Should I upgrade to Win7?

[CarlTR6]

I tried Vista in the early stages. I lived in a rural area and was on dialup. I had problems with it - driver issues, crashes, SOD's, etc - and was working 10-12 hours a day; so I flat didn't have time or the resources to mess with it and get it right. I reinstalled XP and never touched Vista again.

 

[devildog93]

I was gonna go back to XP on my Acer, but I know someone who was able to get me a free (and legal) copy of Windows 7 Professional so I thought, "what the hell, can't hurt and can always go back to XP"

But Windows 7 Pro just took over like a true champion, and free to boot, figuratively, and literally.

 

[whs]

I once read that 45% of the Vista problems were caused by shoddy drivers and 50% by user errors. That leaves 5% that can be blamed on Vista proper. I don't know how they got these numbers, but if they are halfway right, they are very telling.
I am inclined to believe the user error number. Vista was so much different to XP where most people came from that it was easy for them to get confused. Win7 looks more like XP in many areas (which I consider a step backwards). But MS was faced with a dilemma and I guess they had to do that to make the XP crowd move.

 

[devildog93]

I once read that 45% of the Vista problems were caused by shoddy drivers and 50% by user errors. That leaves 5% that can be blamed on Vista proper. I don't know how they got these numbers, but if they are halfway right, they are very telling.
I am inclined to believe the user error number. Vista was so much different to XP where most people came from that it was easy for them to get confused. Win7 looks more like XP in many areas (which I consider a step backwards). But MS was faced with a dilemma and I guess they had to do that to make the XP crowd move.

That very well could be the point, and probably is. I went from XP, with little knowledge, to Vista, which to me was quite different, and very well may have created my own problems. Now that I have a better grasp of things, maybe THAT is why I am having a great time with Windows7, and not just merely a change in OS.

Good point WHS.

 

[antares]

Buy a prebuilt rig for Windows 7 and use the Pentium 4 with XP.
Unless you have a powerful video card, i wouldn't bother upgrading...

I have an ATI ALL IN WONDER X800XT. According to the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor it can handle Aero.

 

[CommonTater]

Absolutely agree with you. Vista was very good. I know people who claim Vista sucks and they've never even used it!

Yet oddly enough I had people paying $100 a pop to get Vista out of their computers and put in XP... In this area Vista probably accounts for 20% of the XP sales and 50% of the pirate downloads.

It became known as the "Un-Vista" upgrade.

 

[antares]

From my personal experience I think that the shift from Windows 98/Me to Windows XP was the most revolutionary step for Microsoft in terms of quality in user experience. We were exposed to frequent BSODs and system reboots in 98/Me, and XP meant a huge improvement in stability/performance and reliability. Since then I haven't witnessed such a huge gap, eventhough my Windows 7 experience has been limited. So the question is, for those with more experience with Windows 7, would you consider that the shift from Windows XP to Windows 7 offers an improvement in reliability/stability/performance as big as that from Windows 98/Me to XP?

 

[whs]

I have not had a single BSOD with Win7 in 1 year (since Beta). But I never had a BSOD in Vista either (since Febr. 1, 2007). I think many of the problems people have are self inflicted.

 

[CommonTater]

From my personal experience I think that the shift from Windows 98/Me to Windows XP was the most revolutionary step for Microsoft in terms of quality in user experience. We were exposed to frequent BSODs and system reboots in 98/Me, and XP meant a huge improvement in stability/performance and reliability. Since then I haven't witnessed such a huge gap, eventhough my Windows 7 experience has been limited. So the question is, for those with more experience with Windows 7, would you consider that the shift from Windows XP to Windows 7 offers an improvement in reliability/stability/performance as big as that from Windows 98/Me to XP?

Well... just as a comment... you forgot Win2000 which, in my opinion, was far more robust and stable than XP. The actual technical leap was from Win98 (16bit) to Win2000 (32bit) and it was worth every penny.

Is Xp to 7 a similar leap... no. There's still a whole lot of XP in win7... basically they are still building on the codebase of Win2000 so I'd have to say it's evolutionary not revolutionary.

FWIW... I ran windows 2000 on a single install for 6 years... not one BSOD, never a driver problem, amost entirely error free... XP did almost as well for most of the 5 years I had it... but then I came to XP late in the game... Were it not for Win2000 not supporting HDAudio and SATA, I'd still be running it.

