Question for Computer Geeks

[C5 Snowboarder]

If Microsoft wants people to upgrade to the new Win7 platform why would they make it so that you need to install Vista first.. if you are a XP user. I love XP - hate Vista as most people do -- that is going to be a tough sell in my ever so humble opinion. :crap:

[Nil Else]

My PC will continue to operate with XP and my Mac will wait a bit more for Apple to clean up any major Snow Leopard bugs if any.

[Ken Robb]

Local newspaper had an article on the new Windows today. Their take: If you have Vista the new 7 will not be a huge improvement but the install will be easy and all programs and data bases will transfer automatically. If you have XP or older software the new 7 will be a significant improvement but the install will be quite a bit trickier.

I don't know the writer's qualifications or expertise and mine is almost nil. :)

[cadence90]

I read an article similar to the one Ken read.

Upshot > Vista to 7 = easy, all programs/files transfer automatically; XP to 7 = not so easy, files require CD back-up, etc. It sounded like a real hassle.

The article I read did not mention having to install Vista first, if going from XP to 7. Just straight XP to 7, but quite time-consuming.

I had XP, and I thought it was fine. Now I have Vista and don't like it much; but I'll wait at least a year before spending the $200 + to "upgrade". I want to see some user reviews over time first.

The article I read (some computer magazine) made it sound that if one were considering going from XP to 7, it might almost be worth it to just buy a new 7-installed computer. I don't know.

[rounder]

I have really liked XP Professional and never had any problems with it. Everything runs fine, but seems to be noticeably slower these days. But my pc is now over 5 years old and believe that, regardless of the install ease, it will not have the performance to run Windows 7. Am pretty much resigned to getting a new computer with Windows 7. The other thing i am dreading is having to upgrade from MS Office 2003 because it might not be compatible. For that much money, i was hoping to get a knockaround bike but may have to realign the priorities.

Anyone with good advice please chime in.

[Dekonick]

Try Ubuntu. Its free. Unless you are a hard core gamer or graphics type, Ubuntu will do all you need and more. You can even test drive it without intsalling by using a live cd.

I plan on putting windows 7 on 2 PC's that have upgrade codes - I doubt I will upgrade anything else unless MSFT releases a 3 pack for ~ $150. Otherwise, Ubuntu remains my OS of choice... just because I can.

[rounder]

Thanks Dekonick.

[paulrad9]

If Microsoft wants people to upgrade to the new Win7 platform why would they make it so that you need to install Vista first

It's not out yet so things may change, but the word so far is that you don't. You DO however, need to have either XP or Vista installed to be eligible for 'Upgrade' version. With XP it will do a clean install of 7 and try to copy your data files over to 7

[Dekonick]

It's not out yet so things may change, but the word so far is that you don't. You DO however, need to have either XP or Vista installed to be eligible for 'Upgrade' version. With XP it will do a clean install of 7 and try to copy your data files over to 7

I will add to this - windows 7 is snazzzzy. Lots of goodies, support for multi-touch (I have 2 touchsmart PC's - they will be getting windows 7.) 'Purdy' interface... a huge improvement over vista (and vista isn't bad after all of the fixes as long as you run it on a machine with enough horsepower to use it to its full potential) especially for older machines. Win 7 is light on resources and can run on just about any x86 machine all the way down to (reportedly) a pentium. No doubt it will dominate all around. Having said that, Linux based OS have evolved as well. Susue, and Ubuntu being the more common distributions. They offer advantages over MSFT in many area's, but at the same time disadvantages.

advantages - FREE, open source (you can read the code. Nothing is hidden. This means it is secure as it is policed and any bug that is found, it gets fixed fast - by the community. Microsoft has compiled code - can't look at source so.... only msft folks can fix problems...

there are plenty of software offerings in ubuntu that work plug n play - no need to use the dreaded command line... and you can run most windows programs with a program called 'wine'

AND - as only a small minority use linux, there aren't many viruses to worry about. The MAC community also benefit from this as MAC OS is based on the linux kernel.

The bad -
It is free. This means no 24 hour phone support. Problems are dealt with on forums - this can take awhile to figure out some issues. Your local geek squad is not going to be of any help... etc...

More good - thousands of programs - all free. Most do 90-100% of what you are looking for from a paid program - open office works, but I prefer microsoft office. It is easy enough to go between the two, but if anything is for work, it has to be on microsoft for compatibality (they say they are... but sometimes fonts will be different, etc...)

Give it a try while you wait for windows 7. I have both, and like both. I use each according to its strengths.

:)

[OtayBW]

I'm fine with XP and will not be uploading any new MS product right after release, thank-you. Noope.

[39cross]

If Microsoft wants people to upgrade to the new Win7 platform why would they make it so that you need to install Vista first.. if you are a XP user.Yeah, I wondered about that too---if you can upgrade XP to Vista, and Win7 is a made over version of Vista, why can't I just upgrade my stinkin'copy of XP to Win7 directly?

