Hello Windows 7, so long Vista...

[Megabyte]

I have now installed Windows 7 on 4 different systems; an HP quad core
desktop, a Lenovo T61p laptop, an HP TX26XX Tablet PC and on the HP 2133
Mini-Note. In my opinion, Windows 7 is the best version of Windows I have
ever used and I've used every version except version 2 and Me. Windows 7
fixes the boot, performance and shut down issues in Vista while keeping the
glass and transparency effects. It performs very well and is a pleasure to
use even on the Mini-Note which has a lowly VIA C7 processor. In fact it
easily performs as well as XP or Ubuntu on the Mini-Note. For a beta 1
version it seems rock solid, much beyond what I would expect for a beta
version. The new taskbar is plain awesome. Combining quick launching with
identifying open apps with transparency will be a huge performance boost.
Networking seems to be improved and management of icons in the task tray
improved.

Great job Microsoft! I have been critical of some of your moves in the past
but my hat goes off to the developers of Windows 7. You listened and fixed
the performance issues that were the downfall of Vista, the new taskbar will
increase productivity. The beta is so good that I will be testing Windows 7
on these four systems until the RTM version is available. Windows 7 is a
winner and I predict it is going to be a huge success.

 

[Richard Urban]

The current beta expires in July!

good to hear that..... what happens once the actual OS comes out retail?
does the beta expire? sorry for the dumb question but I don't have any
experience with Betas

 

[Megabyte]

The current beta expires in July!

From the looks of the beta I'm guessing we may see RTM before it expires.

 

[jrusso2]

Thats so funny to me that everyone loves Windows 7 and hates Vista even
though under the hood they are the same identical kernel. The
difference is the WIndows 7 is Vista light and has a lot of applications
moved to the internet to use less memory.

 

[Megabyte]

I had a love-hate relationship with Vista. It took too long to boot and
shut down and performance was definitely not it's strong point. We seemed
to go backwards from XP in that respect so although there were numerous
improvements in Vista, system performance wasn't one of them. Windows 7
seems to fix all that. So same kernel or not, the work they have done
around services and such has improved it dramatically. Vista on the
Mini-Note was a dog, Windows 7 on the Mini-Note is a pleasure to use. My
beef with Vista was always performance and Windows 7 fixes that.

 

[Steve Thackery]

Aware of the 2.5m download limit, I spent many frustrating hours loitering
on the W7 page, waiting for the public Beta to appear. Apparently it
appeared and went again in a 15 minute window, presumably when I'd taken a
break for a cup of tea :-(

There's a message saying they'll re-post the Beta when they've got more
servers online, but I'm not very hopeful - it's been like that for several
hours now.

Does anyone have any inside information on if/when it might be available
again?

SteveT

 

[ray]

I have now installed Windows 7 on 4 different systems; an HP quad core
desktop, a Lenovo T61p laptop, an HP TX26XX Tablet PC and on the HP 2133
Mini-Note. In my opinion, Windows 7 is the best version of Windows I
have ever used and I've used every version except version 2 and Me.
Windows 7 fixes the boot, performance and shut down issues in Vista
while keeping the glass and transparency effects. It performs very well
and is a pleasure to use even on the Mini-Note which has a lowly VIA C7
processor. In fact it easily performs as well as XP or Ubuntu on the
Mini-Note. For a beta 1 version it seems rock solid, much beyond what I
would expect for a beta version. The new taskbar is plain awesome.
Combining quick launching with identifying open apps with transparency
will be a huge performance boost. Networking seems to be improved and
management of icons in the task tray improved.

Great job Microsoft! I have been critical of some of your moves in the
past but my hat goes off to the developers of Windows 7. You listened
and fixed the performance issues that were the downfall of Vista, the
new taskbar will increase productivity. The beta is so good that I will
be testing Windows 7 on these four systems until the RTM version is
available. Windows 7 is a winner and I predict it is going to be a huge
success.

So, what you're telling us is that after two years they finally got it
right.

 

[Megabyte]

So, what you're telling us is that after two years they finally got it
right.

