Windows 7 Information Required

[Dee383]

Ok People Im After Information Regarding Windows 7 . Seems The Time Is Coming When

I May Have To Bite The Bullet And Go To Windows 7 And Retire My Faithful Trusty WinXP.....

What Games Cant You Run And Also Have You Had More CTD,s And Problems

Since You Updated / Upgraded To Windows 7 ..

[Mailamea]

Go get Windows 8, its 6x smoother on my opinion, been using Win8 pro edition for 4days now.

And a little ran, I have read and met many that win 8 is just a bullcrap and just a interface remodel of 7, well it is, but there are hundreds literally hundreds of improved features, from performance so noticeable to the simplest bit. Heck I already customized my start menu with custom images of applications, you can even resize the application icon then put in your image so it blends in the selection. Another part is a lot of people saying that incompatibilty with 8 is bull SHIT! even with not setting the compatability mode to win7 everything works fine, heck earth worm jim works well lol, running oblivion goty, fo3goty, fnvue - no problems at all. The little downside is a popup saying this program should be set to win7 mode pops up every time you run a program before win8 is developed, disabling uac can't turn it off.

It would take more wall of texts for me to explain all good about 8, lol sounds like I'm pitching for windows.

[gregathit]

I would not recommend upgrading to win8 just yet. Microsoft has yet to release any version of window that didn't require major patches out of the gate. With MS and their OS's it is always best to wait a minimum of 6 months (a year is better) for them and the community to hammer out all of the problems.

As to upgrading from XP to Win7. If you have the rig to handle it, then it is a no-brainer. Win7 will kick XP's ass front, back and sideways. Win7 is actually as, if not more stable than XP (hard to believe but true!).

Some extremely old software may not work and the same for hardware. As to hardware - if it is 3 years old or newer it will work just fine. If it is 4 years or older - well depending on what it is, it may be time to upgrade it.

Win7 does have a compatibility program that you can run and it will check your hardware. Check the MS website for it. You can find out if any software you use is compatible (or not) via a simple google search.

[Ark of Truth]

Don't go to 8!!!!! Never!!!!

Windows 8 is a disaster waiting to happen. Microsoft intends to use Windows 8 to restricted what users can put on their computers. Some game companies are even refusing to do Windows 8 support or even patch games to run on Windows 8.

Not only that Windows 8 requires you to be connect to the net at all times.

Microsoft is just trying to follow Apple and they are sucking at it. Windows 8 is meant to be used on tablets and phones not computers.

If memory serves I'm sure I read a post yesterday saying that Skyrim WILL NOT run on Windows 8 as one of the install files is not compatible with Windows 8.

If your going to buy Windows 8 I would wait a year. Microsoft seems to great a pattern with operating system.

Windows ME = Had loads of stability issues.

XP = Great hardly anything wrong.

Vista = Got scrapped due to being extremely buggy.

Windows 7 = Great, some issues but most games are now working with it.

Windows 8 = Apple ripoff by Microsoft, mmost games are not supported by it, including Skyrim.

BUT THE BIGGEST THING OF ALL! YOU CAN ONLY USE MICROSOFT PRODUCTS ON IT AS IT HEAVILY RESTRICTS THRID PARTY SOFTWARE!! ONLY IE WILL RUN ON WINDOWS 8.

DO NOT BUY IT!! MARK MY WORDS, WINDOWS 8 WILL CRASH AND BURN!!

To be honest don't expect any sympathy when Microsoft no longer gives support for Windows 8. Stick with Windows XP or upgrade to Windows 7. And for the love of god if you are using Windows 7 stay on it!!

Some reading materials for you on why NOT to upgrade.

/>http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/398090/20121025/windows-8-gaming-content-restrictions-surface-app.htm
/>http://www.neowin.net/news/mozilla-not-happy-with-windows-8-arm-restrictions
/>http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a381134/mozilla-executive-hits-out-at-windows-8-restrictions.html
/>http://blogs.computerworld.com/20153/microsoft_will_cripple_chrome_and_firefox_on_windows_8_based_arm_tablets_does_it_matter
/>http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/8_things_we_hate_about_windows_841
/>http://www.insidegamingdaily.com/2012/07/26/gabe-newell-says-windows-8-is-a-catastrophe/

EDIT: Also Windows 8 was made like it is because Microsoft thought it users were to dumb to use ones like Windows 7. Plus Windows 7 uses a Cloud which means all your personal information goes over the internet, when I say everything I mean everything, your search history, your pictures, files.

