I Think Windows RC Looks Disappointing - Do You Too?

[L815]

I think they have succeeding at making a better Vista.
I just wish they would make the classic theme fit better with Vista & Win 7.
I mean Aero is really nice, but when I'm doing work I like to have the minimal setup going on.

[Brian K]

Aaron,

My main computer is just on 3 years old. Pentium D 3.2 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 256 MB Video card.

I think Win7 is slightly faster than WinXP but that may be because I only have a few apps installed. It starts up and shuts down faster. Simple things like navigating menus is fast. When I get motivated I'll install Photoshop and see what happens.

[Creer]

Originally Posted by Brian K

Aaron,

(...)

I think Win7 is slightly faster than WinXP but that may be because I only have a few apps installed. It starts up and shuts down faster. Simple things like navigating menus is fast. When I get motivated I'll install Photoshop and see what happens.

+1 here. I am really impressed with Win7, works great so far.

[Osaban]

Originally Posted by DasFox

1. Vista was a flop so why even make Windows 7 even remotely look alike, big mistake, Windows 7 should have it's own look.

2. UAC jumping in my face again, you mean this all over again, oh well time to disable

Overall, all I can say is I'm disappointed. With Vista being such a flop, you'd think they had the brains to give Windows 7 a complete cosmetic makeover, new look.

You call yourself a 'geek', and I wouldn't brag about it too loudly, thank God MS programmers know that we are all different. Linux should be the right stuff for you, but then again there isn't much 'fun' running Linux, is there?

"Microsoft's primary stated objective with Windows Vista, however, has been to improve the state of security in the Windows operating system. One common criticism of Windows XP and its predecessors has been their commonly exploited security vulnerabilities and overall susceptibility to malware, viruses and buffer overflows. In light of this, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced in early 2002 a company-wide "Trustworthy Computing initiative" which aims to incorporate security work into every aspect of software development at the company. Microsoft stated that it prioritized improving the security of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 above finishing Windows Vista, thus delaying its completion.
Windows Vista ended up costing Microsoft 6 billion dollars to develop." (Excerpt from Wikipedia).

More over thousands of very intelligent people worked on Vista even before XP was first released. Here you are lambasting Vista as if it was one of the latest Hollywood "flops" and talking about the the "lack of brains at MS". If you are worried about your beloved XP, it is going to be around for along while thanking the new netbooks which need a light OS. Whether you like or not Vista and Windows 7, they are the future, and you are the past.

[Saraceno]

Slightly off-topic, friends who have used Vista and were used to XP, only took me a few minutes to:
>> disable a few visual tweaks
>> either disable some unnecessary services by following Black Viper's list or use the more automated Vista Services Optimizer
>> Install Norton UAC

And you'll have no complaints with Vista.

Now when Windows 7 is launched, I'm sure any unhappy users would only have to spend a few minutes of 'googling' to find further tweaks and improve their experience with the new OS.

[chronomatic]

Originally Posted by Osaban

More over thousands of very intelligent people worked on Vista even before XP was first released. Here you are lambasting Vista as if it was one of the latest Hollywood "flops" and talking about the the "lack of brains at MS". If you are worried about your beloved XP, it is going to be around for along while thanking the new netbooks which need a light OS. Whether you like or not Vista and Windows 7, they are the future, and you are the past.

I would have to disagree. Open-source is the future and I think M$ knows it. More and more people (and not just geeks) are realizing that FOSS OS's can do everything overpriced M$ OS's can do and often times do it better, and FOSS can do it for free.

[tgell]

Considering that people are still using Windows 98 and pirates prefer XP to Vista, XP is going to be around for a long time. And, XP does not have all the DRM crap that VISTA or Windows 7 has.

http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/10/mic...0212vista.html

[zapjb]

I'm using Vista64 home prem SP1 a little but mostly I use PCLinuxOS.

But the number 1 gripe I have against Vista is that the file paths are way way different than XP. Why? Afaik for NO good reason. Seems really stupid & smacks of total control freakism by M$.

[Osaban]

Originally Posted by chronomatic

I would have to disagree. Open-source is the future and I think M$ knows it. More and more people (and not just geeks) are realizing that FOSS OS's can do everything overpriced M$ OS's can do and often times do it better, and FOSS can do it for free.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/41581/113/

Vista market share climbs, Windows XP remains dominant OS Sunday, March 01, 2009 19:53

According to data released my Net Applications, Microsoft was able to grow its operating system market share from 88.20% in January to 88.42% in February. Apple lost 0.28 points in the same time frame and is now estimated to hold about 9.61% of the market. Linux continued its upward trend and is listed with 0.88%.