Yep and I'm sure a little healthy competition from Linux on the Netbook
front was a big help also! They did seem to learn from Vista mistakes
though and they have built a much better operating system as a result so
rather than focusing on the past I'm going to look forward and enjoy Windows
7. The taskbar is innovative and the best that I've seen or used on any
platform. The person or team that came up with it deserves a good bonus.

 

[John Barnett MVP]

In the opinion of many (and I'm included here) although Vista took 5 years
to create Microsoft rolled it out far to early. Even during the latter part
of the beta test I publically said that to roll out now would be a disaster
because Vista wasn't ready. If Microsoft had hung back for say another 6
months the barrage of complaints against Vista would have been minor instead
of major.

Now most people would say that 'profit' was the instigation for the fast
rollout of Vista. I won't go down that track; Microsoft are entitled to make
a profit the same as any other multinational company.

While I agree Windows 7 is extremely stable, especially for beta 1. I've had
a few minor problems with it which, incidentally, I didn't have with the
pre-beta release. That means, in theory, that beta 1 is better than the
pre-release, but in practice, so far, the pre-release beta, for me, was less
troublesome.

Based on previous beta tests there will be many more 'builds' before RTM
(these build will only be issued to Microsoft beta testers, they probably,
based on past experience, be made available to the public.) So, really, we
have a long way to go yet. Each new build will bring its own problem.

While many can't wait for the RTM of Windows 7 (remember Microsoft were
originally looking at late 2009 early 2010 for RTM delivery) to even
consider bringing the launch forward would probably be a suicidal as when
Microsoft launched Vista.

Microsoft have made it clear that 'they have learnt from passed experiences
with Windows Vista'. They actually learnt the hard way. Let's just hope they
don't make the same mistake with Windows 7, releasing it too early and
having again to suffer the wrath of the paying public.

If something is good then it is worth waiting for, if that mean a release
date, even of early to mid 2010 then the wait will be worth it. Only fools
rush in.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://www.winuser.co.uk
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Alias]

Now most people would say that 'profit' was the instigation for the fast
rollout of Vista. I won't go down that track; Microsoft are entitled to
make a profit the same as any other multinational company.

Ripping people off and lying (Vista ready) about Vista is *not* a right
nor an accepted way of making a profit. Are you saying Madoff had a
right to run his Ponzi scheme and make a 50 billion profit? Did you vote
for McCain?

Alias

 

[Megabyte]

I agree with you totally John. Vista was rolled out too early and I suspect
that is why MS is staying quiet on when Windows 7 will be released. I don't
want to see the RTM version rushed out too soon but the improvements I'm
seeing in this beta 1 release over Vista RTM surpass those I saw in the Beta
2, RC1 and RC2 releases of Vista. If Windows 7 Beta 1 is more or less
feature complete, they are much further along in the development cycle than
"Beta 1" status would seem to imply, at least in comparison to Windows Vista
development. The date of expiry of XP OEM licensing and of the beta 1
version though does seem to point towards July 2009. If it takes longer
though, as long as we have another build to carry us beyond the beta 1
expiry date until the RTM or shelf date I'm content to sit back while they
keep fixing bugs and make this without a doubt the best version of Windows
ever.

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Sorry Alias, please re-read the second paragraph and the first part of the
second sentence of my post. If you cannot accept my decision on the subject
then contact Microsoft, they have their own PR office; they don't need me to
fight their battles for them.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://www.winuser.co.uk
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Charles Tomaras]

Thats so funny to me that everyone loves Windows 7 and hates Vista even
though under the hood they are the same identical kernel. The difference
is the WIndows 7 is Vista light and has a lot of applications moved to the
internet to use less memory.

Is that what you noticed during your extensive testing or are you part of
the dev team?

 

[ray]

Yep and I'm sure a little healthy competition from Linux on the Netbook
front was a big help also! They did seem to learn from Vista mistakes
though and they have built a much better operating system as a result so
rather than focusing on the past I'm going to look forward and enjoy
Windows 7. The taskbar is innovative and the best that I've seen or
used on any platform. The person or team that came up with it deserves
a good bonus.

