First impressions of Windows 7

English Open Chat
#1

I bought a new laptop for my wife and had some time to waste so I played with the installed Windows 7. Oh my, what a real waste of time was it!

  1. As I remember, when you install XP, it asks you to enter an admin password first, then to add users. W7 asked me for a user password (well, there was nothing to mention an administrator) so I entered a user name and password. Everything’s got installed and set up. (I must add, this Samsung laptop is the first laptop I’ve seen which doesn’t include ANY cr*pware, or how do you call those pre-installed programs, with the exception of Norton Anti-virus. I respect Samsung for that.) And right away an avalanche of pop ups started. It’s ridiculous how annoying and disruptive they are!
  2. Then after a while I’ve realized the user I created was indeed an admin. So I changed the username to Admin and created another normal user. Logged in as the normal user and I was simply overwhelmed by pop-ups. Once you get pop ups under control in Admin, they sort of become less frequent. But I just can’t believe how they’re doing that. When you’re an admin and set up a wireless connection it pops up to ask you to make changes to the harddrive. Oh, and that wireless applet is so freaking annoying, it pops up every few minutes even though I’m already connected to my network. Why the hell do I need to know what other networks are available every few minutes? But then you log in as a normal user, but you can’t use your laptop until you enter admin passwords in 4-5 pop ups, 1 of them being the wireless connection. It connects but for some insane reason asks me to authorize it to make some changes to my harddrive. WTF? Every single time you log in!!! Every single time! Not to mention another 4 admin password asking pop ups. STUPID!
  3. Then I tried to install a few programs. Installed LibreOffice, Firefox etc. - no problems. Tried to install 7Z - couldn’t install it because it couldn’t create a folder in Program Files. What? The other programs have just done that. No, not this one. Not even with an admin password. And it wouldn’t install even after I created the folder there myself. VLC wouldn’t install either, FreeCommander won’t install… then I stopped trying. I logged out of the user and logged in as admin. Tried to install the rest but it gave me some cryptic errors, something was messed up. I went into the admin folder but the file manager hangs and see that it’s called the same as the users. I deleted the normal user, deleted the user’s folder, went into the Admin folder - the file manager hangs. WTF? Alright, something’s really messed up. I don’t want to waste my time on it so I do a Rescue (or whatever it’s called), that is reinstall everything’s and start again.
  4. This time I create an admin user and only later create a normal user. Install the programs from admin - all is good this time. But using the laptop from a normal user account is impossible. The pop ups drive me absolutely to the wall. So I go back to the admin and use it from there. So much for security. I don’t know if those stupid pop ups can be set to remember the settings and stop poping up every single login, but I don’t care - it’s defective by design. They should have done that from the first place. What are they doing to the harddrive every time it connects to wifi? Saving settings in the Admin folder? Stupid or what?
  5. Comparing GUI of W7 to KDE4 - there’s just no comparison. W7’s is really rough. It may look good from the distance, but when you look closer, all those small things like borders, round window edges, icons, task bar - they all look pretty ugly and rough on closer look. KDE4 designers have done such a tremendously great job polishing the interface. There may be some problems in the System Tray in some themes, but overall KDE4 is so much more greater looking than that ugly Aero. You know, even such small things like for example, the task bar icons touching the top border, but having a gap at the bottom and so on, there’s so many such small inconsistencies that are really noticeable when you try to compare. If you make the icons smaller in W7, they’re unreadable, that is I can’t see any more what’s on them. In KDE4, I can make them really tiny and still see everything. Long live SVG! Are MS still so stupid to only use bitmaps? Do they still only have 2 icon sizes as they had in Win95? And this is after all software which you pay for, weather you want it or not.

And PS a few good words about the laptop (NOT windoze) - it’s a Samsung RC510-S07AU:

  1. Resume from suspend takes literally 2 seconds! amazing!
  2. Sound quality is just awesome!
  3. As I said, I’m impressed with Samsung for not clogging the laptop with cr*pware.
  4. Videos play great on this laptop, colors seem to be good as well, considering it’s an anti-glare screen (my wife wanted it).

Too bad she doesn’t want Linux on it, she needs MS Office for Uni (stupid uni policy for requiring only MS Office formats). But I’ll see how long she lasts with this W7 piece of cr*p, I’ll count the number of days the pop ups driver her nuts.

#2

Hi
I use MS office on occasions, but it’s installed via crossover office, might be worth the small investment?

#3

I really want to see how long it will be until she asks me to install openSUSE on it.

#4

I’m not seeing the problems you mention.

