I bought Windows 7 last January and only got around to installing it last weekend. I have it dual booted with OpenSuse 11.3, and I have to say (and I never thought I would about a Microsoft product), that it’s excellent. It’s extremely quick. It’s hard to believe how quick it is. It doesn’t seem to be constantly going to the disk as with previous versions of Windows. It just goes to show the value of competition. Linux and Apple must have made a lot of ground while they peddled the abysmal Windows Vista. I was never as glad to zap an OS, when I replaced it with Windows 7.
And they seem to have co-opted some of the better ideas of UNIX, like a straightforward path to your home directory:
C:Users\John
quite like:
/home/john
It used to be some ridiculous path like, Documents and Settings blah blah blah. I don’t know if they have as neat a way to handle application data. The dot folders i.e. .mozilla etc, are one of the best things about Linux. Complete separation of the application, and the data attached to the application. I could re-install OpenSuse tomorrow, and not have to worry about what I am going to lose, it’s all in /home.
No bash though I suppose you could always go with a Mac too, but Apple are now almost as bad as Microsoft when it comes to making everything proprietary.
Honestly, Windows is not a consideration for me anymore.
All my work i do with Linux and i am astonished how good Linux has gotten. If i remember years ago it was partly without any gui and now its really userfriendly.
Plus, Linux grows mushrooms. Even on our companies computerstation, i see Lilo booting and then Windows.
Windows 7 might be a big leap for MS and its gotten perhaps to the point where it is real good. But overall i think Windows will ultimately loose ground to either MacOS and Linux in that does not play any role in mobile communications.
I still have Windows XP in a case, but i never need it really and now it collects dust. But, i am fortunate since i do not have to use it at all. Not everyone is that fortunate and needs it for the job or other things.
I don’t think it was Vista, but the mobile market. That is the market where future competitor will rule the desktop (cloud) and to exchange datas.
Windows under Balmer seems to go downhill or stagnate at least.
Whatever happend to the tablet?
>
> Hi,
>
> I bought Windows 7 last January and only got around to installing it
> last weekend. I have it dual booted with OpenSuse 11.3, and I have to
> say (and I never thought I would about a Microsoft product), that it’s
> excellent. It’s extremely quick. It’s hard to believe how quick it is.
> It doesn’t seem to be constantly going to the disk as with previous
> versions of Windows. It just goes to show the value of competition.
> Linux and Apple must have made a lot of ground while they peddled the
> abysmal Windows Vista. I was never as glad to zap an OS, when I replaced
> it with Windows 7.
>
> It’s probably about the same speed now as Linux
Windows 7 is probably the best Windows yet… I’ll agree with that.
It’s still an OS without gusto though… no batteries included really…
better than some Windows’ releases, worse than others.
I’m not going to build an empire with Windows 7, not without spending a
whole lotta dollars on extras.
I think for the “sharing” market out there (those that don’t pay for things
that others have to pay for), Windows 7 probably rocks.
I like the peace of mind of knowing that the OS, the software, everything is
free and VERY reliable … that peace that comes with using openSUSE Linux.
Windows 7 is good… but “peace of mind” ??? It’s missing that part.
Windows 7 is the best version IMO. If I was forced to use Windows I would use Windows 7 over any other version. Micro$oft have done some great improvements from Vista to 7. However I’m not forced to run Windows so 100% open source (Linux and BSD)
I am completely lost by the hype around win7. Seems like xp repackaged. Nicer eye candy; nicer eye candy at TREMENDOUS cost. It’s still quite ugly. And even the nicer eye candy is only at the very surface; dig a little and the same 1980’s (m$ finally caught up with mac of the 80’s) xp ugly is there.
Flakey! It’s still windows! Try moving c:\users to a non-root partition. Interrupt a software install! Try running it on a net book!
It MIGHT be the best windows yet (xp may be better in some use cases). It still sucks!
i DISLIKE windows but win 7 is better than xp and a very far cry from vista
however the ms uac – that HAS TO GO and die a very FAST death very soon
there are still way to many pop-ups about do you want this to run or not .
that is still teaching people to click WITHOUT even bothering to read the massage .
now i have NOT used visual studio on 7 so i do not know if you need to run it from the “administrator” account ???
but “spy bot S&D”( allow to run as admin - except/deny) and the std java updater with the same popups get annoying
then the “Librarys” ?? do not get me started
I wonder what the business uptake has been like.
I can count on one hand those I have come across - And whenever I go in to a business (as a customer) I always keep my eyes open to see what OS is being used. By far the majority have me groan under my breath…XP!
300 hundred bucks plus shipping to run hardly any applications.
and when you do get it you need Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications so you can run the good software…
I wonder what the business uptake has been like.
I can count on one hand those I have come across - And whenever I go in to a business (as a customer) I always keep my eyes open to see what OS is being used. By far the majority have me groan under my breath…XP!
