The thread wherein Windows 7 is discussed...

[Venkman]

Back to Windows 7: you all hear RCs are going to begin shutting down computers every two hours come June 10? Not a shocker of course, but  prompts me to ask:

When my computer comes back (again), it'll have WinXP on it. Is it safe to jump to Windows 7 in July-ish? Or should I wait for the inevitable SP1?

It won't start doing the shut down after 2 hours until March of 2010.  It won't stop working until June of that year.  So basically, you get a free OS for a year.  And I'm also willing to bet that some enterprising community member will find a way to circumvent that shutdown date.

Doh! So much for not reading the article and only glancing at the headline... bleh.

[rattran]

I've actually gotten a phone call with "My pc won't work" after 15 minutes of 'Are you sure it's plugged in/is the monitor on/did you push the power button' going all the way to "Yeah, there's black smoke coming out of it. That's why I called you!"

Using your pc during a lightning storm, and having something in it CATCH FIRE isn't important to tell your friend you call for support.

[NiX]

CoD4/PunkBuster works on 64 bit systems. Despite claiming they wouldn't support Vista/Windows 7 64, the PB crew released a server side patch and now it works.

[Daspied]

Has Gameguard supported windows 7 yet? The bullshit they were spewing about not supporting a operating system because it was in "beta" was Ludicrous. Thats the whole point of it being in beta, so they can have it working on release. I don't think Microsoft wants another windows vista debacle on their hands.

As for recent releases I'm happy that Damon Tools now supports win7 with their latest release.

[KallDrexx]

So, I just installed Windows 7 but had limited time to play with it. 

I love the new taskbar, though I can tell it will take some getting used to. 

Libraries seem like a cool idea in theory but they don't work right.  I wanted to combine my two music directories into one music library.  In folder view it shows all files, including videos.  When I use the artist and album view, it only shows me like 25% of my music (even though pointing WMP to those same directories shows all my music).  Unless they fix the views to work smarter and better, I don't see myself using it, which is kind of a shame.

Is there a single key to show all gadgets (sorta like what OSX does)?  If not is there a quick button to minimize, then un-minimize currently opened windows without going to the bottom right of the taskbar (on a touchpad for my laptop, shaking and going to that button is a bit of a pain)?

[Yegolev]

Windows-key+D?  That's what works on XP but I'm not at my W7 machine right now.

[KallDrexx]

wow didn't even know that existed in Windows xp.  Thanks.

[Yegolev]

New W7 shortcuts:
http://lifehacker.com/5132073/the-best-new-windows-7-keyboard-shortcuts

Old shortcuts:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449

[Yegolev]

Today I just found that, apparently, AIX 6.1 also creates a /admin filesystem.  Silly MicroSoft.

[Goreschach]

I downloaded the beta, and am going to install it over the weekend.

I'm guessing that when reinstalling software, if they ask for operating system the Vista version should run fine?

[Big Gulp]

I downloaded the beta, and am going to install it over the weekend.

I'm guessing that when reinstalling software, if they ask for operating system the Vista version should run fine?

It should, but if it gives you any problems run the executable with admin privileges, and in Vista SP2 compatibility mode.

[Yegolev]

Even better, if an installation fails then there is a good chance you will get a popup that offers to fix the compatibility for you.  This has worked for me every time and I have therefore become rather lazy with compatibility checking.

Also I assume you downloaded the RC instead of the beta.

[Goreschach]

Also I assume you downloaded the RC instead of the beta.

That's what I meant, yeah.

[Strazos]

So at what point is my beta install going to crap out?

[Big Gulp]

So at what point is my beta install going to crap out?

Lern2reed.  March of 2010 is when it'll start automatically shutting down after 2 hours.

[rattran]

So at what point is my beta install going to crap out?

Lern2reed.  March of 2010 is when it'll start automatically shutting down after 2 hours.

Lern2reed yourself. The 2 hour shutdowns for beta start July 1, 2009. It expires in August.

[Strazos]

Ugh, and the retail package will not drop until some point after that? Lame.

[rattran]

You'll have to grab the RC, or one of the solutions which will no doubt avoid the shutdowns.

[Strazos]

I just hate the whole reinstall dance, ya know?

[Engels]

I found an interesting article here: http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/04/25/engineering-windows-7-for-graphics-performance.aspx regarding the use of graphics data and how its used in Vista versus Window 7. If I understand it correctly, Windows 7 achieves a better handling of resources by using the graphics card memory exclusively for desktop graphics, while Vista used a duplicate copy in both conventional and video card memory. For the average gamer here, with a good vid card, this seems like very good news. On the other hand, what if you have a wimpy integrated graphics chip?

[Teleku]

Because I'm to lazy to read the entire thread....

So, in a bout of "my computer is getting old and keeps fucking up god damnit and can't play any new games god fucking damnit I hate you" rage, I've ordered about $1500 in parts for a brand new computer from newegg.

I've heard lots of good things about Windows 7, so I've decided I'll try to install it as the main OS once I get everything put together.  Is there any particular reason I shouldn't do this?  Is driver support bad?  Still buggy with games?  Anything?

System will be pretty close to top of the line (Intel i7, Radeon 4890, ect.), so hopefully it should have decent support.  But I don't know.

