Windows 7

[Podmark]

I'm a Vista user and I'm exploring the possibility of switching over to Windows 7, as I can get it through my college. I read the review of it on CNET and it seemed pretty decent. I was wondering if any of our tech-ier members might have an opinion?
I'm particularly concerned about program compatibility, like for example Freedom Force and some of my other games, and stuff like nifskope.

Also if I do switch over I need to decide whether to go 64 bit. My machine is 64 bit but the Vista install it came with was 32. Anything I should be aware if I go 64?

[detourne_me]

All hearsay but...
64bit windows 7 uses 2 gigs of ram at least
it's much easier and nicer to use than vista
my friend (a programmer) had a video chat on google with me to see how it works, the camera worked fine from install, but he had to update the drivers for his mic to work... took him about 20 minutes to fix i think.
He got the "Ultimate"-i think version from his work,  and was pretty excited about it.
I'm going to wait a few months then hopefully build a new rig for windows 7,  ddr3 ram, new motherboard etc.

[thalaw2]

Don't worry about program compatibility.  Download yer'self virtualbox  and you should be ok.

[tommyboy]

I got the beta/release candidate freebie thing of windows 7 ultimate, and for once was moderately impressed.
Ff and ffv3r both work without any fuss, as do most other XP applications I use.
The one thing which I have yet to see work is 3dsMax, as C-dilla, (the licensing software), is incompatible with 7.
So I have a dual boot, which works fine.

[cmdrkoenig67]

Ugh...That was one of my biggest issues with Vista, My 3DMax wouldn't work anymore.  If it doesn't work for Win7 either, that's really disappointing.  It's good to hear that both  and  work on it....I've not been able to play  since getting Vista.

Dana

[Previsionary]

Ugh...That was one of my biggest issues with Vista, My 3DMax wouldn't work anymore.  If it doesn't work for Win7 either, that's really disappointing.  It's good to hear that both  and  work on it....I've not been able to play  since getting Vista.

Dana

That's not Microsoft's problem to fix. That falls on DISCREET/3DS Max for discontinuing their support on other versions of Max once they move so far in their numbering system and advancements. I really doubt you'll be able to use 3ds max 3-7 on Windows 7 because the same issue pretty much remains in play.

[Nymie_the_Pooh]

I'm running Windows 7 but kept an XP partition because there are a few games that don't work for me in 7.  Up until recently I had issues with any Game for Windows Live game, but there was an update and those games fine for me now.  Up until the update they kept saying on their forums that Windows 7 wasn't supported.  That was the biggie.  The first Gothic, Arcanum, Oblivion, and Fallout 3 all produce graphical glitches under 7 for me.  I can install them with 7 and run them with XP and have no problems though.  Most everything else runs fine.

The Steam version of both Freedom Force games work just fine under 7 for me.  If you have issues in Vista you may also have issues in 7 however.  According to the Steam forums it looks like a lot of the problems with running the games in Vista can be traced directly to sound issues.  Vista and 7 use a different means of handling sound than what XP used.  Every case I've heard where somebody was able to get the game to work in XP, but not Vista was solved by either turning on compatibility, or messing with the audio settings.  The easiest way to track down if it is a sound issue is to disable your sound card.  If that fixes it then you know it's a sound issue.  Then it's just a matter of tracking down exactly what is going on with the sound so you can turn your sound card back on.  Otherwise most everything is backwards compatible.  Many of the drivers for 7 are the same drivers used in Vista so a lot of the solutions are the same for the two.

Memory is probably the biggest thing to look at.  I've stripped some things out, and I'm still looking at my system using almost a gig just booting up.  I'd go with a bare minimum of two gigs of memory and that's if you don't want to run newer games or do much multitasking.  Definitely grab the 64bit version if you have four or more gigs of memory as 32bit is limited to four gigs but uses a little less than that due to windows holding some in reserve for itself even if it doesn't use it.

[Sevenforce]

As thalaw2 mentioned, VirtualBox (which is an absolutely astounding piece of excellent software, especially on a macintosh) is a factor in virtualizing a system, but don't forget Windows 7 already has something called XP mode, which is a virtualization of Windows XP while running Windows 7, you'll get the most of that if you have dual monitors or more, but even single monitors can reap the benefits, especially as you can individual programs outside that operating system but using the operating system kernel, instead of running it within a windowed OS.

Uh, I may need to explain that a bit more.

You can run a Windows XP program, within Windows 7, but without having to load up the entirety of Windows XP

Bit more info

Securable is an excellent program to check if your computer is capable of running that, by the way.

As for 64 bit vs 32 bit...well, I would recommend you check your hardware to make sure its all compatible, and see if you need to upgrade anything. You shouldn't REALLY need to update much, as 7 has been designed to be compatible/better on older systems, as long as you turn all the bells and whistles off, but still, its always a good idea to check. As detourne_me recommends, 2 gigs of ram is a minimum. I would recommend a 64 bit system, simply because of all the advantages it brings, such as being able to run the XP virtualization up there, and many other little doo-dads too numerous to mention. System performance is generally better too.