It just Microsoft's attempt to control what you can and cannot do one your own computer as well as invade your privacy. In my personal opinion if your stupid enough to waste your money on buy it then you accept the fact that your personal information could be accessed by people you don't even know.

[Mashi]

It's fine to rage against MS because you don't like an OS. But let's be realistic, games work fine on Windows 8. I've got it on my home work machine in a dual boot setup because I volunteered to be a guinea pig at work for some of our development tools. The only game that I have had problems getting to work as been Warcraft 3 and WC3: Frozen Throne. And that was fixed by getting Garena(a battlenet replacement because blizz isn't actively supporting the old bnet version anymore). Even my ancient copy of Klingon academy which was a crash fest under XP, and 7 works properly under 8.

You don't need to use cloud support, you don't need to do any of that. Setup a local account and go on your way.

Oh, and skyrim works fine.

A lot of the big complaints come from ARM(micro devices) and how MS locks their device down(odd that these guys don't complain nearly as much over apple doing it, or samsung). As for Gabe? He could be right, he could be wrong. He did work for MS, but I've used Win8 off and on. Getting over the UI quirkiness is the biggest problem. Tilests are a harkening day of going back to Win 3.x, and most people here have never used that. If you have, it takes a bit getting used to.

And if it's that much of a problem you're having with the UI get classic shell from sourceforge, or drop the $5 and buy start8 from Stardock.

Besides, you can get Win8 for $14.99 depending on where you live. With no COA requirement.

As for speed, win8 is faster. A good deal faster than even win7, there is still a lack of drivers though for some devices. But generally if something works on Win7 it will work on Win8.

Dont' forget either that one of the really big reasons that companies are throwing a zomg hissyfit is because MS is running it's own store like Apple now. And are skimming just as much off the top as they do. 30%, and they don't like seeing competing products out there. Personally I expect their store to fail miserably, at first they wouldn't allow 18+/PEGI18 games on their either. 30% is a lot, from what I've heard steam takes 15-20% though, and honesty I expect it to be the primary driver platform especially since it's taken a dive into 'nix. More competition is always good though.

edit: stupid smartphone isn't very smart. I'm about ready to give up on all the spelling mistakes.

[Kashiwaba Tomoe]

Mailamea, and others with win8, do Fallout/Fallout2 run on it ?

[Dee383]

Well I Remember Being Told That Windows 7 Is What Vista Should Have Been , I Might

Well Go To Win 7 But Win 8 Sounds Risky Hasnt Been Out Long Enought For My Liking .

I Dont Like Change I Prefer To Stick To What I Know Hence This Thread ...

Ive Been Running XP Since 2002 And I Always

Said I Will Never Change But Theres Getting To A Point Were I Wont Have Much Of An

Option Not To Upgrade ...

[Ark of Truth]

Besides' date=' you can get Win8 for $14.99 depending on where you live. With no COA requirement.

As for speed, win8 is faster. A good deal faster than even win7, there is still a lack of drivers though for some devices. But generally if something works on Win7 it will work on Win8.

[/quote']

$14.99? Yeah but then they can go when it completely breaks down "It's cheap what do you expect" You watch.

It's faster because half of the support and driver stuff is no longer there? Plus I very much doubt companies will update the drivers to run on Windows 8.

Also considering the way the OS is based, it most likely not going to be customizable and your restricted to IE. The most insecure browser out there.

