Windows 7, is it worth the upgrade?

Some people may remember me as not liking Vista too much, and going out of my way to keep XP or installing XP in place of Vista.

I have used Vista for some time though, and familiarized myself to it. I used it for about a year if anyone is interested (still have XP on my main laptop though).

I have been out of the loop regarding technology and software (lol!!) and last week, I found out that Windows 7 came out. I remember reading about Windows 7 and heard its supposed to be this "GREAT AWESOME NEW OS YO" and "waaayyyy better than Vista... cant wait for it to come out". So I got excited, made plans to buy a new HDD and install it on my ancient but still running dv9500t. Before I actually make that sort of investment and commitment, I went to Best Buy to try it on their laptops...

To me, its just like Vista. It looks and acts just like Vista. Am I missing something here?

Are there supposed to be great improvements? If so, then what? And how true are these claims?

A quick look at the new Windows 7 site by Microsoft showed me that they are comparing the Windows XP from the stone age to Windows 7, rather than compare Vista and Win7... that makes me laugh and wonder. The things that they list about Windows 7, I noticed that Vista had them too, with the exception of "shake the window and only focus on it". Whats going on here?

What do you recommend, sticking with XP (or Vista for the one computer that I dont use that has it) or upgrade to Windows 7........

 

Yes, worth it. You could drive an 8 year old car, and it may run great and be fine. But wouldn't it be nice to have that 2010 moel with all the bells and whistles? Better efficiency? I loved Vista, but switched immediately to 7 just cause I could. It's just better. All around. IMHO.

 

Thank you very much for your thoughts.

 

I am wondering the same which is why when I get Windows 7, I'm going to install it on a virtual machine first.

I want to migrate my dv7t from vista to Windows 7 but I am afraid that some drivers won't work or some of the HP apps (like the touch pad button software, etc) won't work.... =/

 

I know I am in the minority, I bought a new HP dm3t with Windows 7, and yes it does start-up and shutdown faster than my old Vista, however, I like Vista more. Just certain little things I like on Vista over Windows 7. I don't mind Win 7, but I don't think it's such a monumental upgrade over Vista.

 

Windows 7 starts up faster and shuts down faster
copies files faster
definitely more snappy and reactive compared to Vista when i check hundreds of files at a time it still has to load the folder, now it doesnt do that anymore.

the changing desktop background is awesome.
aero shake to clear clutter away and grab something from the desktop
SOUNDS ARE AMAZING.
and definitely more themes.

the task bar takes a bit time to get used to but if u really want to you can set it back to the old way, showing the names and different panels instead of just an icon.

gadgets dont just have to be on the side and overall feels lighter like it wont bog down my system.

gamewise its awesome, all my games work and i daresay a bit faster.

this is from a guy who migrated to Windows 7 in a week lol. had to redo 4 computers and major back up overall i love it

 

Very tempting.

So it looks like it is basically a faster, more resource efficient Vista with a couple extra features.
Why didn't they just make it another service pack?

 

I would strongly agree with both Johnathon and Lokster. Its definetly a stronger, less buggy running OS. Some of the bugs with Vista just get old after awhile, but switching to 7 feels like a solid fix to all that. For example I have seen Explorer crash dozens of times because it can't remember what size file icons to use and when it switches to extra large in a folder with lots of files it can't handle it and crashes only to restart and do it again.
All in all it is what Vista should have been in the first place. Can't wait to get the disks from Avarto for my new dv4!

 

Windows 7 doesn't provide the kind of ground breaking changes like Vista did.

The vast majority of computers still run XP, so it makes sense for Microsoft to compare Windows 7 to the average PC out there, which runs XP.

If you have Vista, I don't think it is worth the cost or effort to upgrade to Windows 7. You aren't going to be left behind. New programs for the coming years will still work on XP.

 

All of the functions on my dv7 work in win7 and hp has released drivers

 

I've been in the computer biz for over 35 years... and learned a few things during that time.

One of those things was to never jump on the bandwagon for a new OS release... always be on the trailing edge rather than leading edge.

