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7 Myths About Windows 7
Yahoo! Finance ^ | 10-22-2009 | David LaGesse

Posted on 10/23/2009 12:42:52 PM PDT by Mr Fuji

Yes, Windows 7 didn't even hit the market until Thursday. But that hasn't stopped a fog of myths from enveloping the newest version of the much loved--and much hated--PC operating system from Microsoft.

[Slide Show: The Best of What's New in Windows 7.]

The software giant hoped that wide exposure to Windows 7 would help smooth its entry. Microsoft let millions of consumers and professionals download test versions of the operating system. And by a wide margin, testers have found the new system to be the best yet from Microsoft. Version 7 is leaner, more useful, and prettier than past editions--a worthy effort to update the Windows world.

Still, the fictions are legion. Much of it is innocent confusion that accompanies any major software release. Some of it arises from Microsoft apologists trying to bury the botched release of Windows Vista, sniping Apple fans who want the Mac to continue gaining market share, or diehard techies who revere free Linux software.

[Why some analysts argue that Linux is better than Windows or the Mac.]

With so much misinformation swirling, we've sorted through seven points that are confusing consumers:

1. It's only a minor update to Vista. Overstated, but there is some truth. With Win7, Microsoft had the luxury of going back to basics. Vista was a massive effort to update the core of Windows. The edition following Vista didn't have to be as ambitious. Programmers could focus on the edges of Vista, reducing its hardware-hog tendencies and annoying security nags. But Microsoft went further, adding consumer-friendly functions to paint Windows 7 as an upgrade. HomeGroups greatly simplify home networking, libraries organize jumbled collections of files, and multifinger power makes touch screens more powerful.

(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Hobbies; Miscellaneous; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: ilovebillgates; iwanthim; iwanthimbad; iwanthimthemost; iwanthimworsethanyou; iwanttohavehisbaby; microsoftfanboys; vista; windows; xp
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1 posted on 10/23/2009 12:42:52 PM PDT by Mr Fuji
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To: ShadowAce

One for the TECH PING list.


2 posted on 10/23/2009 12:44:06 PM PDT by Mr Fuji
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To: Mr Fuji

I’ve got Vista on my home computer (purchased in August 2007) and I’ve had zero problems with it.


3 posted on 10/23/2009 12:47:30 PM PDT by SoldierDad (Proud Dad of a U.S. Army Infantry Soldier whose wife is expecting twins SONS.)
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To: rdb3; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; GodGunsandGuts; CyberCowboy777; Salo; Bobsat; JosephW; ...

4 posted on 10/23/2009 12:47:30 PM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: SoldierDad

same here..


5 posted on 10/23/2009 12:50:40 PM PDT by brivette
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To: Mr Fuji

That’s a fair article.

I’ve run W7 on my home machine for about a month via a Technet subscription offering(RTM version, the same that came out yesterday). I ran the RC before that.

Today I updated one of my work desktops(the main one) and all is peachy. Quite happy with it.

Vista was a disaster.


6 posted on 10/23/2009 12:51:39 PM PDT by Malsua
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To: Mr Fuji

I’m installing my programs on my Dell Inspiron B130 laptop after an upgrade to Windows 7 from XP Pro. So far things have been smooth other than a few updates to my CD/DVD ROM drive that I needed to dig around Dell’s website to find.

7 is slick. It loads a little faster than XP and that’s saying something: I run a 1.3MB Celeron processor with 1G DDR RAM. I never used Vista so I really can’t compare the two but so far things are very good.

The sticky notes are great. Menus seem a bit more intuitive, less confusing and I’m looking forward to exploring the Libraries function...after I’m not fuzzed by the flu.


7 posted on 10/23/2009 12:54:06 PM PDT by Kieri (The Conservatrarian)
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To: Mr Fuji
I tried Windows 7 out today at Walmart, managed to get the infamous Blue Screen of Death! I had it search for a wireless device and whammo!
8 posted on 10/23/2009 12:55:14 PM PDT by al44
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To: Mr Fuji
Oh gee look. A rush of positive spin stories come out ahead of Microsoft launching yet another episode of, "Name that BotNet."

I'm going back to watching cartoons. At least when Bullwinkle says, "Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" it doesn't cost money when it still doesn't work.

I swear, Windows users are like abused spouses. Microsoft keeps giving them a black eye but the users just keep coming back to them.

