Windows Vista --> Windows 7
 

So let me get this right....

I spend £500 on a laptop last September for Uni, comes with Vista which im lead to believe (at the time) is better than XP yada yada yada.

But now Vista is being phased out as its actually shite and at some point in the future ill end up having to buy '7'?

Without getting into the boring "Windoze is teh sh1t3st" debate, what are my options with Vista? Will their still be updates and support or is '7' the only way to go?

Windows 95 was better than this pants OS called vista

i done the esact same thing except im not at uni....

i got bored of vista taking up so much RAM i just switched to ubuntu... its free and VERY quick, i use vista for microsoft programes though....

That really doesnt help me in the slightest, does it.

Vista = Gay

Cant get any simlier than that :D

Right, the reason why Vista is better than XP, is how it protects it's system files, especialy when updating drivers. In XP, the driver could actually change system specific files, and corrupt them, Vista does not allow it, hence the reason why Vista is more hungry on resources.

Vista and Windows 7, 7 is the win 98SE version of 98, it is based on the same kernels as Vista, but they have got it to run lighter on the system, so it won't bog down as much. It isn't a whole new OS, more a refinement of Vista. I have Vista and 7 running, and must admit, 7 runs a little faster on a lesser machine, and things like OS Compatibility works a lot better too.

When 7 comes out as OEM, I may just have to buy it!

MAC!!!
 

Just bin it and buy a Mac dude :D

Mac = The dogs dangles

Mac = No way near as many virus out there

Mac OS = Sooooooooooo..... much more stable than any PC that I've ever used. In fact in the 10 years I have used Mac's not once has is played up, freezed up or anything like that.

Now I will be slagged off for being a Mac user :p

Steve,

Thanks for the reply.
Do you think its worth while for me to keep Vista then, or spend the £70ish to get the home 7 version?

Im doing a computing degree at Uni. Every computer I will be using and have access to at Uni will be a PC :)

I'd save your money for now, and hope the system hungry features of Vista are phased out in a service pack update. There is bound to be support for a few years to come i'd imagine.

Get 7, it's what Vista was meant to be, but without the nonsense that came with Vista (resource hungry etc)

Although, I'm starting University this August and I've decided to keep with all my Macintosh computers. I'll just run "Bootcamp" which allows me to run "Autocad" and "Matlab" on XP. This way I get the stability I need day to day and only have to use XP (I hate Windows.) for those specific applications.

In my opinion Apple is the only way to go for day-to-day use, but I admit anyone actually doing any real work (Non media.) has to use Windows.


Obviously, everyone has their own opinion.

I got the Pre-Release, and there are a couple of stutters, but that is Vista software doing it, but I am very tempted, my Vista install, is from when Vista came out, and is getting a little slow now, so is time for a re-install, but I might just wait for Windows 7.

Re: Macs, I have heard horrors of Mac's freezing, just as much as Windows OS, plus the new Mac's are using PC hardware now, so it is just an OS now, on a limited hardware, it shouldn't freeze then. I have never used a Mac though, I have always viewed them as overpriced hardware, for SOHO use.

MS generally supports OS's upto 3 service packs so Vista int going to just cease to be on October 23rd. It will do what you want it to do. The problem with Vista is MS decided to change the coding standards to code more securely, they just took it a bit far.

Macs work but they are becoming more popular and people are starting to target them with viruses a little more, there still best for design work but as above, the hardware is still far too expensive.

Basically if you want win 7 get it, but Vista will be fine for a good few years. I've ordered my copy but thats mainly because I will end up supporting it at some point in work.

Vista runs everything a "normal" person needs to use completely "normally". OK, it's a bit clunky, but that is no reason to spend £70 on an upgrade.

Nothing really wrong with Vista IMO, it's all down to who's using the machine. Just as many of our customers manage to stuff their XP install's up as Vista installs :lol:

If anyone remembers nobody wanted XP when it first came out - "my mate says it's rubbish" ect, then the same thing happened with Vista when that was released. At least with Vista if an application falls over just the application hangs 99% of the time, unlike XP which likes to crash explorer as well for good measure! I wouldn't say Vista was especially slow either, RAM is cheap these days and is the main factor that improves things. There's no excuse to have any less than 4Gb now, and anyone trying to run Vista on a single core CPU shouldn't expect it to be snappy.

