Windows 7 Beta 1

[tibiazak]

I have not tried any games other than MGS2 (which runs BEAUTIFULLY with ALchemy Universal [no need for a Creative card]) but i am using it as my main OS. the only problem i've had with it so far, is that Norton 2009 (which is a much better a/v than you guys will give it credit for, look up reviews) won't install 'cause it's not XP or Vista. so i'm using a *coughrapidsharecough* version of Nod32. So far, everything appears to be running much faster than Vista, and about the same as i remember XP running. it looks much better visually, IMO, and i love the fact that they got rid of the quick launch bar and now let you "pin" any program to the taskbar, which then also acts as its program icon for when it's running - makes it a lot cleaner.

my only real complaint is that the screen looks a bit more cramped because the taskbar either appears or is taller than the old one, although that just takes getting used to... and a couple of the asthetic things with the taskbar - for example, if you hold the mouse over an icon, it'll do what it did on vista, and cause a preview thing to pop up. but if you hold it over that preview icon, it'll cause every window to appear minimized except the one you were looking at.. (little awkward to explain, i can get a screenie later) that's something i could see coming in handy in some situations, but for others it's just annoying.

edit: oh, i forgot to mention. Win7 fixed my wifi problem - when the microwave was on, it used to totally disable my wifi card, i'd have to open device manager and then disable the card then reenable it to reconnect... but since i installed Win7, no problems like that at all! :D

[Lysdestic]

Yeah, I have it. Shot it on the vista laptop earlier today.

Am I the only one that notices the striking similarity between Windows 7 and KDE 4?

Microsoft is at it again.

It does run better than vista, but vista was good anyway, certainly better than XP.

Ah, I'll leave now, and get back to my SuSE box.

[aduro]

It does run better than vista, but vista was good anyway, certainly better than XP.

are you implying that Vista runs better than XP?

[Lysdestic]

It does run better than vista, but vista was good anyway, certainly better than XP.

are you implying that Vista runs better than XP?

Yes, I am.

I am one of those people that believe that Vista was shat upon by negative hype, all because some irresponsible computer manufacturers didn't do their job.

I'm a Linux user, anyone here that can read knows this; however, I keep a windows laptop handy for my work at a Computer shop, and I can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the Vista ran faster than XP on it, Frets included.

Of course, SuSE Linux is even faster on it.

[tibiazak]

It does run better than vista, but vista was good anyway, certainly better than XP.

are you implying that Vista runs better than XP?

Yes, I am.

I am one of those people that believe that Vista was shat upon by negative hype, all because some irresponsible computer manufacturers didn't do their job.

I'm a Linux user, anyone here that can read knows this; however, I keep a windows laptop handy for my work at a Computer shop, and I can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the Vista ran faster than XP on it, Frets included.

Of course, SuSE Linux is even faster on it.

and you know, i have to agree here. i've had 2 XP computers, used my dad's XP laptop, used a friend's XP computer... vista was faster than all my previous XP computers and equal with my friend's $1000 custom built gaming rig running XP.

part of that might be simple knowledge of how to take care of my computers which i gained with time, but this vista laptop blows every other computer in the house out of the water in every respect, and it's equal to that aforementioned $1000 custom gaming rig. (that rig, by the way, was built by my IT tech certified friend, so he knew what he was doing.)

[dgrams2000]

Just loaded it on a laptop here at work, first impressions are good... but it will need some more looking into.
(GAMES GAMES GAMES!) lol

[Belisario93]

FoF and other games work on this, right? if so I might try and dual boot it when I get home from school today, see if Vista is the reason I get lag in this one program I use.

[tibiazak]

so far i haven't heard of any games not working on it... and the beta version is basically the full-featured operating system + a few bugs.

and for those people who might have missed their shot at the official beta, you can still find it via torrents. (no i'm not linking. you're on your own there.)

[Belisario93]

wait so I won't be able to download it when I get home today?

[tibiazak]

might, idk. it was apparently a limited beta, but idk when they'll hit the limit. you can try :P


if you can't, and want the non-officially-sanctioned version of the beta, PM me.

edit: the PM offer only applies to one person. the rest of you, lrn2google.

[xbox360922]

From the Windows Team Blog:

I know many of you have had issues with the Windows 7 Beta site over the last 24 hours. As you may have noticed the download site has been up and running smoothly since this morning. That said, we apologize for the inconvenience that it caused some of you.

Due to an enormous surge in demand, the download experience was not ideal so we listened and took the necessary steps to ensure a good experience. We have clearly heard that many of you want to check out the Windows 7 Beta and, as a result, we have decided remove the initial 2.5 million limit on the public beta for the next two weeks (thru January 24th). During that time you will have access to the beta even if the download number exceeds the 2.5 million unit limit.

Thank you for your enthusiasm, interest and willingness to beta test. It has been great to see the positive early reviews and feedback. As you know, this is a beta product. We are working hard to get Windows 7 ready and right. Your input is a critical part of that process. Thank you

So Belisario93, yes, you'll be able to download it.

[midknightkruzer]

When you finish Down Loading, And you agree to all of the crap and aply it on your PC, does it delete all of your files and data?
just wanted to know before I DL d:

[mmsven]

When you finish Down Loading, And you agree to all of the crap and aply it on your PC, does it delete all of your files and data?
just wanted to know before I DL d:

You have to partition your hard drive and install it on that.

[R4nd0M]

And FoFIX works sooooooo slow on directX 11...

Are you using 64 bit Windows 7 ATI Catalyst drivers? If so then the slowdown in FOF is due to an OpenGL issue.

Tried the beta. I like the interface, performance is nice and the system seems nice and smooth. I had the bad luck to have some issues with ATI drivers installing improperly (and not uninstalling at all) and lack of support for Daemon tools / Alcohol 120% SPTD drivers were deal breakers for the time being. Feels alot like how I expected Vista to feel.

After running back to Vista x64 I noticed that the responsiveness of Win7 was only a little better. Performance gains will be more noticeable on less powerful computers (my mate's netbook for instance can run Aero in Win7 and run apps smoothly).

Looks promising.

@ Vista vs XP people: Vista is in some places faster (for instance launching apps you do so often, owing to Superfetch caching frequently used apps in memory and multitasking owing to Vista's superior multi-core scheduling). But in an overall performance test of games and similar applications, XP often comes out on top. Its kernel is just smaller. Windows 7 closes that gap.

[dgrams2000]

Have it installed on 2 machines.
A dell latitude d630 w/2gig of ram,
and my home computer.

FOF runs pretty nice on the laptop, pretty smooth.. a little choppiness which is normal for fof.... it never plays 'perfectly smooth' at a perfect frame rate....
And on my home PC, it runs for sh*t.
Even with the latest ATI windows7 drivers, it runs choppy and horrible, just like on Vista.

Other games on windows 7 work awesome, like crysis and star wars battlefront. I like it alot.
but fof blows on my home pc.
So, different machines, different results....