Comments on: Microsoft poised to make a Windows 7-fueled comeback

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:29:04 +0000

“I find it quite stunning really that those same people who bought hook,line and sinker the MS bull poo about the greatness of Vista so readily believed in the “new” OS in windows 7….All 7 is is the promised Vista….They just screwed up released it (Vista) before it was ready,Got a bad/unrepairable image to the name Vista, went ahead and finished the original product and will release it as Windows 7.Great PR move….Isn’t nice to know that all of you that spent $300. on Vista really were paying for a Beta product that will be known as windows 7…..in which they will charge you again as a new O.S….I think not only will I laugh in your direction.I may just point also”

And that, my friend, is why I’m a happy user of Arch Linux? What “latest” version? It’s rolling release! When new versions of my software come about upstream, I just have to do an update and I’ll get it in a few days. This also means if they screw up, I just wait for a few hours to a couple days while they fix it and the fix comes downstream to me, instead of two or three years. What $300 price tag? Arch is, like most other Linux distributions, free in both senses of the word. This means I won’t have to spend any money to get the latest “snapshot” release of Arch for reinstallation purposes, which I likely will never need as Linux has yet another thing over Windows: I’ll rarely, if ever, reinstall Linux. Whereas Windows it is practically standard procedure to reinstall when the meager allotment of repair options laid out to you is exhausted.

And that leads me to how readily I can recover from a reinstallation in Linux versus Windows: In Windows I absolutely have to back everything up. EVERYTHING! My Music, documents, data, settings, everything! In Linux, I don’t have to, because Linux uses the much more powerful unified file system, and since I have my home directory on a separate partition, I just have to copy some of my more favored global system configuration (/etc/X11/xorg.conf, for example.) to /home, point Linux to that partition during install time and say “this is “/home” and I’m done!

With Windows I have to copy EVERYTHING to something not linked to the Windows installation, which usually means tons of removable media and basically deciding what stays and what goes, and then a few hours doing file copying (Windows file system actions are disgracefully slow.). Then after the slow process of Windows installing itself (See above.) I have to copy everything BACK and hope it all works.

Then we have Windows 7 which is basically the “Windows Vista done right but still without most our promised features” release. And looking at the UI and feature, I have to cry, because it just looks like it just stole a bunch of Linux features. The GUI itself is a blatant copycat of KDE 3 AND 4. But Windows fanboys will pass it off as innovative and original.

I don’t see the point in using Windows when I already have such a damn superior choice in Linux. Seriously.

By: Freedom

Freedom — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 14:52:57 +0000

I find it quite stunning really that those same people who bought hook,line and sinker the MS bull poo about the greatness of Vista so readily believed in the “new” OS in windows 7….All 7 is is the promised Vista….They just screwed up released it (Vista) before it was ready,Got a bad/unrepairable image to the name Vista, went ahead and finished the original product and will release it as Windows 7.Great PR move….Isn’t nice to know that all of you that spent $300. on Vista really were paying for a Beta product that will be known as windows 7…..in which they will charge you again as a new O.S….I think not only will I laugh in your direction.I may just point also…..

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:07:18 +0000

You know… judging by how many blogs rave about the CALCULATOR of Windows 7, I am definitely not expecting a real comback with 7. Windows is slowly beginning to wane.

By: Olukayode

Olukayode — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:01:39 +0000

AVG will install if you lower the UAC bar to one level above “off”. At least that’s how it worked for me. Interestingly, turning off UAC resulted in “corrupted file folder structure on drive C”, don’t know if this was coincidental.
Windows 7 is “vista on steroid”, nothing wrong with that. Despite the cries, I prefer vista over XP, windows 7 is poised to be the best microsoft os ever.

By: Cousin Eddie

Cousin Eddie — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:55:29 +0000

I BETA tested Vista, and now 7. I don’t care what others are saying; it’s nothing more than a Vista SP. It’s what Vista should have been. Anyone who shells out $$$ cash for this, who is already running Vista is a moron. Dock feature is lame. Same Gadgets as before. UI looks the same, other than some performance improvements [again, SP].