Windows Vista has made much more significant contributions to the Windows market share gains, as the operating system jumped from 22.48% in January to 22.79% in February. All other Windows versions, however, lost ground: Windows XP, which remains the dominant operating system in the market, dropped from 63.76% to 63.67% and Windows 2000 fell from 1.37% to 1.33%.

88.42% Windows versus 0.88% Linux, sorry I couldn't resist.

[lodore]

Originally Posted by zapjb

I'm using Vista64 home prem SP1 a little but mostly I use PCLinuxOS.

But the number 1 gripe I have against Vista is that the file paths are way way different than XP. Why? Afaik for NO good reason. Seems really stupid & smacks of total control freakism by M$.

I prefer the file paths in vista.
C:\users is way better than C:\documents and settings
im gonna try windows 7 rc over the weekend if i have time.

[midway40]

Originally Posted by lodore

I prefer the file paths in vista.
C:\users is way better than C:\documents and settings
im gonna try windows 7 rc over the weekend if i have time.

Me too. I always can't remember how to access Documents and Settings in DOS, for example, cd \docume~ I believe it is. A lot easier with cd \users.

[Kerodo]

Originally Posted by chronomatic

I would have to disagree. Open-source is the future and I think M$ knows it. More and more people (and not just geeks) are realizing that FOSS OS's can do everything overpriced M$ OS's can do and often times do it better, and FOSS can do it for free.

I would have to disagree with all of that.... But only time will tell eh?

[rpsgc]

On related news, people who say 'M$' are idiots. More at 11.

[Alec]

Originally Posted by DasFox

P.S. Performance aside, the point of the topic are looks, making Windows 7 look like something new.

Although it is termed "Release Candidate" there are rumors that Microsoft still has a new UI planned...

This, then, is the Windows 7 release candidate. And while Microsoft continues to promise only that it will ship Windows 7 sometime by early 2010, I'm here to tell you that Microsoft's public schedule is almost comically conservative. The Windows 7 RC could literally ship as the final version of the product. There are mitigating factors that will prevent that from happening--persistent rumors of a new UI skin among them--but make no mistake. When Microsoft says "release candidate," this time they really mean it. I expect the company to finalize this product with mind-numbing efficiency and speed. The end is in sight. It's that close.

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows 7 Release Candidate Review

So I guess we will see.

Personally, I don't really have a problem with the Vista or Win7 UI as is, but I can sort of understand the desire for 'something new' or at least additional UI options. On the other hand, I wouldn't expect a radical UI change. Microsoft is a fairly conservative company and is driven probably more by large enterprise customer demands than by the collective voice of individual users. Large enterprise customers don't want a new UI, or at least anything radically changed, as that involves training and IT support costs. So, you as a user are really butting-heads here with the General Electric, Exxon, and Coca Cola's of the world.

You never know though. Microsoft has appointed Julie Larson-Green as "Corporate Vice President, Windows Experience". She is apparently the one that made the decision to replace the Microsoft Office menu system with the Office 2007 "ribbon" toolbar, and to not give users the option to go back to the old menu structure. That was a pretty radical UI decision, for something as corporate and button-downed as MS Office. Of course, it's a decision I don't personally agree with... as I think users should have been given the choice to rollback to the Office 2003 menu structure, especially since I don't really like the ribbon. Nevertheless, she's pretty gutsy. I'll give her that.

Julie Larson-Green hopes you'll like Windows 7. If not, well, now you and a billion other people know whom to blame.

Windows washer: Microsoft's antidote to Vista

[ahriman]

Running the Windows 7 RC (64-bit) now. Love it!

I prefer Unix for programming and math (LaTeX, Lyx, Maxima,...).
And I much prefer OpenBSD to Linux (both are Unix-like, not Unix).
Getting tired of Linux again.

[Kerodo]

Originally Posted by Alec

Although it is termed "Release Candidate" there are rumors that Microsoft still has a new UI planned...


So I guess we will see.

Personally, I don't really have a problem with the Vista or Win7 UI as is, but I can sort of understand the desire for 'something new' or at least additional UI options. On the other hand, I wouldn't expect a radical UI change.

I hope they don't change it much, I think it's great as is.

[chronomatic]

Originally Posted by ahriman

Running the Windows 7 RC (64-bit) now. Love it!

I prefer Unix for programming and math (LaTeX, Lyx, Maxima,...).
And I much prefer OpenBSD to Linux (both are Unix-like, not Unix).
Getting tired of Linux again.

OpenBSD is quite impractical for a Desktop machine.

[ahriman]

chronomatic:

OpenBSD is quite impractical for a Desktop machine.

Umm. No. I've used OpenBSD as a desktop for years. Just tried KDE on
my laptop (OpenBSD), but prefer the minimalistic fluxbox or ratpoison or such,
so re-installing that. Then, on my desktop, I'll replace the Ubuntu partitions with
x64 OpenBSD.