Windows 7 on my new laptop, how easy was it?

[Mrkvonic]

Ola!

The year is 2010 and software is still made by geeks for geeks.

Don't believe me? How about an article explaining in detail the ups and downs of the Windows 7 configuration on my new laptop, including problems with the installation, Wireless and graphics drivers, the time and effort required for properly setting up the system, a comparison to alternative operating systems, like various leading Linux distributions, plus a recommendation to users based on my experience and observations. If you're planning on buying a new machine and installing Windows, you may want to take a look at this piece.

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-7-ease-of-use.html


Cheers,
Mrk

[m00nbl00d]

-{ Quote: "Yes, Windows 7 works well, it runs flawlessly in a virtual machine. But what about real hardware, no help from the vendor, only the user and his/her understanding of what needs to be done?" }-

Couldn't I just say the same about Linux? How easy for some random Joe or Jane figure out what needs to be done with something that doesn't work, without the help of anyone?

By the way, the last time I installed Fedora in VMware Workstation, the screen resolution was just completely screwed. Installing VMware Tools also isn't as straight forward as it is with Windows as a guest O.S.

I guess you forgot this part.

-{ Quote: "I created a very detailed setup. At first, I manually setup a 200MB system partition for Windows, but Windows installer did not use it. Furthermore, the installer complained about the target partitions being formatted with FAT32, without automatically converting the filesystem. While the second issue was fairly easy to deal with, in the end, I was left with a surplus 200MB primary partition. And so, I was forced to go through the partitioning process once again, meaning the entire installation process, from the start.

This time, I did not create Windows partitions, instead I left a 50GB unallocated free space, created an Extended partition and populated it with logical partitions for both Windows data drives and Linux root, home and swap." }-

Quite recently I've installed Windows 7 Ultimate in an Acer Aspire 1640, flawlessly.

Good practice is also to have drivers installers downloaded before hand, for situations such as those. And, guess what? No drivers really exist for this laptop for Windows 7, only Windows Vista. Having that in mind, I only needed two drivers to make the laptop work just great: sound card and graphic card drivers. So, it was a pretty straight forward Windows 7 install. No complications.

With your article you seem to be wanting to make people lean to believe that Windows 7 will be a pain in the neck to install, while it is not.

I could name quite a few situations where it is the other way around, and people will have to struggle make things work on Linux. Would it be fair to say Linux is hard to configure? No. It depends on what needs to be done. Same with Windows.

An experience is what it is, an experience. It doesn't mean others will struggle.

See our both experiences. You had problems (Honestly, because you haven't downloaded the drivers before hand, just in case.) with a recent ??? laptop, and with a not so recent laptop, and not even manufactured to support Windows 7, I had no problems, except for two minor ones I mentioned before. Considering one laptop is mean't to support Windows 7 and the other isn't it, it sure says a lot that it depends on each situation.


Regards

[Mrkvonic]

You seem not to have read, or ignored, these two paragraphs, which state that it is equally easy or difficult to setup Linux, and for most people unattainable. But then, people take articles personally. My article does not negate your experience or somehow insults your intelligence - it adds to it.

-{ Quote: "
Linux is not a single entity, so saying Linux is easier (or not) would be a gross generalization. However, taking the leading Linux distributions as an example, Linux is far simpler to install, configure and use. But this is Utopia. Naturally, if you've never used Linux before, you will find the concepts, the desktop layout, the choice of programs, and the modus operandi alien, weird and frustrating. So there's no escaping the curse of familiarity and habit.

It's also the question of what you need your machine for, how you intend to use it, how much time you're willing to spend fiddling with problems, and how easy it's going to be to find solutions. The answer is, the average user has no chance." }-

Cheers,
Mrk

[m00nbl00d]

-{ Quote: "You seem not to have read, or ignored, these two paragraphs, which state that it is equally easy or difficult to setup Linux, and for most people unattainable. But then, people take articles personally. My article does not negate your experience or somehow insults your intelligence - it adds to it.



Cheers,
Mrk" }-

Hello,

I missed that part; weren't ignored. I re-read the article. So, this is my humble apology for being kind of harsh with my previous words.

Sorry for any inconvenience. :(

So, having this has a base, you article only proves that not two people will have the same experience. Issues will always happen. I'm also thinking that perhaps it could serve as a baseline for a new article ??? explaining that, when installing a new O.S or installing it fresh, people should always have drivers, etc in place. :)

[wat0114]

Several hours to find wireless drivers!?? Wow, that's a long time. Wouldn't Windows Update find them for you? I've found on my older desktop hardware, circa 2006, Win7 installation is a snap, all drivers included, but I will admit, however, most mainstream Linux distros - openSUSE being the exception, brutally slow - install faster, with Ubuntu being the only one that's had nVidia drivers that work properly for me, so with other distros I'm stuck with no 3d rendering.

BTW Mrk, since you forked out the big $$$ (or you probably scammed a deal with one of your MS buddies :P ;) ) on Ultimate, check out AppLocker if you get a chance :thumb:

Edit: never mind, I saw you already have (http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-7-security-more.html) :)

[SirPeterPan]

HP notebooks come preinstalled with many things, but you can always uninstall/delete what you don't need and maintain what is good for you, also configuring HP tools as you wish. That way is simply easier and better.

As a matter of fact, since I bought my HP notebook 3 months ago, the HP Support Assistant already automatically downloaded and installed 2 new versions of the BIOS, for example. I could talk about lot of other examples like this but the point is: not all HP tools that come preinstalled are useless junk.

The way you went is dangerous because you voided the warranty of the notebook, so I would not recommend it.

[wat0114]

-{ Quote: "

The way you went is dangerous because you voided the warranty of the notebook, so I would not recommend it." }-

All that's necessary to avoid that, like I did with my recently attained (through ISP sign-up deal) HP laptop, was create a set of system recovery disks (the option was included) which will restore the machine to its original state. I purged all kinds of HP crap and resized the Windows partition, created additional ones for storage, and an extended for Linux, then set it up as a dual boot with Ubuntu.

[Mrkvonic]

Peter, I voided the software part of my warranty, which is fine by me. Hardware parts a different matter altogether. Besides, it's the matter of suffering daily so I can have some kind of a warranty in a what-if situation. That's not a viable tradeoff for me. In that regard, you should also buy extended warranties or those geeksquad deals. Nah.

m00n, your idea is sound, I'll consider the best way of writing a piece.

wat, the second :)


Cheers,
Mrk