Windows 7 Opinions

[TheForce]

Somewhat related to my other thread on windows 32 services error, I was thinking of possible upgrading to windows 7 on that computer hardware. It's an older dual core and I can put in 4 Gb ram and the drives are all SATA. I think it should be adequate. I'll just be using for Office and internet stuff.

So the main question is with Windows 7, is the virus immunity any better than win XP or Vista? Or, is the only relief from those worries satisfied by moving to a Mac for Internet surfing? I don't want to start an OS war thread but just looking at the odds of getting a virus attack with win 7 vs. XP vs Mac. I have heard that Mac is the least likely to get attacked. If you run a Mac, do you use antivirus software?

 

[mdram]

i run win7 ult 64 with avg and have no issues.
in fact when i has xp with avg i had no issues

any decent virus scanner will catch em

malware is another beast, its all about where you surf
the more ads the site has the more likely you are to get one.
the ad space is sold, resold, again and again, and eventually something gets embeded in it
put fire fox on with ad blocker plus, and that will help alot

stay away from social networking sites like facebook and myspace and ect

 

[Ramy]

I have Windows 7 Ult 64 also and haven't had any issues. Being that the hackers can't access as much being 64-bit, you are much safer with 64-bit versions as opposed to 32-bit versions.

 

[avg1joe]

I am running avast and firefox with ad block plus on Windows 7, Vista and XP machines. The only problems I ever have are with malware on the XP machine and that is because my young daughter has no discretion surfing and installing. The latest versions of avast have avoided the malware as well.

There are other threads arguing about mac security on here and I won't repeat what I've said there. I believe you can get all the same advantages as mac's security by using one of the linux distributions without paying the premium price for the mac name. Have you tried any of the linuxes? I play with them but don't run linux full time on any box. I'm partial to puppy linux and they recently came out with a puppy-ubuntu combination.

For regular use I would go with a windows 7 machine to get the most compatibility. If you are doing a lot of risky behavior like illegally sharing files or looking everywhere for porn then get a mac or setup a linux box (or dual boot) to use just for the risky behavior.

If someone else uses your computer indiscriminately then setup an old computer specifically for their use that you can wipe as needed.

 

[TheForce]

Aside from the malware problem... I pay for the protective services and it gets them but I still have to deal with it. I'm still dealing with one more issue. I have 3 applications that are old and I still use them on a daily basis so losing them would be a real loss and I would need to find a good replacement. I'm working on one now but the database is large and the mfg claims of easy backward compatible have not been totally honest. These are 16 bit apps that do not run on vista 64 bit OS. They run on win XT as long as I manually install the files in the right folders in windows. I had no success in Vista 64 bit. One application has a Vista 64 bit version but it is not backward compatible with the data base.
Yeah, I know Mac would be a whole bunch more trouble making the conversion. But I was thinking of just using the Mac for websurfing. I've experienced no issues on my ipad and I've used it a lot without any virus scanner.

 

[mdram]

Aside from the malware problem... I pay for the protective services and it gets them but I still have to deal with it. I'm still dealing with one more issue. I have 3 applications that are old and I still use them on a daily basis so losing them would be a real loss and I would need to find a good replacement. I'm working on one now but the database is large and the mfg claims of easy backward compatible have not been totally honest. These are 16 bit apps that do not run on vista 64 bit OS. They run on win XT as long as I manually install the files in the right folders in windows. I had no success in Vista 64 bit. One application has a Vista 64 bit version but it is not backward compatible with the data base.
Yeah, I know Mac would be a whole bunch more trouble making the conversion. But I was thinking of just using the Mac for websurfing. I've experienced no issues on my ipad and I've used it a lot without any virus scanner.

7 has much better compatibilty modes then vista

oh and if you get pro or ult you can also get xp mode that runs a virual xp copy on your system

 

[avg1joe]

Are you looking for straight answers or us to tell you you should buy a new toy? We've all been there. You tell us what you are looking to hear. I'll even delete this post so the boss won't see it.

I don't see much use in buying another mac. Either use the pad to surf or learn how to use a linux live cd to surf. You can boot your xp machine with a whole new operating system that won't touch your current one. It will live on the cd and in your ram and every time you boot your system with the linux cd it will be like installing a fresh os. Some people swear by this method. All you have to do to run your old programs is take the cd out of the drive and reboot. I highly recommend puppy linux. There are many different versions of it known as puplets customized to meet certain needs. You should try it at least once.

 

[stimpson]

How do u know if ur machine is capable of running 64 bit?

 

[harshness]

How do u know if ur machine is capable of running 64 bit?

Microsoft offers a Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor tool that will tell you most of what you need to know about running Windows 7 on a machine.

Download details: Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Note that the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor requires XP or later to run.

If your machine didn't come with Windows XP or later installed on it, it probably isn't up to the task of running Windows 7.

 

[stimpson]

Microsoft offers a Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor tool that will tell you most of what you need to know about running Windows 7 on a machine.

Download details: Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Note that the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor requires XP or later to run.

If your machine didn't come with Windows XP or later installed on it, it probably isn't up to the task of running Windows 7.

Thanks again for ur help my friend.

 

[TheForce]

Are you looking for straight answers or us to tell you you should buy a new toy? We've all been there. You tell us what you are looking to hear. I'll even delete this post so the boss won't see it.

LOL! I'm not looking to buy anything if I don't have to. But I think I will take a closer look at the windows 7 with that XP compatibility mode. For the office workstation that is for just internet and paying the bills, etc. it may be the lowest cost upgrade. I'm one of those that tries to figure the true bottom line cost on this stuff, to include any application upgrades as well.
As for the boss... She wants her own ipad with internet account. I told her next year and we'll see what Verizon has to offer. Her cell phone won't support tethering anyway but I know she won't want to mess with anything that complicated. The whole idea of the ipad for her would be to make a quick internet search trouble free.

I'm not ready to consider Linux yet, especially for a platform my business and finances will depend on. It may be up to the task but I just don't know it well enough.

 

[avg1joe]

Someone called me the other day. I cleaned viruses off and updated his laptop last year. He described a couple problems he was having currently and asked if it was worth it to fix it again. Before I could reply he jumped in and said, "The answer I'm looking for is, 'You need to buy a new laptop'". I told him he needed to buy a new laptop.

 

[navychop]

7 has much better compatibilty modes then vista

oh and if you get pro or ult you can also get xp mode that runs a virual xp copy on your system

So very true. W7 is way better than Vista, which I expect to rapidly follow Windows ME and MS Bob.

 

[diogen]

...if you get pro or ult you can also get xp mode that runs a virual xp copy on your system

Not exactly 100% legal, but WinXP mode can be activated on any flavour of 7
Workaround to Install Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 Home Premium and Home Basic » My Digital Life

Hardware and BIOS has to support virtualisation.

Diogen.

 

[TheForce]

So very true. W7 is way better than Vista, which I expect to rapidly follow Windows ME and MS Bob.

I saw a report that w7 has sold 10 copies a second for every second it has been for sale. Finally, MS got a winner.

While I have had no vista issues here, I have never been very happy with the security protocol they made home users jump through. Compared to apple OSx I thought I had been transferred to NSA when I first got Vista. Note--I don't even like Apple OSx but I do recognize it's ease of use.

 

[navychop]

I guess I should take this moment to correct some of my previous posts, in other threads. My biggest beef with Vista has been that I could never get a Vista laptop to communicate with my MX850 printer on the LAN. Now it appears that it is in fact the printer that may be at fault. But W7 has been more successful at overcoming the problem.