My computer was a Dell laptop. My biggest annoyance was that the touchpad started of with tapping enabled. Being rather heavy handed, the result was that I made some selections by mistake during the initial setup.

Sure, the account it creates is an admin account. I immediately created two new accounts. I made one of them an admin, and the other a limited user. Then I deleted the originally setup account (the account name was one of those mistakes due to the touchpad tapping).

I am not seeing all of these popups in the limited account. WiFi is working fine, with no popups. I do use the admin account to install software - yes, I would expect an elevation popup if I install from the user account. I do see such popups when there are Windows updates. It is possible to set it so that only the admin account sees those (I think).

#5

It’s a sad fact, but someone has to make an OS to pander to the needs of the masses.

Consider yourself lucky to counted among the more discerning of folk.

#6

I am not seeing all of these popups in the limited account. WiFi is working fine, with no popups.

You’ve got no idea! The first pop-up is to enter admin password for it to do something wifi related on the hard drive, the second pop-up is to enter admin password for it to do something with one of those Samsung battery life extending programs on the hard drive, the third pop-up is to enter admin password for it to do something with another Samsung program on the hard drive, the fourth pop-up is to ask me to register for Samsung update program and the only options are to register or to cancel, and if you cancel, then it pops up again next time you log in. The 5th pop-up is to show me 20 available wifi networks even though I’ve already connected to mine. I didn’t find how to shut it up once and for all. The 6th pop up is to tell me there is a problem with some program (don’t remember which one now, I’m not touching that *** ever again).

That IS stupid. Weather it’s MS or Samsung, after all, vindoze 7 sucks!

#7

That certainly sounds broken.

Check your WiFi adapter settings. There might be a choice between using the built-in Windows client to connect, and using an alternative client (typically from the card manufacturer). If there’s a choice, make sure that you are using the Windows client.

Mine connects automatically at bootup, and there’s never a popup. Maybe there was once a brief “bubble” saying that WiFi networks were available when I hadn’t yet configured an automatic connection. I had more problems (but not serious ones) with WiFi in KDE than with it in Windows 7.

I’d say that Samsung did a poor job in the setup that they created for your computer.

#8

On 2011-05-08 03:36, linuxoidoz wrote:
>
> I bought a new laptop for my wife and had some time to waste so I played
> with the installed Windows 7. Oh my, what a real waste of time was it!

I have a Compaq laptop with windows 7 on it, and IMO, windows 7 is quite
good. For a windows, that’s it. :slight_smile:

Just consider that we find Windows difficult/ugly/bad because we dislike it
and use Linux instead. You have to switch hats.

Everything was installed and worked.

I do not have difficulties with it. Some of the software it came with is a
limited time test, and want me to pay for the license or it will not work
any more. Fine, I removed the antivirus and installed a free (gratis) one.
I have not even tried its test M$ Office, I installed OpenOffice instead.

The only real difficulties I have with it arise from me knowing how to
handle linux, not windows. I had to shrink the partition to install linux
besides, and failed. The laptop had been used for show on the shop, there
were unmovable things. I made use of the rescue partition and let it format
and install windows again, then shrinked it by more than half.

I do not use that Windows, except because I have hardware (Nokia phone, for
example) that requires windows. And W7 is probably the best of them. Not
for us, we prefer linux, but otherwise, it is a good one.

I power it up about once a month. If at all.

> Too bad she doesn’t want Linux on it, she needs MS Office for Uni
> (stupid uni policy for requiring only MS Office formats). But I’ll see
> how long she lasts with this W7 piece of cr*p, I’ll count the number of
> days the pop ups driver her nuts.

Shrinking the W7 partition after it has been used for some time can be very
difficult. Be warned :slight_smile:

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” at Telcontar)

#9

Too bad the microsoft guys are stubborn enough as to not give up, and many computers are sold with pre-installed windoze (to satisfy the needs of voracious and lazy consumers)! That’s so unfair and misleading - it somehow makes you think it’s a ‘bargain’, when in fact you pay for it!

I’m really sorry that there’s SOOO much advertising behind windoze (I mean too much compared to any Linux distro), and people seem to favour it on and on! It’s amazing: there are so many Linux distros and people get stuck using windoze, when they should see it as a mere alternative to Linux (more expensive and much much more buggy), not viceversa! Linux is not really complicated to use if you don’t mess around and want to stir your curiosity. It can be as good as windoze even in playing movies and surfing the Internet. Then WHY?

#10

I bought a new laptop for my wife and had some time to waste so I played with the installed Windows 7. Oh my, what a real waste of time was it!

