Comments on: Living with Windows 7 release candidate

CNET News' Ina Fried has been using Windows 7 for some time, but for the past week she mothballed her home Mac and Windows XP work PC, putting her faith in Microsoft's latest.

[johninc]

Am I the only person wondering how it is that Microsoft is the only company that can get away with releasing unfinished products to the market yet still survive as a business? I couldn't imagine buying a car that may or may not work, or buying a hamburger that may or may not be cooked, or buying a pen that may or may not write! Microsoft is notorious for putting out "final" versions that contain over a hundred bugs and require patches even years after being released to market. It's practically a joke in the collective consciousness. Why do we even bother with them, or for how much longer will we bother with them?

[j_reid69]

I think as a person sitting in front of a Vista machine that I find so frustrating I went out and bought a Mac laptop, I should get Windows 7 or XP free. Just get me out of Vista hell.

[JMaples]

In what specific ways is Windows 7 "just better in all the ways that really matter day in and out"?

[Jsh1284]

A new version of Vista? Vista SP3? You are a complete airhead when it comes to technology, aren't you? Either that, you're a Mac fanboy, or an XP fanboy. One of those, for sure, fits the bill. I'd bet my computer on it .. and believe me, it's worth way more than yours, guaranteed :P

Win 7 is different from Vista in so many ways as far as stability goes alone. The makeup of its engine and its inner-workings are very different from Vista as well. I know, because although many Vista-compatible apps, gadgets etc DO work with Win 7 .. programs such as .. AMD Fusion for example .. which shut down key system processes .. will NOT work with Win 7. Why? Because dozens of processes have been completely revamped which means Fusion can't shut down what doesn't exist. So it just locks your system up. There are other progs as well which are similarly incompatible. The good news? Win 7 is so flexible .. pretty much everything of importance still works with it even though this is an OS that has been pretty much completely redone from the ground up. Yes, many features have been kept but as far as the UI goes .. very different. As far as stability goes .. vastly better. As far as Aero goes .. revamped and has many differences compared to Vista's Aero interface. I could go on, but I think the point is pretty much proven. Vista and Windows 7 are VERY different OS's. They don't really even LOOK the same ... much less RUN the same. This coming from an avid Vista supporter mind you. I have high performance hardware in this rig .. and it is prone to locking up on occasion. Well .. it WAS. In Vista I'd get a problem on occasion due to the fact that I really push my components. Well, guess what? Since I've been running the Win 7 RC .. I have not had a SINGLE crash in six days now. How about that? If this was simply a new SERVICE PACK .. it must be a friggin SUPER service pack! Maybe it''s SP3 SP4, SP5, SP6, SP7, and SP8 all in one, eh? Smart thinking, there noob. I think you're right!

[Jsh1284]

A new version of Vista? Vista SP3? You are a complete airhead when it comes to technology, aren't you? Either that, you're a Mac fanboy, or an XP fanboy. One of those, for sure, fits the bill. I'd bet my computer on it .. and believe me, it's worth way more than yours, guaranteed :P

Win 7 is different from Vista in so many ways as far as stability goes alone. The makeup of its engine and its inner-workings are very different from Vista as well. I know, because although many Vista-compatible apps, gadgets etc DO work with Win 7 .. programs such as .. AMD Fusion for example .. which shut down key system processes .. will NOT work with Win 7. Why? Because dozens of processes have been completely revamped which means Fusion can't shut down what doesn't exist. So it just locks your system up. There are other progs as well which are similarly incompatible. The good news? Win 7 is so flexible .. pretty much everything of importance still works with it even though this is an OS that has been pretty much completely redone from the ground up. Yes, many features have been kept but as far as the UI goes .. very different. As far as stability goes .. vastly better. As far as Aero goes .. revamped and has many differences compared to Vista's Aero interface. I could go on, but I think the point is pretty much proven. Vista and Windows 7 are VERY different OS's. They don't really even LOOK the same ... much less RUN the same. This coming from an avid Vista supporter mind you. I have high performance hardware in this rig .. and it is prone to locking up on occasion. Well .. it WAS. In Vista I'd get a problem on occasion due to the fact that I really push my components. Well, guess what? Since I've been running the Win 7 RC .. I have not had a SINGLE crash in six days now. How about that? If this was simply a new SERVICE PACK .. it must be a friggin SUPER service pack! Maybe it''s SP3 SP4, SP5, SP6, SP7, and SP8 all in one, eh? Smart thinking, there noob. I think you're right!

