July 31, 2009 7:49 PM PDT
Windows 7 RTM reviewed
Windows 7 is more than Vista done right, but you can't deny that it's based on Microsoft's embattled operating system. Despite improvements made over two service packs, users never took to Windows Vista.
Although the Windows 7 release candidate is still available for consumers to try out, the final version of Windows 7 aims to fix both perceived and real flaws from its predecessor. The appeal of the new interface is undeniable, and should compete well against Apple's OS X, but even with modern features like native touch-screen support does Windows 7 actually best XP? Read the full review and find out.
Seth peers into the deep, dark corners of software so that you don't have to. He has yet to suffer a single nightmare about OS/2. You can follow him on Twitter. 
The guy states up front in the video that this is the final release candidate and not the RTM.
...and if the latter, IMHO a "special" edition sounds too much like the vendor trick of giving reviewers one copy tweaked to impress, and the rest of the world gets something less, err, 'reviewable'. (google for "quack.exe", and stand back...)
Again, the classic mode is all messed up.....
Again, there is NO BLUETOOTH STAC
Again, i do not want to PERSONALIZE, i want the PROPTIES.
If I wanted a mac, i'd get a mac.......
I guess this is why my company is completely switching to linux when 7 is released.....
...what, you don't like dedicating a whole server just to license key management? :)
At least Seth does mention that it's the RC..But with that said it's really old news to the millions of beta testers of the of the Beta release last winter.
http://reviews.cnet.com/windows/microsoft-windows-7-professional/4505-3672_7-33704140.html
is of the official RTM version of Windows 7. The benchmarking and all final tests were done on that licensed, official, Microsoft-approved install of the RTM. We would never claim a review to be based on an official version if it wasn't.
The video was shot using the RC, because the feature set had been locked down by that point. I've double-checked what I shot in the video against the RTM, and nothing reported there has changed as far as I can tell. If you find something that's not as reported in the video, please let me know.
...because even Microsoft is damned eager to get folks away from XP, and comparing the two helps provide the information that the XP users want and need.
Geez - if you're gonna be a fanboy, at least stop and think for a moment... maybe your celebs in Redmond want folks to compare the two and go for Windows 7.
http://reviews.cnet.com/windows/microsoft-windows-7-professional/4505-3672_7-33704140.html?tag=mncol;txt
We all smell a rat. You guys better stop before you get burned.
Perhaps you simply didn't see that there is a link provided to the review you linked in this blog post?
Is it possible to set Windows 7 (why's it 7, anyway? That's well below the current version number...) to use the classic taskbar? I never did like the Mac doc, the style just doesn't do it for me whatsoever. Is it locked to the top of the screen, or can it be moved to the bottom? Is it possible to disable popup program previews on the new taskbar? Seems like a waste of system resources for a "feature" that's just going to slow down my multitasking.
Is it possible to disable program stacking? (3 instances of, say, IE, appearing as one instance in the taskbar.) Also, when viewing the contents of a harddrive, is everything "out in the open" like in XP and previous, or are things less obvious a la Vista? Is "Shut down" hidden within a submenu of the start menu as in Vista, or is it out in the open like in XP? Does Windows 7 have those annoying security popups every time you want to change a system setting?
Thanks,
-Joe
Also the CNET review gave it a 9/10 score, so installing XP on the laptop isn't necessary.
"And the taskbar can be aligned to the left/right/top/bottom, though by default it's aligned to the bottom of the screen. It's all about customization. Unfortunately os x ain't that customizable is it? :P"
Of course it is.. have you even used the Mac OS?
I'll give you this.. you can't pin it at the top... but you can put it anywhere else.. You can also create custom start menus by creating a folder with shortcuts and pinning it to the dock along with your preferred applications.
In addition, you can change the docks file display behavior. If you want to get crazy.. there are plenty of free utilities that allow more advanced customization.
I'm not going to diss 7 until i've actually used it.. you should try using the Mac OS for more than 5 minutes at Best Buy before you decide to hate it. The irrational hatred of Apple is puzzling to me.... especially if people can't even base their hatred off of experience.
"Of course it is.. have you even used the Mac OS?"
Yes, I have
"ll give you this.. you can't pin it at the top"
Windows 7's taskbar can be aligned to the left/top/right/bottom!!
LOL
You can pin the dock to the left and right as well, you obviously haven't tried it...
@Assman: Vista hides the shutdown behind an arrow. You open the start menu, mouse-over the arrow, then click shutdown. I found that extra step to be a bit of a nuisance. (I avoided owning Vista--I only had to deal with it when my mom, sister, or grandma needed computer help.)
@ballmerisanape: My hatred for Macs do come from experience. I've had to use them quite a bit, but especially in the classroom years ago. My web design class used Macs because the instructors preferred that version of Photoshop. My video editing class used Macs because the college only had Final Cut, not Adobe Premiere. When I created a class to shoot a movie, I chose to use the Final Cut lab because my own computer was far too slow to efficiently run Premiere Pro in time to complete the work. And currently I work at two video production companies--one, thankfully, is a PC office, but the other uses Macs. I'm really not a fan; I can usually do the same things in fewer steps in Windows.
M$ is the biggest rip off scamming artist in the world.