IFMS is smart, they’ll offer 7 as a very cheap upgrade to Vista users, and a regular upgrade cost to XP users. Also, keep the overall new purchase cost down. Offer Std and Ultimate. Ditch the other crap.

Me thinks this is the last chance MS has to redeem itself, in terms of a desktop OS…

By: Jordan

Jordan — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:45:49 +0000

“btdown”, you’re a moron! ‘nough said.

By: boise it

boise it — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 08:58:04 +0000

Installed tonight on my testing laptop that was running Vista. So far no major problems. Running faster and smoother than Vista and yes, though the GUI is similar, the OS seems to be going down the right road and the improvements are significant.

By: likeabite

likeabite — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 08:02:09 +0000

Typing this from a Windows 7 install….love it…so simple and intuitive…I especially love the taskbar the the way one can arrange windows anyway they like. MS definitely did it right this time.

By: Glenn P

Glenn P — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:23:50 +0000

so i can just download this beta and it wont mess with Vista that’s already on my PC right?

By: Here you go...

Here you go... — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:32:13 +0000

Here’s the download links…

32 bit
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/3/3/633118BD-6C3D-45A4-B985-F0FDFFE1B021/EN/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso

64 bit
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/3/3/633118BD-6C3D-45A4-B985-F0FDFFE1B021/EN/7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULXFRE_EN_DVD.ISO

Here’s how to get a key…

1. Visit TechNet Downloads, sign in at the top right and let the page load
2. Within the same window copy and paste “https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/scripts/gcs.aspx?Product=tn-win7-64-ww&LCID=1033″ into the address bar or “https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/scripts/gcs.aspx?Product=tn-win7-32-ww&LCID=1033″ (64bit key but will work on 32 too, if you get an error refresh a few times)…enjoy the result below (32 bit link seems to work better), whilst stocks last. If you are still having issues try clearing your temp files and deleting all cookies.

By: Theory28

Theory28 — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:09:11 +0000

1) http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/01/09/direct-download-links-for-windows-7-beta-iso-surface/

2) http://www.sizzledcore.com/2009/01/11/how-to-get-windows-7-beta-activation-key/

3) ???????????

4) Profit?

By: jerbear

jerbear — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:57:38 +0000

@Paul: How many places are you going to post that stupid “Fixa” joke? Compatibility and drivers were the issue with Vista at launch because it had a new driver model and there were a ton of buggy drivers out originally. Today all the major manufacturers have written good drivers and stability improved with them. Win7 keeps the Vista driver model so there should be much less in the way of driver issues. On my beta machine, all Vista drivers worked perfectly and the system is very stable.

I get the feeling that you are Paul Chapel from engadget as your FUD trolling has the same ring of deliberate ignorance.

By: zargon

zargon — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:41:58 +0000

@Kevin

It isn’t too late. Since I can’t get the DL to stay active, I was actually going to start looking for torrents of it.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:40:56 +0000

Problems for Windows 7 will be compatibility, drivers and older hardware. If it does not do better than Vista did it will not be Windows “Fixa” it will fail as fast as Vista did. Simplifying upgrades, version is important. We will see. Let’s face it is will be hard to top Vista for failure.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:28:38 +0000

Microsoft should just have released this thing via torrents and only had 2.5 million unique keys. Would make everything much easier.

By: zargon

zargon — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:09:40 +0000

““‘Windows Vista is good, Windows 7 is Windows Vista with clean-up in user interface [and] improvements in performance,’ Ballmer said,” Keizer reports. “Ballmer also took exception to the idea that Windows 7 will be a minor release or a spit polish on Vista. ‘It’s a real release,’ he said.”

MS CEO admits 7 is Vista.”

You quote actually invalidates your claim. Did you read the part where it said the Ballmer too exception to the idea that Windows 7 is a minor release or a spit polish of Vista. An exception as in he is objecting to that noting. The first part you are just using to twist to your own needs. They are not saying that Windows 7 IS Windows Vista, but rather building upon the Vista frame work to bring you a better OS.

Vista had a bad start, but it isn’t a horrible OS like ME was. It does leave a little to be desired as far as performance. Sadly (or not sadly depending you thoughts on it), Vista won’t be around much longer. Windows 7 really seems to be the real deal as far as an OS, picking up where Vista left off and fixing the issues and even enhancing them.