9 posted on 10/23/2009 12:57:15 PM PDT by Knitebane (Happily Microsoft free since 1999.)
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To: Mr Fuji

The article was anything but convincing.

Even the linked [Slide Show: The Best of What’s New in Windows 7] didn’t have much other than fancier graphics, translucent borders, etc. Yippie. Just what I’ve been salivating for — near-invisible borders. [/s]


10 posted on 10/23/2009 1:12:45 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: Kieri
I run a 1.3MB Celeron processor with 1G DDR RAM. I never used Vista so I really can’t compare the two but so far things are very good.

OMG, thank your lucky stars you didn't try to run Vista on that! You would have pulled out a gun and shot it! XP and W7 seem to me to run equivalently on similar hardware, something that Vista could never do.

11 posted on 10/23/2009 1:23:11 PM PDT by Big Giant Head (Running my computer bare naked for over a year with no infections at all.)
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To: brivette; SoldierDad

Same here


12 posted on 10/23/2009 1:27:31 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: Mr Fuji
OK, for the Windows-heads out there.... I run Vista on my MacBook Pro (2007, 2.2 GHz Core2Duo), BOTH as a "boot-up" OS, AND as a virtual machine under VMWare Fusion. It's the same drive being used in both situations, and I have the same setup going for Fedora 11 Linux.

I'm a happy camper, except for Vista being such a resource hog. I have 4 gigs of RAM, and when I run it as a virtual machine under Snow Leopard, I have horrible performance on any other large-memory task running on the Mac side. (Chip simulations, or complex & large Photoshop files.)

So,

  1. What's the best way to upgrade to Win7 that will a) be painless, and b) slim down as much as possible the RAM footprint of Windows? and
  2. Is there any difference with the boot-loader operation of Win7? I heard that it's now based on EFI. That could be good in the long run - Mac OS X is based on EFI as well, and I use rEFIt to boot between Mac, Win, and Linux. However, I'm concerned that it will gum up my current partitioning / booting configuration.
Thanks in advance for any feedback you can give....
13 posted on 10/23/2009 1:28:23 PM PDT by Yossarian
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To: Knitebane

And Apple users (or whatever you use) are what, Knitebane?


14 posted on 10/23/2009 1:33:32 PM PDT by No_More_Harkin
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To: Knitebane

Funny, but I’ve yet to have a problem with Windows (running XP on my work laptop and Vista at home) - this goes back to the days when I was in College too (early versions of Windows).


15 posted on 10/23/2009 1:40:49 PM PDT by SoldierDad (Proud Dad of a U.S. Army Infantry Soldier whose wife is expecting twins SONS.)
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To: Knitebane
I'm going back to watching cartoons

Don't worry. God has a special plan in place for those less fortunate.

16 posted on 10/23/2009 2:11:44 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici
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To: Knitebane

LOL
Come here, let me dot your eye for you....
Let me guess, you drive a Ford too?


17 posted on 10/23/2009 2:12:20 PM PDT by ßuddaßudd (7 days - 7 ways Guero >>> with a floating, shifting, ever changing persona.....)
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To: al44
I tried Windows 7 out today at Walmart, managed to get the infamous Blue Screen of Death! I had it search for a wireless device and whammo!

******************************************

I love that BSOD ,, the TSOD with Vista just didn't seem right.. To be fair I haven't had a TSOD in a while but despite all the fixes Vista still won't let me modify files and things due to security bugs (yes, all my settings are "correct").

18 posted on 10/23/2009 2:35:01 PM PDT by Neidermeyer
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To: Malsua

Backward compatible for x32 peripherals?

Vista is Fxxx’d. I am running Virtual Machine so I don’t have to buy a new laser printer and I prefer classic features of XP.


19 posted on 10/23/2009 2:35:04 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.)
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To: No_More_Harkin
And Apple users (or whatever you use) are what, Knitebane?

I don't currently own an Apple. The closest thing I have to it is an ancient Sun IPX. It has the same Motorola 68030 chip that a lot of early Macs (and a lot of Cisco routers) had, but it has Solaris 2.51 on it. And it's retired and in the attic.

Currently I'm running a mix of Ubuntu, CentOS, RedHat, FreeBSD and OpenBSD, depending on what the machine needs to do.

I banished Windows from my network a long time ago. I've not missed it.

20 posted on 10/23/2009 2:57:12 PM PDT by Knitebane (Happily Microsoft free since 1999.)
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