Reviews I've read indicate that all they did was look back!

 

[Kevin Young]

That's funny, the task bar is the one thing I don't like. Too much like
the dock in OS X. Not "innovative" at all. I have always (since Win
2000) made the taskbar double height, and then made the bottom row the
"Quick Launch" area, and the top row is where the open/minimized windows
go. I can't seem to do this on Win 7.

Also, turning quick launch icons into open window icons blows. Now you
can't easily launch a 2nd or 3rd instance of IE or any app. It just
returns you to the already open one. Not useful at all. I don't want
my program launch icon becoming the opened/minimized icon, they are 2
different things.

They *really* need to fix this.

I disagree. You can easily open as many instances of IE as you want by
simply right clicking on the taskbar icon and opening another instance. The
transparent Window over top of the IE taskbar icon even overlaps each
instance so you can see that you have more than one open. When you download
in IE the transparent Window over the icon shows the progress. The preview
mode (hovering your mouse over the icon) shows each IE tab and each IE
instance to easily flip between them. You can also set whether you want
taskbar buttons combined or not in the taskbar properties. If the taskbar
looks too much like the OS X dock, change to the smaller icons with a
checkbox in the taskbar properties. Having the icons combined with the
transparent Window overlays allow the icons to perform several functions not
just one like in the past. Now a single icon allows you to quick launch,
quickly see which programs are running, see if you have multiple instances
or Windows open in an application and monitor downloads. The taskbar is a
real improvement in my opinion.

 

[Kevin Young]

I like Vista.

Then you can always stick with it. I think when you try Windows 7 though
you'll see all the good work that existed in Vista, a few new features and
improvements in performance, boot and shut down times. The use of
transparent Windows overlaid on top of the taskbar icons takes the eye candy
glass appearance of Vista and turns it in to a productivity win by
introducing a new taskbar. If you like Vista I bet you're going to love
Windows 7.

 

[JerryF]

Great job Microsoft! I have been critical of some of your moves in the past
but my hat goes off to the developers of Windows 7. You listened and fixed
the performance issues that were the downfall of Vista, the new taskbar will
increase productivity. The beta is so good that I will be testing Windows 7
on these four systems until the RTM version is available. Windows 7 is a
winner and I predict it is going to be a huge success.

I installed Windows7, it boots just as fast as Vista,
shuts down just as fast as Vista. Looks like Vista and
acts like Vista.

I am happy with Vista, so I am happy with Windows 7.
Nothing more, nothing less

 

[ray]

I like Vista.

Ah - that explains a lot.

 

[+Bob+]

Not in mine. It is a step backwards. The Quick Launch Toolbar needs to
return. It still shows in the help screens, but is not in the toolbar
menu.

One has to wonder where the dick heads at MS come up with this stuff.
They seem to specialize in making changes that eliminate useful
functionality.

 

[Felipe Alfaro Solana]

Which is not easier than just clicking your IE Quick Launch icon, which
is now gone. Besides, you could *always* do this - right click and
choose open.

In Win 7, there is really no point in having Quick Launch icons on the
taskbar (now called "pin to taskbar"), since they disappear as soon as
you launch it.


This is just like the OS X dock, where everything is lumped together in
a hodge podge of functionality. I want separate Quick Launch icons and
separate open/minimized window icons. These are 2 different things.

The size of the icons is not what makes it look like the OS X dock. It
is the fact that a single icon changes from app launcher to "return to
open app" once launched, and it is now harder to launch multiple
instances of an app. In OS X you have to resort to the command line to
open a 2nd app instance!


Not in mine. It is a step backwards. The Quick Launch Toolbar needs
to return. It still shows in the help screens, but is not in the
toolbar menu.

Again, that's your personal opinion. However, it's probably a good idea
to allow users to configure the task bar just like in Windows Vista and
Windows XP. Nevertheless, I've spent many years using GNOME, KDE and Mac
OS X and I must concede that Windows 7 task bar is one of the nicest
I've ever seen.