I agree that 7 is how Vista should be, but there's no real reason if you have an existing machine with Vista to goto the expense of upgrading IMO

mac's don't use PC hardware at all. That's complete rubbish. Intel and Nvidia make the chips for macs, but that's about it. Apple have worked with Intel/Nvidia to make hardware that works with their software. PC hardware is made my loads of companies with slightly different ways of working so it's not wonder windows is a bit touchy

Mac crash. not sure where you heard that lol...

gareth-jaines-macbook-pro:~ Gareth$ uptime
14:57 up 38 days, 21:43, 2 users, load averages: 1.68 1.69 1.53

It only restarts for updates hehe

my everyday macbook pro running world of warcraft (sigh I know) daily and doing everything else I ask from it including rendering movies, watching films, etc, etc. it's not like I just booted it and left it in the corner.

if a program crashes, which I admit they do from time to time you just close it and reopen it and it acts like nothing has happened. Not like a program crashes and explorer restarts and looks half the same, but some of the startup programs aren't there or bits are missing.

anyway back to the topic :D

7 is built on Vista which means before it's even out of the box it's old technology. I have a PC at home which runs XP 64bit edition and it runs well. Vista never stops moaning at me for something or other. Even when I turn off the stupid confirm thingy it moans it's not turned on.

Maybe Microsoft will be as kind as Apple and let Vista people update to 7 for like £29 like Apple are letting Leopard users update to Snow Leopard in the next couple of months... ;)

Cheers for all the helpful replys lads, ill stick with Vista me thinks.

Thanks again :)

If you're running a 64bit version of Vista....

or your mobo is maxed at 4gb of ram

or like my dad who is maxed at 2gb hehe

XP 64 had shocking driver support and was never exactly stable :lol:
It takes 2 minutes to set Vista up to stop it asking you stuff like that ;)

What kind of madman would be running a 32-bit OS now Jimmy?! :p

I don't really do anything with my pc anymore. It plays Left 4 Dead and WoW and runs Ventrilo Mix for VoIP.

Don't think it's ever crashed, although I can't install MSN on it. It never really does anything now.

My experience of windows 7 is really positive.

I've been running it since the beta release came out and have had no issues with drivers, programs or anything else that you might expect running a beta OS.

I've found it to be more stable, less resource hungry and easier to use. Who ever said it's what vista should have been was spot on, but its more than just a slightly updated version of the OS like 98se was.

I have it running on an old P4 3ghz with 2 gig of ram, it never crashes, hangs or freezes and recovers its resources well if I max it out.

I also have it installed on an old laptop again its got 2 gig of ram buts its as stable as a mountain goat.

Without going into all the detail why not just get hold of the beta release and try it for yourself, whats the worse that can happen! :woot:

You can still download a copy of 7 until tomorrow (20th August), to test:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/eval.../dd353271.aspx

Mike

Vista support will last for a long time, they haven‘t phased out XP support yet. If you‘re not encountering any problems with vista (so do some don’t, mostly dependant on hardware) then there’s no need, as of now, to upgrade. That said Windows 7 does feel a lot more polished than vista, is a lot faster on old hardware and is worth the £70 imo.

Aren’t you eligible for MS’s educational discount too? Do they still do this? When I was at uni (doing computing too:thumbsup:) you could save tons by getting the student licence, bit of a palaver getting it though. They’ll be a family licence for windows 7 coming soon allowing you to install the os on 3 separate machines for around £150 so might be worth checking that out if you know others interested in getting it too.

I like your style kwik, as someone who uses Ubuntu every day and makes his living from knowing the power of Linux, I can only smile to myself every time I here all the licensing, cost issues and trouble people have with Windows.

cOsie, I'm sure if you're Uni is any good you'll come across Linux very soon. The best lesson I learned at Uni was that Windows is not the only option -after Uni the lesson I learned was that having Linux on your CV can be useful when looking for work, but I suppose it depends on what you want to do when you've finished?

jhammond - I use Matlab on Linux and it works very well.