The best info I can find at them moment is pasted below:

Microsoft has confirmed it isn't providing an upgrade path for Windows XP to Windows 7. The not unexpected confirmation came in a new post on the Engineering Windows 7 blog outlining the latest developments with the new OS as it moves swiftly towards release. In the post - signed 'Windows 7 Team' - the subject of XP upgrading is broached, but it admits that, actually, an upgrade option has never been part of the plan.

"We realized at the start of this project that the 'upgrade' from XP would not be an experience we think would yield the best results. There are simply too many changes in how PCs have been configured (applets, hardware support, driver model, etc) that having all of that support carry forth to Windows 7 would not be nearly as high quality as a clean install. This is something many of you know and already practice."

To be fair to Microsoft, an upgrade isn't the best way to install a new OS - especially one so different from XP as Windows 7. After all, we're talking eight years since XP first hit the streets. Added to which, many users will simply look to get Windows 7 when they buy a new machine anyway.

However, Microsoft, does say that the installation process does "provide support for moving files and settings and will prompt at setup time, but applications will need to be reinstalled." Fair enough. "We know that for a set of customers this trade off seems less than perfect, but we think the upfront time is well worth it."

--So there you have it - you will upgrade by doing a clean install and you will thank them for it.

[cdn_bacon]

I've upgraded from 64-bit XP XP3 to 64-bit WIndows 7 without a problem.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/windows-easy-transfer

Get an external drive, plug 'er in use easy transfer to copy over the files to the drive, install, copy files back. Easy peasy mac n cheesy.

I really like 7. 64-bit with 4GB of ram is smooooooth. I stayed far far away from Vista.

Give 'er a try.

[Keith A]

If Microsoft wants people to upgrade to the new Win7 platform why would they make it so that you need to install Vista first.. if you are a XP user.After rereading your question, if you are talking about doing an upgrade and not a reinstall, then I can understand that MS might not support this. But as 39cross stated, I would not recommend doing an upgrade, but rather a fresh install of Windows 7. I would suggest that anyone interested in doing this would either clone your current XP drive to another disk or DVD...or just buy a new hard drive and put the new OS on this so that you could fall back to XP if you ran into problems.

[Tom]

Upgrade path. Vista was the current version when they layered Win7 onto it so that's what they tested. WinXP had been out forever and forgive the pun, had gone viral. Too many alterations out there for them to test so they made a reasonable technical decision and decided not to support an upgrade path from XP to 7.

In the mainframe world upgrade paths are completely accepted because we like to have the things run reliably so we can spend our time just sitting around drinking coffee and eating donuts. It's amusing to see them applied to the consumer world.

[benb]

They are totally nuts pulling this stuff... Vista has been pretty much totally ignored, now they have done a great marketing job pulling the wool over everyone's eyes making them think Windows 7 is different. You're nuts if you've got an older computer running XP and you held off on Vista to think Windows 7 will be any different then Vista. You're better off buying an entirely new computer, especially with what Microsoft is charging for some of the upgrades and licenses lately.

Obviously it is different for every company, but we have received almost 0 requests for support for Vista for our software, and we sell to some huge companies in the windows world. We only started supporting Vista earlier this year. No one has asked for Windows 7 support yet. It ought to tell you something when some of Microsoft's biggest partners are dragging their feet and still trying to stay with XP.

The Ubuntu idea is great if you're a techy. Maybe not so great if you're not, good luck if you've got a HRM or Power meter or something that you plug into a Windows PC currently and you want to use it with Ubuntu.

[JMerring]

walt mossberg of the wsj (unrelated, irrelevant aside: love walt, hate the wsj, it being the reactionary right wing mouthpiece that it is) recently had a good article on the windows 7 upgrade process for both vista and xp users. handy article for those of you considering a switch.

[palincss]

The Ubuntu idea is great if you're a techy. Maybe not so great if you're not, good luck if you've got a HRM or Power meter or something that you plug into a Windows PC currently and you want to use it with Ubuntu.

I use my digital camera, a Panasonic LX3 with Ubuntu. It works fine, and Gimp and Hugin are terrific pieces of photo editing software. The camera also came with Silkypix, which requires Windows, but the only reason I'd want it is for working with RAW files, and the in-camera JPEGs are good enough I haven't felt the need to do that yet.

I also have XP on the box and it's set up for dual boot, but I use XP only for Overdrive audio books I download from the library. I can't imagine that's going to force me to upgrade any time soon.

[little.man]

AND - as only a small minority use linux, there aren't many viruses to worry about. The MAC community also benefit from this as MAC OS is based on the linux kernel.


Mac OS is based on the Unix BSD kernel, not Linux. Linux is "Unix Like", it is not based on any Unix kernel.

Mark

[dd74]

I'm sure a day shall come when old will be new, at which time I'll migrate myself to the Underwood OS.

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/cottage/5405/