What do i need for Windows 7?

[Eagle101]

Hi all,

on all my three systems i got XP frankly i feel a little old or left out lol. I was going to make the jump for Vista until i heard of Win7, i would like to know the tech specs since Vista recommended 4GB will Win7 require the same amount?

How superior is it over WinXP? and what version of the OS would be best for a basic OS that can cope with games fine?

I noticed in a forum by Namakan that OEM windows will be a lot cheaper i assume OEM copies are bought mainly online? Thanks in advance techies

[=98=]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

Win7 is a lot, lot easier on resource usage meaning it will cope well with lower powered systems. To that end however, I would only bother installing it on your main gaming machine. Be sure to get the 64bit version. It's probably not worth putting it on a laptop unless you use it loads.

Your University should offer discount or free copies of the OS as well.

[Eagle101]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

Awesome, i will ask my uni if not i will just get an OEM btw OEM versions are only sold online right or are they sold on the spot too?

[=98=]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

Just online I believe.

[signa]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

Hi all,

on all my three systems i got XP frankly i feel a little old or left out lol. I was going to make the jump for Vista until i heard of Win7, i would like to know the tech specs since Vista recommended 4GB will Win7 require the same amount?

How superior is it over WinXP? and what version of the OS would be best for a basic OS that can cope with games fine?

I noticed in a forum by Namakan that OEM windows will be a lot cheaper i assume OEM copies are bought mainly online? Thanks in advance techies

you know about the super pre-order prices right?

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy...pre-order.aspx

$49 for home premium, $99 for pro.
you can order from newegg or online retailers

[AlecJ32]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

I was going to make the jump for Vista until i heard of Win7, i would like to know the tech specs since Vista recommended 4GB will Win7 require the same amount?

Windows Vista recommends 1 gig of system memory, and can run comfortably with only 1 gig of system memory. Windows Vista only uses about 500mb of System Memory, and the rest of it's memory usage due to a service called superfetch. Superfetch caches files and programs in your memory for faster loading.

Since Windows 7 is essentially Windows Vista on a low-level, Windows 7 should run just as well with 4 gigs of memory as Windows Vista runs.

How superior is it over WinXP? and what version of the OS would be best for a basic OS that can cope with games fine?

Windows 7 is vastly superior to Windows XP. Windows XP is on the verge of obsolete, and Windows Vista and Windows 7 are almost a must have on higher end machines.

As for which edition, I would recommend you get Windows 7 Home Premium. Unless you run active directory on your home network (If you don't know what that is, you're not using it) and need to join Windows Server Domains, there's really no reason to go with Windows 7 Professional.

I noticed in a forum by Namakan that OEM windows will be a lot cheaper i assume OEM copies are bought mainly online? Thanks in advance techies

Right now you can pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for only $50. Though it looks like you're European, so I don't think you'll be able to do that. The European Union has really hurt European End-Users....

[[GCA]Tim270]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

Windows 7 is vastly superior to Windows XP. Windows XP is on the verge of obsolete, and Windows Vista and Windows 7 are almost a must have on higher end machines.

Source/info? Im not an Xp fanboy by any means, but there has to been something really worth digging out some money for other than looks.

[Eagle101]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

Well i am pretty much convinced then lol :p I am middle eastern btw. I go to uni in the UK so i might be able to get it from there from the uni as alex said or i would have to order it from a online retailer. I hope they are not overpriced.

[AlecJ32]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

Source/info? Im not an Xp fanboy by any means, but there has to been something really worth digging out some money for other than looks.

Let me go through a few of the large improvements Windows 7 has over Windows XP off the top of my head:

• An improved kernel
• Improved memory management, including features like superfetch
• A greatly improved driver model (Windows XP's driver model was heavily based off of Windows 95's driver model)
• An improved Window Manager which takes advantage of graphics hardware to render the desktop and windows, as opposed to using the CPU on Windows XP
• An improved security stack
• New APIs, including WASAPI and DirectX 10/11
• Driver Model Support for GPU Memory Virtualization and GPU Memory Management
• Aero desktop compositing
• Vector graphic based icons vs raster based icons on XP
• Enhanced stability by putting more of the display driver code in the User Mode of the Windows Architecture

Now, if you have less than 4 gigs of memory and Windows XP, and it meets your needs perfectly, you might not find it worth it to upgrade to Windows 7. It just depends from person to person.

However, for people who need to buy a new copy of an OS anyways, Windows 7 is certainly the best option.

If you're interested in Windows 7, the Release Candidate is still available, and you could simply dual boot XP and Windows 7 RC to compare for yourself.

[=98=]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

The enhanced stability from the WDDM drivers is appeals to me.

[Battl3fr0nt]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

I have been running Win7 RC as my main OS for a while now and it is a huge upgrade from Vista as far as speed goes.. I had not had one crash or any probs running games on the OS and this is not even the final release, they are updating it all the time.. the GUI is perfect.. I am getting it the day it comes out..

I have been trashing it with downloads and apps that I will never even use just to see how well it runs them with my hardware and I must say this is one OS worth buying.. I am going to do a clean install when it comes out of corse.. I would also like to add, it installs very fast and the boot time is insane when you compare it to vistas boot time.. and yes 64bit is the way to good in this day and age.. I can really say I love Win7 and it is the most Stable OS I have used.. I have had more probs with XP.. lol. THEY HAVE DONE IT RIGHT!! YAY!

[Eagle101]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

Hang on battlefront, does the CPU have any effect on boot time for the OS?

[=98=]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

Not hugely so, no. Obviously a Core 2 Quad will be a lot faster than a Pentium 3 though.

[[GCA]Tim270]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

So I went and downloaded Win7, then found I had no DVD's left....


FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[megawhompertoo]

Re: What do i need for Windows 7?

Does the win 7 upgrade advisor work well enough with peripherals to figure out if my scanner, printer, logitech kb/mouse/speakerphone/etc. will still function? The $49 offer is tempting enough to make me feel like breaking out my wallet...

...but I'm not in the humor to spend $49 on the upgrade, and then have my OS turn my scanner into a brick, or have to spend another $300 on new peripherals.

Yeah, dual boot would work in a pinch...but its not ideal and I don't fancy having an OS per hd.

I just want my stuff to still work after I give MS my money, lol.