Win7 Is it worth finally giving up XP?

That entire "I'll give Microsoft a little time to work out the bugs" attitude... man, that one really needs to be shelved, especially with Windows 7. It just works, seriously... but it's not offically out yet so that means out as in out in retail channels - it doesn't mean on MSDN or TechNet because those are still incredibly limited ways of accessing it (and yes, it's already leaked out and people are already using the actual final RTM code).

There's never been a version of Windows since Windows 95 where you couldn't pick/choose your own browser, so that's a wash also.

XP is stable because it's nearly 8 years old, give or take a few months. Anything that's been around that long will have proven itself over time. By definition, Windows 2000 is even more "stable" than XP is, to be honest...

I myself - and many many others - have been using Windows 7 for months not (me since last August), and it's been my primary OS ever since December on my workstation. I consider Windows 7 to be the pinnacle of everything Microsoft has worked to create over the decades. It is the finest and most stable OS "out of the box" that they've ever created, on effectively every front, and I simply can't even imagine using anything else anymore.

I had to restore a client's laptop last week because of some issues, and I swear, loading Vista from the factory restore discs was easy, but when it got up and running I swear to God, I hated it. I really despise it considering I have Windows 7 so ingrained in myself nowadays. I'd hit the Windows key and type a few letters, and wonder why Vista wasn't giving me what I was looking for... and then had to kick myself to remember "oh, yeah, this is Vista..." because Windows 7 is so much better in that respect.

Hunt and click on the Start Menu is a dead thing now, if only people would break that damned habit of it... that'll take a long long time for most. Luckily, I'm not one of 'em and I exist in a minority so small as to almost be excluded, which is fine.

I can't and won't recommend Vista or any other version of Windows anymore (not even XP Pro x64 which was my primary OS for nearly 5 years) now that Windows 7 is basically upon us. I hope people "get with the program" soon... 'cause there's no reason not to.
 
Joe,

I myself also love win 7 and the new improvements to usability.

However, I cant but help to feel I'm only scratching the surface of what it can do.

Through-out all this Win7 talk on here since beta I've been following your posts as a great source of info.

Now that RTM is upon us, any chance of a how-to guide? I'd love to read about all the improvements, GUI tricks, and optimizartions you've discovered so far and how to use them. I just cant help but feel I'm barely tapping the power of Win7.
 
XP Haters;

Remember, many of us don't care how "pretty" the OS is. Or any of the wizbang features. What matters to us is simply that it works and does what we expect it to do. In that regard, XP still reigns supreme for many of us. I have about 50 apps that I need to support, only about 10 of which work without an issue on Vista. The rest vary from needing minor tweaking to full on NOT working. It's more costly for me to run Vista than XP, so why would I even consider going that route?

Same goes for 7. If I have the same issues with the apps as I do with Vista, why would I bother? I understand there is an VM XP mode, and I plan on playing with that, but if it adds even more overhead to my job...why would I give myself headaches intentionally?

And yes, my vendors should upgrade their software to work with 7. No arguments. And yes, I know it's my vendors fault and not the OS. I'm not sure why this argument is supposed to mean anything to me; I don't care who's fault it is, I only know it doesn't work/costs me more to make it work. That's the only important part. Lastly, no it's not practical ( in most cases ) to move to a vendor who does have working software.
 
Ahh yes, SP1 Syndrome. Actually its not a bad thing sometimes. There's nothing wrong with letting others try before you buy. That's usually a smart thing to do with technology. Windows 7 is not different.

However, Windows 7 is architcturely very much the same as Vista so we are not talking about a whole new OS from an architcture standpoint. Vista is fairly mature now and Windows 7 is taking advantage of that.
 
demingo said:
Joe,

I myself also love win 7 and the new improvements to usability.

However, I cant but help to feel I'm only scratching the surface of what it can do.

Through-out all this Win7 talk on here since beta I've been following your posts as a great source of info.

Now that RTM is upon us, any chance of a how-to guide? I'd love to read about all the improvements, GUI tricks, and optimizartions you've discovered so far and how to use them. I just cant help but feel I'm barely tapping the power of Win7.
Click to expand...

Get really friendly with your Windows key, that's about all I can seriously offer. :D Use it, a lot if necessary, and use the Taskbar to it's full potential - the Quick Launch is dead, long live the Quick Launch...

And of course, the gold standard suggestion:

Leave it alone.
 
