Which Version of Windows?
- Thread starter Mantisgb
- Start date
Xp32.
Anything newer seems pointless until you get 4+ GB of ram or a dx10 card imo.
Don't see the point in win7 at all, xp is much faster from a clean copy and what does win7 exactly offer over xp with his spec? It's not like superfetch is going to be that awesome with just 2gb of ram... And his sound card is a tad old unsure if win7 will have good drivers for it or it will take any advantage of it.
Anything newer seems pointless until you get 4+ GB of ram or a dx10 card imo.
Don't see the point in win7 at all, xp is much faster from a clean copy and what does win7 exactly offer over xp with his spec? It's not like superfetch is going to be that awesome with just 2gb of ram... And his sound card is a tad old unsure if win7 will have good drivers for it or it will take any advantage of it.
I'm amazed people are still recommending an 8 year old o/s 
Win 7 will run perfectly on his system, and he has a 64-bit processor so why not take advantage of it? It also means he can upgrade to 4gb ram and actually use it.
You might aswell recommend Win 98
Win 7 will run perfectly on his system, and he has a 64-bit processor so why not take advantage of it? It also means he can upgrade to 4gb ram and actually use it.
You might aswell recommend Win 98
I'm amazed people are still recommending an 8 year old os
Win 7 will run perfectly on his system, and he has a 64-bit processor so why not take advantage of it? It also means he can upgrade to 4gb ram and actually use it.
:
Because it's terribly slow, the thread about win7 boot up time proves my point exactly. Win7 is mostly 50+ sec iirc.
Win xp boots in less than 20...
What is wrong with an 8 year old OS, it does everything fine, fast, and reliably ? It's still supported. Your win98 comment makes no sense because it's not supported by the latest hardware ( driver wise), software and games and wouldn't work any faster than xp.
Prove it.
Use the app to test your boot time.
Do benchy's.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18002633&highlight=boot+time
Windows 7 runs as well as XP on older machines. Are you sure you don't mean the thread about Windows 7 reboot times?
There's certainly no need to be using an 8-year old OS now that it has been firmly replaced by much newer technology. I think you forget that 7 does not have the hardware requirements that Vista did.
There's certainly no need to be using an 8-year old OS now that it has been firmly replaced by much newer technology. I think you forget that 7 does not have the hardware requirements that Vista did.
Soldato
- Joined
- 12 May 2005
- Posts
- 12,631
Windows 7.
XP is done now, it is more legacy than anything. I have Windows 7 as basically my main OS replacing Vista (and I am using the earlier 7100 build). Don't even go for XP.
Anyway, Windows 7 is FREE for a year, so try it (just go to MS and download it, they give you a key anyway) and if you don't like it, or have problems go with a different OS.
Oh, and go for the 64 bit version, even if you only have 2GB of ram.
XP is done now, it is more legacy than anything. I have Windows 7 as basically my main OS replacing Vista (and I am using the earlier 7100 build). Don't even go for XP.
Anyway, Windows 7 is FREE for a year, so try it (just go to MS and download it, they give you a key anyway) and if you don't like it, or have problems go with a different OS.
Oh, and go for the 64 bit version, even if you only have 2GB of ram.
Then how come is it so slow in rebooting? Come on 50-80 seconds in 2-4x as long as it takes xp...
EDIT: seems my memory played up, I got it at 28 seconds though reboot. Which to be honest, is still 2x as fast as the average win7 boot.
Soldato
- Joined
- 12 May 2005
- Posts
- 12,631
Who cares about boot times? as long as it isn't like 5 mins or something
It is about how the OS runs while *IN* windows. I have been using W7 for a week now, and I basically feel a sad panda going back to VIsta. Even dragging windows to max them, mousing over aps in the task bar to highlight them, heck EVEN the open dialogs now have the navigation bar like windows Vista's explorer did.
And I had to use XP on occasion until a few weeks ago at work. It was terrible now.
W7 is snappy, everything loads up a lot faster than even vista, I have no driver issues, no major crashing, all my aps so far work fine,
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=3236&page=2 here is one link for a second in google. Windows 7 BETA 1 vs VIsta AND XP.
