions.

3dcandy · 27 Dec 2010 at 17:17

Only you can really decide....however people I know have all upgraded now and most wouldn't go back....and those that would it's usually down to a hardware issue (soundcard drivers did it for one on a laptop, and even that's been sorted now)
Personally I found the advantages to outweigh the disadvantages, and now find that 7 is more productive.

robinbredin · 27 Dec 2010 at 19:18

FatRakoon
Since SP2, Viosta has been every bit as flawless as Win7

There is nothign wrong with Vista anymore and to be honest with you, I think that its not really worth the outlay if you already have Vista.

If its a choice from XP then of course its win7 every time, but really. its not faster than Vista, its a few differences but they are visual, nothing more really.

I will say however that its half the size of vista and the code seems to be a bit cleaner and so it quite probably is a tad nippier coem to think of it, but its not THAT much quicker.

The 90 day trial is a brilliant option.

Its all very well listening to us, but you need to make the decision for yourself of course.

I mean, I love XP64 and I have been using it since day 1 and I have never seen a BSOD with it, I have loved it and it has been flawless for me, but others seem to hate it.

Each to their own.

+1 Microsoft have been doing a lot of work for Vista.

Columbo · 28 Dec 2010 at 09:07

3dcandy said:
Only you can really decide....however people I know have all upgraded now and most wouldn't go back....and those that would it's usually down to a hardware issue (soundcard drivers did it for one on a laptop, and even that's been sorted now)
Personally I found the advantages to outweigh the disadvantages, and now find that 7 is more productive.

There is no doubt that W7 is cleaner than Vista and has a smaller footprint.

But is it worth the £80 spend when you've already paid for Vista when you are using it on a fairly modern machine?

Personally I don't think so, I wouldn't go back now but I only made the jump because it was £30, if I'd had to pay full price then I wouldn't have changed.

One thing I will say about W7 vs Vista though is that Indexing seems to be better implemented in 7, dunno why but that's just my personal experience.