Is anyone still using Windows 7?

A year ago I bought a new SSD and extra RAM for my more than a decade old laptop which came with Windows 7. I took it all apart to clean it and change the thermal paste, then put it back together with the new items. I installed Windows 7 on that new SSD. It runs just like new. Of course it won't run today's programs so smoothly. But I installed Windows 7 because I want to still use it to run music production software that I bought around the same time I bought the laptop and then another one a few years later. Cubase 5 and Reason 8, they both won't work on today's laptops I would guess. I also have a sound card whose audio drivers are for Windows 7 the latest. I will keep it offline and not use it for anything other than making music.

I do the same with my bare-bones desktop, sebs. I use Reaper. Used to use Sonar, but they're subscription now. Reaper is better anyway. I have tried upgrading to 10, but every time I give up and roll it back, or reinstall 7. No more. it's W7 all the way now.

sebs said:

A year ago I bought a new SSD and extra RAM for my more than a decade old laptop which came with Windows 7. I took it all apart to clean it and change the thermal paste, then put it back together with the new items. I installed Windows 7 on that new SSD. It runs just like new. Of course it won't run today's programs so smoothly. But I installed Windows 7 because I want to still use it to run music production software that I bought around the same time I bought the laptop and then another one a few years later. Cubase 5 and Reason 8, they both won't work on today's laptops I would guess. I also have a sound card whose audio drivers are for Windows 7 the latest. I will keep it offline and not use it for anything other than making music.

The drivers for Windows 7 should also work in Windows 8 and 10 and 11.

michael diemer said:

I do the same with my bare-bones desktop, sebs. I use Reaper. Used to use Sonar, but they're subscription now. Reaper is better anyway. I have tried upgrading to 10, but every time I give up and roll it back, or reinstall 7. No more. it's W7 all the way now.

Nice

- - - Updated - - -

spapakons said:

The drivers for Windows 7 should also work in Windows 8 and 10 and 11.

Hmm, maybe, but I guess I'll never find out ;D
I will try it on Linux though.

I would rather use Windows XP than Linux...



It's no secret that Linux is more difficult to use than Windows (I mean advanced using and configuring, not just typing a letter or checking your Facebook) and supports far less hardware than Windows and has much fewer applications and games than Windows. I want a general purpose PC that can do almost everything, not a smart typewriter, so I stick with Windows and stay clear from Linux. And yes, I have tried it, I speak from experience.

spapakons said:

I would rather use Windows XP than Linux...
It's no secret that Linux is more difficult to use than Windows (I mean advanced using and configuring, not just typing a letter or checking your Facebook) and supports far less hardware than Windows and has much fewer applications and games than Windows. I want a general purpose PC that can do almost everything, not a smart typewriter, so I stick with Windows and stay clear from Linux. And yes, I have tried it, I speak from experience.

I agree with this (except maybe "smart typewriter"?) having started myself iirc getting a number of Toshiba Magnia server boxes that run on Linux, and I've also tried it on some PC hardware. And while it sometimes comes in handy I keep coming-back to Windows because that's where all my day-to-day "stuff" is--mountains of saved documents I manage with FileCenter, a scanner that I use to make them, Quicken to manage my finances, and iMazing that helps me with our Apple iPhones & iPads.

I sometimes think to switch to a Mac platform and run Parallels or dual-boot the thing, but it feels like a lot of work especially as we have separate Summer and Winter homes and my Dell laptop easily docks to each (duplicate monitors and scanners etc. already set-up in each place).

maxseven said:

I agree with this (except maybe "smart typewriter"?) having started myself iirc getting a number of Toshiba Magnia server boxes that run on Linux, and I've also tried it on some PC hardware. And while it sometimes comes in handy I keep coming-back to Windows because that's where all my day-to-day "stuff" is--mountains of saved documents I manage with FileCenter, a scanner that I use to make them, Quicken to manage my finances, and iMazing that helps me with our Apple iPhones & iPads.

I sometimes think to switch to a Mac platform and run Parallels or dual-boot the thing, but it feels like a lot of work especially as we have separate Summer and Winter homes and my Dell laptop easily docks to each (duplicate monitors and scanners etc. already set-up in each place).

DON'T switch to a new Apple Silicon Mac!!!!! The only version of Windows supported in Parallels is Windows 11 for AMR64, not the "regular" Windows 11 for x86-64 CPUs! This poses A LOT of limitations to the games and applications you can use, not everything works under Microsoft's x86-to-ARM translation layer! I installed Windows 11 ARM in Parallels for a friend that bought an M3 and he cannot play all his games. There are also restrictions on the hardware you can use because it requires drivers for ARM, not "regular" drivers. STAY CLEAR FROM APPLE!!!!!

spapakons said:

DON'T switch to a new Apple Silicon Mac!!!!! The only version of Windows supported in Parallels is Windows 11 for AMR64, not the "regular" Windows 11 for x86-64 CPUs! This poses A LOT of limitations to the games and applications you can use, not everything works under Microsoft's x86-to-ARM translation layer! I installed Windows 11 ARM in Parallels for a friend that bought an M3 and he cannot play all his games. There are also restrictions on the hardware you can use because it requires drivers for ARM, not "regular" drivers. STAY CLEAR FROM APPLE!!!!!

Thanks for that as I only know enough about "Windows on Macs" to be dangerous.

My Mac Mini 2018 is an Intel and only an i3 which I got cuz I thought I was gonna manage an Apple library of movies on a NAS with it. Decided not to bother...

So I likely could dual-boot Windows on my Intel Mac but then I don't know I'd be happy with the performance, and then what Apple does of course is they change MacOS to not run on older platforms as they "enhance" it.

This stuff makes me crazy sometimes.

EDIT: I had to look-up ARM to realize it is a virtual RISC machine apparently. I have experience running MacOS on Windows using a VM, but not vicey-versy. So now I know (thanks again) that W11 on the new Apple chips is a different beast altogether. DID NOT KNOW THAT!

I use Windows 7 Professional, I use it for fun and nostalgia because I used windows 7 back then. I don't pay for windows 7 updates, I don't really care about the updates.