XOR != OR said:
XP Haters;

Remember, many of us don't care how "pretty" the OS is. Or any of the wizbang features. What matters to us is simply that it works and does what we expect it to do. In that regard, XP still reigns supreme for many of us. I have about 50 apps that I need to support, only about 10 of which work without an issue on Vista. The rest vary from needing minor tweaking to full on NOT working. It's more costly for me to run Vista than XP, so why would I even consider going that route?

Same goes for 7. If I have the same issues with the apps as I do with Vista, why would I bother? I understand there is an VM XP mode, and I plan on playing with that, but if it adds even more overhead to my job...why would I give myself headaches intentionally?

And yes, my vendors should upgrade their software to work with 7. No arguments. And yes, I know it's my vendors fault and not the OS. I'm not sure why this argument is supposed to mean anything to me; I don't care who's fault it is, I only know it doesn't work/costs me more to make it work. That's the only important part. Lastly, no it's not practical ( in most cases ) to move to a vendor who does have working software.
Click to expand...

I don't hate XP and I do understand that there are a lot of older apps that don't work on Vista/7 but XP is the past and one day its going to be XP that gives you more headaches sooner rather than latter.
 
heatlesssun said:
I don't hate XP and I do understand that there are a lot of older apps that don't work on Vista/7 but XP is the past and one day its going to be XP that gives you more headaches sooner rather than latter.
Click to expand...
Likely not soon. Software infrastructure doesn't move fast in most businesses, and certainly not in government. We have much the same software load we had 4 years ago ( with minor upgrades here and there ). Most of my vendors will still be supporting XP into the next 2 years at least.

It's just the nature of the business. At some point we'll upgrade, certainly. When it's cost effective to do so.
 
Joe Average said:
That entire "I'll give Microsoft a little time to work out the bugs" attitude... man, that one really needs to be shelved, especially with Windows 7.
Click to expand...

QFT!!! People you need to realize that XP is the best part of 10 years old. I remember laughing at people who wanted to stick with 98 for a while when XP came out and 98 wasnt even close to 8 years old. MS WANTS to drop support for XP. They will not be giving it first priority for anything. It WILL die out soon. I know a lot of corporations "depend" on XP and everything works for them, but I am sorry time keeps ticking for everyone and all these corporations will need to get their act together and move off of an old and antiquated platform. Stop being stubborn pricks and get on with it. Geez.
 
extide said:
QFT!!! People you need to realize that XP is the best part of 10 years old. I remember laughing at people who wanted to stick with 98 for a while when XP came out and 98 wasnt even close to 8 years old. MS WANTS to drop support for XP. They will not be giving it first priority for anything. It WILL die out soon. I know a lot of corporations "depend" on XP and everything works for them, but I am sorry time keeps ticking for everyone and all these corporations will need to get their act together and move off of an old and antiquated platform. Stop being stubborn pricks and get on with it. Geez.
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Why? Of what benefit is there to moving to 7? Does the cost outweigh the benefit?

I've done the numbers. It doesn't. XP will have security updates through...2014 I think. Until then there is no reason to make the move.

I work according to my schedule, not MS's.
 
After iinstalling vista on my main machine, I will never go back to XP. It runs better and the interface is more intuitive.
I do have 2 machines running Win7 RC, my netbook and my htpc and as soon as the retail comes out it is going on all of the machines in the house. Win7 64 runs faster than Vista 64 on my htpc and Win7 runs much faster than XP home did on my netbook.
 
I'll always make it clear that my stance is: I use Windows 7 as my primary OS now, have done so for nearly a year (by August 6th it'll be a year since I first installed the milestone leaked build), and I will continue to do so until something better rolls along years from now.

But YMMV - that stands for Your Mileage May Vary, for those that don't know the acronym. YMMV covers the bases, and basically says "If what you've got works well for you, if there's no reason that comes to mind that you can/should/would upgrade not only your OS to something more current as well as the hardware, then stick with what works for you. In fact, that's another acronym I suppose...

SWWWFY... hehe

Nobody is forcing anyone to go out and get Windows 7 when it's available to the general public, nobody. If what's working for you works, and you're satisfied with it, by all means, stick with it for however long you choose.

I'm not shoving Windows 7 down anybody's throat (which given my size and strength would be relatively easy, I assure you) but but but... just do whatever you think is best for you and ignore anyone that's forcing an issue upon you.

I run Windows 7 because it kicks ass, and it does everything that I require an OS to do, quickly, efficiently, and better than any previous version of Windows I have ever used.

