Windows 7 Beta - Do You Like it ?

[lacywest]

Well ... I am trying out Windows 7 Ultimate Build 7022 ... I can say I like it better than Vista Ultimate.

Some things are different that I don't like.

Fonts that are displayed ... seem coarse and not smooth ... compared to using WINXP ... the fonts looked funky in Vista too.

When I try to open Cyberlink Director 7 [with update] ... it wont start because the resolution is not correct ... I need a resolution of 1024x768.

And I'm using 1280 x 720 with my Sony 32" HDTV [video component connections] ... I use QuickResNT to change the resolution or I use the Nvidia Control Panel.
It wont stay at ... 1024x768 ... it jumps to 1176x664 when I click ... OK - Apply with the Nvidia Control Panel.

So until I can find a way to have 1024x768 ... I can't use Cyberlink PowerDirector 7 in WIN 7.

The Media Center program works good ... lots of features ... I am using the ATI HDTV PCI Wonder Card. Kind of cool to see the Movie Trailers section .... Did you know they are making a sequel to CRANK ...... CRANK 2 ... he survived the fall and he is now looking for who stole his heart

OH ... the video files that Media Center makes ... dvr-ms ... not anymore ... now they have the extension ... wtv

If I use the browser that comes with Win 7 [Internet Explorer 8] and try to type this post ... the sentence I am typing in jumps below and I cant see the words that I am typing ... so I am using Comet Bird.

I miss the tool bar in Windows Explorer - WIN XP ... I had it custom arranged to my liking .... CUT COPY PASTE | UNDO DELETE

I can't do that with Vista or Win 7 ...... unless there is a hack I am not aware of.

I also had a similar tool Bar in WinXP Internet Explorer 6 .... I wont use IE 7 or 8 in my WinXP Pro installation for that reason.

Anybody know of some get arounds to fix these things. The Resolution fix would be appreciated the most.

Other than that ... not a whole of of gripes.

[Soopafresh]

It's.....uh......OK, IMHO.

I don't like how Microsoft changes the location for control panel utilities with every new version of their OS

It's not quite as responsive as I thought it would be. I tested it on a Duo Core E4400 with an Nvidia Quadro card and I felt like the interface lagged a bit. Reminds me a bit of Ubuntu Linux in feel.

It is pretty stable. No blue screens during the eval period. Boot up time is pretty quick.

I'm looking for a really compelling reason to upgrade from XP to Win7. The "because Microsoft is dropping support for XP" is a cop-out on Microsoft's part. That's not a real benefit. Once I see some numbers on better stability vs XP, then I'll seriously consider it.

[redwudz]

I have the same problem with resolution jumping with Vista. Mine is probably related to using a KVM switch and Vista. If I power up either Vista computer and if the monitor isn't switched to it, I end up with some odd screen resolution. Of course both Vista computers also do it at random at boot up sometimes, even if the monitor is selected. It does this both with Nvidia and ATI cards. When I ran XP with the same setup, never had this problem. I think Vista defaults to a normal, not widescreen setting when it doesn't interpret the monitor signal properly.

For your fonts, make sure they are cleartype versions, or they will likely be fuzzy on a LCD display.

I finally removed W7 from my test computer. I just didn't see any improvement over Vista Ultimate and I needed to use the box for other purposes. I may re-install it on another computer when I get time. But I wasn't impressed. I'll stick with Vista till they make a few more improvements in W7.

[victoriabears]

Blimey we have only just got Vista !!

[lacywest]

It's.....uh......OK, IMHO.

I don't like how Microsoft changes the location for control panel utilities with every new version of their OS

It's not quite as responsive as I thought it would be. I tested it on a Duo Core E4400 with an Nvidia Quadro card and I felt like the interface lagged a bit. Reminds me a bit of Ubuntu Linux in feel.

It is pretty stable. No blue screens during the eval period. Boot up time is pretty quick.

