Mac guy impressed with Windows 7

**Broken Arrow** · 10-30-2009, 05:40 AM

I'm more of a Linux guy myself, who also likes Mac, but have just finished installing Windows 7 on my desktop. And I have to say, it's every bit as good as people have been making it out to be.

Although, I have to also say that, due to the hype and the fact that I ran Vista in an ideal environment, the improvements of 7 didn't seem as spectacular to me as it has been for others.

But overall, yes, Windows 7 gets my thumbs up as well. Especially since I was able to get my copy at a discounted price.

**wincrasher** · 10-30-2009, 05:54 AM

I have Vista on a gaming rig that I bought last year. It's a quad core with 8 gigs ram. Came preloaded with Vista. What a dog! I'm going to upgrade that machine to Windows 7 right away.

**terces** · 10-30-2009, 08:33 AM

That's good to hear. I've been holding off buying a new computer because of all the problems with Vista people have. Been waiting on the reviews of Windows 7.

**lovcom** · 10-30-2009, 09:25 AM

My copy of Windows 7 should arrive anytime....and I think it does live up to the hype based on several reviews I've read.

However I'm one of the few that didn't experience many issues with Vista...I think the main beef with Vista was that so many drivers and comm adaptors had to be upgraded, and Vista was too fat and bloated with too many features that go unused or are unneeded.

It seems Windows 7 is a few step closer to the Mac OS, which is a good thing.

**Caoineag** · 10-30-2009, 01:00 PM

Yeah I like my copy of Windows 7. Its not quite as fast as XP on a solid state drive but I can live with a 10 second window boot instead of a 2 second window boot. A lot of my accessories work better with it and it can run all my old games so I am happy.

**wincrasher** · 10-30-2009, 01:06 PM

I'm diggin my new netbook so much. Not sure if Windows 7 is so tremendous, or it's the dual core processor. What a step up from the Asus I had with the Atom in it.

I can see this thing as a desktop replacement.

**Broken Arrow** · 10-31-2009, 06:23 PM

Originally posted by Caoineag View Post

Its not quite as fast as XP on a solid state drive but I can live with a 10 second window boot instead of a 2 second window boot.

You have a SSD?

I'm tempted and will likely have one some day. (Actually, I really do think they will be the norm eventually.) For now though, I still can't justify it's price relative to storage space.

I prefer to put the computer on sleep mode. It's just as fast, and work out very well if you're going to be gone for only a little while.

**jasonnoguchi** · 11-01-2009, 04:09 PM

I read somewhere that windows 7 is actually a slower OS than Vista... it seems like the big M delivers with each new generation more features and processes that actually makes it slower and slower.

**Broken Arrow** · 11-01-2009, 05:29 PM

Originally posted by jasonnoguchi View Post

I read somewhere that windows 7 is actually a slower OS than Vista... it seems like the big M delivers with each new generation more features and processes that actually makes it slower and slower.

I've heard quite the opposite.... Feel free to Google it and read some testimonials. Most, so far, are quite positive.

**lovcom** · 11-01-2009, 06:41 PM

Jason, we work in an office full of many PC's and they all now run Windows 7; all moved from Vista, and they all run exceedingly faster...remarkably and noticably faster with Windows 7.

Where do you get your bad info? Windows 7 is smaller, and provides less features then Vista...this is a good thing actually...Vista was about bloat and provide too many so-so features and often never used programs...this is one reason it is much slower then Windows 7.

**Caoineag** · 11-02-2009, 06:06 AM

Originally posted by Broken Arrow View Post

You have a SSD?

I'm tempted and will likely have one some day. (Actually, I really do think they will be the norm eventually.) For now though, I still can't justify it's price relative to storage space.

I prefer to put the computer on sleep mode. It's just as fast, and work out very well if you're going to be gone for only a little while.

This is the advantage to not needing a lot of storage on the main drive. I keep music and so on on a separate external drive which is cheap and just have a 64gb solid state drive in the new computer I built. I can just add more internal drives as the cost comes down. The solid state drive is incredibly fast and quiet. Since my old machine had been on its last legs awhile (read as sounded like a wind tunnel), we did put a premium on the computer being quiet, lol. To be honest, wanting SSD was the main reason I finally bit the bullet and built the system myself.

As to sleep/hibernate mode, I can't say I have ever been a fan. I don't know how many computers I have had to format because sleep or hibernate mode broke the software. Its one of the first things I turn off on my computers.

**Broken Arrow** · 11-02-2009, 06:26 AM

Originally posted by Caoineag View Post

As to sleep/hibernate mode, I can't say I have ever been a fan. I don't know how many computers I have had to format because sleep or hibernate mode broke the software. Its one of the first things I turn off on my computers.

Please try not to laugh, but I've actually found the sleep mode to be reliable on Vista and now Windows 7. Yes, Vista, despite all the bloat and ridicule, the sleep mode has been completely reliable for me. Not so for anything before that, including XP (in my experience).

I've also found sleep mode to be reliable on Mac computers when I had them.

Sadly, I have not found them to be reliable at all on Ubuntu. Whenever I use it, it has to be a complete shut down.... Oooh, you know what? Maybe I can install Linux on SSD! Being Linux, I'll bet I wouldn't even need but like... 8GBs! Yeah! Ouch, I just checked the price, and even 8gbs are pretty expensive. Enough that I should just go straight to a 32gb.... Well, I'm going to wait a bit longer.

It's not working right now, but I was also running firmware Linux, and I tell you, that thing is super fast! When you think about it, it's like small Linux on SSD of sorts, except in the BIOS level! The only downside to it was the limited feature set and the inability to upgrade device drivers.... But it was great as a light duty, secondary OS.

**wincrasher** · 11-02-2009, 06:29 AM

For those of you interested in saving money,

I ordered the "family pac" from Newegg for the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for $149. You get to upgrade 3 PCs for this price.

Regular retail for individual upgrades is $119, but you can find some specials for $99 each.

I'm going to upgrade a touchscreen PC that has XP on it (Atom processor) and a Quad Core gaming rig that is running Vista.

**Broken Arrow** · 11-02-2009, 07:04 AM

Pre-order discount for Home Premium was $49.99, and that's what I got. Of course, that's over now.... Student discount may still be available, and if you are a student or know someone who is, the same Home Premium upgrade can be had for only $29.99!

Mac guy impressed with Windows 7