Microsoft unleashes new Windows

BBC ^ | Wednesday, 21 October 2009 08:19 UK 07:19 GMT, | Jason Palmer BBC

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Personal computers are about to get a makeover with the launch of the latest Windows operating system.

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The BBC's Jason Palmer investigates Windows 7's pros and cons

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Microsoft is hoping the successor to Vista will be more of a hit with users when it launches on 22 October.

Many of the features take into account multimedia applications and the fact that users are beginning to store their data on the internet.

In the UK some computer stores are due to open at midnight so keen PC users can get their hands on the software.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

i believe that some stores in Japan are opening at Midnight...which should be soon....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I am gonna try it...need it for some applications.

[oldskuulconserv]

i hope it’s not as bad as vista

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

More detail with this:

A week with Windows

[RockinRight]

I’ve never even upgraded to Vista, as my PC barely met the requirements...

[cvq3842]

Me neither. I’ve been holding out for 7, if it’s any good.

I definitely will need a new computer soon.

[DonaldC]

I use vista for work, but use linux variants everywhere else. What little I’ve messed with windows 7, it seems much better than vista performance wise. The activation stuff I don’t care for, but that is the way it is.

[Big Giant Head]

It IS Vista. Vista SP. :-)

I pre-ordered it after running the beta and the release candidates all summer, both 32 bit and 64 bit.
Both are smooth and nice. Lighter memory footprint, and on my gaming system, it seemed to run better. I can’t quantify that with numbers, just how it felt.
It’s better than XP. I love it. It’s enough to slow down my experimenting with Linux distributions.

[taxcontrol]

Yawn.... already converted to 100% Linux.

[Man50D]

I just received in the mail today a coupon from Office Depot for a free installation of Windows 7.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Under the Lemon Laws, Microsoft is offering a special
upgrade price if you bought one of these previous versions
of Windows:

Windows Millennium Edition (ME)
Windows Vista

There is also a settlement for:

Pain and Suffering - if you had to reinstall any previous
version of Windows that became corrupted

Unlawful Loss of Life - if you have spent hours, days,
or weeks of your life that will never be recovered, repairing
any previous version of Windows.

Slavery - debugging any previous version of Windows without
compensation.

To claim these settlements, simply pay full price for
Windows 7, write directly to Microsoft with a full explanation
of how many versions of Windows you purchased that were
faulty, how many hours of forced labor you spent
debugging these systems, and what you would have preferred
investing your lifespan doing.

The Board of Microsoft welcomes these testimonials and
will consider what remedies are applicable to your situation.
Payment may be limited to coupons for Windows 8.1, which
is expected in 2013.

[library user]

Apple is going to lose market share due to the fact that as the 0bamaconomy continues to destroy wealth at MACH-speed, more and more people, especially younger, college-aged kids, in the market to purchase new machines, will not be able to afford new Mac’s, so they will go with a laptop running Windows7 instead.

You can get a decent laptop running Win7 for $700-$1200 right now, if not cheaper.

Meanwhile, a friend of mine used his entire tax refund this past summer to purchase a Mac for $3500 and then two weeks later he was bouncing checks and asking me if I could loan him $500.

And I did loan him the $500 and he paid me back a month later. It’s a good thing (for me) he gets SSD otherwise I don’t know how I would have ever gotten paid back.

[Logic n' Reason]

WAIT! History is a dear teacher. Since when has MS ever put out a product that worked "out of the gate".

Wait till Service Pack 19 or 20 is out....then give it a go.

[ShadowAce]

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

LOL!

[Psycho_Bunny]

It’s an excellent OS......it positively screams on a SSD.

[illiac]

I’ve been running the beta version for months and it has not crashed, been infiltrated, or messed anything up - it seems that 7 is a very solid product - at least if the release is as good as the beta....

[KC Burke]

I’ve got a little netbook that was out of my control for a while and its OS is now trashed. Had XP on it and I’m thinking of just reformating the root drive and installing “7” fresh as a full install. I’m afraid there is registry and root kit demons in it now.

Is that something that a non-techie can work his way through?

[Terpfen]

Apple is going to lose market share due to the fact that as the 0bamaconomy continues to destroy wealth at MACH-speed, more and more people, especially younger, college-aged kids, in the market to purchase new machines, will not be able to afford new Mac’s, so they will go with a laptop running Windows7 instead.

You should become a satire writer.

[Big Giant Head]

Oh, yeah. I’m not much of a techie, but I’ve done lots of OS installs. With a netbook, you must have an external drive, of course, and with W7, it’s gotta be a DVD drive. In your BIOS, you need to make sure you can boot from the drive, USB boot, I think. But the OS is drop dead simple to install. It’ll ask you questions along the way, you just pick what you want to do. A format will kill off the demons. Have no fear, just do it.

[library user]

You should become a satire writer.

I'm not cracking on Apple, I'm just saying that the current (and near- to long-term) economic climate benefits Microsoft. In 2012, let's recheck the financial health of MS and Apple.

[Big Giant Head]

Did you see the story where Apples profits were astronomical despite the economy?

I’d say folks are buying quality while they still can.

[Terpfen]

Is that something that a non-techie can work his way through?

You'll need to look up a guide to tell you how to fit Windows 7 on a USB stick and install from there, but sure, it should be easy enough to go through.

Try this. It's made for the Windows 7 beta/RC, so you can skip the part about getting a serial key and go straight to the "Preparing your flash drive" section. (Note: you'll have to create an ISO of the Windows 7 DVD before even bothering with this guide.)

[Terpfen]

I'm just saying that the current (and near- to long-term) economic climate benefits Microsoft.

And I'm saying you're wrong. Will Windows 7 be adopted at a higher rate than Vista? Very likely. Does that mean Apple is going to recede? No. Here's what you fail to understand: Apple competes against Windows PCs, and Windows PCs compete against Windows PCs.

The fates and fortunes of Windows 7 has no bearing on sales of OS X or Macs, because Windows 7's biggest competitor is Windows XP. Windows 7 could be an immediate hit and sell millions of licenses: that in no way will preclude the growth of Apple's profits, market share, or individual unit sales. It's just not related. This isn't 1984, the market is different.

[longtermmemmory]

oooooorrrrrr the big boys ar manipulating the prices before Windows 7 is released in order to capitalize on the ignorant.

Quality has nothing to do with it, it is all stock manipulation.

(besides if Kramer likes it then you can bet it will soon be diving.)

[Big Giant Head]

I like it!

[BuffaloJack]

This isn’t going to be a Windows Millenium Edition make over is it?

[Riley]

I’ve had it for about a week, so far so good. There’s a little bit of unfamiliarity to deal with, but overall I’m happy.

[zeugma]

This isn’t going to be a Windows Millenium Edition make over is it?

From what I've been reading, it's Vista SP3. It generally takes 3 service packs for Microsoft to get anything even close to being right.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Just came across this :

Windows 7 Slideshow

[dayglored]

>> This isn’t going to be a Windows Millenium Edition make over is it?

> From what I've been reading, it's Vista SP3. It generally takes 3 service packs for Microsoft to get anything even close to being right.

Win-ME was intentionally broken, to put a quick end to the DOS-based Windows line (1,2,3.1,95,98,ME) and force everyone over to the NT-based line (3.5,4,2000.XP).

Win7 is a good product. It is essentially Vista SP3, and it is worth getting, if you like Windows and have run out of steam on XP.

If XP is still working fine for you, you may want to wait until the brouhaha settles down, and evaluate your needs in peace and quiet.

[cvq3842]

Thanks!