If you want to run Windows 8 on your PC, here's what it takes: (Taken from Windows 8 site)

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2 (more info)

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)

Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

Additional requirements to use certain features:

To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch (more info)

To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768

To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768

Internet access (ISP fees might apply)

Secure boot requires firmware that supports UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B and has the Microsoft Windows Certification Authority in the UEFI signature database

Some games and programs might require a graphics card compatible with DirectX 10 or higher for optimal performance

Microsoft account required for some features

Watching DVDs requires separate playback software (more info)

Windows Media Center license sold separately (more info)

BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive (Windows 8 Pro only)

BitLocker requires either Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 or a USB flash drive (Windows 8 Pro only)

Client Hyper-V requires a 64-bit system with second level address translation (SLAT) capabilities and additional 2 GB of RAM (Windows 8 Pro only)

A TV tuner is required to play and record live TV in Windows Media Center (Windows 8 Pro Pack and Windows 8 Media Center Pack only)

Free Internet TV content varies by geography, some content might require additional fees (Windows 8 Pro Pack and Windows 8 Media Center Pack only)

- Like what the fuck? There is hardly anything in the damn thing to warrant 2GB use age.

- Fees may apply on internet access? But it's my internet?

- You need a Microsoft account to fully use it? Yeah you can fuck off with that.

- Watching DVDs requires separate playback software. So it doesn't support it from the get go? What a piece of shit.

- Windows Media Center license sold separately. Another restriction as it was in the all the other Windows OS for free.

It's shit, it only cheap because you have to buy the rest of it separately. You all have been conned.

[Mashi]

Mailamea' date=' and others with win8, do Fallout/Fallout2 run on it ?

[/quote']

Yep, working fine. I'm on my win8 boxen right now.

$14.99? Yeah but then they can go when it completely breaks down "It's cheap what do you expect" You watch.

It's faster because half of the support and driver stuff is no longer there? Plus I very much doubt companies will update the drivers to run on Windows 8.

What are you talking about? Here's the product lifecycle for XP and all their products. On average MS supports their OS for 5-10 years' date=' longer in XP's case because of wide adoption. Vista's support for extended goes to 2017, normal support ends this year(5 years).

No it's fast because of the way it handles preloading of core components of the OS, loading them only on demand as it's required. This cuts down on boot time, overhead resources, thread demand and so on. Freeing up the CPU to get to the 'boot screen' faster and in turn loading other resources once the machine is up and only when needed. I haven't run across a piece of hardware that I've bought in the last 3 years that wouldn't work yet. And drivers...are everywhere, even my old Xonar DG has drivers out for it.

Also considering the way the OS is based, it most likely not going to be customizable and your restricted to IE. The most insecure browser out there.

If you want to run Windows 8 on your PC, here's what it takes: (Taken from Windows 8 site) *snip*

You're not restriced to IE, I'm using chromium(chrome w/o the browser tracking) right now. Take a look at the screenshots.

and

- Like what the fuck? There is hardly anything in the damn thing to warrant 2GB use age.

- Fees may apply on internet access? But it's my internet?

- You need a Microsoft account to fully use it? Yeah you can fuck off with that.

- Watching DVDs requires separate playback software. So it doesn't support it from the get go? What a piece of shit.

- Windows Media Center license sold separately. Another restriction as it was in the all the other Windows OS for free.

It's shit, it only cheap because you have to buy the rest of it separately. You all have been conned.

I seriously can't understand what you're talking about. Those requirements are nearly identical to Windows 7.

Nothing to warrant 2GB of usage? What? My gaming rig has 8GB of memory, and it will easily use upto 6GB with Skyrim. 2GB was the norm about 6 years ago, 4GB has been considered the bare minimum for the last couple of years. And considering the price of memory? Bah, you can buy 8GB of good quality(kingston, G.Skill, Patriot, etc) ram for $39.

Fees might apply because in some places of the world, the internet is metered. That exists in many places, Canada, the US, parts of Europe, Asia. Which is why the disclaimer is there "fees may apply" aka if you download stuff your ISP might charge you for going over your "allotted usage."

