Can I get a discounted Windows 7 ?

MannyFagnet

Hi Im in the college and I was wondering am I eligible to a discounted or free windows 7 Operating system ?

Im looking to buy a full / non upgrade version of windows 7 home premium.

Red_Wake

If you're in IT or the electronic engineering department, you can get a free one through the MSDN academic alliance.

joeKel73

You can get a discounted copy here: http://www.software4students.ie/Windows_7-list.aspx
Edit: Oops, seems to be just upgrades here.

Red_Wake wrote: »

If you're in IT or the electronic engineering department, you can get a free one through the MSDN academic alliance.

Or "DreamSpark" as they call it these days.

Ficheall

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

reap-a-rat

Ficheall wrote: »

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

*waits for Ficheall's post to be thanked by TheCosmicFrog*

Nailz

Ubuntu is a hipster OS; Linux stopped being as useful as it used to be in terms of daily simple desktop usage some time ago, the only real advantage it has over Windows is that the full version is, well... Free, on top of its capacity to upgrade with little fuss. It does have a lovely UI too in my opinion. But its security advantage is a bit over-played in my opinion, considering that Windows 7's build-in security components are more than adequate, it's just that fuck all know about them. But by all means, you may try both if you wish to with a non-full version of Windows from the net and Ubuntu as well and partition that shit...

TheCosmicFrog

reap-a-rat wrote: »

*waits for Ficheall's post to be thanked by TheCosmicFrog*

I know where you work.

...vaguely.

Ficheall

TheCosmicFrog wrote: »

I know where you work.

...vaguely.

I thought that was directed at me, initially. I was going to ask you to share the information, as it would benefit my research hugely.

BhoscaCapall

Red_Wake wrote: »

If you're in IT or the electronic engineering department, you can get a free one through the MSDN academic alliance.

Say what? Where does one avail of these treats? I have W7 already but I could do with a erm, morally solid version

maki

BhoscaCapall wrote: »

Say what? Where does one avail of these treats? I have W7 already but I could do with a erm, morally solid version

From here.

I don't think an account will be set up for you unless you request it though so you'll probably have to email the IT department about it.

MannyFagnet

Thanks for the replies. I actually tried to use the MSDN academic alliance method with the NUI Galway profile but it wont recognise my college email or something.

Im actually doing computer science as a subject through undenominated science .... I wanted to do Cs & IT but did'nt get points

Does this rule me out of getting windows 7 free ?

Regarding Ubuntu and other non windows OS ,can you play games that require windows on them ?

TheCosmicFrog

MannyFagnet wrote: »

Does this rule me out of getting windows 7 free ?

As far as I know it's only the College of Engineering and Informatics that get them.

Regarding Ubuntu and other non windows OS ,can you play games that require windows on them ?

It depends on the game, but you can play a lot of them through a program called Wine. Do a search on WineHQ.org for the games you want to play and see if they work

The newest version of Ubuntu is launching in 4 days. It's one of the big releases (every two years) so it's promising to be a good 'un:
http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu

MannyFagnet

Ok thanks. If i was to get a friend who's doing engineering to use his email on the site could he get the free windows 7 and give it to me ?

RolandIRL

Go to Dreamspark yourself, sign up for it and use NUIG as your institute and your NUIG email. When you're verified, go get Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition with your key. Install that and then look up this to see how to get the desktop features activated.*
It's a single activation key, which i think means that whatever computer you use it on, it lives and dies with that computer (similar to an OEM license afaik).
FYI, i just signed up to Dreamspark and got my key. I'm in the college of science without having done any computer science modules.

Regarding Linux and Wine, don't games using it have frame-rate issues or is it that dependent on the game itself? Not a Linux head myself so don't know.
If you do go with a Linux distro, keep an eye out for games in the Humble Bundle. All of them work natively in Linux afaik. Also check out this thread in the Steam forums as well for a few links and tips on getting some Steam games working in Linux.

*Sequence shortened and steps omitted

TheCosmicFrog

RolandIRL wrote: »

Regarding Linux and Wine, don't games using it have frame-rate issues or is it that dependent on the game itself? Not a Linux head myself so don't know.

Generally no. It's usually a case of "If they work, they work well". Even COD Black Ops played in Wine when I tried it - but my computer couldn't even play it on low settings so I gave up :P

MannyFagnet

Hi Roland, is windows server 2008 R2 compatible with games ,applications ,anti-virus etc. ?
Just looked it up and saw its really expensive so I would'nt mind getting it for free if its faster ... so long as it works with all the programs I use. Is there much difference between windows 7 ?

How do you find it ?

Btw when I go to the dreamspark register page where it asks for your NUIG email it says that no matching active account was found ?

RolandIRL

TheCosmicFrog wrote: »

Generally no. It's usually a case of "If they work, they work well". Even COD Black Ops played in Wine when I tried it - but my computer couldn't even play it on low settings so I gave up :P

I don't know what's worse...the fact that you don't have a decent computer or that you play BLOPS :pac: At least go with a good multiplayer shooter like Unreal Tournament (which actually runs natively in Linux)

MannyFagnet wrote: »

Hi Roland, is windows server 2008 R2 compatible with games ,applications ,anti-virus etc. ?
Just looked it up and saw its really expensive so I would'nt mind getting it for free if its faster ... so long as it works with all the programs I use. Is there much difference between windows 7 ?

How do you find it ?

Btw when I go to the dreamspark register page where it asks for your NUIG email it says that no matching active account was found ?

It's just the server edition of Windows 7. It's the same basic core of Win7. You can set it up to act like a regular version of Win7 using the workstation google link I gave. I haven't done it myself, I've just seen it mentioned in the Windows forum on boards.

Weird, the Dreamspark registration went okay for me. For the Institution/School, try the various NUIG's that pop up and see which one works. I can't remember which one I chose.

tbh, it sounds like you're not that familiar with computers. Can I ask why you want windows 7? Is it for an existing laptop with WinXP to upgrade it or something else?

maki

MannyFagnet wrote: »

Btw when I go to the dreamspark register page where it asks for your NUIG email it says that no matching active account was found ?

Don't use the link that I posted earlier in the thread. That's for Dreamspark Premium which you won't have access to unless you're doing Engineering or IT.

You need to use http://dreamspark.com/

MannyFagnet

Im familiar with computers just never knew about using windows server 2008 as a substitute for windows 7 or whatever. Ive been running windows 7 for the last year after updating from vista but its possibly corrupt so im planning on formatting the drive and installing it again. Only problem is I dont have a serial key or cd to reinstall again ... I want windows 7 for my desktop because it supports all the latest games and its recommended for gaming etc.

RolandIRL

Ah right. If you're reinstalling Win7, you may be able to download an ISO of it and use the OEM product key on the bottom of your laptop. There's legit mirrors available for win7 but I'm not sure of the procedure. You're better off asking in the Windows forum since they'll know for sure what you'll need to do.

joeKel73

MannyFagnet wrote: »

Ive been running windows 7 for the last year after updating from vista but its possibly corrupt so im planning on formatting the drive and installing it again.

Still got the DVD for Vista? I'm guessing the product key underneath your laptop will be for Vista anyway.

You could reinstall Vista, then purchase and install the Windows 7 Professional upgrade from Software4Students (€54.95).

http://www.software4students.ie/Microsoft_Windows_7_Professional_32_bit_Upgrade_Edition-details.aspx

joeKel73

Is Windows 7 working for you at all at the moment? If so you could follow these instructions to recover the product key;
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/ht/windows-7-key.htm

MannyFagnet

Thanks Joe I managed to get my windows 7 key and I have the dvd for installation so Im reinstalling now !