Windows 7 Vs. Windows Vista

[Frank Jr.]

Is Windows 7 better than Windows Vista? If so why?

 

[cditty]

Windows 7 has a smaller footprint and runs faster than Vista. It is still based on Vista, so driver support is quite good. However, there is no real reason to upgrade if Vista is running fine for you on your current hardware.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I think W7 is the way Vista should have been. Love the new taskbar and the jump-lists. Plus the library is a very nice way to organize stuff. More intuitive than Vista.

Add to that Windows Search is built in, No need for google desktop anymore. THe search bar is in the start menu, and I type in a name, and it finds any emails from people, as well as files. Very very nice.

Can't say that the OS loads much faster, but it seems pretty stable. I like it, and soon will upgrade my desktop.

 

[Ira Lacher]

I started using Win7 on my desltop when the RC came out, upgrading from XP. Was very impressed with the interface, and the ease of use, as well as the utilities that are a part of the OS. Music, picture tasks are intuitive based on the type of folder you use. And the taskbar was superior to the Mac OS X because of the Preview feature. I had no experience with Vista to this point.

Then this month I purchased an HP laptop with an Intel Core Duo 2 motherboard and 4 MG RAM running Vista Home Premium 64-bit. While many of the features of Vista are similar to Win 7, I immediately saw how Win 7 was more responsive, quicker to boot, quicker to resume from hybernation or sleep mode, quicker to shut down. And when I started to use the Vista taskbar, I realized it was missing some of the features I had learned to depend on with Win 7.

My Win 7 upgrade discs came yesterday, and I will upgrade the laptop as soon as possible!

 

[pro96]

Windows 7 Premium 64bit runs great on my XPS Studio 13, very fast and stable.

 

[vurbano]

FYI for anyone with multiple PC's running Vista or XP that Microsoft is offering Win 7 home premium upgrade family pack of 3 upgrades for 149 dollars on their website ofr a limited time. Not a bad deal at less than 50 bucks a pop.

 

[navychop]

But as it's a home version, not able to join a domain, it's good for many but not all.

 

[vurbano]

But as it's a home version, not able to join a domain, it's good for many but not all.

no its not pro or ultimate, its home premium version as I stated. A mustang isnt a porsche either. Thats why they have different names.

 

[cocoon]

FYI for anyone with multiple PC's running Vista or XP that Microsoft is offering Win 7 home premium upgrade family pack of 3 upgrades for 149 dollars on their website ofr a limited time. Not a bad deal at less than 50 bucks a pop.

Yup. Thats the version I got. Amazon later reduced it around $15 and is now apparently sold out.

Didn't get the pro version because I don't think I will get more than 16 gig ram in my machines as those kind of DDR3 sticks would cost triple what I have invested in my computer already.

Also the windows xp mode in the pro version is extremely slow compared to vmware. So pro version just was not worth it for my purposes.

 

[mike123abc]

Well have 4 computers upgraded. Only one was a true upgrade in place. One was a format wipe clean install, and 2 others were the upgrade without keeping your stuff. If you upgrade and it cannot keep your stuff (like XP->win7, or home premium to win7 pro) it moves your old installation into a windows.old directory. You can go back in there and pull out all your documents and files. The programs are in there two, but they probably will not work since they are no longer in the registry and have to be reinstalled. Of course if you have a program without registry entries you can just move it and set up the links.

Altogether the process has not been that bad. But, it does help if you go into the control panel before you do the upgrade and uninstall anything you do not want. All the junk programs you might have accumulated throughout the years should go. If you do an in place upgrade, the fewer programs you have installed the faster it will go. I uninstalled all the adobe and apple software since I could just download the new versions much faster.

 

[Ilya]

Is Windows 7 better than Windows Vista? If so why?

For me, the new Windows Virtual PC and the XP mode are the killer apps in Windows 7 (assuming you have Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate). For the first time ever I didn't have any hesitation in switching to a 64-bit platform. If a program doesn't work in Windows 7 64bit, I can just run it in the XP mode.