The only parts of a 'microsoft account' that you need it for are skydrive(the cloud if you actually want to use it). And if you want to use the store. The same as I'm sure many people will happy complain about having steam, and apple accounts that are required to use it. Though I'm fully distrustful of cloud based services*cough* aws*cough*

Correct, it doesn't play DVD's out of the box. That's because of the licencing fees(you can thank the MPAA and RIAA for that one)--long story short there was a pissing match between them MS, and everyone else over the MPEG codec among other stuff and MS said screw it. Though if you get win8, you can get a key for the media centre for free and play DVD's at least until Jan 2013ish. Though most people I know use something else for playback and decoding, never mind that your PC dvd player has the decoder built in already.

Again, you're not really making sense. It's cheap because they're trying to push widespread adoption. Piracy, is the big killer of the OS business. If you look on the various forums, you'll see even the pirates abandoning win 7 for 8 and getting legit copies because it's cheap.

Well I Remember Being Told That Windows 7 Is What Vista Should Have Been ' date=' I Might

Well Go To Win 7 But Win 8 Sounds Risky Hasnt Been Out Long Enought For My Liking .

I Dont Like Change I Prefer To Stick To What I Know Hence This Thread ...

Ive Been Running XP Since 2002 And I Always

Said I Will Never Change But Theres Getting To A Point Were I Wont Have Much Of An

Option Not To Upgrade ...

[/quote']

I personally prefer win7, what win 8 boils down to is win7 with a can of paint(drastically new UI), and that's about it. I don't like the UI so I use start8. Even the core of the OS hasn't changed that much. Win 7(v6.1.7601) Win 8(v6.2.9200), though the difference between stability and compatibility can be huge if you run older games with XP. Some of them don't take to Windows 7 very well, though some of them take very well to windows 8.

[gregathit]

Piracy' date=' is the big killer of the OS business. If you look on the various forums, you'll see even the pirates abandoning win 7 for 8 and getting legit copies because it's cheap.

[/quote']

Sorry, but now you are parroting nonsense. MS and all the other OS makers out there have been raking in cash by the butt load for years. Just take a look at their stock prices.

MS makes their money from OCM, business, schools, and gov sales (among others). The individual users sales are only a small part of their matrix. Users that pirate the OS don't hurt them and everyone knows it. This is the same nonsense that Hollywood and the RIAA have been screaming...all the while posting record profits every single year. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to smell the BS from their lies.

Now don't get me wrong, I would agree that pirating an OS is incredibly stupid, but all those pirates are hurting is themselves with using a flawed product, that most of the time is full of viruses.

It is still too early to judge Win8 as the damn thing has only been out for a short time. Traditionally MS has a poor history with OS's right out of the box and that is my only reason for the caution. Until folks I know and trust review it and enough time goes by to verify that there are no serious flaws, I will be sticking with something I know works without any potential problems under the hood. Win8 may turn out to be all that they claim, but time and careful scrutiny will tell us this, not MS adverts.

[Mashi]

Sorry' date=' but now you are parroting nonsense. MS and all the other OS makers out there have been raking in cash by the butt load for years. Just take a look at their stock prices.

MS makes their money from OCM, business, schools, and gov sales (among others). The individual users sales are only a small part of their matrix. Users that pirate the OS don't hurt them and everyone knows it. This is the same nonsense that Hollywood and the RIAA have been screaming...all the while posting record profits every single year. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to smell the BS from their lies.

Now don't get me wrong, I would agree that pirating an OS is incredibly stupid, but all those pirates are hurting is themselves with using a flawed product, that most of the time is full of viruses.

It is still too early to judge Win8 as the damn thing has only been out for a short time. Traditionally MS has a poor history with OS's right out of the box and that is my only reason for the caution. Until folks I know and trust review it and enough time goes by to verify that there are no serious flaws, I will be sticking with something I know works without any potential problems under the hood. Win8 may turn out to be all that they claim, but time and careful scrutiny will tell us this, not MS adverts.

[/quote']

I'm not parroting any nonsense. Mass piracy is a killer in the OS business. Mass piracy though is *not* a killer in media, as it promotes more active sales--those are two fundamentally different things. And sure, they've been raking in money from OEM, business, schools and so on. But the individual level does hurt them, let's look at the pricing in India, or developing parts with the adjusted rates. Now if I was a sneaky bugger I could get a copy of Win8 for $1.32 for example. It's not "western piracy" that is making a hurt on them though. Perhaps I should have said that instead.