Initially I was all of getting my new notebook with Win 7 preinstalled but decided to opt for Vista instead.

Being on the trailing edge gives me the warm fuzzies.

 

It was definitely worth the $50 per-order upgrade price. Paying full retail? Perhaps not.

Win7 adds a bunch of nice little features that are worthwhile. Too many to list.

Take a test drive. Image your HDD, then install win7 beta to get an idea.

 

You say features... I say bugs.

 

More like beneficial... flora.

 

Yes, it is worth it, but only if your machine can handle it...

 

Yes, yes, and yes. I agree.

MS is trying to forget vista bc of the bad name it got in the eraly going. Nevermind it turned out to be a GREAT OS, people that don't know and are still using XP think it is awful. Soooooooo, in light of that they just mad e awhole new OS-Windows 7. That way XP users will just get to 'skip' Vista altogether.

I've put this on 2 different desktops that are pretty old. A Sony Vaio with a 3.06 Intel Cpu with 512 Mb RAM and a 256Mb Radeon graphics card. The other a custom XBlade with a 2.8 CPU with 2 Gb RAM with a 512Mb graphics card. Runs pretty darn good on both.

 

I put Windows 7 on an HP Mini 1000, and surprisingly, it is very responsive. If the Atom combined with the atrocious Intel GMA 950 graphics can handle it with full Aero effects, pretty much everything else will be able to handle it with ease, as long as you have the recommended 2GB of RAM. If not, your computer probably belongs in a museum.

 

Great, thanks!!

Currently, I am using 30GB on my hard drive.... If I image that, I would have to store it somewhere, and I cannot!! All my HDDs are full, except for the one I'm using right now. The only option for me right now is to buy another HDD...
I want to run it natively to see how well it runs on my hardware. The VM idea is great too, but I'm sure there will be some performance drawbacks.

 

so i finally bought a new laptop and it came with windows 7! i finally get to try it out

 

I had both Vista and 7 running on my now server, in my sig. Win7 running obviously HEAPS better. I did have my heart set for XP but, I ran Win7 for a while, and IMO it just manages the resources better, for example, XP would have been slowed down by now, but, Win7 hasn't since install, and I've installed everything possible.

So yes, it is worth the upgrade... If you have the money to do so.

 

I'm wondering if I should clean install this laptop (the new one i just bought) with Win7

 

It depends on the manufacturer. If it is HP, definitely :yes:

 

So it is fine with the 1.66 Ghz processor? Or do you have to run in the overclock mode though I am not sure if that is available in your mini.

I have had some real bad errors appear in Win 7 though one time I wasn't careful and probably visited a virus lade site since I couldn't boot up my window anymore as the boot file was compressed (shouldn't happen even if you compresses files on your drive).


But overall speed wise, Win 7 wins as it is fast with the usability of Vista (search options) that I liked. Also, in Vista my network and volume icons used to magically disappear after some boots but not a problem in Win 7 except maybe twice.

 

We have Win7 Professional x64 on my wife's desktop, an AMD Phenom x3 box. Fast, very stable, no problems. Runs 99% of everything we've tried. Only thing that won't work is flash in the 64 bit browser, it requires the 32 bit browser.

 

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It's completely worth it!!!

Win7 64 better manages pstates, my CPU runs cooler and my battery last 20 minutes more than Vista 64.

 

lol mujjuman but yes I was looking for a netbook that someone put a windows 7 on.

I have windows ultimate available unless the starter kit of windows 7 that comes standards on netbooks these days is lighter than the standard windows installations.

 

I think the choice is xp or win7. win7 is really just a vista service pack.

 

I don't know if it's necessarily worth the upgrade. I do feel it's slightly snappier than vista. I don't think it's too much of an exageration to say it's a major service pack to Vista.
I got Vista a year after it came out with my Laptop and I didn't have a single hickup. I couldn't see what everyone was moaning about. So while I'm happily using Win7 now, I found the whole transition from Vista a bit anticlimactic.