I'm sure someone will point out that they can't live without software 'x' and because it doesn't run on Ubuntu they have to run Windows. I also have this problem, to solve it I run Windows XP on Ubuntu inside virtualbox and it works great. When Windows crashes or starts going a bit slow I can just boot up an earlier snapshot, prior to the magic bit rot and slow down that seems to effect Windows machines after a couple of months of use.

The only reason I can justify having a dual boot for Windows is so I can play a couple of race sims.

Running 64Bit 7 beta at the momment went straight from Xp to 7 and im nothing but impressed. I was so impressed with it after a day of running it i pre ordered it for 50 quid. It runs nice and fast but ide expect it to with 8gb of RAM :thumbsup: If you can justify the money why not get it but if not stick with vista i love mine :)

A

Ive got the release version of 7. :p

double post ooooo

A

Geeks are Ace :woot::thumbsup::thumbsup:

As someone has mentioned before, 7 is vista done properly LOL!
We didn't upgrade to Vista, at work, mainly because the costs involved in upgrading all the workstations, and the time to do all the software upgrades, testing, debugging etc etc etc would just become a pain in the ass IMO.

My main grip with Vista AND 7, is the main change in icons and the interface? Why change a perfectly working Explorer Window FFS...retraining of Staff just in interface differences is just unecessary work. I also don't like the slow WDS method of ghosting machines now, as its just so damn slow, compared to RIS (WDS Legacy mode). I just want to ghost machines - be quick please.

c0sie. Stick with Vista, or as gareth mentioned buy a Mac!, A good idea would also to start learning about virtualisation, that way you could try 7 (on both PC and Mac). We have virutalised all our servers at work, and now run at least two servers per host on each vmware ESXi host.

where you getting it for £50?

Anywhere, Win 7 normal is on offer for £50 and pro is £99, think amazon had some, play had some and pc world (they were offering a free healthcheck with it at pc world, but anyone who took them up on it needs shooting! but thats another matter).

Dunno if its still on offer.

Just don't try and buy MS word :)

i cant beleive im saying this but for now im on vista's side:( for the one reason that ive never known a windows os to be essentially an upgrade on its firs release. i guess ive lost trust in microsoft hence being another linux geek/nerd/egotist BUT saying that if i build a system for anyone else (mere mortals) then it gets loaded with Vista 64 for now untill 7 proves its worth in the real world:thumbsup:

what pc world health check the last one i got done where supposed to remove covers and clean fans and not done so cancelled cover:thumbsup:

There was a brief period when you could pre-order the home or professional editions with a substantial discount. For example, I pre-ordered the professional version from Amazon for just under £90; now it's £150 (although that's still a saving of ~ 30%).

I think you'll be lucky to find anyone selling at the original low prices now (as Ashley says below, they were for a limited number of copies only).


No, what you said is complete rubbish. :rolleyes:

The processors (and therefore presumably the chipset) are the same as for a PC; even the Apple website directs you to Intel pages that detail the specifications of PC hardware.

The Nvidia and ATI products are also the same (although they may be clocked differently, typically lower, compared to their PC destined counterparts).

Alot of places had it for 50 untill they had sold a certain ammount then they went up to 70 i got mine from dabs.

A

I don't want to get into the whole PC v Mac rubbish but should be mostly true, the PCB's might be a different shape but there's usually a standard way of implementing an IC like a chipset GPU ect.

Dunc show me a windows based laptop that has exactly the same internals as my macbook pro then.

the OP said macs are using the same hardware as PCs now. which they aren't. it's just made by the same company. it might use the same chips, but it's not the same hardware. :rolleyes:

you would be hard pressed to show anyone any two computers of different manufacturer as having the same internals. macs are using same chipsets, hard drives and cd/dvd drives as pc's with their own motherboards.
if you do photo editing or graphic design, mac is the dogs bollocks, and their o/s is much better designed and written than windows. windows wins on being most widely supported so ideal for home computers or small offices, just much better supported. Linux is what everyone really should be using and supporting, ubuntu is a good distro for general users but there are others which are better if you have good knowledge of the workings. linux is very fast and stable, and you only need to install what you need, not a load of crap that you'll never use, and if you want something to work slightly differently, you can normally aquire the source code and change it.

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