YMMV, however.

"And that's all I have to say about that..."
 
XOR != OR said:
Why? Of what benefit is there to moving to 7? Does the cost outweigh the benefit?

I've done the numbers. It doesn't. XP will have security updates through...2014 I think. Until then there is no reason to make the move.

I work according to my schedule, not MS's.
Click to expand...

This is a perfectly valid stance, one that most businesses have taken. That said, at some point you're going to have to consider the future. XP is legacy and it will eventually be more of a problem than a solution. Not now, maybe not in 2 years but someday.

To sit back and say that you'll stay on XP until 2014 seems at best short sighted.
 
XOR != OR said:
Why? Of what benefit is there to moving to 7? Does the cost outweigh the benefit?

I've done the numbers. It doesn't. XP will have security updates through...2014 I think. Until then there is no reason to make the move.

I work according to my schedule, not MS's.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying you need to rip up pavement and re-image every box in your company with 7 right now, but if you happen to BE installing an OS, or happen to BE deploying images, it is dumb to use XP at this point, especially on new machines which would come with licenses. Sticking with XP on existing boxes because of licensing is a valid issue, but sticking with XP on all boxes because it makes you feel safe and warm and fuzzy is not.

Go ahead and work on your own schedule, that's just being the stupid stubborn POS I was talking about. Too bad YOU don't get to pick when and if a particular OS is still supported by the manufacturer.
 
demingo said:
Now that RTM is upon us, any chance of a how-to guide? I'd love to read about all the improvements, GUI tricks, and optimizartions you've discovered so far and how to use them. I just cant help but feel I'm barely tapping the power of Win7.
Click to expand...

Heres one for H readers...
1) Copy/paste this into a file called 'HardOCP.osdx'.
2) Put file into your c:/users/(yourname)/searches
3) double click it
4) search the H from within windows!
5?) change the hardforum.com references below to whatever site you want to search

Code: 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
	<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/" xmlns:ms-ose="http://schemas.microsoft.com/opensearchext/2009/">
		<ShortName>HardOCP</ShortName>
		<Description>Search HardOCP using Windows 7 Federated Search</Description>

		<Url type="application/rss+xml" template="http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q={searchTerms}+site%3Ahardforum.com&amp;format=rss"/>
  
		<Url type="text/html" template="http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q={searchTerms}+site%3Ahardforum.com"/>
		
	</OpenSearchDescription>

I'm sure theres a good reason to do something like this, but its not coming to me :p
 
Ritorix said:
Heres one for H readers...
1) Copy/paste this into a file called 'HardOCP.osdx'.
2) Put file into your c:/users/(yourname)/searches
3) double click it
4) search the H from within windows!
5?) change the hardforum.com references below to whatever site you want to search

Code: 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
	<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/" xmlns:ms-ose="http://schemas.microsoft.com/opensearchext/2009/">
		<ShortName>HardOCP</ShortName>
		<Description>Search HardOCP using Windows 7 Federated Search</Description>

		<Url type="application/rss+xml" template="http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q={searchTerms}+site%3Ahardforum.com&amp;format=rss"/>
  
		<Url type="text/html" template="http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q={searchTerms}+site%3Ahardforum.com"/>
		
	</OpenSearchDescription>

I'm sure theres a good reason to do something like this, but its not coming to me :p
Click to expand...

You don't see the power of this? Nice to be able to search whereever from one place! Here's a good place for more: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/742-windows-7-search-federation-providers.html
 
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extide said:
I'm not saying you need to rip up pavement and re-image every box in your company with 7 right now, but if you happen to BE installing an OS, or happen to BE deploying images, it is dumb to use XP at this point, especially on new machines which would come with licenses. Sticking with XP on existing boxes because of licensing is a valid issue, but sticking with XP on all boxes because it makes you feel safe and warm and fuzzy is not.
Click to expand...
I think you missed the points I made. Maybe give them another read?
Go ahead and work on your own schedule, that's just being the stupid stubborn POS I was talking about. Too bad YOU don't get to pick when and if a particular OS is still supported by the manufacturer.
Click to expand...
Oh, do we really want to go down the name calling road?

As a business owner ( I'm not, but let's pretend ), I choose what, where, when and how. Just because MS would very much like me to move does not mean I am obligated to, why would I?

Now, true, the game changes in 2014 when updates stop rolling out. At that time, it makes more financial sense to move than to stick with XP; risk jumps. Indeed, that's the "worst case" scenario, as I am sure most places will be on windows 7 by then. But my point remains the same; If the cost analysis doesn't justify the move, why would you do so?

