I’ve been putting off updating my operating system for as long as I can remember. When I bought my current laptop almost two years ago I ended up paying Dell extra to install Windows XP instead of Vista. I’d heard nothing but negative stuff about Vista and therefore I wasn’t in the least interested in upgrading at the time.
Last Friday after reading an entry about Windows 7 that my friend Kris wrote over at Equima, I finally bit the bullet & updated my laptop from Windows XP (32bit) straight to Windows 7 (64bit). Because I’m currently a full time student an upgrade copy of Windows 7 Professional only cost me AU$49.95 from It’s Not Cheating. Despite a few hiccups with getting my graphic card recognised & the card drivers to install (I had to download a modded Nvidia INF file from laptopvideo2go.com) I’ve been nothing but happy with how the transition has gone!
The things I really like about Windows 7:
- It took nowhere near as long as XP took to install.
- My computer now boots up and shuts down much faster.
- It’s pretty. The Aero transparency effects are hot!
- I like being able to search directly from the start menu.
- I love the new task bar and how you can select what icons show and what icons only show when the program is trying to notify you of something.
- I haven’t actually had any problems getting any of my programs to run despite the upgrade from a 32bit to a 64bit operating system.
I’m not what you’d call a Microsoft fan girl… but damn, Windows 7 is growing on me. I’m actually happy with this incarnation of Windows and it was very much worth the fifty bucks it cost me to upgrade. If you’re thinking about upgrading to Windows 7 from XP or Vista, I think you should! :)
You’ll find that all applications (32 or 64 bit) will run, since windows 7 64-bit actually has built into the capacity to run 32-bit applications/programs.
Just remember if you’re looking for an application, or a file for an application, look under ‘program files (32 bit)’ :)
And I bet the graphics card was the only thing you had issues with, right?
Yup! Stupid graphics card! :D
Oh, everyone is tempting me to do an upgrade. I’m running Vista currently and it’s slow. Even with 3GB of RAM, it’s crawling. I’m not sure if I want to upgrade it to Windows 7 since it cost a few hundreds and I’m actually eyeing a new laptop next year. Thought I should save up for it instead. :(
I’ve only got 3GB of RAM installed and it’s playing nicely for me… that said if you’re thinking about buying a new lappytop next year, I would probably wait, especially if the upgrade would set you back a couple of hundred bucks!!
Do the upgrade, Dayna. You won’t know yourself ;) And it’s well worth it – trust me.
I’ve had no end of trouble from Vista on a number of machines.
Windows 7 rocks. The 64bit version is great except when you can’t find drivers for various old devices.
Though, Vista isn’t as bad as some people made it out to be on decently spec’d PC’s.
I was pretty lucky in that regard. I managed to find drivers for everything, it just took a while! :P
The only issue I’ve had with Windows 7 on my desktop has been with Linksys driver support for 64bit. I also had this issue with Vista too. The unfortunate part is that even though the drivers work, I still experience major lag so I gave up with it.
I use my laptop to connect wireless and then I’ve got a crossover cable from the laptop to my desktop. Not the most efficient setup but I don’t need to worry about annoying lag spikes.
I have nothing but love with Windows 7 though. I have never been this excited for an OS in quite some time. Enough that I’ve decided that I really am not as interested in having a macbook pro as I was months prior to the official release for W7.
I know what you mean about the whole Macbook Pro thing! My flatmate bought one home Friday night (early Chrissy pressie from her boy) and I was no where near as jealous as I would have been a week ago! :P
That’s not microsofts fault – that would be with Linksys.
Did windows 7 not come with any inbuilt drivers for the linksys wireless adaptor?
It wouldn’t surprise me if it didnt, I’ve found a couple wireless USB-dongles that haven’t worked – but I would contact linksys and hurry them up on creating appropriate drivers for their devices.
I am jealous and I want Windows 7!
Caity! You should be jealous. It’s kind of awesome! :D
Cool. I did the same thing when I got my computer, went with XP instead of Vista (didn’t have to pay more as such, but didn’t get a ‘free’ 22″ screen). I wasn’t really planning to update to Windows 7 as I’d have to pay full price for it. I’m not sure if it would really be worth it.. as long as all the programmes I run are still supported by XP.
I know what you mean, I probably wouldn’t have upgraded if it cost me alot! I was still pretty happy with XP. :)
I really love Windows 7. tbh I didn’t have any problems with Vista either, though. :P
I just got my new laptop on Wednesday, and it came with 7… there’s a bit to get used to (why is the “show desktop” button on the right? D:), but overall I love it. It’s so shiny.
I really like the show desktop button where it is now! In XP mine always use to disapear into the quick launch extended menu! :P
Oh, and Dayna: my old lappy came with 64 bit Vista and 1GB of RAM. Ridiculous! Why would they even ship such a machine with Vista? Needless to say I had to get the RAM upgraded.
Ooh – what laptop have you got specifically? Mine (Dell Vostro 1000) is about the same age as yours and I’ve been wondering how it’d handle Windows 7. I really love XP (and I also picked it over Vista) but if yours is a roughly equivalent spec and runs well it may convince me to invest in 7 in the new year.
Jem, the laptop I’m on is a few years old; It’s running Windows 7 with the following specs:
- Intel Centrino T1350 @ 1.87GHz
- 2GB RAM (upgraded from 512MB)
It runs on here like a charm although it does tend to lag when I’m running CPU intensive apps but for the most part it handles it perfectly. The only downfall was not being able to run 64bit on here since the processor doesn’t support it.
I’d imagine yours probably has 1GB RAM? You could probably disable some of the GUI/Aero effects to lighten the load and still be good. :)
My laptop is a Inspiron 1520. I did upgraded the standard options a fair bit when I purchased it from Dell though.
- Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 @2.00GHz 2.00GHz
- 3.0 GB ram
Run the Windows Update Advisor at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx if you’re interested in updating. It’ll quickly tell you if your programs/devices will play nicely with 7 and whether your processor will support a 64 bit version. :)
I have been running Window’s 7 for some time. I am in LOVE!! <3 Simple as that. It takes way less RAM then Vista. I tell people, it's Vista that works. It runs smooth and I haven't had any trouble out of it at all. I love it!
Favorite part about windows 7, hands down: SNAP!
Snap left, snap right, all day long. I love it.
If you think it loads up fast in comparison to XP, think how those of us who upgraded from vista to 7 feel, vista being slow and crappy and whatnot.
Windows 7 is what vista should have been. Sweet, sweet, love.
@Jenn & @Mar
Meh. Vista. I’m actually kind of glad I never had to use it! :D
My laptop recently just burned through two chargers in a week so I’m buying a new one with Windows 7. I cannot wait! I played with it on my mother’s desktop and fell in love. It’s so much sleeker/easier to use than Vista. I also can’t wait for the minimal RAM usage. Vista burned out so much of my RAM on my old laptop. I’m happy for you! Enjoy your new OS! :D
Ah, I just can’t get excited about these things an more =(
I mean, my Mac just works. Flawlessly. All the time. Always has.
;)
Just messin’.
I’ve been contemplating making this transition for a long time however, I’d much prefer to get a new computer with Windows 7 on it then upgrade the current one I have. My laptop is great and I love it to brits and pieces however, I’m not sure how it would handle having Windows 7 haha. But you’ve definitely opened my eyes a bit that maybe it really is worth the transition.
Also, maybe you should make some posts about the issues with the graphics card etc… so that if other people have the same problem they can find out what to do also? :)