I am not seeing much incentive to upgrade to Win 7

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

The only thing I would want from Win 7 is the ability to uninstall a whole bunch of native window apps (WMP, Photo Gallergy, Movie Maker, IE), and therefore making the windows installation more compact and more customized to my wants and needs. Vista has been rock solid for me, IE7 still crashes sometimes but mainly due to weak wireless or flash stuff. The new theme in Win 7 is meh to me, I prefer classic theme anyway for its functional look.

Anyway, how large is the installation for Win 7? When Vista Home Premium was installed I remember it was a 10gb installation. Don't want to buy a larger HD to accomodate a new OS>


Since this is an Operating Systems topic and there's plenty of Win7 discussion in the Operating Systems forum, please continue any Win7 discussion in Operating Systems :beer:

AnandTech Moderator
mechBgon

 

[thegpfury]

I'm using the first beta of Win 7, and I'm pretty impressed. It seems to run a lot smoother and faster than Vista did. I use Vista x64 regularly on my systems, and I'm thinking that I'm going to upgrade to 7 when it comes out. It just seems more complete than vista does.

 

[Fox5]

You can already strip a lot of those windows components out of Vista. If not using the add and remove windows components feature after install, then use vlite to create a custom vista install disk with all the software you do want, and without the software you don't.

BTW, Windows 7 is mostly just a refresh of vista to make it sellable again. It's like the wii, internally the hardware is basically a gamecube, but add a new marketing campaign, new look, and new controller and suddenly it's the best selling thing out there.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm sticking with Vista.

 

[wjgollatz]

I was looking forward to Windows 7 because everyone says it really is good, because I have XP. However, Windows 7 requires a clean install for XP users. And that is a bummer. I will eventually upgrade, but I will not be standing outside for a store to open in order to do a fresh install when Windows 7 is released.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Any XP box will be migrated to Windows 7. So I'll have Windows 7, Vista x64, WHS, and Ubuntu running.

The fact that Windows 7 beta (7000 build) is running wonderfully on my netbook is enough for me to get the OS. I wonder what the 64-bit version would do on my desktop.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: thegpfury
I'm using the first beta of Win 7, and I'm pretty impressed. It seems to run a lot smoother and faster than Vista did. I use Vista x64 regularly on my systems, and I'm thinking that I'm going to upgrade to 7 when it comes out. It just seems more complete than vista does.

Same here.

I didn't switch over to Vista until June of last year. I like it, although, I do have several Vista-exclusive features disabled.

Just installed W7 build 7100 on my laptop (1.7Ghz C2D, 8400GS, 4GB RAM, 7200RPM) and I'm impressed with what I've seen so far. It does seem like an overhaul of Vista, but it seems faster. I'm liking some of the changes that I see, especially the new library feature. Ultimately, I'll upgrade to W7, but not sure exactly when.

When Vista first came out, problems with drivers and applications was a problem. Will that be the same way with W7? What little I've read about it seems to indicate that anything that works on Vista will work in W7 (generally speaking).

 

[GrumpyMan]

I currently use XP Pro SP3 and am looking forward to W7, most everyone seems to like it overall. I've skipped Vista this time, not due to the supposed problems some people have had with it, but because I have been very happy with XP and have not felt a need to upgrade thus far. I do want to move to 64 bit computing however so it looks like W7 it is.

 

[Spineshank]

I just installed 7 last night on my main pc. Been liking it a lot better than Vista.

 

[winsantz]

Installing Windows 7 Ultimate x64 build 7000 left me with under 1 GB free on a 30 GB SSD, so space is definitely an issue. The x86 version will eat about 15 GB IIRC.

 

[MedicBob]

Probably have a Win 7 machine. Definately will have a few VMs of it.

 

[akugami]

For those upgrading from XP & Vista, there is an XP Mode in certain versions of Win7 for increased compatibility of apps. There are also general bug fixes and stuff so that's one incentive to upgrade. I haven't had much chance to play with Win7 but from what I hear it's generally a little more responsive.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I'm going to upgrade from Vista HP x64 to Win7 Pro. Mostly because I want the complete pc backup, previous versions and RDP functionality. But with it being on the horizon, I can wait without upgrading to Vista Ultimate.

 

[seriouscat]

Originally posted by: winsantz
Installing Windows 7 Ultimate x64 build 7000 left me with under 1 GB free on a 30 GB SSD, so space is definitely an issue. The x86 version will eat about 15 GB IIRC.

