Windows 7 set to break sales records (Win 7 more popular than final Harry Potter book)

The Times, UK ^ | October 22, 2009 | DSGi,

[SmokingJoe]

Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 7, is on course to break sales records following its launch today.

The online retailer Amazon said that it was the “biggest grossing pre-order product of all time”, having overtaken the likes of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Nintendo’s Wii.

Speaking at the launch of Windows 7 yesterday, Jeremy Fennell, Category Director at DSGi, which owns Dixons, Currys and PC World, said: “We have sold more copies of Windows 7 in three weeks on pre-order than Vista sold in its first year.”

At midnight, queues could be seen outside stores as computers users got ready to upgrade their PCs to the new system as soon as possible.

[Boucheau]

You cannot upgrade directly from XP to Windows 7.

However, Windows has a much improved files and settings transfer utility dubbed "Windows Easy Transfer".

To use the the Windows Easy Transfer utility you will:

1. Login to XP
2. Insert Windows 7 disc
3. Navigate to \support\migwiz folder
4. Double-click migwiz.exe to launch the utility
5. Follow the instructions to save your files and settings to another PC using a cable, network drive/folder, or you can save them to a hard disk or USB device.

6. On the Windows 7 system, run the utility again by navigating to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Windows Easy Transfer. The utility will then help you copy the files and setting to the new setup using the backup file your created in step 5.

Warning: Backup your files BEFORE you attempt this transfer. Whether you backup to an external drive or an online backup service, or to CD's or DVD's, just be sure to safeguard your data first.

Note: An Easy Transfer Cable is a cable designed to work with Windows Easy Transfer wizard. A USB cable will not work. You can find this cable online at quite a few stores. You can find some retailers who carry it here.

[GOPJ]

thanks for the ping

[proudofthesouth]

First of all the speed. Vista took up so much space and every time MicroSoft updated it (which was frequent) it continued to eat up even more storage which slowed my system down even more.

To give you an example: With Vista it took my Compaq 10 FULL minutes to power up and down (I kid you not!).

I timed my new HP with Windows 7 this morning and from hitting the power on button to accessing the internet it took less than 2.5 minutes.

I no longer feel as if I’m on slower than slow dial up and feel like I’m back on Windows XP with extras. The speed and screens are great. I love the feel and design of this new HP.

I got a great buy with warranty and service at my local Staples. Every place else that I’ve looked is selling this laptop for more $$ and I’ve been doing business with this particular Staples for many years (this is the second laptop I’ve purchased from them) and IMO their geeks are very knowledgeable.

I’m very happy.

[catnipman]

LOL! I’m not a mac crazy. I make my living fixing the bizillions of things that constantly go wrong with Windows operating systems and their applications. And make a damn good living too, thank you very much. Been doing this for over 10 years, and am very good at it. I constantly do research to try to stay informed about as much as possible. So, I do know quite a lot about XP, Vista, and now Windows 7.

Let me repeat: Windows 7 is just Vista. So, if you love Vista, you’ll love W7. If you hate Vista (like most people), you’ll most likely hate W7. So, I advise people to do what 90% of the business world does: stick with XP. They’ll be much happier.

There was never a compelling business case for Vista, and there won’t be for W7, either. That’s why HP and Dell repeatedly forced MS to back down on their periodic attempts to withdraw XP, namely, HP and Dell would have gone broke, and Vista was such a miserable failure in the business marketplace that MS had no mojo to withdraw XP. MS even finally gave up making announcements about XP’s demise. And looks like Dell and HP have learned their lesson over Vista, too. Unlike when Vista was released, and Dell and HP withdrew XP and were forced to reintroduce it, all of Dell’s and HP’s business systems include a “Windows 7 to XP downgrade” option right from the get go. I suspect that Dell and HP also forced MS to keep distributing XP until/if Windows 7 dominates in the business world.

[o2bfree]

I just upgraded!!

I went from Windows XP to Ubuntu Linux. Couldn’t be happier!

[Covenantor]

The real reason why MSFT shot up by 5% on Friday

[dennisw]

Windows 7 makes it lot easier to keep track of multiple tabs opened in multiple Firefox or Internet Explorer windows. A huge plus

[antiRepublicrat]

It very smooth, solid, and unobtrusive(as any good OS should be). It just lets you get on with your work, without you even noticing it's there. Plus it has some sweet usability features, which you just come to love, and wonder how you managed to do without in Vista.

Compared to XP and especially Vista (still not a very good OS) it is good. I'm using it too, although not as my main OS (I have a whole virtual network going). But all of what you said is good about it is an attempt to copy what is already good in OS X. There's nothing I've seen using 7 that even tempts me to switch back to Windows for my main OS.

[Publius6961]

There's no explaining human nature.
Windows 7 is Vista with a gazillion$ of propaganda behind it, and paid for reviewers.

When independent testers get access to the for-sale version, they will probably confirm that the DRM overhead and the hardware-disabling nanny is still very much there.

Who needs that?

