windows 7 compared to XP Pro

[kemo]

I'll continue to use 7 in hope things get ironed out. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of the ugly sounds and replace with XP sounds.

Based on some of the arguments here, all Microsoft SHOULD have done is incorporate a search built into the start menu and figure out how to get it to boot faster.

I just like how they are now adopting what other OS's already do... automatically download/update drivers.

Why are so many "attached" to xp??? Cuz you could do so much with it on a lower performance pc. Now you need something pretty stout to get similar performance that one was once used to before. To be honest, I don't think I've ever spent so much just to be capable of running a "new" os. Then again, now manufacturers have amped up their PC's to cope. "Vista Capable", that sticker needed an asterisk to note how painful it'd be, but hey, it ran with Vista!

 

[bigmck]

Thanks, some very valued points.

Yes it's old but so I'm I. Do I do things better now then when I was 20 years younger? I sure hope so!

looks anything new, can always look better.... ask Tiger ,( we better not go there)

Hardware and drivers have never been a problem, at least for me in XP. I have almost ever thing backed up. New hardware today is certainly better on install and Xp is first on their list.

Most of the important new features in W7 have been around on the net as freebies for a few years. IF, you need them , I don't.

Yes the list could go on and on...... XP is still a fine OS .

I don't think anyone on here would say that XP is bad. It is a very good OS. Much better than the one before it, ME, that was crap. While XP is very good, Win 7 is everything you could ask. I was very hesistant to change over because XP is so good. I saw all of the problems people were having on the Forum with Win 7 and it made me shy away for a bit. I knew that the time would come when XP would as old as Win 98 is today. While there are alot of probems on the Forum, there are many more that are success stories. You have to move on or get left behind. In the case of Win 7, there is no sacrifice to moving on, it is MS best OS.

 

[bigmck]

I'll continue to use 7 in hope things get ironed out. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of the ugly sounds and replace with XP sounds.

That was one thing that I noticed pretty quick also. I don't know how MS missed that one. == Go into your Windows.Old folder and copy the sounds that you like and put them in the same folder with the Win 7 sounds and you got it.

 

[Frostmourne]

It really is an excellent OS, go for it. XP is dead.

 

[pparks1]

Several of my family work for large international Co's. They say there are no steps being taken to convert to Windows 7 in the business world.

Businesses are a different animal all together. For many, they weren't willing or able to pay Microsoft for the software assurance programs that entitled them to run future operating systems like Windows 7. When you are dealing with thousands or tens of thousands of desktops...these costs are enormous. It's not like these businesses can just buy a $350 license for Technet and upgrade everybody under that program.

Second, many businesses use older applications or home grown applications which may or may not work well/properly on different versions of the operating systems. So, these businesses have to evaluate whether the gains afforded by the new OS overshadow the cons of changing applications, or pouring money into new development to get the other application running properly. In addition, it's fairly common for large companies to have a large scale long term plan for changing from one of these older/home grown apps to something else down the road...and since plans are already underway for an eventual change they aren't willing to put the money or time into making a change to the current application to ensure it works better on Windows {insert_version_here}.

Third, many businesses don't want to have to retrain their staff to utilize the new operating system. In a business with hundreds or perhaps thousands of employees...even a small simple change could severely impact a group of people, an entire department or the business as a whole. So, the costs associated with this necessary training may very much outweigh the associated gains from the new OS.

Fourth, many businesses have very complex systems for security, VPN access, group policy and loads of documentation which are tooled specifically for Windows XP and their current method of doing business. You have to take into account the time, effort and work necessary to rework all of these things before you can simply just upgrade the operating system because it's now the latest and greatest offering.

And finally, the cost associated with the downtime of upgrading the computers can be very significant and hard for the average joe to comprehend. Since businesses often rely on a few key applications, the downtime and cost associated with upgrading the physical computer, and getting the software to perform...are far more costly than some of the OS provided benefits that most employees simply will never truly benefit from.

 

[madtownidiot]

My main reason for switching to from xp to windows 7 is that microsoft has never included SATA drivers in their xp installation disks, nor can you install 3rd party SATA drivers from a CD or DVD during a fresh install of XP. That leaves laptop users who don't have a floppy drive or the ability to boot from a network S.O.L. And no version of windows has ever been stable. It seems like whenever microsoft finds something that works they stop doing it, although my opinion has been gradually improving, the more I use windows 7

 

[kemo]

Industry is going to hold onto XP until their current machinery can't be repaired. XP isn't very demanding, and we all know how you could throw so many things its way and it worked (software and hardware).

