Roll Call: Is Windows 7 now your primary OS?

**waves hands** - I do!

As a response to the above: Yes that is true; but, it’s not any worse than the OS’s already out there. The software has become so complex that every bug fix causes some of the user’s problems. Plus, what do they have to gain by destroying all of their user's productivity? The point of the RC is to fix a few bugs and make sure users don't have any more problems than necessary.

Plus, if something really horrible happens there are a lot of ways to get around it:
1. Just move back before the update and block the auto-updates for a week until they fix it.
2. I’ll just use my secondary (XP) machine for a few days until they fix it.

Microsoft tells people not to use it as their main OS because it's unsupported and will draw complaints when users find they have to start from scratch in 2010 when it expires. There is no reason people who understand the issues and do their own support can't use it as their main OS.

 

Hmmm lots of responses.
Interesting so many people use it as their main OS.

I'm having trouble getting my Mic working properly in W7 but it is working.

Still want to Dual boot Linux but I might just forego it for now and dual boot Win Vista and Win 7. I'll tell you there's nothing like having Vista crap out and still having a Win 7 partition to continue whatever you were doing.

 

WOW, this thread was more successful than I expected! Thanks everyone!

 

Already a thread

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=342561

 

I am now using W7 RC as my main OS, I have x64 on the HP and x86 on the L100 which are the two machines I really use. I have XP x86 on the M50 and the Media PC but they are only for very basic usage like watching DVDs and playing music and they don't have the specs to cope with 7.

 

I merged the two threads together as they are on the same subject.

 

I plan on using Windows 7 as my primary OS. I have had a couple BSODs with it; mostly driver related.

Asking all the people here, 147 or so, is Windows 7 stable enough to primary use? I don't need my laptop to break down on me when I'm traveling. I've been using it since 6956 and it has been amazing stable.

And which build would you recommend? I know there is the RC, and two other leaked builds - 7127 and 7137. I have every .iso since 6956.

Even if I do go with Windows 7, I will bring my XP or Vista CD/DVD just in case.

 

It is stable, but of course you should wait for the RTM release....you may not be able to install over the RC release and it will save the time of reinstalling

The most recent one is the recommended one; better yet, wait for the final RTM release.

Better yet, wait for SP1

 

I would recommend the RC (7100) because it's the release that Microsoft and the vendors that make your hardware are currently supporting. The other releases might be better in terms of the OS itself, but you never know what drivers might have bugs or be broken for them.

It’s pretty stable for me, better than I ever managed to get Vista. That said I did get one blue screen so far, but I haven’t been able to recreate it, so I think it was just a random fluke.

How stable your machine will be is very much luck. The more common your hardware the better your experience is likely to be. If you have a normal Core 2 Duo processor, standard RAM speed, and a common GPU you probably won't have any problems. If you have some special hardware that only one vendor sold for one model then your likely going to have problems. You should be able to tell if it’s stable within about a week of normal use.

 

LOL! Hopefully Windows 7 won't need a SP.

 

Impossible. With something as complicated as an OS, there are ALWAYS issues that need to be corrected, and little things to be tweaked. There's no such thing as a "perfect" OS--it's why there are so many blow-ups on the forums about people who prefer this flavor or that.

 

Well of course they will warn you as they should, but clearly hundreds if not thousands of us have been very a while now and the results are pretty darn good. The only real way to test a OS is to actually test it, not just dink with it. It will be because of folks like us that bugs or flaws are found.

There is nothing wrong with using Win 7 as your primary provided you have a solid backup of your data and a plan go move back to your previous windows version if should have too. Strange thing is that most of us are finding it is as stable as Vista ever was.

Some of us take the chance for the betterment for the rest of us, you'd do well to remember that!

 

I'd go even further than that and say that, at least for my applications and hardware that I've had 7 RC on, 7 has been the most stable Windows OS I've ever used, more so than Vista and even XP.

 

I don't even log in to Win 7 anymore. I recently did a fresh install to see if the RC version is any differ but I haven't really installed much on it. I'll just wait for the retail release, cause I don't want the expiration date to sneak up on me. But after retail release, Win 7 will definitely be my new OS.