And heatlesssun; I appreciate your points. I misspoke; I won't sit back and wait until 2014. As an IT professional, I will be constantly evaluating all possibilities. At some point it will make more financial sense to move to 7 than to stick with xp and at that time the business will move. But certainly not before I can justify the cost/expense.
 
Windows 7 has been great -- I've had no issues with Vista 32 or 64, for what it's worth.

Windows 7 is definitely fast, it scales much better than Vista (it works very well on my S10, which is atom based), and has some huge UI improvements over Vista. Compared to XP, it's world's ahead. Security is yet another benefit over XP...it's a no-brainer in my opinion. Just as every other person has said in the thread, if you're so particular, why don't you grab RC1?
 
XOR != OR said:
And heatlesssun; I appreciate your points. I misspoke; I won't sit back and wait until 2014. As an IT professional, I will be constantly evaluating all possibilities. At some point it will make more financial sense to move to 7 than to stick with xp and at that time the business will move. But certainly not before I can justify the cost/expense.
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head. It's all about cost and it sounds like XP is working for you now and the cost of going to 7 isn't justified and that's prefectly valid. You got what I was saying as well, at some point XP won't be worth it, just not now.
 
XOR != OR said:
XP Haters;

Remember, many of us don't care how "pretty" the OS is. Or any of the wizbang features. What matters to us is simply that it works and does what we expect it to do. In that regard, XP still reigns supreme for many of us. I have about 50 apps that I need to support, only about 10 of which work without an issue on Vista. The rest vary from needing minor tweaking to full on NOT working. It's more costly for me to run Vista than XP, so why would I even consider going that route?

Same goes for 7. If I have the same issues with the apps as I do with Vista, why would I bother? I understand there is an VM XP mode, and I plan on playing with that, but if it adds even more overhead to my job...why would I give myself headaches intentionally?

And yes, my vendors should upgrade their software to work with 7. No arguments. And yes, I know it's my vendors fault and not the OS. I'm not sure why this argument is supposed to mean anything to me; I don't care who's fault it is, I only know it doesn't work/costs me more to make it work. That's the only important part. Lastly, no it's not practical ( in most cases ) to move to a vendor who does have working software.
Click to expand...

You know DAMN WELL that nobody is saying each and every person must move to Vista/7 no matter what. Obviously if you have critical software that doesn't work then nobody is talking to you. You just want to act like people are saying that so you can act big and mighty in this little forum, it's pathetic already. For reference, in case it still has not sunk in, when people say Vista/7 are better, they mean for people who don't need old ass broken apps that don't function on Vista/7. Stop being ridiculous and wasting our time.

IN GENERAL, Vista/7 are vastly superior to XP. The security improvments alone make using XP - unless you have ghetto ass apps you need that don't work - simply retarded. The other benefits like greatly improved 64-bit support, hardware accelerated/pretty gui, start menu search, DX10/11 and so on are also huge benefits over XP.
 
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I have a WinXP machine and a Windows Vista machine, and I have an XP machine at work. Given the choice I would use Vista every time. The only reason I keep an XP machine is for legacy programs. I don't have much of a choice at work since the computer belongs to a corporation.
 
devil22 said:
You know DAMN WELL that nobody is saying each and every person must move to Vista/7 no matter what. Obviously if you have critical software that doesn't work then nobody is talking to you. You just want to act like people are saying that so you can act big and mighty in this little forum, it's pathetic already. For reference, in case it still has not sunk in, when people say Vista/7 are better, they mean for people who don't need old ass broken apps that don't function on Vista/7. Stop being ridiculous and wasting our time.

IN GENERAL, Vista/7 are vastly superior to XP. The security improvments alone make using XP - unless you have ghetto ass apps you need that don't work - simply retarded. The other benefits like greatly improved 64-bit support, hardware accelerated/pretty gui, start menu search, DX10/11 and so on are also huge benefits over XP.
Click to expand...
Easy there tiger. It's just an OS. No point in getting your knickers twisted over it.
 
lol. ^^ That guy who posted above going on about "old ass apps" and whatever else. Many people never think of the programs they use as "old ass broken ghetto apps". Personally, some of the programs I use are old some are new, if a program works and does what I want.. who cares? I never knew software developers stopped creating new software for XP. :rolleyes: I also think many people just figure that their stuff works, old or new, with their current OS and don't even bother thinking about whether it works with a newer OS because they're content with what they have.