Upgrading the hardware to 7 would be very costly. We already tried Vista and 7 (one of the betas) when I was back in college, it wouldn't work. I went to school for electronics engineering. We ran into BSOD after BSOD. Had to revert back to XP. One other thing we discovered was that the software that we used for automation only liked INTEL processors, otherwise you'd get the BSOD for that too.

Another thing we ran into problems, we couldn't use Vista for programming PLC's. Also... our National Instruments PXI equipment (roughly 2 years old now) could only work on XP. To this date, the website still says Microsoft Windows and drivers already installed (on the embedded controller). I know though, you can easily say it's the manufacturers fault and not Microsoft.

Be that as it may, there are some things that 7 just can't do... yet?

 

[wilfj]

Several of my family work for large international Co's. They say there are no steps being taken to convert to Windows 7 in the business world.[/quotes]
Businesses are a different animal all together. For many, they weren't willing or able to pay Microsoft for the software assurance programs that entitled them to run future operating systems like Windows 7. When you are dealing with thousands or tens of thousands of desktops...these costs are enormous. It's not like these businesses can just buy a $350 license for Technet and upgrade everybody under that program.

Second, many businesses use older applications or home grown applications which may or may not work well/properly on different versions of the operating systems. So, these businesses have to evaluate whether the gains afforded by the new OS overshadow the cons of changing applications, or pouring money into new development to get the other application running properly. In addition, it's fairly common for large companies to have a large scale long term plan for changing from one of these older/home grown apps to something else down the road...and since plans are already underway for an eventual change they aren't willing to put the money or time into making a change to the current application to ensure it works better on Windows {insert_version_here}.

Third, many businesses don't want to have to retrain their staff to utilize the new operating system. In a business with hundreds or perhaps thousands of employees...even a small simple change could severely impact a group of people, an entire department or the business as a whole. So, the costs associated with this necessary training may very much outweigh the associated gains from the new OS.

Fourth, many businesses have very complex systems for security, VPN access, group policy and loads of documentation which are tooled specifically for Windows XP and their current method of doing business. You have to take into account the time, effort and work necessary to rework all of these things before you can simply just upgrade the operating system because it's now the latest and greatest offering.

And finally, the cost associated with the downtime of upgrading the computers can be very significant and hard for the average joe to comprehend. Since businesses often rely on a few key applications, the downtime and cost associated with upgrading the physical computer, and getting the software to perform...are far more costly than some of the OS provided benefits that most employees simply will never truly benefit from.

Very well explained for sure !

After reading the replies I have done some more picking and pocking into W7 and found several applications I was not even aware they were there.
I installed RC 7100 3 months ago, and how quick we forget... W7 found all my hardware, including a 8 year old hp laser printer. The installation was simple and fast about 20 minutes .

i have the boxed upgrade and will load it after March 1st and Xp will just be retired.

Thanks for your comments and everyone out there that want to still hold on to XP, the features in W7 makes it a must to have. Say good night... good night !

 

[musiclover7]

I dunno.. I have xp loaded on my business laptop, and it is a drag to have to use it. If I did not need to it to access my company vpn and the myriad resources I need use daily, I would not use it. I am far more efficient on my 7 machine, but then again, I am not the avg user. Who knows when the company will choose to upgrade to 7. Probably in about 3 years if that. So, in the mean time, I am still using xp, but begrudgingly.. Are there a lot of to die for features in 7 that make it a must have OS? No, not in my opinion. Yes, there are nice new possibilities out the shoot, but as many have stated, you can for the most part procure those same possibilities in xp with a little 3rd party free-ware assistance. Still, it is a very solid, responsive OS (more so than xp from my perspective) that looks pretty, and does offer quicker ways of getting common tasks done.. and yes, it is easier on the eyes, so it satisfies that part of my consumer self that is drawn to dazzle..

Libraries have grown on me, and are now a big part of how I structure my 4 terabytes of data spanning multiple drives and computers.. Search in 7 compared to xp, is a clear advantage.. once you start using it, you find yourself searching for everything rather than spending the time clicking your way into directories.. I love the fact that I can view/edit an mp3 tag simply by highlighting an mp3 file in explorer.. handy.. and yes, aero snap/crackle/pop is a big part of how I work in 7, and dearly missed as I work on my XP laptop.

The difference is really pronounced, because I use both OS's nearly every day, and am stuck doing all my crucial stuff on the XP laptop, simply because it is the only one that will connect to company resources.. The feeling is like, getting out of a nice brand new car, and into a 10 year old one. Yes, both cars can get me where I am going at the end of the day, but I have a clear preference..

 

[slithernet]

I think what it boils down to is that some ppl need to buy the new sports car, some ppl will run the old pickup truck till it falls apart.