I'm currently running Windows 7 RC edition, and I was willing to go buy it the instant I installed it. This is the system Vista was meant to be, with a ton of under the hood improvements, as well as graphical updates, user compatibility updates, security updates, etc etc. However, I, personally, still have a problem with their audio improvements, mainly because I use multiple sound cards, but I don't think thats a problem with most people I also had a few problems with programs I moved over from XP, but most of them have updates and alternatives, or I was missing drivers, or it was me being stoopid.

There's a lot more I could say, but it would probably be better in a PM environment

[Podmark]

I used the securable program the other day, and my computer won't run the XP mode
I've got 2 gigs of ram, but I might look into upgrading to 4 gigs at some point.

[deano_ue]

has anyone tried any of CD versions of the games, i'm using the xploiv version of the game it works on vista. i'm thinking of getting a new laptop, but i have to make sure that CS3 works.

getting the game working would be a nice bonus

[UnfluffyBunny]

no issues with any of my old hardware, despite no windows 7 drivers for my wireless adapter, running in vista compatability works fine.
my surround sound speakers work again which they never did on vista with no modifications.
my graphics card had huge amounts of conflicts with vista and would crash ALOT (black outs that would classify as blue screening), no problems after upgrade.
certain games wouldnt play past certain points which is fixed now (dead space, mass effect, dragon age, borderlands, champions in certain areas)
certain games wouldnt play at all (stalker, half life 2)
loads faster than vista.
can run hexagon, blender, and photoshop cs4 in 3d mode simultaniously.

all in all, I only upgraded because I needed to wipe my system but it crashed every time I tried to make a back up disc,so I just wiped everything, and i'm glad I did, very happy with windows 7

[JeyNyce]

I switched to Windows 7 and never looked back.  I have the 64 bit version (with 6 Gigs of Ram) that's only because I like to play games at a very high settings.  If you have just 2-3gigs of memory, stick with 32 bit.  You're not going to see and improvements.

I'm a Tech and I approve Windows 7!

[Panther_Gunn]

I've heard there's still difficulties finding drivers for the 64-bit version of the OS.  Any insight?

[UnfluffyBunny]

anything I have that it couldnt find drivers for, I ran in vista mode, problem solved, everything works fine

[JeyNyce]

The only problems with drivers I had was with my soundcard (creative soundblaster)  which was creative fault because they were late in releasing the drivers for Windows 7.  Windows 7 picked up and installed everything else.  It also good to go online to see if there are updated drivers just in case

[Tomato]

Yeah, I have a 64bit copy of Windows 7 now, and I'm loving it. Apart from some relatively minor programs which require the 32-bit processing (most of which have 64-bit variations anyway) and of course Max, I haven't had any real problems with program compatibility... in fact, most of the time I have better compatibility with 7 then I did with Vista. And even with something like Max, which absolutely will NOT work on Vista or 7 due to licensing, I've had great luck with the XP mode they've advertised... I can open it directly whenever I want to work on something, and it's much less taxing then the Virtual PC method I was using before.

[daglob]

I've just switched over to Windows 7, and it won't let me patch my original copy of FF1. Is there a way around this?

[BlueBard]

I heard a rumor (unsubstantiated thus far) that XP mode in Windows 7 will be modified so that hardware virtualization support will no longer be a requirement.  If anyone can track that down, I'm interested.

I initially had issues upgrading to Windows 7, which was a free upgrade from Toshiba for certain models purchased within a certain time frame.  But I was able to download a more recent version of their upgrade assistant, which automates removing incompatible Toshiba software and reinstalling the Windows 7 compatible versions.

So far so good.  It allowed me to run Star Trek Online, which would NOT work on the Vista 64 load.  One of the edugames my kids play will not run under Windows 7 (but then it barely ran on Vista anyway).  I have yet to find anything else that won't work, but I haven't been looking that hard.

By the way, one reason to install Windows 7 is because manufacturers are unlikely to continue to support Vista drivers.  The drivers you have now will continue to work, but don't expect updated drivers.  That was my experience with the Toshiba.

[JeyNyce]

I've just switched over to Windows 7, and it won't let me patch my original copy of FF1. Is there a way around this?

See if you can run the file in XP compatible mode

[Sevenforce]

I heard a rumor (unsubstantiated thus far) that XP mode in Windows 7 will be modified so that hardware virtualization support will no longer be a requirement.  If anyone can track that down, I'm interested.

You mean this?

I've just switched over to Windows 7, and it won't let me patch my original copy of FF1. Is there a way around this?

Can you give a few more details? When you say "Won't let you", do you mean an error message comes up or something similar? If so, what's the message say?

[daglob]

When I run the patch a message (paraphrasing, I'm sorry) "Something has caused Datfix to quit running. Windows will now check to see if there is a solution". I get no error message number, or I'd have written it down and looked it up online. The annoying thing is, it get locked in a loop and keeps trying to run the program. I've tried killing the program, but Windows keeps loading it back up and trying to run it again, even after I've used the task manager or my process explorer to kill the program.

Silly question: FF1 (patched) DOES run on Windows 7, doesn't it?

[BlueBard]

Thanks, sevenforce!  That's exactly what I wanted to know.

Too bad the Home editions don't support XP mode.