Is it worth ugrading to windows 7?

RubyXI

I'm running windows vista and have nevet been a huge fan of it. I have a lot of problems with updates, i don't run them anymore because it means doing a restore afterwards. I haven't heard much good or bad about windows 7. Would you reccomend it?

amacachi

Had this laptop going on 3 months now, think I've had a total of 5 program freezes in that time, with it being powered off for a total of maybe 100 hours. So yes, I would most certainly recommend it.

I've been using Windows 7 Professional 64-bit full time for the last week and a half. I'm actually getting the hang of it. If I can do it, anyone can, believe me!

Biggins

Yes, no question.

corcaigh1

Running Windows 7 ultimate myself..defo worth it, much better than vista, xp.;)

flutered

for me the bloody thing hangs at times, when my old lappy is repaired (xp) this new fangled thingimig is on the block, its probably my age.:mad:

Ghost Train

Have been sticking to xp for certain hardware reasons but windows 7 seems to work fine when I switched over recently. Makes certain aspects of xp feel very dated and heavy, install and setup very quick

RubyXI

Thanks for the response. It would be the home premium edition i would be upgrading to. I'll have to try and find a good price on it!

Mister Gooey

Using Vista for last two years. Never had any problems with updates, never crashes for me either. I have Windows 7 on a new computer. Not much differrence really between the two, tbh. I wouldn't upgrade my old PC from vista. It's not worth the money.

humaxf1

OP, when you say upgrade to 7, do you mean an in-place upgrade or a clean install?

In-place upgrades are fine to a point, BUT, they can go up their own arse either immediately or 6 months down the road.

One thing to look out for is...does your computer have drivers available for Windows 7? For example, graphic card drivers, sound card or touchpad drivers for laptops can be either a pain to get or not available full stop!

Alanstrainor

humaxf1 wrote: »

OP, when you say upgrade to 7, do you mean an in-place upgrade or a clean install?

In-place upgrades are fine to a point, BUT, they can go up their own arse either immediately or 6 months down the road.

One thing to look out for is...does your computer have drivers available for Windows 7? For example, graphic card drivers, sound card or touchpad drivers for laptops can be either a pain to get or not available full stop!

Windows 7 will pick up vista drivers, and i've managed to get it working with ancient hardware using xp drivers no problem, so unless the laptop/hardware is obscure i would think sorting out drivers shouldn't be a problem.

Oh and i completely agree a fresh install is a much better option.

ScumLord

I never had Vista so I couldn't say if it's worth the upgrade but a friend moved from Vista to Windows 7 and says it's made a huge difference to his laptop, not so much in performance but in actually being able to get software to run properly. .

I moved from XP both at home and at work and noticed a huge difference in performance myself. The only problems I've had are on the work PC, the sleep mode was causing the PC to lock up and wouldn't come back on until I knocked off the power to the power supply.
Even though it crashed and had power completely cut to it when I turned the power back on and booted up it still had all my applications open with the unsaved data intact. Turned off sleep and haven't had a problem since.

RubyXI

humaxf1 wrote: »

OP, when you say upgrade to 7, do you mean an in-place upgrade or a clean install?

In-place upgrades are fine to a point, BUT, they can go up their own arse either immediately or 6 months down the road.

One thing to look out for is...does your computer have drivers available for Windows 7? For example, graphic card drivers, sound card or touchpad drivers for laptops can be either a pain to get or not available full stop!

No idea!
What is an in-place upgrade?
I would be buying the windows 7 upgrade dvd whichever one that is!!!

Capt'n Midnight

Don't forget that the upgraded version of windows can't be moved to another PC later on. If you replace your computer you can't reuse the upgrade.

Moriarty

I was under the impression that that was only with OEM licenses?

And even with an OEM licence not really, as long as you no longer use the machine you originally bought the licence for it's still valid according to MS and they will allow the key to migrate.

doyler442

Hi

I would definetly recommend installing Windows 7 - I had Vista Home Premium and in recent weeks it has just driven me demented:

- there was the constant 100% usage of the CPU for no reasons at all, and also due to system idle time even though it wasn't idle at all
- the installer for programs was starting to take five/ten minutes to start up
- Visual Studio decided to stop working because I had removed Office 2007
- Couldn't install Xampp for Wordpress because of Vista related issues

There was countless other ones so yesterday I got a copy of Windows 7 Professional and couldn't be any happier at the moment - all the problems from above are gone and I'm just after installing Xampp and Wordpress with no problems at all.

Capt'n Midnight

Moriarty wrote: »

I was under the impression that that was only with OEM licenses?

And even with an OEM licence not really, as long as you no longer use the machine you originally bought the licence for it's still valid according to MS and they will allow the key to migrate.

Yes it's only for OEM licenses. Very few home users will have a non-OEM license.