Me, I want the sports car

 

[chrysalis]

i still don't understand why people like xp?

Can't search programs in start menu
Can't access as many controls in control panel

Starts up slow - ( my xp can't bet the vista and 7 machine ( both restart usually under a min) - i have also seen people in business enviroments wait 20 mins to use xp after a restart.)

Talking about businesses running xp. They don't turn there computers off at night because it takes to long to restart in the morning.)

I am a little unsure if this is a failure for the program or IT staff. ( some of the case i would think IT staff. I have walked in after they have done an over hall and nothing works )

one last thing xp start menu takes up half the task bar??

cheers

vic

ps

7 rules best ever

my view on your points

1 - I dont use search much in start menu, a point and click man myself. But search is superior in win7 yes for those who use it.
2 = not so sure on this one? vista and win7 both seperate a lot of control panel applets giving an initial impression more stuff can be adjusted. eg. display looks like it is split into 3 or 4 different applets. My opinion is there is some new options in win7 control panel but also some older options removed. XP control panel defenitly was eaiser to navigate without a doubt.

The XP start menu might be bigger but of course the super bar by default in win7 is less space efficient than the removed quick launch.

Which gui is better is down to a matter of opinion, I am warming to win7 gui which is good but I can most certianly see why business's will not be keen to use win7. From a business perspective any kind of interface change = bad news as it means staff need to learn again which hits efficiency at the least in the short term. I actually expect business's to adopt vista more than win7 for the gui. (when they drop XP that is).

 

[dakrisht]

I've been using Microsoft products since their first GUI-build, Windows 3.1. And before that DOS and what not, but we're talking GUI OS here

I also use OS X, Linux (various flavors including SUSE, CentOS, RHEL, etc.), VMWare Operating Systems (such as bare-metal hypervisors, ESXi servers, etc.).

Microsoft has a done a great job with 7. I've been playing with 7 since the Beta, RC and now we're finally rolling it out to our users.

A lot of employees at my company have been using XP SP3 for quite some time now (including myself, I currently dual-boot XP SP3 and 7, among other things) and as with every operating system, there are and will always be bugs, glitches, problems, complaints, design flaws, etc. We still have people on XP simply because there are a lot of enterprise-class apps which aren't compatible with the "latest and greatest" build from MS. When running an IT department, you have to evaluate things as a whole and not on a case-by-case basis. That's why a lot of business are slow to install the latest and greatest. You stick to what works, otherwise, you're in the office 16 hours of day troubleshooting problems.

Without a doubt, 7 certainly improves on XP and does the same tenfold for Vista. Vista was a pretty badly built OS (we still have about 10-12 users that are on Vista and they all hate the OS including the IT department which is always fixing various problems on these systems). Vista is downright buggy and awful, I can't stand it.

7 boots faster for me and a few users that are now on 7 Professional (32-bit & 64-bit) in our company. So far, I've had nothing but good experiences with 7, the GUI is a big-leap from XP, but not that different from Vista.

I disagree with some members here mentioning that "XP was a lot easier to navigate than 7." 7 is certainly more organized than XP (and previous OS') and at the very least, it's just as easy to navigate as is in XP.

Now on to performance = I'm still running benchmarks and various diagnostics to compare my 7 system(s) to other systems (yes, I have 10+ PC's in my office). But overall, 7 is without a doubt faster than XP in various environments (including gaming).

From first glance and the first real week of heavy 7 use I can already attest to the following:

1) 7 loads faster than XP (and Vista)
2) 7 computes faster and performs everyday tasks much quicker than XP (same PC, same specs).
3) 7 has great hardware plug-n-play support, superior to both XP and Vista.
4) 7 looks pretty good, XP is old so it's not going to look that great compared 7.
5) 7 is what Vista SHOULD HAVE been
6) 7 is faster in many ways compared to XP (probably in every way). All apps, games, browsers, etc. load and perform quicker, smoother and faster than XP.

7 feels rock solid so far, it felt rock solid during the Beta and it's been a pleasure to use so far.

I highly recommend anyone on XP to move up to 7, dual-boot the OS, you can still run your XP but you'll end up spending a lot more time in the 7 environment once you realize how nice it really is.

As a footnote, if you're running 7 on an ancient Pentium III with 512mb RAM and a multi-partitioned HDD - it's gonna be beyond slow for you! Follow the requirements, perhaps even build yourself a new system and enjoy 7 like it's meant to be enjoyed - on fast, responsive hardware that will make your time with 7 a pleasure.

Microsoft, please hook me up with a few hundred $$$ for this writeup!!!