If things are still iffy with the Windows 7 Beta I can always just install my XP Pro SP3 customized turbo edition I have, but I'd kind of like to move on from the OS that's actually getting pretty fucking old (no matter how much I actually do like it).

[Engels]

Other than having to reinstall everything again in March 2010, its probably gonna be the safer bet. That is, unless you want to run programs that have issues with Vista now, and you can only run them in XP.

[Sheepherder]

For the average gamer here, with a good vid card, this seems like very good news. On the other hand, what if you have a wimpy integrated graphics chip?

Question: does Vista only allocate memory once when working with an IGA?  It's a toss of a coin whether it does or whether it simply stores the windows theme in system memory twice because it does the system memory allocation then the graphics allocation which the chipset then uses system memory for...

[Strazos]

Is there any particular reason I shouldn't do this?  Is driver support bad?  Still buggy with games?  Anything?

You might have to fool around with compatibility modes and such to get some things installed, but after that you should be fine. Heck, nVidia even had beta drivers out specifically for W7.

I've have zero problems with the OS after using it for more than a month.

[Yegolev]

I am installing W7 RC again, this time on a far newer hard disk.  There are definitely some odd differences in the RC and beta that make it seem like they have been just moving over Vista code in the interim, like how under RC LotRO crashes when you first run it and works fine the second time.  Didn't happen on beta.  Now I find that I had to unplug my IDE disk in order to have setup properly format my new disk.  I don't really get that since I was able to clean-install beta without unplugging anything.

Yes, once again I failed to follow my own advice and it bit me in the ass.  This is just how I roll.

[Ironwood]

You and I should have a pint Sir.

For if it had my brains and your looks, it would be delicious.

[Yegolev]

Are you having a pint right now, sir?

Actually I think I'm going to hit the Balvenie.

[Yegolev]

New image will not boot, apparently missing drivers, so I'm doing the install again with the IDE plugged in.

Now, why would I do this?  I think I did not mention that the Format ability of the W7 setup disk is not very robust.  I was able to have it make a Primary partition on the new disk but not a System.  Currently I have a System partition on the new disk and so I'm hoping to get better results this time.

My previous installation of W7 RC was done on the running system and I ended up with F: as my system drive.  Seems like some programmers just assume your C: is your system disk instead of using environment variables (HAY TURBINE) and things just suck.  Changing drive letters after the fact seems like a bad idea, so here I am.

Also hitting the scotch.

[SnakeCharmer]

Thinking about testing this out on the wife's laptop before installing it on my gaming rig...

However, my rig acts like a mini-server, with her printing through it from her laptop, as well as using it for data back up.  If she's running W7, and my rig runs Vista 64, will she be able to continue printing to the printer connected to my machine and storing data on it (after setting up the network, obviously)?

[Engels]

I installed Windows 7 beta on my older sony laptop. Word to the wise: be sure there are vista drivers for your old laptop before putting Windows 7 on it. It  took me FOREVER to get the basics to work, and even now it screams at me about the sound drivers, saying that there are 'compatibility issues', even when they are working perfectly well!

I never did find the function keys drivers (you know the ones for laptops' sleep, brightness, volume, etc).

As far as Vista64 printing, I have found that a shared printer on a win32 machine might not be useable on a Vista64, depending on the printer. Its largely to do with wether the printer company itself has provided 64 bit 'networked' drivers.

I imagine that file sharing is just fine across all windows platforms, win7 included.

[SnakeCharmer]

Her laptop came with V64 on it, so shouldnt have any issues there.  I hope.

Edit:  IF W7 bombs on her laptop, it will be out of commision until I can get Gateway to send the recovery disk (lost it during our move), since I can't find it anywhere on Gateway's website for download.

[Engels]

Well, just be careful. If at all possible, take an image of the current laptop using Acronis or Ghost before nuking it. 

I know that if I took the GF's laptop and started monkying with it, I'd be in the dog house good and proper if it weren't 100% at the end of the fiddling.

[KallDrexx]

Ok windows 7 and/or the media player that comes with it is sooooooo slow at reading and cataloging music (both in libraries and WMP library).  I got some new music and I'm now 30 minutes in and i'ts still not listed.  Furthermore, I used WMP to manually refresh the media library, and the same functionality that took literally 2 minutes to go through my 20 gigs of music is now on 10 minutes and 3% in.............

 

*edit* rofl and it just went up to 5% then down to 2% and now at 0%.   

[Yegolev]

Just a FYI, I have not been able to get printer sharing to work with W7, but I have not tried very hard since moving my rig (the one with the USB printer) to RC and my wife's machine is still using beta.  Just saying don't assume it is going to work.

[Teleku]

I've been running my OS off a 74 gig raptor drive forever, but it looks like the latest WD Caviar black drives have surpassed my old raptor in performance (and are pretty damn cheep with a ton more space).  So I'm thinking of buying one to use on the new PC and leave the old raptor on the other system.  I don't feel like shelling out $200 for the new velociraptor drives either.

I'm a bit rusty on what the best setup is though.  It's best to create a small partition for the OS to run off of, and leave it clean of everything other than the OS, right?  Or not?  If so, what size should I make it for Windows 7?  Or if anybody could just link me an accurate guide to setting up/optimizing a new windows 7 system I'd appreciate it.  Been awhile since I bothered with any of this and I've forgotten everything, heh.