Windows 7
I decided to give the new (pre-release version of) Windows a go. I am pleasantly surprised. There was a range of effort involved to get all the components of the computer working, but ultimately, it all works, and works fairly well. A couple simple devices actually installed and worked well with my Windows 2000/XP driver discs. The worst struggle came from the video card which is running flawlessly, albeit, without the Aero effects that make the eye candy.
The computer runs rather snappily considering the configuration and all in all (aside from hunting for drivers) was a fairly painless process. One point for Microsoft. Windows Media Player now apparently comes with DVD decoder built in so no need for third party DVD playing packages. Another point for MS. The useability seems to be marginally better than Vista but I still am more of a fan of the way XP does things. Ultimately, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of new function so... still not any big reason to jump ship and go plop down a few hundred dollars for the new version of Windows.
All in all, I'd say this is a very positive step over Vista. Not that this is really of use to any of you, but I just figured I'd write it down anyway.
Oh, and the most important aspect - the system I installed this on is my 6 year old custom built system. For the geeks: 2.5GHz P4 no HT; 1GB RAM;40 GB (used, hey it was free) HD; PNY Verto GeForce 4 ti4600; Creative SB Audigy 2 Platinum; 3Com 10/100 PIC NIC; USR 56k v.92 modem; Pinnacle PCTV HD; Lite-On DVD+/-R DL; USB mouse; PS/2 kbd; 22" WS Viewsonic monitor
The verdict, an as yet unreleased-to-the-general-public OS performing reasonably well on a 6 year old machine? Score several more points for Microsoft.
Peace out.
The computer runs rather snappily considering the configuration and all in all (aside from hunting for drivers) was a fairly painless process. One point for Microsoft. Windows Media Player now apparently comes with DVD decoder built in so no need for third party DVD playing packages. Another point for MS. The useability seems to be marginally better than Vista but I still am more of a fan of the way XP does things. Ultimately, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of new function so... still not any big reason to jump ship and go plop down a few hundred dollars for the new version of Windows.
All in all, I'd say this is a very positive step over Vista. Not that this is really of use to any of you, but I just figured I'd write it down anyway.
Oh, and the most important aspect - the system I installed this on is my 6 year old custom built system. For the geeks: 2.5GHz P4 no HT; 1GB RAM;40 GB (used, hey it was free) HD; PNY Verto GeForce 4 ti4600; Creative SB Audigy 2 Platinum; 3Com 10/100 PIC NIC; USR 56k v.92 modem; Pinnacle PCTV HD; Lite-On DVD+/-R DL; USB mouse; PS/2 kbd; 22" WS Viewsonic monitor
The verdict, an as yet unreleased-to-the-general-public OS performing reasonably well on a 6 year old machine? Score several more points for Microsoft.
Peace out.