Also the license is not bound to the machine. It's bound to the motherboard. It can't be moved to another motherboard, let alone another machine, unless the manufacturer replaces it under warranty.

If your motherboard dies out of warranty , the license dies with it. :mad:

fifth

I just upgraded to Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit and it's well worth it.

RubyXI

funkyflea wrote: »

I just upgraded to Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit and it's well worth it.

What's the difference between 64 bit and 32 bit?

Capt'n Midnight

phi3 wrote: »

What's the difference between 64 bit and 32 bit?

you need a 64 bit processor to run the 64 bit version
64 bit will handle more than 3 GB of Memory


what make/model computer do you have ?

RubyXI

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

you need a 64 bit processor to run the 64 bit version
64 bit will handle more than 3 GB of Memory


what make/model computer do you have ?

I've a samsung x22
Think i've 32 bit processor and 4 gb memory

wildefalcon

Comparing Vista, XP and 7, I'd have to say that 7 is my favourite.

It works, it is slick and intuitive, the window resize options are great, the shake to clear is clever, and the Themes are nice. Compatibility is very good.

You would be well advised to ensure you have sufficient RAM memory - preferably 2 Gb, and a processor running faster than 1.5 ghz.

To use the Aero interface you need to have a Direct X "10" standard graphics card, I think. But the plain interface is very good too.

As for worthwhile, that depends on how much it costs you!

So, if you can get it at the right price, and you meet the spec. Get it!

WildeFalcon.

Capt'n Midnight

phi3 wrote: »

I've a samsung x22
Think i've 32 bit processor and 4 gb memory

http://www.samsung.com/ie/business/b2b/products/notebooks/business_class/x22.htm
Intel Core2 Duo Processor = 64 bit

so 64 bit windows is an option, not that 64 bit is twice as good as 32 bit or anything like that , unless all your programs are also 64 bit you wouldn't get the full benefit anyway.

[edit] missed the "2"


If you want to speed up Vista try these tips - if it's still slow the consider doing a clean install again.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=61492466&postcount=3


NB. upgrading windows will not fix slowness caused by malware or too many drivers and it probably won't fix driver problems either.

Also if the PC is slow on startup check that Skype or Antivirus scan isn't set to auto-start.

leninbenjamin

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://www.samsung.com/ie/business/b2b/products/notebooks/business_class/x22.htm
Intel Core2 Duo Processor = 32 bit

so 64 bit windows is NOT an option, not that 64 bit is twice as good as 32 bit or anything like that , unless all your programs are also 64 bit you wouldn't get the full benefit anyway.

This is wrong. Core 2 Duo's are perfectly capable of executing 64 bit instructions considering they are fabricated using a 64 bit architecture.

RubyXI

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://www.samsung.com/ie/business/b2b/products/notebooks/business_class/x22.htm
Intel Core2 Duo Processor = 32 bit

so 64 bit windows is NOT an option, not that 64 bit is twice as good as 32 bit or anything like that , unless all your programs are also 64 bit you wouldn't get the full benefit anyway.


If you want to speed up Vista try these tips - if it's still slow the consider doing a clean install again.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=61492466&postcount=3


NB. upgrading windows will not fix slowness caused by malware or too many drivers and it probably won't fix driver problems either.

Also if the PC is slow on startup check that Skype or Antivirus scan isn't set to auto-start.

It's actually not slow. I just have problems with updates. Anytime i install a suggested windows update eg. service pack 2, it won't start up again afterwards so i have to go back to a previous restore point. I'm not even sure if it's a vista problem or not but i've heard others had problems with updates on vista too.

Capt'n Midnight

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://www.samsung.com/ie/business/b2b/products/notebooks/business_class/x22.htm
Intel Core2 Duo Processor = 32 bit

so 64 bit windows is NOT an option, not that 64 bit is twice as good as 32 bit or anything like that , unless all your programs are also 64 bit you wouldn't get the full benefit anyway.

*ahem*

Panda

drop vista like a hot snot,
i've had 7 running on a hp compaq nc6220 and its far better compared to the slow slog that is vista.

Capt'n Midnight

oops missed the "2"

for some reason I saw just the duo

ScumLord

phi3 wrote: »

What's the difference between 64 bit and 32 bit?

Bigger is better and 64 is twice as big as 32.

TheDoc

Upgraded my laptop from vista to windows 7 ultimate 32bit, noticed a massive performance increase. Seconds to boot up and it was fantastic.

I cleaned it and am using ubuntu now just so I can see what the fuss is about, can see myself changing back over the summer.

I use windows 7 ultimate 32bit on my main pc. Gaming machine.

Its fantastic, from its built in security software and anti-spyware, to just the performance tweaks, it made my machine alot faster, moving from xp. And it was easy peasy, and kept all my files like music etc

fifth

The last 3 days with Windows 7 have been lovely. It feels like the proper step up from XP that Vista should have been.