Windows 7 vs Windows XP

[v491138]

Not to indulge too much in OT, but...Elders?

Last poll we had on members' ages had most well into middle-age and plenty of retirees. This isn't a site for kiddies, clearly.

OK, so I'm only old enough to be the daddy for most members.
First digital designs done in 1966. Does that give some idea of how long in the tooth I am?
Am now loosing what few marbles I thought I thought I once had.
I was once good enough to shoot trap with skeet gun.
Anyhow, I'll try to restrain myself.
Thanks

[hydra3333]

[QUOTE=v491138;2124133]

In fact, Nero 7 works on Vista but not on 7.

Um, Nero7 works on Win7-64bit here. After installed in XP compatibility mode, right-clicked on the .EXE's in the program-files folder and chose the XP-SP3 compatibility settings for everyone for that .exe. Worked for a number of other programs...

[budz]

Why even bother using NERO when you can use IMGBURN to burn discs.....

[jagabo]

Um, Nero7 works on Win7-64bit here. After installed in XP compatibility mode, right-clicked on the .EXE's in the program-files folder and chose the XP-SP3 compatibility settings for everyone for that .exe. Worked for a number of other programs...

Yes, many programs require special installation procedures under 64 bit Windows. Some others I know of include LAME and HuffYUV.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/271712-Lame-MP3-Encoder-on-Vista-x64#1723154

[magillagorilla]

I love Windows 7. This OS is rock solid and stable. I run both 64 and 32bit on different machines. My last XP machine has been gone for 2 years. Not all backwords compatibility can be maintained. In the name of progress I am OK with a few hastles. I have yet to encounter an application which does not run in compatiblity mode. Most of my issues were lack of hardware drivers. We can't expect hardware manufactures to waste resources writing drivers for 10 year old hardware.

People like to complainabout Windows and compatibility issues but backwards compatibility is one of the things Windoes does best. Obviously it doesn't catch everything. Think about it, you can still run 25 year old software on the newest Windows. How awesome is that? Mac OS does not make this effort. When they switched to UNIX based kernel for OSX they basically said your're screwed with your OS9 and older software, buy EVERYTHING new again.

My favorites:
Windows 98se
Windows XP
Windows 7

Rotten Tomato awards:
Windows ME
Windows Vista

Honerable mentions:
Windows 2000
Windows 95
Windows 3.1

meh:
Windows NT 4

[Ai Haibara]

Mac OS does not make this effort. When they switched to UNIX based kernel for OSX they basically said your're screwed with your OS9 and older software, buy EVERYTHING new again.

Hm? OS X originally allowed you to use 'Classic Mode,' which would let you use OS 9 and earlier software (as long as you had the 'Classic' OSes to begin with; you could (and still can, I believe) download them from Apple's site). Granted, it didn't stick around forever, but those needing to do it could still use something like Sheepshaver.

I'm slightly surprised nobody's mentioned Win7's ability to use "XP Mode," downloadable from Microsoft (not for Basic editions of 7, though, I think). It's probably mostly XP in VirtualPC, or something like that, but it's freely downloadable for users of Win7, IIRC. Even without it, though, if you still have an XP installation disc around, you can always set it up within VirtualBox or other similar environments. So, in theory, you can have both 7 and XP at the same time.

[jagabo]

XP Mode is only available for Win 7 Professional and Ultimate. Yes, it's basically Microsoft VirtualPC (a virtual machine) and a copy of Windows XP. It's well integrated into the Windows 7 Desktop. You can run the XP Desktop full screen (and switch back and forth between 7 and XP), or run XP applications on the Win 7 Desktop -- where they look and work just like native Win 7 apps -- except for the Windows XP window borders.

For those with other versions of Win 7 you can download Microsoft VirtualPC, VirtualBox, or VMWare and supply your own XP disc and license. All of these virtual machines run apps about 10 percent slower than running the same apps natively.

Virtual machines are good for some software that won't run natively in Win 7 or in compatibility mode.

[jman98]

I'm slightly surprised nobody's mentioned Win7's ability to use "XP Mode," downloadable from Microsoft (not for Basic editions of 7, though, I think). It's probably mostly XP in VirtualPC, or something like that, but it's freely downloadable for users of Win7, IIRC. Even without it, though, if you still have an XP installation disc around, you can always set it up within VirtualBox or other similar environments. So, in theory, you can have both 7 and XP at the same time.

I mentioned this in my small post in this thread on Dec. 1, but I can understand why you missed it. It's kind of hard to keep up with all the posts in the thread.

[Ai Haibara]

Oops. Well, you didn't actually refer to it as 'XP Mode.' (Have to stop skimming pages... )

Yeah, virtualization definitely isn't a perfect solution, and slower than if you were running XP (or any other OS you want to run) natively, as jagabo mentions. At least many of the systems running Win7 are better-equipped to handle VMs, though.
(Though that hasn't stopped some out there from claiming there's no difference whatsoever between running XP natively and XP Mode. )

[TBoneit]

FWIW All the programs I had bought and those free ones I downloaded from here that I still use run fine under Windows 7 64Bit. I did have to do some extra configuring to use one or two. No Biggie.

I went Win7 when I went I7 and SSD boot drive. I overbought that one BTW. I'm still under 60Gb used on the 300Gb Intel I bought. OTOH that amount of free space should give it plenty of headroom for wear leveling to use. And of course they all load blazing fast now. I went Win7 for the Trim for the SSD.

[lordsmurf]

A lot of video capturing, editing and DVD authoring software does NOT work beyond Windows XP.
That's because of how MS changed the way a/v functions.
In a few cases, it's hardware related.

Vista and 7 are newer, not necessarily better.

[jimdagys]

I updated my cell phone from xp to Windows 7 and am quite happy with it. (See screenshot).

[Noahtuck]

A lot of video capturing, editing and DVD authoring software does NOT work beyond Windows XP.

Such as ?

The only thing that i ever had problems with was a photo editing program, Photodex Cpic or CompuPic.

Other than that, all the usual editing, converting, authoring, etc. programs have worked for me on W7 64bit.

There may have been a couple of other obscure programs that did not work but it has been awhile so.....

And the only hardware related problems i ever had were because the manufacturers did not or would not release updated drivers so they could make you buy new hardware so they could make more $$$
Which seem's to be more prevalent than software issues.

[p_l]

Such as ?

Arguably one of the best DVD authoring programs ever, Ulead DVD Workshop 2.

I blame Corel, the evil Canadian company who bought the Taiwanese Ulead brand only to kill it, essentially, making DWS abandonware, alas. One of the primary reasons I made one of my Win 7 machines dual boot to XP was to be able to keep using it. Oh, and also Ulead GIF Animator.

[lordsmurf]

ATI MMC
Ulead DVDWS2

... bunch of other stuff I don't use daily, so I forget.

There's also a lot of older .NET apps that won't work in Win7, even through they were fine in XP or Vista. And it doesn't matter even if all OS have same .NET version. Again, looking at video and media software here.

[oldfart13]

Luxand Faceswapper will not work under Win 7 32 bit even using the Windows XP SP 2 compatible mode. You will get an error. Luxand is aware of the problem but won't help you if you've bought the program. Lovely, no? Most other programs work but I've also run into some old games having problems (Red Alert 2 and other old Westwood games especially). So it goes...