Windows Virtual PC is very different from the old Virtulal PC 2007. It does require some getting used to, but it has some major advantages: 64-bit host (but not guest!), support for USB devices, and virtual application publishing that allows you to run virtual applications as if they are installed directly in the host OS. Very cool!

 

[mike123abc]

Just be aware you have to have a processor that supports virtualization. It means at least a core 2 with Intel (pentium dual core you are out of luck like the 820). Plus some of the low cost core 2s do not have virtualization. Then if your processor supports VT you have to have BIOS that also supports it (might be an upgrade).

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/sb/CS-014921.htm will be able to tell you if your processor supports VT under the technologies tab.

The same thing of course for AMD, you will have to have a processor that supports VT for the XP mode to work.

 

[Foxbat]

Then this month I purchased an HP laptop with an Intel Core Duo 2 motherboard and 4 MG RAM running Vista Home Premium 64-bit. While many of the features of Vista are similar to Win 7, I immediately saw how Win 7 was more responsive, quicker to boot, quicker to resume from hybernation or sleep mode, quicker to shut down. And when I started to use the Vista taskbar, I realized it was missing some of the features I had learned to depend on with Win 7.

My Win 7 upgrade discs came yesterday, and I will upgrade the laptop as soon as possible!

If you don't mind me asking, how much did you have to pay for your "Free" Windows 7 Upgrade?

 

[Ilya]

Just be aware you have to have a processor that supports virtualization.

Good point! I forgot to mention that. My 3-year old Dell Latitude didn't have any issues though.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Just be aware you have to have a processor that supports virtualization. It means at least a core 2 with Intel (pentium dual core you are out of luck like the 820). Plus some of the low cost core 2s do not have virtualization. Then if your processor supports VT you have to have BIOS that also supports it (might be an upgrade).

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/sb/CS-014921.htm will be able to tell you if your processor supports VT under the technologies tab.

The same thing of course for AMD, you will have to have a processor that supports VT for the XP mode to work.

yup, my brand new core duo Toshiba laptop does not support it.

 

[Frank Jr.]

Well I just installed W7 on my desktop. In comparing the two operating systems I must say I am not overwhelmed by W7, at least the 64 bit Home Premium version I am using. There are some improvements but not any drastic improvements or changes. Navigating through the new system some things have changed and some graphics are different but as far as connecting to the internet it's not any faster nor does any web pages load any faster. There are some features that are not offered in Vista and to some who use them it will be great. However loading time to me is the same it just looks different. I have to agree with the folks who have said that this should have been a service pack upgrade for Vista and not touted as a new operating system. I do believe that Microsoft rushed this out as a new OS because Vista had such a bad reputation. Knowing what I know now I would not have invested the time or the 13 bucks for the free upgrade. I would have stayed with Vista wishing I had XP.......... Just my 2 cents.

 

[Derwin0]

I'm still at XP here.

Actually downgraded a new PC we got a couple months ago to XP (I still have a couple original copies & licenses when it first came out).

As long as nothing comes out that actually requires Vista or 7, I'll keep running XP.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Ramy]

Windows 7 uses less resources and memory when it first starts up than Vista does.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Just be aware you have to have a processor that supports virtualization. It means at least a core 2 with Intel (pentium dual core you are out of luck like the 820). Plus some of the low cost core 2s do not have virtualization. Then if your processor supports VT you have to have BIOS that also supports it (might be an upgrade).

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/sb/CS-014921.htm will be able to tell you if your processor supports VT under the technologies tab.

The same thing of course for AMD, you will have to have a processor that supports VT for the XP mode to work.

Yeah - my new Toshiba does not support virtualization by default; but then I saw that it actually does - the BIOS was set to disable it. Haven't tried it yet, now that I realize I can use it.

 

[SatelliteGAL]

My computer came with Vista Ultimate 32 bit. I had no complaints or problems with it. First I did a clean install of W7 but I did not specifically format first. It seemed real slow so I did a format and clean install of W7 Professional 64 bit. It made a big difference and things seem faster to me now.