Yeahh it is a real waste of time. One solution exist: FORMAT.

#11

One solution exist: FORMAT

This is exactly what I’ve done with all my previous laptops as soon as I turned the Power button.

My wife always complained about Linux that something was different (to XP she’s used to), something didn’t work and on and on… This is a real test, guys. She said Linux is more complicated and everything simply works in vindoze. Well, good luck. I’m really going to count the number of days she lasts with W7. But I’m not touching it, I made it clear to her. If she needs help, it must be Linux.

Just consider that we find Windows difficult/ugly/bad because we dislike it
and use Linux instead. You have to switch hats.

I tried really hard to find something to like in it but the number of things I hated is way bigger. To be honest I really liked the way sharing simply works out of the box between everything (W7 laptop, Linux, WD HD TV Live, my NAS box etc.). Security of this sharing is a different story. So I turned it off right away everywhere I could find.

I’d say that Samsung did a poor job in the setup that they created for your computer.

Yes, looks like it. All those Samsung programs (which may be useful on their own, like the battery life extender, video enhancer, some other tools), but I just don’t get it - WTH do they all need the Admin password to do do something on the hard drive every time a normal user logs in? This is just beyond any comprehension. And that WiFi applet - OMG! It is totally nuts! It pops out every 5 minutes.

I’ll let my wife to deal with all these pop ups and configs and see how long “everything just works” and “it’s easier than Linux” last.

#12

On 2011-05-09 01:36, linuxoidoz wrote:

> And that WiFi applet -
> OMG! It is totally nuts! It pops out every 5 minutes.

I had the update applet in 11.4 gnome popping up for hours, complaining
that it could not access a software source or something stupid. Stupid,
because YaST was busy installing updates at the same time.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” at Telcontar)

#13

I also know a second solution to your problem. Try to buy a laptop, pc without operating system, so you will install it.

#14

The subject of commercially-available PCs, and laptops/netbooks in particular, evoke a wide range of views, opinions, rants and recommendations. For the technically-savvy (and enormously patient), one may construct a laptop with the OS environment desired. I have done so by purchasing a commercially available laptop, removing the HD, and installing a brand new HD (preferably the exact same model or vendor).

A common option is to partition the laptop HD, and run multiple platforms. If you have any future re-sale/gifting ideas for the laptop, KEEP the Windows 7 HD, or at least, the partition. Re-sale of a laptop without a working, legitimate copy of Windows finds but a very narrow audience. In fact, an HD with a licensed copy of Windows 7 will be worth as much as the laptop in 2 years or so.

I would avoid any option, path or recommendation that does not preserve the licensed copy of Windows. If you really do not wish to keep it, donate it to a charity, a church or to someone in need. Should you feel like Scrooge, there is always the tax-deduction to assuage your humbug outlook. Of course, you may send the HD with the Windows license to me!
rotfl!

As to Windows 7, it is a fair environment, although Windows/XP is much easier to use. Of course, several years ago, I thought that Windows/98 was preferable to XP, and we recurse to PC/DOS. I have found several environments that Windows performs admirably: gaming (although that prowess is diminishing), AutoCAD and Microsoft Office. Before the “off with his head” riot begins, I personally have several applications that do NOT function under OpenOffice or LibreOffice. These applications are dependent on VBA and a lot of macros. I have seen improvement in LO that may give rise to adequate VBA support.

I also render support (pro bono) to a number of non-profit organizations. In some cases, migration to Linux (openSUSE and Ubuntu) has always found that a Windows/XP platform was needed for Microsoft Office. While virtual environments offer a possible solution, the need for a platform supporting Office remains.

In the final analysis, it is, of course, your PC/laptop, and the acquisition price includes the Redmond honorarium. The product is yours to keep, burn in effigy or dispose of in a manner you see fit.

#15

On 2011-05-10 20:36, SeanMc98 wrote:
> I also render support (pro bono) to a number of non-profit
> organizations. In some cases, migration to Linux (openSUSE and Ubuntu)
> has always found that a Windows/XP platform was needed for Microsoft
> Office. While virtual environments offer a possible solution, the need
> for a platform supporting Office remains.

It is not only Office: tax software, accounting software… too
applications any small organization need.

(accounting has to follow certain rules given by law, at least in my
country. You can not use any software for this).

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” at Telcontar)

#16

My wife has used the laptop for 2 days now and this basically sums it up:

“Pop ups are really annoying but I’ll get used to ignoring them” :open_mouth:

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