Are you satisfied with Windows 7?

Ranger4 said:

Muz1234. Yes, Windows 7 is based on the Vista engine, but is a very much better Operating System. Vista was also a very good system, but was maligned by many whose computers were probably not really capable of running it to it's full potential. I used Vista for a couple of years & I never had any problems with it.

Exactly. So called "vista capable" computers released before Vista came out, which included a free upgrade, where really only capable of running XP which required way less resources than Vista. IMO when considering the Windows system requirements, disregard the minimum requirements and use the recommended requirements as the minimum requirements for just running the OS. Add more resources, especially memory, for your required uses, and then add some to spare. Manufacturers didn't do that when Vista first came out. They designed the systems for XP or to meet the minimum requirements for Vista. Users where left without enough memory and as a result their systems where slow. Because of this Vista got a really bad rap until manufacturers really started making systems with adequate resources.

I never really had any issues with Vista. The only issue I had was that Vista wouldn't use my internal wireless card when I first installed it even though the drivers where supposedly compliant. I didn't have any issues after I replaced the card with an external one. I ran Vista as my primary OS until the psu died even after 7 was released. I still use it on a Virtual machine and in certain ways I prefer it over 7.

Hi ShadouFox,

ShadouFox said:

Since Microsoft doesn't seem to be interested in supporting it any more, Win-7 needs to be relicensed under the GPL and made Open Source, like any Linux distro. That way, we can take care of maintaining it.

Yeah, like that'll ever happen.

I like your thinking, but unfortunately that will never happen. It's a secret!

Muz1234--

I like it now, but the first few months (actually last year) were hairy because of UAC. I was constantly at my favorite tech sites, including this one, with problems. Once you get over the UAC hump, it's a good, stable OS. In fact, I just installed it over a Vista in a machine that a customer was dumping. I'm not switching to 10, not even after 2020.

My main modification was installing Classic Shell, which make the interface look like XP, while not really changing anything in the innards. When I had XP, I made it look like Win98SE, so I guess my 7 looks like 98SE now, but only on the outside.

ShadouFox said:

Very satisfied. Installed it on an old Dell Optiplex that was just given away. It looks like an early -- mid Oughts rig that originally came with XP installed. I ran that even though the particular app I needed it for didn't recommend this. Finally, that app wouldn't run at all, so I installed Win-7. It runs just fine, and I have no problems running what I need. The apps that came with it also run quite well, and noticed no issues so far with using it on such an old rig. That's one perfectly functional computer that didn't wind up in a landfill.....

I ran my XP for 3 years past the end of updates, but stopped, and switched to a 7 machine just 2 years ago. I still have the XP. You're saying that I can put 7 into it if I stick to 32-bit programs? It's a Pentium 4 I think, 32-bit, with 6GB RAM. What about an A-V?

6 gb of ram requires 64-bit and to get all of it you will need xp 64-bit professional. XP 64-bit didn't have much driver support so you might have issues there.

:-(

Muted said:

...I agree that the "start-menu" idea from the '90s has been long dead and is more or less never used. The worse part: They replicated it with the "folders!" I've never used the default custom "library" folders (Music, Photos, Documents, etc).

My biggest pet peeve is probably relating to all the default enabled MMC tools that log just about everything. you don't like and don't care for (it's a pretty exhaustive list, so, I'll keep it as those two only)!... :)

MMC?

I don't use the Library either, as I have all my data on the D partition. I like the Start Menu, restored it with Classic Shell.