LOL
LOL
LOL
LOL
It's hilarious that you are calling someone else "the dumbest troll here."
There are significant differences between Vista and Windows 7, including speed and compatibility (some claim it's more stable as well).
That said, how different is Leopard from Tiger, or Jaunty Jackalope from Intrepid Ibex? Guess you can't think that far ahead with a one-track mind. Cheap shot!
This release is Microsoft's answer to all the people that stayed with XP and didn't upgrade to Vista, or even downgraded to XP from Vista.
The average consumer they are looking to sell their upgrade to is running some Dell/Gateway/HP system that they picked up three or four years ago, probably has a celeron or semperon processor and is going to be running the x86 version. I'm sure the number of 32 bit installations of windows dwarfs the x64 installations. Even allot of new computers that came with Vista and 64 bit processors came with the x86 version installed and you had to send off for the x64 disks from Microsoft if you wanted them. Same with upgrade packages from XP to Vista, unless you got ultimate the home versions you had to send away for the x64 disks.
You can't say only test the top of the line version and then thats what you use for the whole family products.
NOTE: big improvements in Media Center for HDTV over the air.
Also pleased with W7 finding the drivers I needed for tuners and other devices (e.g. Media Center remote control for my Asus desktop).
Lotus Smart Suite 97 and Millennium edition for example had problems running in Windows Vista but ran on Windows XP with little issues. For people who bought into the IBM Lotus software they want to know if the new OS will support their office suite of choice. IBM had to abandon Smart Suite in exchange for making IBM Lotus Symphony because it is based on OpenOffice.Org and uses the new ODF Open Document format that every open source company is trying to migrate towards. With every new version of Windows broke IBM Lotus Smart Suite, which seemed to be on propose to drive people to buy MS-Office instead of IBM Lotus Smart Suite. There are many other legacy software besides Lotus Smartsuite like Wordperfect Office and many others. Many companies refuse to upgrade to new versions of Windows because they have legacy software that won't work on Vista or Windows 7.
Microsoft's own software like Visual Studio 2002 and 2003 won't work on Vista or Windows 7, forcing companies to upgrade to 2005, 2008, or the new 2010 versions. Visual Studio 6.0 works but has minor issues and needs to be SP6 in order to be installed and working properly. There was a lot of software written for older versions of Visual Studio that needs major rewrites to work with the newer versions and a lot of companies don't have the money, time, or resources to rewrite the software to work with Vista and Windows 7. I guess they will use the XP Virtual Machine to run legacy software, but even that has issues and isn't 100% compatible with Windows XP Pro and under.
lol.
I run Windows Vista and formerly was using Windows XP.
Windows XP are more flexible and easy to use for an average user like my grandmother. Vista are a more polished version of windows and believe me after installing sp2 they became stable too.
Windows 7, on the other hand, yes I believe they will be like a SP3 or something for Windows Vista. They will cover many compatibility issues that Vista failed to complete.
This paragraph from the actual review illustrates the point nicely:
"Although the look of Windows 7 may seem to be nothing more than some polish applied liberally to the Vista Aero theme, make no mistake: This is a full replacement operating system, and more than just "Vista done right." From driver support to multitouch groundwork for the future, from better battery management to the most easy-to-use interface Microsoft has ever had, Windows 7 is hardly half-baked. "
Isn't that exactly what they said about VISTA?
I know one thing for sure it will be a cold day in hell before I or my company pays $250 per computer to upgrade to the latest Microsoft OS.
$249.99 Windows Vista Ultimate + $219.99 Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade = Some what stable OS that still can't compete with Leopard. Sure might as well get back on the Microsoft band wagon.
Why are you buying the Ultimate version? Why would you buy Vista and upgrade it to Windows 7, when a) current Vista purchases come with a free 7 upgrade voucher and b) you can just buy 7 when it comes out? There's a blog post or something floating around CNet dated Aug 4th that is titled along the lines of "Only suckers pay retail." You might want to look into it.
Based on this review and other comments I've heard form people who are using it, 7 is very stable, not "somewhat" stable. I don't see why it "can't compete" with Leopard.
It's not like I'm a Microsoft fanboy by any means. I just don't like people on the hate-everything-Microsoft band wagon.
- by oby3000 August 5, 2009 6:27 PM PDT
- ok i have been using the beta before it was even a beta (torrents)and i have a ***** old 2003 pc with 512 ram 2.8 cpu and compared to xp (by duel booting)not that my xp had problems it is in tip top shape but i found win 7 was far more responsive than my xp ever was and that's because win 7 uses resources way better. on my xp it would always go over my ram limit and start using the hard drive all the time like it didn't dump the old stuff or something and with win 7 it stayed at a good 300-400 range when using the same programs as i did in xp . i didn't have aero on but still xp doesn't even have aero . and i know if u have a higher end machine xp wont use the power that it has to its full potential. xp does not have very good support for multi cores. win 7 is built with multi cores and all the latest tech in mind . ha when xp was made no one had more than one core so why would they of put support in for them even in a service pack it wouldn't be as good as if it were baked right in. just dont keep going back to xp stay away from vista if u want but trust me win 7 is the best os i have seen from Microsoft . it hasn't crashed once since i have been running it and no problems so far.
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