 

[win7clutz]

..... Microsoft, please hook me up with a few hundred $$$ for this writeup!!!

Funny stuff!

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
XP is STILL BRILLIANT for all sorts of cases where older hardware can't run on W7 - especially W7 X-64.

For these cases keep your XP install but run it in a Virtual machine - that way you get the best of both worlds.

If you need to re-enter a License key just say to MS you've "Upgraded" to a new machine (with the Virtual Hardware) -- don't say it's a VM however.

Since it's a Virtual machine you can "Clone" this to run on as many machines as you like since the "Virtual Hardware" will be identical.

For typical apps the XP machine can be run very nicely in 640MB RAM -- you don't have to use a 1:1 ratio for Virtual to Real RAM when running Virtual machines.


Cheers
jimbo

 

[kemo]

As a footnote, if you're running 7 on an ancient Pentium III with 512mb RAM and a multi-partitioned HDD - it's gonna be beyond slow for you! Follow the requirements, perhaps even build yourself a new system and enjoy 7 like it's meant to be enjoyed - on fast, responsive hardware that will make your time with 7 a pleasure.

Following the requirements leads you to a slow computer. I've got 4GB of ram and a 2.8GHz tricore, and 7 is still sluggish. I've got another OS on this computer that is a lot faster and more efficient

 

[Frostmourne]

As a footnote, if you're running 7 on an ancient Pentium III with 512mb RAM and a multi-partitioned HDD - it's gonna be beyond slow for you! Follow the requirements, perhaps even build yourself a new system and enjoy 7 like it's meant to be enjoyed - on fast, responsive hardware that will make your time with 7 a pleasure.

Following the requirements leads you to a slow computer. I've got 4GB of ram and a 2.8GHz tricore, and 7 is still sluggish. I've got another OS on this computer that is a lot faster and more efficient

That isn't right. I built a fresh new gaming system (Phenom x2 550 Black Edition @ 3.1GHz stock, 4GB DDR3 1333MHz Kingston 9-9-9-24, Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA II HDD via AHCI, LG GH22 series DVD-/+RW, Sapphire 4890 1GB GDDR5 stock, Gigabyte MA 790GPT UD3H, Antec Two Hundred, Xigmatek NRP-MC651 80% efficiency Silver certified modular PSU) with 7 and it works fine. Maybe you could try the guides in my sig.

 

[sbrads]

I'm on dual boot XP32/7.64 at present, with only a few programs installed on 7 until I get used to it. It's certainly potentially a super OS, but there's some annoying things as well. I've found the answer, but I reckon the typical user's Start Menu>Programs will be a complete and utter illogical mess in no time at all once they've installed umpteen programs that dump folders everywhere with no obvious way of organising similar types of programs into new folders of their own choice. And why are non-running icons in the taskbar so slow at showing tooltips? There appears to be no way round this one. Also no up arrow in Explorer, doh!

 

[dakrisht]

As a footnote, if you're running 7 on an ancient Pentium III with 512mb RAM and a multi-partitioned HDD - it's gonna be beyond slow for you! Follow the requirements, perhaps even build yourself a new system and enjoy 7 like it's meant to be enjoyed - on fast, responsive hardware that will make your time with 7 a pleasure.

Following the requirements leads you to a slow computer. I've got 4GB of ram and a 2.8GHz tricore, and 7 is still sluggish. I've got another OS on this computer that is a lot faster and more efficient

That isn't right. I built a fresh new gaming system (Phenom x2 550 Black Edition @ 3.1GHz stock, 4GB DDR3 1333MHz Kingston 9-9-9-24, Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA II HDD via AHCI, LG GH22 series DVD-/+RW, Sapphire 4890 1GB GDDR5 stock, Gigabyte MA 790GPT UD3H, Antec Two Hundred, Xigmatek NRP-MC651 80% efficiency Silver certified modular PSU) with 7 and it works fine. Maybe you could try the guides in my sig.

I completely agree with Frostmourne - Windows 7 simply flies on my build (check my system)... You've done something wrong, fresh install 7...

You mention you have "another OS on this computer that is a lot faster and more efficient." based on what? Have you done benchmarks? Are you comparing a heavy-OS to something like a base Windows 98/2000 install?

7 is without a doubt, 100% faster than XP in many ways and leaps and bounds faster than awful Vista (especially in networking)...

Again, you've done something wrong.

 

[gregrocker]

Sometimes I get in the old Dart to take it out for a drive.

Love to smoke them Lexi with their aero sunroofs.

I pick up the boys and take em down to bingo.

 

[ggrrttdd]

Please elaborate : 100% faster than xp in many ways.

I have found small gains, approx. 5-10%, in some areas.