[Jsh1284]

I'd like to add something - I recently upgraded to the RC from Windows Vista Ultimate. You people who are claiming that this is a SERVICE pack .. are completely oblivious to what this new OS is capable of. Not only are the working parts of this new OS VERY different from Vista .. Win 7 requires FAR less resources and all the while runs SMOOTHER, runs games BETTER, and most of all .. has not locked up or caused me any pain yet in SIX full days. I'm surprised because I run a high-performance PC and under Vista, I would run into some sort of issue daily due to the fact that I push my hardware hard. Well, I am pushing it HARDER now and am not having ANY issues. Yeah, it's a service pack allright. It's a SP2, SP3, SP4,SP5,SP6,SP7, SP8, SP9 and SP10 all in one. This is a VERY different operating system, people. The product speaks for itself. I don't care what you call it .. this is designed to look SORT of like Vista, but better .. and IS sort of like Vista .. but MUCH better and VERY different as far as its engine, dynamics, functionality etc go. You people have no clue what you're talking about.

[zyxxy]

SO my experience on my old stone axe T40/1.3Ghz/1.25GB was okay, until I realized that I hadn't installed a virus scanner.

So I grabbed a free copy of AVG and installed it. That pushed it over the edge.

I don't know if it is completely the fault of AVG (it may be) or if suddenly 1.25GB is not enough memory. All I know is that the system is now really slow. As in almost unusable. Does anyone else here have experience with different virus scanners under Win 7?

[cyberpyr8]

I am still getting the missing close maximize and minimize buttons when I am docked running dual screens (they show up single screen and undocked). I had it resolve itself after the updates and then came right back the next day. Otherwise, the RC seems to be more stable than the beta and runs very well. I am happy being able to run AD Users and Computers now using the XP VM feature. My Dell Latitude D630 supported virtualization in the BIOS and runs great even when using a full running XP VM. I have no more need for VMWare Workstation to get around the limitations of some XP only apps.

[NotForNuthin]

How about a new rule on here regarding posts.
If anyone uses the terms "Fan Boy" or "Bot" in a post they are banned for life.Oh wait that will eliminate EVERY post to this site...

[windooor7]

I said it ova and overrays. the best windows ever is windows 2008 server again get a free copy at dreamspark .com i mean legal! then google up how to turn 2008 server to to a workstation .and its super fast it runs window 7 in circles ,security is super tight and on top of that it has a vista them ,aero live esessntial ,itune .everthing . hper v . control other workstations ohhhh.

[edwinkhoo]

Hey guys, i did my own mini review of windows 7 new features, check it out if you like it. http://theurbanshogun.blogspot.com .. love the site!

[hilele]

I installed windows 7 yesterday.I'm quite happy with it though i havn't seen in major shift in performance from my old win xp sp3.I hav one issue though.It doesn't accept my intel media accelerator driver,and my logitech key board and mouse drivers.I also love it's UI

[kbjordan7]

hrmmm.
I have been dual-booting Vista and 7 on my (cheap junk) laptop for a couple weeks now, and have come across quite the variety of little bugs.

1. Occassionally, when I have a window open full screen, the taskbar at the bottom and the thing at the top of the screen, which both should normally be in the background when I have a window open full-screen, flicker in front of my window. Annoyance level: minimal to moderate.