With that said, yes XP will eventually lose support from developers over the next several years, just the way things are. As I mentioned in my previous post I think Win 7 is cool, it's a fine OS and I will eventually replace XP with it. I'm also lazy when it comes to my own systems as far as clean installs and I know I won't jumping to it immediately. Backing stuff up, formatting, clean install, setting stuff back up again. Christ the headache I get thinking of it... oh dear...

People get really riled up whenever this topic comes up.
 
number69 said:
People get really riled up whenever this topic comes up.
Click to expand...

You're right about that because it is a very important and a very difficult one to figure out. But to be honest most of the apps that we have in my business environment that don't work on Vista are tend to be of poorer quality than the stuff that worked in Vista with no problem.
 
heatlesssun said:
XP is eight years old. It's time to move on for ALL of your systems.
Click to expand...
There are some good arguments you could make for 7, but XP's age isn't one of them. XP SP3 is still fairly recent, and the OS is just as well-supported as Vista or 7 by applications and drivers (I'd even say it's better supported).

Personally, I am dual-booting XP and 7 right now. There are a few game compatibility issues with 7 at the moment, so XP is still my default. Once all the bugs are fixed (either by Microsoft or the developers of those games), I'll give 7 a more serious consideration and most likely switch to that.

If everything is working fine for you in both operating systems, I recommend using the newer. As you hang onto an older OS, you'll gradually find more and more incompatibilities with it -- mostly artificial (OS checks deny you installation), but some real (no drivers available for new hardware). Being one of the last people to move from XP SP1 to SP2, I can tell you this gets obnoxious.

That being said, you should definitely dual-boot for a while to see which you prefer. Try to force yourself to use 7 so you can get used to it, and check that all your favorite programs run correctly and quickly.
 
I just wanted to say that I laugh at people that think Vista is a turd and would take it over XP any day of the week and twice on Sunday:p
 
Everyone,

To help you learn more about Windows 7 and how Win 7 can benefit you, Microsoft does have a site with whitepapers, tutorials, walkthroughs and screen casts on all the “under the hood” features in Win 7. Check out the Springboard site for Windows 7 on TechNet
Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team
 
JessicaD said:
Everyone,

To help you learn more about Windows 7 and how Win 7 can benefit you, Microsoft does have a site with whitepapers, tutorials, walkthroughs and screen casts on all the “under the hood” features in Win 7. Check out the Springboard site for Windows 7 on TechNet
Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team
Click to expand...

Nice to see someone from Microsoft visiting the forum! :D
 
demingo said:
/laugh ?

And when you finally decide to that decent memory management, and proper multicore support matters to you, we'll welcome you with open arms.
Click to expand...

That brought a smile to my face when I read it... I'm so sick of hearing people bitch about Vista because they heard it was "bad."
 
Raptor007 said:
There are some good arguments you could make for 7, but XP's age isn't one of them. XP SP3 is still fairly recent, and the OS is just as well-supported as Vista or 7 by applications and drivers (I'd even say it's better supported).
Click to expand...

If you're talking x86 then you have a good point. If you're talking x64 then its a whole different ball of wax. x64 has left XP well behind.

XP has been a modern miracle of sorts. It has been so sucessful and capable that as many predicited that XP would be Vista's biggest threat and that was right on. But being in IT for almost 20 years now I see time and time again what happens when people cling to stuff past the expiration date.

If you run XP because it works for you then so be it. But I think that its fallacy to think that XP is as good as 7. It's not. It's more secure overall, scales better with new hardware and is more stable. It's much better at handling media out of the box. Supports touch out of the box. Windows Explorer is MUCH better. Folder settings actually work! Sound control at the app level. Very good search out of the box. The list goes on and on and on. Nothing super huge alone but the actually list of improvements taken as a whole become a mega deal.

Unfortunately it was the security enhancements in Vista that have caused 80% of the compatibility problems I've seen. But XP security out of the box sucks. Microsoft did a decent job of locking things up with XP SP2, but Vista was the first OS Microsof released where security was actually more than an afterthought and I think that Vista's security overall has been much better than XP's.
 
XOR != OR said:
Ha, don't kid yourself. We've had MS people around here for years.

Jessica was just more honest about it than most of the others.
Click to expand...

Classic Ad Hom - You can't attack the arguments so you attack the people making the arguments, with lame conspiracy theories you have 0 proof of...
 
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