 

[antares]

From my personal experience I think that the shift from Windows 98/Me to Windows XP was the most revolutionary step for Microsoft in terms of quality in user experience. We were exposed to frequent BSODs and system reboots in 98/Me, and XP meant a huge improvement in stability/performance and reliability. Since then I haven't witnessed such a huge gap, eventhough my Windows 7 experience has been limited. So the question is, for those with more experience with Windows 7, would you consider that the shift from Windows XP to Windows 7 offers an improvement in reliability/stability/performance as big as that from Windows 98/Me to XP?

Well... just as a comment... you forgot Win2000 which, in my opinion, was far more robust and stable than XP. The actual technical leap was from Win98 (16bit) to Win2000 (32bit) and it was worth every penny.

Is Xp to 7 a similar leap... no. There's still a whole lot of XP in win7... basically they are still building on the codebase of Win2000 so I'd have to say it's evolutionary not revolutionary.

FWIW... I ran windows 2000 on a single install for 6 years... not one BSOD, never a driver problem, amost entirely error free... XP did almost as well for most of the 5 years I had it... but then I came to XP late in the game... Were it not for Win2000 not supporting HDAudio and SATA, I'd still be running it.

I did not mention Win2000 since I had no experience with it, but got the same feedback as yours from people I know. And yes, I agree that Windows 7 is evolutionary, not revolutionary, that's why I'm not that much excited about it, except from maybe jumping to 64bit for video and photo editing.

 

[CarlTR6]

I have not had a single BSOD with Win7 in 1 year (since Beta). But I never had a BSOD in Vista either (since Febr. 1, 2007). I think many of the problems people have are self inflicted.

The problems I had with Vista were definitely driver related. I just did not have the time to sort them out. Going back to XP was expedient. I had no problems with XP; it was reliable, did everything I needed and I just had no reason to try Vista again.

 

[Valor D]

From my personal experience I think that the shift from Windows 98/Me to Windows XP was the most revolutionary step for Microsoft in terms of quality in user experience. We were exposed to frequent BSODs and system reboots in 98/Me, and XP meant a huge improvement in stability/performance and reliability. Since then I haven't witnessed such a huge gap, eventhough my Windows 7 experience has been limited. So the question is, for those with more experience with Windows 7, would you consider that the shift from Windows XP to Windows 7 offers an improvement in reliability/stability/performance as big as that from Windows 98/Me to XP?

Well... just as a comment... you forgot Win2000 which, in my opinion, was far more robust and stable than XP. The actual technical leap was from Win98 (16bit) to Win2000 (32bit) and it was worth every penny.

Is Xp to 7 a similar leap... no. There's still a whole lot of XP in win7... basically they are still building on the codebase of Win2000 so I'd have to say it's evolutionary not revolutionary.

FWIW... I ran windows 2000 on a single install for 6 years... not one BSOD, never a driver problem, amost entirely error free... XP did almost as well for most of the 5 years I had it... but then I came to XP late in the game... Were it not for Win2000 not supporting HDAudio and SATA, I'd still be running it.

I remember Windows 2000. Every computer at the public library had it, and they were very slow, and constantly crashing. No way would I ever call WIN 2000 "stable", sorry. Microsoft actually came out with a few different Operating Systems between 98 and XP. Windows ME, Windows NT, and Windows 2000. They were all less than successful. More like prototypes to the very successful Windows XP, which stayed strong for more than a decade as the reigning O.S. of choice. And, then, of course, Microsoft dropped that turd called Vista on our heads. lol

 

[CarlTR6]

Well... just as a comment... you forgot Win2000 which, in my opinion, was far more robust and stable than XP. The actual technical leap was from Win98 (16bit) to Win2000 (32bit) and it was worth every penny.
I remember Windows 2000. Every computer at the public library had it, and they were very slow, and constantly crashing. No way would I ever call WIN 2000 "stable", sorry. Microsoft actually came out with a few different Operating Systems between 98 and XP. Windows ME, Windows NT, and Windows 2000. They were all less than successful. More like prototypes to the very successful Windows XP, which stayed strong for more than a decade as the reigning O.S. of choice. And, then, of course, Microsoft dropped that turd called Vista on our heads. lol

I would venture to say that those problems you mention in the library were due to poor network setting up and management. The OS itself was/is rock solid. We ran many networks in the military based on 2000 with no problems - except between the keyboard and the chair.

 

[CommonTater]

We ran many networks in the military based on 2000 with no problems - except between the keyboard and the chair.

:roflmao: :roflmao:

Oh my yes... The infamous BKC-100 error....

My techs used to call me up in hushed tones and say "I've got a BKC error here, what do I do?" I would tell them to do something that looked massively impressive for 30 minutes, then hand them a bill for $100. Over time this got used often enough that it started showing up on service billings... "Deal with BKC-100 error.... "

Carl... thanks for the trip down memory lane, my friend.