2. I call this one the Teleporting Cursor. When I am typing (it doesn't really matter where, as it has happened across three or four separate programs), the little blinking thing that stays out in front of the words and shows you where the next letter is going just teleports. Generally, it moves somewhere backwards, and you start typing in the middle of a sentence you wrote five minutes ago, but once it jumped a few lines ahead of me. Annoyance level: moderate

3. In Flash thingys, the keys tend to get sticky. For example, and this happens quite often, if you press "w", the Flash thingy will think you are holding down that key for around 30 seconds. Annoyance level: moderate

Those are the main things I have seen so far, there were perhaps 3 or 4 others that are not coming to mind right now, but these here are the more major ones I have seen. All these little bugs combined make working with Windows 7 somewhat frustrating for me, but as soon as they are fixed, we'll be good. Windows 7 is pretty nice. I like.

[PlatformNeutral]

I use both an iMac and a Vista laptop that I upgraded to the Windows 7 release candidate, and I like them both for their strengths. Sadly both have weaknesses, but on the PC side they can be dealt with with a good antivirus program, on the order of total Internet security software. Apple just charges you more money. The fanboys may say it's a superior time, but I would say in my own humble opinion Windows Vista and Leopard were just about equal, and Windows 7 closed the gap. But unlike Snow Leopard, I don't feel like I have to have an 8-core Xeon workstation to be worthy of Windows 7. I am happy with Windows 7 and Leopard, wasn't quite satisfied with Vista, and am not too pleased about Snow Leopard with Grand Central.

Just my three cents and I hope I didn't offend anyone except die hard fanboys.

[newportb--ch]

I like Win 7. Installed the RC on my laptop, and it went so smoothly, I went ahead with my desktop. MozyBackup, Sonos, printers, iPhone, and other devices and programs all recognized and run smoothly.
One complaint - boot time was 2:07 on Vista, and ballooned to 3:12 on Win 7. I time from power button to opening of first program, which is not how most people time, but still. Hopefully final will be faster.

[TravisTech]

Had no problems with my RC on Sony Vaio laptop with 1 GB ddr and Pentium dual-core(x86) with intel 945 gm. Installed, left an ethernet line hooked up to it, all drivers were installed and fully functional within 15 minutes of initial boot, including seemingly native support for wireless adapters. I like the new network selector for wi-fi, although i'll admit that it does seem to have taken some elements from Airport's streamlining. Like the new start bar, LOVE the libraries system(gathers all your documents, music, pictures, etc. on your system into one location for ease of access), new right-click functionality on the start bar is a pleasant add-on, the cross-connectivity between WMC and WMP is cool.

[Crash613]

Na, na, na, na, bo-bo...my OS is better than yours.

seriously, mac fanboys, go away. this is a place to discuss Win7 not for fanboys to come to stir the pot. Go back to your hippie, pot-smoking univeristy hallways and bad mouth captalism for christs sake

[milquetoast8]

What some of you... intellectually challenged... people are missing out on here is that in order to even TRY this supposedly "better" version of Vista I would have to forgo using my beloved XP. That's NEVER going to happen, not while my XP machine is still working beautifully. I stick my tongue out at all of you "early adopters" out there. =P

[boydchavis]

I never tried Vista (informed by HP that my laptop was not "upgradeable") so I can't compare it to any of the several Vista product lines. I have used "7" exclusively for several weeks and it seems to be working quite well. A lot better than XP Pro 64 bit, which I tried to use because I ponied up $150. It seems like the unsatisfied Vista user won't feel any need for a Microsoft plus version of their current OS. There are many out here like myself that were unwilling to part company with an old friend like XP. Win7 will be an easier pill to swallow after seeing first hand that it has a lot of the rough edges smoothed over.

[Juvvie]

Win 7 RC is pretty good.I've been using it for over a month and it seems to run very well, the graphics is really good.Its better than Windows Vista I'd say.Vista has many glitches.