*EDIT*
I found a few other links for example firing squad. They only have the BETA version (which is earlier than current builds) and show that on mid range machines in GAMES it is perhaps 1 or 2 FPS slower on low to medium end machines, yet on high end is as fast / faster. THis is probably because of the earlier BETA build though, I am still using 7100, and many people have told me that the 72xx builds are far faster.
Honestly, if you choose your OS based solely on boot/reboot times, you are a sad man indeed.
For me, Windows 7 is a mix of everything that was good about XP and Vista.
You can buy a retail copy of Win7 come July 15th for £50. When you want to upgrade you can move the OS to a new machine and still be fully licensed.
You can't buy XP any longer, so you're alternative is Vista.
Download the RC of Win7 and give it a whirl. Cost you nothing. If it's ok, pre-order.
You're alternatives are a bootleg XP, full price Vista (about to be superceded) or free Win7 and a chance to pick it up at £50 for retail version.
I know what I would choose.
Soldato
- Joined
- 12 May 2005
- Posts
- 12,631
It is because XP crashes so much, that is why he needs fast reboot times
Just joking.
But I do agree with wilsky too. No point using an OS that is basically legacy. Using the current OS also makes things shiny! and we all know how important the "oh! shiny" factor is
So you lot would recommend me also to use Win7 ?
Can I upgrade from vista x64 sp1 to win7 x64 fine without issues ( cba to reinstall 150+ apps...) ?
And will it run nice and nippy on all of this:
3.2ghz quad
6gb ddr800 4-4-4-12
GTX260 216sp SSC edition ( 675mhz on the core)
Primary drive: WD5000AAKS
I have faily steep requirements for my OS though, for one I don't want to not be able to play any of my installed games any more, all of these must continue to work !:
Also some apps must work:
Ultramon
Xfire
Msn
Steam
uTorrent
Daemontools lite
Logitech keyboard profiler
Razer on the fly sensitivity adjustment
rivatuner
defraggler ( unless they have improved the defragger from the vista crap)
IE7pro ( dont'want ie8 until ie8 pro comes out, ie without ie7 pro is rubbish)
Mozilla Thunderbird
VLC
Last.fm
teamspeak
ventrillo
either rivatuner or everest
virtualdub
If all above is fine I'm very interested in trying win7...
Can I upgrade from vista x64 sp1 to win7 x64 fine without issues ( cba to reinstall 150+ apps...) ?
And will it run nice and nippy on all of this:
3.2ghz quad
6gb ddr800 4-4-4-12
GTX260 216sp SSC edition ( 675mhz on the core)
Primary drive: WD5000AAKS
I have faily steep requirements for my OS though, for one I don't want to not be able to play any of my installed games any more, all of these must continue to work !:
Also some apps must work:
Ultramon
Xfire
Msn
Steam
uTorrent
Daemontools lite
Logitech keyboard profiler
Razer on the fly sensitivity adjustment
rivatuner
defraggler ( unless they have improved the defragger from the vista crap)
IE7pro ( dont'want ie8 until ie8 pro comes out, ie without ie7 pro is rubbish)
Mozilla Thunderbird
VLC
Last.fm
teamspeak
ventrillo
either rivatuner or everest
virtualdub
If all above is fine I'm very interested in trying win7...
Soldato
- Joined
- 12 May 2005
- Posts
- 12,631
Try it as I did, on a dual boot. That way if you have issues then you can nuke it.
I assume it should work ok with most of those games. There are a few issues with Vista on a couple of games KOTOR 2 for example - and that in turn translates to issues with W7. However, there are work arounds.
Virtual Dub I know I have working in Windows Vista 64 so I assume will work in W7. Most software is ok, especially if you use the XP compat mode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSyqlXEleMQ have a look here if you need an idea of how to dual boot.
DON'T go with 25 gigs though for a windows 7 partition. I would say 80 is a nice size.
I assume it should work ok with most of those games. There are a few issues with Vista on a couple of games KOTOR 2 for example - and that in turn translates to issues with W7. However, there are work arounds.
Virtual Dub I know I have working in Windows Vista 64 so I assume will work in W7. Most software is ok, especially if you use the XP compat mode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSyqlXEleMQ have a look here if you need an idea of how to dual boot.
DON'T go with 25 gigs though for a windows 7 partition. I would say 80 is a nice size.