[Publius6961]

Oh I remember now.

You're one of the official Resident Microsoft shills on FR.

Good luck!

[Publius6961]

There's a great new Apple ad to that effect here:

Got to admit, I'm not switching to Apple anytime soon, if ever, but that is one of my favorite (as in really enjoy watching) commercials.

[Publius6961]

Do you want me to being you a bunch of links from CNET, detailing myriad problems with Snow Leopard?

Sure.
Knowledge is power.

But them, your puppet masters at MS may not look too kindly on wasting your time. Focus now, you're here to sell Windows 7!

[Publius6961]

Also the annoying security “features” of Vista have been toned down.

Therein lies the "GOTCHA!"

If they eliminated them, I might think about upgrading my legal copies of XP....

[discostu]

Of course if they eliminated them then they’d go back to the old problem of users basically having root access by default which makes the system much more vulnerable. By leaving in UAC (which really is the most annoying of the Vista security features) they make the user make some mouse clicks to make themselves root, and then the vulnerability is the user’s fault.

[Publius6961]

By leaving in UAC (which really is the most annoying of the Vista security features) they make the user make some mouse clicks to make themselves root, and then the vulnerability is the user’s fault.

I'm sure most (95%) of MS users are ecstatic at that explanation.

< /sarc >

[discostu]

Doesn’t matter if they’re ecstatic, it was the smart move for them. Two of the constant hits they get is that accounts default to admin, and admin is god, which is the real primary source of the security vulnerability in Windows. With Vista/ 2008/ 7/ R2 that’s gone, accounts don’t default to admin and by default only the installed admin account has god privileges, now users have to go out of their way to be a constant risk to their network. The users that complain have only themselves to blame, if they didn’t click on every damn thing that crosses their desk spreading viruses like iloveyou MS wouldn’t have to treat them like idiots.

[SmokingJoe]

“But all of what you said is good about it is an attempt to copy what is already good in OS X.”

Nonsense.
Eaerlier versions of OSX itself copied features that first appeared in Vista's beta. Apple has never invented anything in their lives. They never invented the GUI’ for example, yet to hear the mindless Applebots tell it, you'd think Apple invented everything.

“There's nothing I've seen using 7 that even tempts me to switch back to Windows for my main OS.”

There is nothing on this planet, that will make me use ANY Apple product, not even a gun pointed at my head. Windows 7 is as solid as they come, runs more apps than OSX, runs more AAA games than OSX, supports more peripherals and accessories, and its far more useful to me than OSX would ever be. Plus Windows PC’s cost a heck of a lot less than Apple macs for more features.
Way I see it, you gotta be a nuts or an idiot or both, to go buy an overpriced Apple mac. But hey, each to his own.

[SmokingJoe]

“Sure.
Knowledge is power.”

Apple acknowledges Snow Leopard data loss issue
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10373064-260.html

CNET News Daily Podcast: Snow Leopard's disappearing trick explained
Why is Apple's new Snow Leopard OS gobbling up some users’ files? We sit down with CNET’s Erica Ogg to talk about the rare problem and what Apple is doing about
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11424_3-10374411-90.html

Finder Error -10810 in Snow Leopard causing problems
number of people are having a problem where the Finder will hang or crash, followed by a Finder error message saying “The application Finder.app can't be opened. -10810.”
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10365239-263.html

Snow Leopard cannot be installed on Macintosh HD the disk “cannot be used to start up your computer”
When trying to install Snow Leopard, some people are having a problem where the installer will not recognize the current boot drive as a valid destination for Snow Leopard
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10330520-263.html

Freezes in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
In a growing forum on the Apple Support Discussions site, several users express dismay over an issue with Snow Leopard continually freezing, especially after updating to 10.6.1.
In a growing forum on the Apple Support Discussions site, several users express dismay over an issue with Snow Leopard continually freezing, especially after updating to 10.6.1.

AirPort dropouts in Snow Leopard
Many users have been finding that under Snow Leopard they are having dropouts while using wireless Internet via AirPort.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10370940-263.html

You want more?

[SmokingJoe]

“You’re one of the official Resident Microsoft shills on FR.”

That, coming from yet another mindless Apple zombie, who lives to say; “How high”, whenever Steve Jobs commands him to jump, is laughable.

[SmokingJoe]

“Windows 7 is Vista with a gazillion$ of propaganda behind it, and paid for reviewers”

Unless you can show me where Microsoft paid The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg to shill for Win 7, my only reply to that piece of nonsense from you is, STOP TAKNG HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS. They mess with your mind, make you lose your orientation and become paranoid, and eat away at what few brain cells you were born with in the first place.

“When independent testers get access to the for-sale version, they will probably confirm that the DRM overhead and the hardware-disabling nanny is still very much there.”

I don't need “independent” testers to tell me how good an Windows 7 is, when I have been using that operating system for over a year. Neither do the 8 million people who downloaded and used Windows 7 every day for the past 12 months. You can't get any better than the personal expriences of 8 million independent users