By: Roman411

Roman411 — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:17:20 +0000

Been using Windows 7 for almost 24 hours now and while the UI is QUITE similar to Vista there are a few improvements:

1. Multi-core processors are finally used correctly in Windows 7. Run some tests and you’ll see.
2. Haven’t had one issue. Vista: an issue a day.
3. UAC rebuilt. Thank g*d! Not on by default is a darn good thing.
4. Sooooooo much faster than ANY version of Vista OR XP. No Start menu lag. Installations are 1/3 time of what I had for Vista Premium.

Still some issues but this is a Beta version:

1. Some installations which M$ says will work (AVG AV, a couple of Adobe products).
2. Drive emulation VERY wonky (Daemon Tools & MagicDrive)
3. IE 8 does not play well with all the tech blogs I like.

This is all I’ve found within 24 hours and if this is what to expect from Windows 7…I’m OK with it.

P.S. I’m no M$, Mac, or Linux fanboi. I know how to do my own research. I hold no allegiances.
5.

By: Hockeyfreak

Hockeyfreak — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:56:20 +0000

I mean to download.

By: Hockeyfreak

Hockeyfreak — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:55:51 +0000

The link to upload is now up again.

By: VISTA SP UPDATE

VISTA SP UPDATE — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:47:50 +0000

“‘Windows Vista is good, Windows 7 is Windows Vista with clean-up in user interface [and] improvements in performance,’ Ballmer said,” Keizer reports. “Ballmer also took exception to the idea that Windows 7 will be a minor release or a spit polish on Vista. ‘It’s a real release,’ he said.”

MS CEO admits 7 is Vista.

By: Peta

Peta — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:58:06 +0000

Uhhh, I think that’s MICKEY Rourke…

By: El Bastardo

El Bastardo — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:54:37 +0000

…

But if you had read the article you would have known that it isn’t in another spot. Change your nick, Twain was literate.

By: Mark Twain

Mark Twain — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:42:13 +0000

Actually no smartass, because I went to the site several times yesterday and didn’t see any damn link. I just posted on here because I thought it might be in another spot. So thanks for your worthless response.

By: neodorian

neodorian — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:40:38 +0000

@btdown: You do realize there is more to an OS than the interface, right? This is an incremental update to Windows Vista that adds some decent functionality and addresses a lot of the concerns people had with Vista not running well on low-spec hardware. By keeping the same driver model there ought to be less of the driver-caused issues that plagued the original Vista release as well.

The vast majority of the software I use for work and entertainment runs on Windows so I am glad to see the steady progression on the OS front.

Now they just need to get off their ass with Mobile before I go back to Palm

By: melmac

melmac — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:38:02 +0000

@btdown: Think, or at least do some research, before you post in a public forum and embarrass yourself. Windows 7 beta is far from a Vista service pack. It has been stable so far, very responsive, and in general has me stoked to get rid of Vista. Not that I hate Vista (I love it), but even the beta is running faster on my comp!

By: Orga

Orga — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:37:16 +0000

Yeah, btdown… the problem with Vista was never the look. The issues were with functionality.

Even though a lot of that has been improved, the OS is pretty much permanently tainted.

By: Daniel Blois

Daniel Blois — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:33:40 +0000

Ervel Flick,

I totally agree with you. It is a lot like Vista but not exactly the same – Much better performance and a few nice UI improvements also!!

btdown, try something before you make a judgment and keep an open mind.

By: Ervel Flick

Ervel Flick — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:13:29 +0000

@btdown: You couldn’t be farther from the truth. I’ve been using Windows 7 for a little while now, and while the UI needs some love, the performance is outstanding.

Also, this is a BETA – the whole POINT is that it’s unfinished. And so what if it looks like Vista? Vista’s pretty.

By: btdown

btdown — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:12:16 +0000

Dont bother downloading it. If you have Vista, it looks EXACTLY like it with a new theme. This is another switcheroo by M$ to make you think you’re getting something new, when it’s just a service pack update to Vista.

By: Nobody's Biz

Nobody's Biz — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:11:16 +0000

Really??!! Did you even read the article?