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 9,833
- Location
- Welsh Wales
WINDOWS 7 X64 CLOSE THREAD 
Soldato
- Joined
- 12 May 2005
- Posts
- 12,631
Bony, I am not sure he read that... your font was a little on the small side ya see.
Deleted member 69702
Deleted member 69702
I don't want to start or join an argument, but thought I'd pass on my experience, and sorry some of the content has been covered already - a lot of posts added in the time it took to write this 
My job involves me buying and configuring all the computer systems for a large multi-site UK company. We install XP onto everything using downgrade rights from Windows Vista Business because Vista is terrible - it might look pretty but lots of programs that we can't get rid of don't work, and the pop-ups from UAC asking are you sure you want to run that program you just double-clicked, are you sure you want to install that program you just put the CD in for... it drives you mad.
Recently I installed Windows 7 onto a laptop for testing, and it's great. So far I haven't found anything that doesn't work on it. I'm lucky in that it has a suitable processor for the XP-mode to work, but I've not had to use it yet. And as for the argument about boot up times, it's so much faster than XP on this particular system, almost as quick as XP waking from standby. The only issue I have is that it doesn't turn off properly sometimes, but then that's probably down to one of the missing drivers I haven't got around to fixing yet. Any new computer that comes with Windows 7 natively won't have that issue, and I'm sure if I could be bothered to download the Vista drivers I'd soon sort it out.
So on to the original question: What OS?
Personally I'd go Windows 7 32-bit, or upgrade to 4gb ram while it's cheap and go 64-bit. It's a free download (though Microsoft will be withdrawing it in July so everybody make sure you get both the 32 and 64-bit versions downloaded while you can), and it'll work until March 1st 2010 whereupon it'll start rebooting every 2 hours unless you buy the full product. Unless you pre-order for even lower prices, upgrade prices start from £79.99 throughout 2009, but will increase to £149.99 in 2010 so if you're gonna stay with 7 make sure you buy it this year. Ultimately though, if you don't like it, or it doesn't work well for you, you can always switch to a 32-bit XP install as you won't lose anything - Windows 7 didn't cost you in the first place. Yes it's old as some people keep saying, but others are right in that it's reliable, stable, and everything works with it. It'll also be supported by Microsoft for another 4 years, so plenty of time to wait for Windows 7 SP1 if you're the sort of person that likes to wait for the bugs to be ironed out before switching.
My job involves me buying and configuring all the computer systems for a large multi-site UK company. We install XP onto everything using downgrade rights from Windows Vista Business because Vista is terrible - it might look pretty but lots of programs that we can't get rid of don't work, and the pop-ups from UAC asking are you sure you want to run that program you just double-clicked, are you sure you want to install that program you just put the CD in for... it drives you mad.
Recently I installed Windows 7 onto a laptop for testing, and it's great. So far I haven't found anything that doesn't work on it. I'm lucky in that it has a suitable processor for the XP-mode to work, but I've not had to use it yet. And as for the argument about boot up times, it's so much faster than XP on this particular system, almost as quick as XP waking from standby. The only issue I have is that it doesn't turn off properly sometimes, but then that's probably down to one of the missing drivers I haven't got around to fixing yet. Any new computer that comes with Windows 7 natively won't have that issue, and I'm sure if I could be bothered to download the Vista drivers I'd soon sort it out.
So on to the original question: What OS?
Personally I'd go Windows 7 32-bit, or upgrade to 4gb ram while it's cheap and go 64-bit. It's a free download (though Microsoft will be withdrawing it in July so everybody make sure you get both the 32 and 64-bit versions downloaded while you can), and it'll work until March 1st 2010 whereupon it'll start rebooting every 2 hours unless you buy the full product. Unless you pre-order for even lower prices, upgrade prices start from £79.99 throughout 2009, but will increase to £149.99 in 2010 so if you're gonna stay with 7 make sure you buy it this year. Ultimately though, if you don't like it, or it doesn't work well for you, you can always switch to a 32-bit XP install as you won't lose anything - Windows 7 didn't cost you in the first place. Yes it's old as some people keep saying, but others are right in that it's reliable, stable, and everything works with it. It'll also be supported by Microsoft for another 4 years, so plenty of time to wait for Windows 7 SP1 if you're the sort of person that likes to wait for the bugs to be ironed out before switching.