Most XP users hate Windows 7!!!

jimbo45 said:

SOME 8 year old hardware will run W7 quite happily -- I've got an old PENTIUM IV computer from circa 2000 running W7 32 bit just fine -- although it's only got 512GB RAM and a 60 GB HDD. Not even USB slots.

Running Windows 2000 on that computer is actually faster -- that's basically due to the MUCH smaller size of the OS and W2K was designed as a SERVER OS (its the basis for the STILL excellent Windows 2003 Server) but you would be surprised at what W7 will work on.

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jimbo45 said:

I have some legacy PERIPHERALS where the original manufacturer is no longer in business --quite specialized and EXPENSIVE gear still perfectly serviceable so I'm keeping XP for these (running XP as a Virtual Machine --no more dual booting for me).
For this type of gear XP will still be around for several years yet -- not because it's a better or worse OS - but due to the fact that people who USE this type of gear will still need it.
Cheers
jimbo

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antares said:

jimbo45 said:

SOME 8 year old hardware will run W7 quite happily -- I've got an old PENTIUM IV computer from circa 2000 running W7 32 bit just fine -- although it's only got 512GB RAM and a 60 GB HDD. Not even USB slots.

Running Windows 2000 on that computer is actually faster -- that's basically due to the MUCH smaller size of the OS and W2K was designed as a SERVER OS (its the basis for the STILL excellent Windows 2003 Server) but you would be surprised at what W7 will work on.

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Hi Jimbo, yes, I have a 2001 Dell Dimension 8200 with P4 3.06GHz, 2GB RAM, ATI AIW X800XT and Win7 runs very smoothly, even with Aero on, it feels maybe even faster than XP, but that might be because it's a fresh install whereas my XP installation is already over 2 years old with many programs on it.

jimbo45 said:

I have some legacy PERIPHERALS where the original manufacturer is no longer in business --quite specialized and EXPENSIVE gear still perfectly serviceable so I'm keeping XP for these (running XP as a Virtual Machine --no more dual booting for me).
For this type of gear XP will still be around for several years yet -- not because it's a better or worse OS - but due to the fact that people who USE this type of gear will still need it.
Cheers
jimbo

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I thought that was not possible. I also have some peripherals that are not Win7 compatible (an old USB HP printer and scanner), they only work in XP, and if I run XP within Win7 as a virtual machine they will not work either. So, maybe I did not understand what you're explaining...??

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jimbo45 said:

Hi there
A Virtual machine is almost like running a physical XP machine except that it runs as an application on your Host machine say W7.

Forget XP mode for the moment -- that's a specialized case -- however if you run say Virtual Box or VMWARE on your W7 installation you can create a "Virtual Machine".

In this case 99.99% of Legacy hardware WILL run. XP mode IMO is a waste of time but running a Full Virtual machine under vmware or Vbox will give you what you want.

When creating this you perform an installation of the OS just like you would as if you were installing it on your physical computer.

The advantage is you DON'T need to dual boot and the old drivers will keep legacy hardware running indefintely.

Look at the virtualisation tutorials on the forum fore more info on this topic.

Cheers
jimbo

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So that means that if I install Windows XP in VMware running in Windows 7 as host OS then any peripheral that is not compatible with 7 (old USB HP printer and scanner in my case) will be recognized and working by using the virtual XP? Does this also include the PC's internal hardware? (my sound card is not 7 compatible). I posted this question some time ago in another forum and I was told that the virtual OS (XP in this case) can not override the host OS (7 in this case) drivers, and that therefore any windows 7 non compatible hardware would not run from the virtual XP.

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smsff7 said:

2: I miss the Xp search. I thought it was easyer to find what I was looking for when there was check boxes to limied the file search to say video, pictures or audio. I don't use the search much now because I hate having to type "Type:mp3" when I want to find something

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fseal said:

Sound and networking should work mostly well, the sound hardware in virtual machines is fairly basic so don't expect any super fancy sound features. You don't have access to your machines /actual/ sound card, but to a generic virtual sound interface that is then piped through your actual host OSes sound drivers.

Anything USB should work fine if you allow the virtual machine to take over control of the port. The easiest way to so this is to run the virtual machine and while it is focused, plug in the USB device. I.e. in VMWare, if you have windows 7 focussed and you plug in a thumb drive, Windows 7 takes control of it, if VMWare is focused when you plug it in then the Guest OS gets control of it.

The actual method of allowing one VM or anther have acess to one USB port or another probably varies.

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antares said:

Will installing specific drivers for my XP devices (USB scanner, printer, internal sound card) in the virtual XP OS make any difference? Or they will be ignored and VMWare will use its own drivers?

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antares said:

With Microsoft providing XP support until 2014 and XP downgrade rights until 2020, XP will probably remain in history as the most successful OS ever.

Microsoft Pledges Windows XP Support Through 2014 -- Microsoft -- InformationWeek
Microsoft extends Windows XP downgrade rights until 2020 - Computerworld

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pparks1 said:

#1). Windows XP was very easy to steal...especially with a volume license key so it didn't have to be activated. People could install it, share it and put it on whatever they want. It was way easier with XP than it is with Vista or 7. So, since it's not as easy to steal, just badmouth it and use the old stuff.

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severedsolo said:

Windows 7 isn't exactly difficult to steal, but I'll say no more on that before I start violating rules

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cluberti said:

And with the Russia thing lately, it's been made basically public that Microsoft *does not* care about individual pirates, they care about the distributors and those facilitating the piracy. It makes sense, since those folks / organizations are where MS loses their money, not at the individual pirate level.

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cluberti said:

smsff7 said:

2: I miss the Xp search. I thought it was easyer to find what I was looking for when there was check boxes to limied the file search to say video, pictures or audio. I don't use the search much now because I hate having to type "Type:mp3" when I want to find something

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I felt this way too, until I changed the indexing options to include my personal folders, all of them. The index is a bit large, but it doesn't seem to affect search speed at all - Start > Search and typing something in became pretty easy and relevant quickly, although not until I added my own folders and other things I wanted included in the index that weren't indexed by default.

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Maxxwire said:

I once got a 10 minute lecture from a guy yelling as loud as he possibly could that "Windows 98 was the greatest operating system Microsoft ever made and everything after that has been pure &*%#".

~Maxx~
.

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Compaker said:

I still remember the day my mom received her laptop, she opens it up and it had windows 7 on it. I ordered it for her, and she got ticked off because I got her 7 over windows 2000. When I told her they didn't have that anymore she called Dell support and yelled at the guy for like an hour xD

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