Cheaper prices help with mass adoption of traditional pirates, and that in itself is provable.

Just remember though, stock prices aren't a reflection of how well a OS is doing. It's a reflection of the profitability of the company as a whole. The OS division could be doing terrible, but they could sell 20m units of Office to a government and their stock price would go up by $0.28 on the news.

Really though, the only way to know if it's any good is to test it for yourself. The reviewers are either ZOMG IT SUXS!!!!111ELEVENTYONE!! or IT'S SHINIER THAN STEVE JOBS REALITY DISTORTION FIELD. And with that, I suggest using the KMS version. To setup a copy for 30 days.

[gregathit]

I'm not parroting any nonsense. Mass piracy is a killer in the OS business. Mass piracy though is *not* a killer in media' date=' as it promotes more active sales--those are two fundamentally different things. And sure, they've been raking in money from OEM, business, schools and so on. But the individual level does hurt them, let's look at the pricing in India, or developing parts with the adjusted rates. Now if I was a sneaky bugger I could get a copy of Win8 for $1.32 for example. It's not "western piracy" that is making a hurt on them though. Perhaps I should have said that instead.

[/quote']

If you claim that piracy is a killer to microsoft's OS in ANY significant way, I have to call you out for parroting bullshit. It doesn't, hasn't and never will. Period. Full Stop. If was killing them why are they doing so damn well? Remember just a few years ago when they drug their feet removing IE and paid millions in fines just cause they wanted to be belligerent. You don't act like that if you are "loosing tons of money".

It is the same argument Hollywood and RIAA make of wildly inflated "lost sales". We both know that many who pirate (shame on you for doing so) aren't go to buy the thing if they can't pirate it. It is just a convenience thing. Besides, no one has any reliable measurement of what really is lost vs what is pirated.

As a matter of fact pirating can actually helps them. What?! Heresy! Nope, that folks are using the OS at home, means they are going to be able to use it at work. This ensures that MS and its one trick pony are 'The' OS and don't play second fiddle to anyone else. Add up all the other OS's and they are a drop in the bucket to MS and windows.

Want further proof of where MS's OS makes its bucks: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2012/10/18/microsoft-first-quarter-earnings/1641627/

PC sales is a HUGE factor. With the recession, MS is experiencing a tiny bit of a downturn. Piracy isn't a factor worth wasting time on.

As to India ... come on. That argument is more nonsense. You are aware aren't you that $1.32 US over there is a SHIT LOAD of money, right? Pricing in a third world country is a straw-man argument. Those people can't afford to buy a freaking computer, let alone the OS.

Cheaper prices help with mass adoption of traditional pirates' date=' and that in itself is provable.

[/quote']

What are trying to say here?

Just remember though' date=' stock prices aren't a reflection of how well a OS is doing. It's a reflection of the profitability of the company as a whole. The OS division could be doing terrible, but they could sell 20m units of Office to a government and their stock price would go up by $0.28 on the news.

[/quote']

Ummmmm... dude let's not play patty cake here. Look at the stock prices for the last 10 years. That is what I was referring to. Now of course stock prices are not the end all be all. However the fact that they have split and are earning dividends is a sign that they are doing well.

Really though' date=' the only way to know if it's any good is to test it for yourself. The reviewers are either ZOMG IT SUXS!!!!111ELEVENTYONE!! or IT'S SHINIER THAN STEVE JOBS REALITY DISTORTION FIELD. And with that, I suggest using the KMS version. To setup a copy for 30 days.

Sorry, I have better things to do than be someone's guinea pig. I have tons of gamer buds, as well as network admin buds who will give me the skinny after they abuse the shit out of it. Buying something cause it is "new" is IMHO just silly. Let someone else work out the kinks and then make an informed decision. Being a lemming is bad news.

Oh, and "internet reviews" .... if you get suckered in by those folks then you deserve your fate.

Anyway this is wildly off topic. I have made my point and in the interest of not highjacking this thread more, you are free to kick me in the balls with your response and have the parting shot and we will just agree to disagree.