Is this because the x64 version pretty much as to also install 99% of the x86 code to insure 32bit app compatibility? I dont actually know the answer, geniunely curious.

I'd love it if they (MS) would release an optional pure 64bit version that did have to facilitate(sp) 32bit support. Its like that WINSXS folder in Vista64. I have no idea what it is but it sure as hell takes up a lot of space?


My main requirement to switch from Vista64 to Win7 is:
1) Smaller install footprint
2) Faster bootup
3) Works as well as XP on a 2gb (which is kinda wishful thinking I guess)

 

[dguy6789]

I'm going to 7 because I love new stuff :3

 

[Rottie]

windows xp pro for me on my main rig and vista HP on my notebook I feel more comfortable with windows xp cuz it is snappy than vista

 

[tatteredpotato]

Originally posted by: Rottie
windows xp pro for me on my main rig and vista HP on my notebook I feel more comfortable with windows xp cuz it is snappy than vista

Windows 7 is like taking all the features from Vista, and making them run as fast as XP.

 

[HendrixFan]

Originally posted by: seriouscat

Originally posted by: winsantz
Installing Windows 7 Ultimate x64 build 7000 left me with under 1 GB free on a 30 GB SSD, so space is definitely an issue. The x86 version will eat about 15 GB IIRC.

Is this because the x64 version pretty much as to also install 99% of the x86 code to insure 32bit app compatibility? I dont actually know the answer, geniunely curious.

I'd love it if they (MS) would release an optional pure 64bit version that did have to facilitate(sp) 32bit support. Its like that WINSXS folder in Vista64. I have no idea what it is but it sure as hell takes up a lot of space?


My main requirement to switch from Vista64 to Win7 is:
1) Smaller install footprint
2) Faster bootup
3) Works as well as XP on a 2gb (which is kinda wishful thinking I guess)

My Windows 7 install (x64) was just under 16GB or so with a few programs installed. I disabled the hiberfile, saving me 4GB and moved the virtual memory to another drive saving me another 2GB. Now I sit at just a little over 10GB for my install.

I plan on upgrading my machine and having a SSD drive to boot off of, which is why I was seeing how little I could slice down the install size to. Any games that I install will have to go straight to the raptor drive.

 

[JackBurton]

I'll be using Windows 7 in a VM just like Vista.

 

[rockyct]

Originally posted by: Fox5
You can already strip a lot of those windows components out of Vista. If not using the add and remove windows components feature after install, then use vlite to create a custom vista install disk with all the software you do want, and without the software you don't.

BTW, Windows 7 is mostly just a refresh of vista to make it sellable again. It's like the wii, internally the hardware is basically a gamecube, but add a new marketing campaign, new look, and new controller and suddenly it's the best selling thing out there.

That's basically it. There are not many driver problems because it's so close to Vista, just like XP didn't have a ton of driver issues because 2k had been out. UAC also has different levels so it's easy to make it less annoying. The beta/RC has been very polished so there hasn't been much negative PR about bugs. Microsoft screwed up the PR with Vista but vendors were a problem with driver issues (Microsoft shares some blame though).

Either way, Win7 is just a very polished version of Vista that just runs a little better. It's absolutely worth upgrading if you're still using XP but it's a harder sell if you're happy with Vista. There will still be some diehards that will keep using XP, but when Win7 comes out you won't hear about people wanting to downgrade to XP and other strongly negative PR.

Windows Home Server is another OS from Microsoft that gets overlooked, but that's a different thread.

 

[randomlinh]

I'll be upgrading. Only on Vista because I couldn't hold out with my hackintosh. Windows 7 is basically what vista should have been. And that's why I'll be upgrading.

Debating on upgrading my box now to RC1... not sure how smooth that will be, on top of further upgrading to the final build. I'd be more willing to do t his if I could easily rollback to my vista install. Yes, I can just image it, but as of now, none of my free options like me, heh. I have acronis 11, but I haven't tested it w/ my hardware.. really should do that.

 

[Wuzup101]

I'm liking the RC thus far (I have it installed on both my notebook and on my desktop). It has been running solidly on both thus far (not like I've had it for long though). It has everything I like about XP/Vista but runs smoother and faster than the latter... and has more features than the former. Baring any unforseen problems that I have, I'll be buying a copy for at least one of these PCs (if not both) when it launches. The thing I love about the RC is it gives me plenty of time to decided and test it out for myself.

 

[Modelworks]

I will be upgrading if for no other reason than the display driver changes. Working with multiple windows open is a lot faster.