Buy Windows 7 Now!

[CameronBornAndBred]

If you are wanting to upgrade to Windows 7 (you are), you should buy it now. You can save yourself tons of money if you purchase it now until July 11th. This is the upgrade, they are offering both home and professional editions. I don't think you can actually get the media until October, but if you can wait, you can save yourself over $100. Different outlets are carrying it, including Walmart and Best Buy. I'm getting a couple copies this weekend, one professional for myself ($99), and one home premium ($49) for the kids' computer.

[colchar]

Is it worth the upgrade from Vista?

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Is it worth the upgrade from Vista?

Paging DevilAlumna. Paging DevilAlumna.

BTW, I've had no problem with the Vista Ultimate I installed on my new computer two months ago!

[DevilAlumna]

Is it worth the upgrade from Vista?

Oh sweet jesus, yes. It's faster, more stable (even in beta, it was more stable), and yes, has some nice, new features. The best thing for laptops is better power management - my Lenovo tablet went from about 2.5 hours of life, to nearly 4 hours.

Since somebody else started the thread, I'll also take this chance to point out that if you're buying a new computer with Vista Home premium or greater, you're automatically eligible for the Win7 upgrade for free.

[YmoBeThere]

I'm about ready to scrap my XP based PC now...

[weezie]

I'll also take this chance to point out that if you're buying a new computer with Vista Home premium or greater, you're automatically eligible for the Win7 upgrade for free.

Thank you for that tidbit! I fall into that category and now I won't look like such a sad excuse for a computer person when I mention this to my immediate family.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Is it worth the upgrade from Vista?

Yes. This is something I would highly recommend.

[bjornolf]

I'll have to tell my dad about that. He's had Vista, and he's had a few problems. Mostly slow downs and his anti-virus software seeing viruses that weren't there.

[colchar]

Oh sweet jesus, yes. It's faster, more stable (even in beta, it was more stable), and yes, has some nice, new features.

Personally, I like Vista and haven't had any problems with it.

The best thing for laptops is better power management - my Lenovo tablet went from about 2.5 hours of life, to nearly 4 hours.

I get decent battery life now (obviously depending on which settings I choose) but longer battery life is always a good thing.

Since somebody else started the thread, I'll also take this chance to point out that if you're buying a new computer with Vista Home premium or greater, you're automatically eligible for the Win7 upgrade for free.

If I purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium last spring am I still eligible for this free upgrade?

[colchar]

I'll have to tell my dad about that. He's had Vista, and he's had a few problems. Mostly slow downs and his anti-virus software seeing viruses that weren't there.

I ruined my desktop because of the anti-virus issue. I ran my program and didn't pay any attention to what it wanted to delete. I just let it delete whatever it saw as a problem and, in doing so, allowed it to delete some system files. Oh well, my own fault I guess.

[DevilAlumna]

If I purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium last spring am I still eligible for this free upgrade?

Alas, no. The deal just kicked in (I think, starting July 1.)

This pre-sale upgrade is a pretty good deal - it's only a little more than an employee-discounted price.

[colchar]

If I purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium last spring am I still eligible for this free upgrade?

Alas, no. The deal just kicked in (I think, starting July 1.)

This pre-sale upgrade is a pretty good deal - it's only a little more than an employee-discounted price.

If I can't get an upgrade for free I'll have to think about upgrading as I am loathe to pay for a new version of Windows when I find Vista works just fine.

[bjornolf]

I have a couple questions. I have three computers running Windows XP Pro. I know all the problems with Vista, but I haven't had much trouble with XP, other than it being a memory hog with service pack X (what are we up to now, 3?). I was just wondering what the advantages would be for me to switch to Windows 7? Also, would I have to buy three copies of it, or could I put one copy on all three of my computers?

Thanks.

[colchar]

I know all the problems with Vista

In my experience, there aren't a lot of problems with Vista. There were when it was first released but it is now just as stable as, if not more stable than, XP. Those smarmy Apple ads that paint Vista as being unstable drive me nuts as they are completely inaccurate. I run Vista on two computers (a laptop and a desktop) and the only problem I've ever had was caused not by Vista but by my anti-virus software and that was partially my own fault as I didn't pay attention to what it had identified as problem files and just allowed it delete things without checking them myself. There are a couple of minor cosmetic things that I don't like about Vista and that I cannot change (maybe DA could tell me how to do so) but those are personal preferences and are unlikely to matter to 99.99% of people who use the system.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Vista is very stable, but it is a resource hog, which is the primary benefit to the upgrade. Your computer will perform much better. I don't think there would be much benefit to upgrading from XP, since you would have owned your computer for a few years. XP is not as demanding on resources, and if you upgraded you might actually see a performance drop, unless you increased RAM.

[YmoBeThere]

I have a couple questions. I have three computers running Windows XP Pro. I know all the problems with Vista, but I haven't had much trouble with XP, other than it being a memory hog with service pack X (what are we up to now, 3?). I was just wondering what the advantages would be for me to switch to Windows 7? Also, would I have to buy three copies of it, or could I put one copy on all three of my computers?

Thanks.

I haven't read the licensing terms in a while, but each PC should have its own copy IIRC.

[DevilAlumna]

I have a couple questions. I have three computers running Windows XP Pro. I know all the problems with Vista, but I haven't had much trouble with XP, other than it being a memory hog with service pack X (what are we up to now, 3?). I was just wondering what the advantages would be for me to switch to Windows 7? Also, would I have to buy three copies of it, or could I put one copy on all three of my computers?

Thanks.

I haven't read the licensing terms in a while, but each PC should have its own copy IIRC.

This may actually be changing with Win7. I don't know if it's official, but there are sightings of "family pack" licensing Terms of Use for certain versions.

http://www.kristankenney.com/2009/07/02 ... licensing/

Here are the system requirements for Win7 - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... quirements

I don't recall what they were for XP or Vista, but if your machine can run Vista, it'll defintely be as good or better with Win7. Mostly, speed depends on RAM and processing; you can cheaply and easily upgrade RAM on most machines these days - crucial.com is your friend if you want to know what you can upgrade.

As for advantages over XP? Well, XP is nearly 10 years old - OS's have improved quite a bit in the interim. Key things include SECURITY!, easier setups for things like networking, sharing, etc. Personally, I love the search functions - you no longer have to hunt through folders and folders to find a file, or open every menu in Start to find a program - just search for it. You might like "homegroup," a lightweight version of home "server" functions such as filesharing and printer-maintenance - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... /homegroup

[DevilAlumna]

Some of you may be interested in parental controls - controlling your child's/children's computer use and access. Here's some overall information on what's available from MSFT for computers and XBOX, http://www.microsoft.com/protect/family/default.mspx,

And for Win7 specific (though many of these are in Vista too): http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... l-controls

[DukeUsul]

I haven't had any stability issues with Vista. And it is very pretty, if you have the power to have the whiz-bang graphical interface stuff. The bad thing is the nanny popups when it asks me if I want to do something right after I click on something asking it to do something. I understand the motivation for the popups, but it still drives me nuts.

Plus they moved everything.

[bjornolf]

Vista is very stable, but it is a resource hog, which is the primary benefit to the upgrade. Your computer will perform much better. I don't think there would be much benefit to upgrading from XP, since you would have owned your computer for a few years. XP is not as demanding on resources, and if you upgraded you might actually see a performance drop, unless you increased RAM.

Really? My understanding from other friends in the biz is that XP, by the time you get to Service Pack 3, is a pretty ginormous resource hog, and that it's recommended you have over a Gig of RAM just to run it.