Cheers,

Greg

Food for thought: http://www.microsoft.com//investor/EarningsAndFinancials/Earnings/PressReleaseAndWebcast/FY13/Q1/default.aspx They don't appear to be hurting that badly to me....

[Ark of Truth]

I seriously can't understand what you're talking about. Those requirements are nearly identical to Windows 7.

Nothing to warrant 2GB of usage? What? My gaming rig has 8GB of memory' date=' and it will easily use upto 6GB with Skyrim.

[/quote']

No their not.

- Media Centre came with Windows 7 when you installed it.

- The codecs for playing DVDs were in Windows 7 to start with.

- 2 GB is for the operating system without anything else running I have 64bit Windows 7 and when in use it doesn't even go over 1GB.

If your Skyrim is using 6GB then your doing something wrong as mine never goes past 2GB

[Mailamea]

Since a lot of you guys are trashing Win8, I'm gonna defend it.

First : win8 requires the internet to run?

Your just a dumbass and doesn't understand windows, you can easily remove the clutter from start menu like calendar, weather, new, etc, etc with 2 clicks - right click and remove. Bam. The other thing is if you aren't connected to the internet nothing happens, your just too lazy to set the settings to open things with your desired application. A good example of this is opening a picture file, in win8 if you open a picture it automatically clouds with your skydrive, solution? Right click the picture and set open with preview as default, or any app you use when your viewing a picture, result? - opening pictures now opens a preview of it. Applies to setting music files too, etc etc.

Next : its smoother cause a lot of drivers aren't there, either your dumb or just really stupid. All and I mean every single one of them from my previews win7 are installed one by one by CD then updated through the classic search for driver method, results? Haven't got any bullshit can't run this because its not compatible with 8.

Next : fallout 2 runs with 8, set compatibility to 7 or use dosbox, I have fallout 1, works with dosbox mode.

I good go on and will result in a wall of text but I'm drunk so maybe tomorrow

[Ark of Truth]

Windows 8 is just Windows 7 with a fucked up start menu.

[Mailamea]

With a better interface and faster performance.

[Ark of Truth]

Better interface is debatable and it's only faster because half of the drivers and compatibility support got removed.

[Mailamea]

Having a copy of 8 now is the same since its the RC Pro version, you can just update it forever

[Ark of Truth]

Personally only update to Windows 8 when Windows 7 support dies and wait 3 years after that.

However if your one of the few....special people that must have Windows 8, duel boot it with Windows 7. That way you don't lose anything when you want to get rid of it.

[FallenWarrior]

I have no plans on getting Windows 8 in the near future. Besides Windows 8 was developed with Tablet PC's in mind.

[Dee383]

Well Thinking About It If Windows 7 Uses NTFS Then Theres No Reason Why I Couldnt

Have A Dual Install With XP & Win7 ....

[Ark of Truth]

I have no plans on getting Windows 8 in the near future. Besides Windows 8 was developed with Tablet PC's in mind.

It was made for tablets yes but instead of Microsoft creating a desktop or laptop version they decide to make one operating system that would run on all platforms.

But if people want to use it and suffer later I suppose that is ok to.

[Ark of Truth]

Well Thinking About It If Windows 7 Uses NTFS Then Theres No Reason Why I Couldnt

Have A Dual Install With XP & Win7 ....

You can dual boot with Windows 7, I have done

Just install it to two different hard disk though. Safer that way.

[sroro]

I like Win7 more than Vista (less laggy and annoying as hell). I hate that stupid everything tied to the taskbar business though, but whatever it looks cleaner than XP but doesn't run too different from Vista.

Dosbox, Oblivion, Sims 3, and Civ 4 run on it with even more stability than winxp and now I can use all my RAM. I had issues running a preDX9 dependent game on here though, forgot what it was but I had to copy DX files into my game folder to solve the problem.

As for the payment options, you could always just barter. I traded some mmo currency for a win7 64b box a while ago just like how I trade red plums for squash every summer.

[Guest user29]

I'd wait for windows 9. 7 was very good, which means 8 probably won't be as history shows us every other Microsoft OS is good.

I would get 7 though. It's never failed me yet.