I'm looking for a really compelling reason to upgrade from XP to Win7. The "because Microsoft is dropping support for XP" is a cop-out on Microsoft's part. That's not a real benefit. Once I see some numbers on better stability vs XP, then I'll seriously consider it.

I got a Blue Screen ... happened when I was uninstalling ... Cyberlink PowerDirector 7 or PowerDVD 8 ... happened last night ... or was it early this morning of Sunday morning ... not sure what time ... I slept to 5PM

Use clear type fonts ... okay ... I will trying that.

[lacywest]

OH ... another thing that really annoys me and this is on Vista Ultimate and Windows 7 is doing it to.

Looking at mpg or avi movies ... When I use Winxp ... MPCSTAR or VideoLan VLC ... image looks as decent as it can look.

But when I look at the video in Vista or .... Windows 7 now .... with MPCSTAR or VideoLan VLC ... the video image looks like I'm watching the video through ...

fine detail ... shower glass. The edges of the person or objects have like triangles or prizms or little tiny pixels ... no sharp details.

I took Vista off for that reason and Windows 7 is doing it to. But if I use Windows 7 Media Player ... I dont get that effect.

I tried messing around with Nvidia Control setting but ... didn't see any change.

I'm doing a Dual Boot ... WinXP is on a WD 80 gig and Windows 7 is on a WD 40 Gig. When I get to the Boot UP Screen options ... I just hit the escape button ... to get to the Boot Screen and choose what Drive to boot from. I've got Acronis Suite 10 installed ... but I kind of got it screwed it up ... but this method works for me. If I dont hit the escape button it goes directly to Windows 7.

[Bjs]

Currently running windows 7 64bit on athlon 3000, 512mb test unit

A few anomalies such as taskbar and start menu properties ... why leave a blank "last used" programs area when disabled.
Program features ... audio and a few others report excessive system space consumption ... audio chipset shown as over 1.2gig.
Problems with network devices such as netgear wireless ... F8, disable driver signing.

Startup animations removal would decrease startup time from first boot.

Other than these they finally come up with what vista should have been in the first place.
Even on the test system it's relatively quick and responsive compared to vista and less annoying nags about software installation.

Yes, the control panel ... they cant leave what works alone but they had to come up with some flash idea's to make people want to buy it as there's very little in the way of "new" features being included.

[lacywest]

It's.....uh......OK, IMHO.

I don't like how Microsoft changes the location for control panel utilities with every new version of their OS

It is pretty stable. No blue screens during the eval period. Boot up time is pretty quick.

I agree on that one .... Quick Launch ... I like it ... I use it ... it is now over on the far right side but it wont be there until you mess with the settings. The button for displaying the ... Desktop .... it is now over on the far far right side ... botttom corner ... all by itself.

Blue Screen ... I got one ... only one ... happened when I was uninstalling Cyberlink PowerDirector 7 / PowerDVD 8

I am using their comments feature that appears on the top of their windows ... hopefully they are reading them.

[lacywest]

A few anomalies such as taskbar and start menu properties ... why leave a blank "last used" programs area when disabled.
Program features ... audio and a few others report excessive system space consumption ... audio chipset shown as over 1.2gig.
Problems with network devices such as netgear wireless ... F8, disable driver signing.

Startup animations removal would decrease startup time from first boot.

For me ... the start up time is pretty decent ... maybe I'm happy because I'm not hitting the escape button to go into WINXP.

I did see the large blank area when I disabled that area and thought about how much space that was there ... that was being wasted. I saw that yesterday.

I reactivated it ... and chose what to be displayed there.

Oh and NO SIMPLE Click to turn off the ... network connection ... I found it but took a few extra clicks to find it.

[mh2360]

I have been using it in my HTPC box for a few weeks now, and have been impressed so far.

Since W7 now natively supports MP4 (Xvid/x264 etc), the Media Center is no longer crippled and is now actually quite usable.

[waheed]

Blimey we have only just got Vista !!

You can say that again, I'm still using Windows XP pro