Well, yes…just the conversion cost significant monies.
Look at Vienna and Munich …I think gradually convert, first the servers, then OO on windows and once the staff it getting used to it test with some employees a linux desktop,
>
> Hello,
>
> I am completely lost by the hype around win7. Seems like xp
> repackaged. Nicer eye candy; nicer eye candy at TREMENDOUS cost. It’s
> still quite ugly. And even the nicer eye candy is only at the very
> surface; dig a little and the same 1980’s (m$ finally caught up with mac
> of the 80’s) xp ugly is there.
>
> Flakey! It’s still windows! Try moving c:\users to a non-root
> partition. Interrupt a software install! Try running it on a net
> book!
>
> It MIGHT be the best windows yet (xp may be better in some use cases).
> It still sucks!
Windows is still a victim of legacy. And legacy support is probably the
root cause for 99% of it’s vulnerabilities. But if Windows ceased legacy
support… the whole Windows market would tank.
I think Microsoft would LOVE to own the next REVOLUTION… they just can’t
figure out how to create that “killer, next big thing”.
Maybe they should talk to Apple?
Meanwhile FOSS keeps eating up everything while they toil and spin…
Legacy support is an albatros, which is why I think Windows 7 used their “XP Mode”, which is basically a specialized virtual machine package (cannot remember the name right now for the life of me). That’s one degree of separation that will probably be dropped with the next version that comes out.
Unfortunately the machine I got Windows 7 on is a DOG! The box is a Pentium 4 @ 2.4GHz with 2.5 GB Ram. The chip is unable to handle virtualization (thus no XP Mode) and the graphics card cannot handle Aero (so no eye candy). With these shortcomings Windows 7 runs lousy overall, not just where these two factors take place.
I put open source programs on top of it, because I didn’t want to spend any money. While they are good, I think the best combination is Windows 7 + Office 2010 (it’s kinda like openSUSE + KDE… it just fits!)
At work, though, we are still using XP. I think next year my computer should be getting swapped out for a newer one but I doubt they’ll be putting Windows 7 on it (instead go to thin clients and the terminal server is running 2008, so it is very “7-like”).
Really, though, it all comes down to the apps… and Windows has some pretty nice and slick apps available for it (Adobe, Office, Visual Studio, etc.). Luckily as I explore KDE more and more I am finding that some of the KDE apps are pretty comparable!
I really like windows 7, got a beginner version with my netbook. But despite my curiosity I can’t afford to upgrade it – far too expensive. And I don’t like it nearly as much as Linux. The Linux apps I use are so slick and the windows apps I would use if I was stuck in microsoft land, well they’re simply too expensive for the average domestic users. I’m not being sour-grapes here, just factual.
You know, I agree
Some troll somewhere claimed windows had all the free software Linux has. (I’m trying to contain myself…) Whilst there are many free apps for windows, so many of them are full of bloat and crapware.
Win7 is good but it doesn’t cut the mustard for me by a long way.
I like it as well. Its a really nice Os. but there is a difference between win7 and suse. I installed Suse 11.3 to my 6-8 year old computer yesterday and it runs just as good as it does on this 2 yr old box. Windows 7 wouldn’t even have given my old computer a thought. It ran xp and mandriva, but yesterday I reformatted and made it a linux only machine. and it runs like a dream with the latest and greatest. Really impressed me.
Well Windows 7 practically DOES! When you consider a lot of the FOSS people use in Linux are often ported to Windows
To help migrate my wife from Windows to Linux I got her using Firefox and Thunderbird. She didn’t use OpenOffice or Gimp in place of Office 2000 or Photoshop 6, but now she’s getting more used to them.
Well when my daughter went to collage she got a lot of her class mates using OpenOffice. They just couldn’t believe it was free. Its all we use in my house I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I like Windows 7, almost as much as I like Windows XP but I think that’s mostly because I knew where everything was under XP. Windows 7 is a bit more stable than Windows XP/Vista. Except for being too pale its pleasing to the eye. Microsoft added linking to achieve the c\users\john path but even Windows XP you could move My Documents to another partition and/or create shortcuts that accomplish the c\users\john effect.
Windows 3.11, Window 98, Windows XP and Windows 7 were good releases of the Windows product given the inherent flaws in Windows. IMHO, 2 things cripple Windows, the tying the applications to the OS and pricing. Separating applications from the OS IMO, would free up the resources, improve security and applications. Something else might work to achieve backward compatibility. Isolating the OS from apps could also drop the OS price to something reasonable like $60 with Microsoft bundling optional free add-ons Windows Live and IE9.
I’m 95% Linux using Windows for 3D gaming like Flight Simulator X, Far Cry 1/2, Mass Effect 1/2, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, FEAR 1/2, etc. There may be alternatives but Linux doesn’t have native versions of these titles running on Linux. Nope, don’t want to run those on WINE or CEDAGA, especially when I can dual boot to Windows to play.
