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Now that we are getting close to the first release of Win 7, are many people in favor of converting their systems over it to.
Should I start it out on my Asus 1000HD netbook to learn the process and decide if I like it. I might leave my desktop with XP unless there are enough new things that would be worthwhile.
What are some opinions about Win 7.
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I love Windows 7, and I'm a retired computer science prof who has used everything since well before DOS. My test system has been running the release candidate, 32-bit, since early summer. It is smooth, powerful, and just as fast as XP without most of the annoyances of Vista. Currently, my production system has the full Windows 7 Professional 32-bit. At the moment, there are too many certified drivers missing unavailable for 64-bit, but that will change soon. For a netbook, though, I'm not so sure. Run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to check that your system meets the minimum requirements. It is also useful to run this on your desktop to check driver compatibility. My Toshiba N250 netbook (cool little PC) would just barely be able to run Windows 7.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Matt, I just ran the Upgrade Advisor on my Asus Desktop. I found 7 not compatible with my M-Audio Delta sound card. Everything else is capable of running 7. I will check what my netbook can do later.
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I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Thanks, rharv.
It appears to be possible to get the M-Audio Drivers.
I just checked my netbook with the Upgrade Advisor. It says my processor speed isn't 1 ghz which is need by Win 7.
I have an Intel Celeron with 900 Mhz. However someone just advised me that the Celeron may be slower clocked but processing power is nearly equal to the 1.6 Atom. People apparently have been running Win 7 on the Asus netbooks.
So it might be possible to put 7 on both my desktop and netbook.
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Personally, I never update an OS right away - this goes for both Mac and Windows. The first release to the general public usually turns out bad for a lot of users, due to unforeseen circumstances on the part of the developer. When the first service pack comes along, the majority of the bugs get fixed. By then most other software companies have had a chance to update their drivers as well. In addition to all that, unless I have a need to upgrade, I'll update when I get a new computer (although after the Vista reports came out, I stayed with XP). Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being on the cutting edge, but with my luck, the cutting edge is sometimes the bleeding edge  Software other than the OS I'm more adventurous about. But I always go a "ghost" image first so I can restore the system to the previous condition. But the OS affects so many different things that many days might go by before I find out that I don't like it and then my pre-OS ghost image is old and doesn't contain the other changes to my computer (like e-mail history, database history, etc.) Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
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You may find it interesting to note that WinXP will continue to be available specifically for netbooks because it has a significantly smaller memory and CPU requirement to vista/Win7. I don't recall how long this is projected for.
Personally, i wouldn't install vista/Win7 on anything it didn't ship with. Older hardware, unless really powerful when purchased and less than, say, 2 years old will be behind the performance 8 ball.
--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya  --=--You're only paranoid if you're wrong!
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Joan, I'm not lobbying for you to put Windows 7 on your netbook, but there is a reason your test failed. Portable computers have power-saving settings to throttle down the CPU. If you were to disable the power scheme and also run it on AC power, it is likely your CPU would pass the test.
I am an early adopter of new operating systems, but only because I have access to them and because I run them first on a test machine. Windows 7 that will ship to the public on October 22 is actually the third version, after the beta version and the release candidate version. In my opinion, it's been shaken down quite well. Microsoft learned from the lessons of how it rolled out Vista.
Notes has good suggestions and talks about the drivers. For the most part, M-Audio being an exception, drivers that worked for Vista will work for Windows 7 (yes, I know you have XP now). Also, because it has been available for testing for many months, many companies already have working drivers for Windows 7.
Lawrie makes a sensible point about not expecting older hardware to be able to run a newer OS. For 32-bit Windows 7, you need 16 GB of storage as well as a 1 GHz CPU and a video card or onboard video chip capable of running DirectX 9. If your system has these, and it passes the upgrade test, it should work. One enhancement to Windows 7 is to streamline it, particularly to decrease the loading time. It runs like XP in that respect.
All this having been said, I would not upgrade your netbook until others try it and succeed. I'm not doing mine.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Quote:
Personally, I never update an OS right away - this goes for both Mac and Windows. The first release to the general public usually turns out bad for a lot of users, due to unforeseen circumstances on the part of the developer. When the first service pack comes along, the majority of the bugs get fixed.
That is excellent advice and it is the way I work also.
--Mac
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I sure would like to be on the cutting edge, but sadly I haven't kept up the the tech advances. Many years ago, I knew all of the DOS commands and wouldn't even go to Windows for a long time. It's hard for me to believe now that I used to teach some computer application classes. I'm running XP with no problems. I would be happy to keep it that way, but I know that will not be possible to do. I remember when Quicken changed it's file type format and forced everybody to upgrade; That really ticked me off. I've been keeping up with the PG Music upgrades and they are very worthwhile. Overall, the tech advances have been phenomenal. I certainly don't want to go back to the slow speeds of the olden days. When it's time to upgrade, I'm going to get a new laptop with Win 7 installed. My Toshiba p105 is working just fine, but I have to face the reality that it won't last forever. Unless you can fix your own computer, like Matt can, you are stuck with upgrading eventually.
Music applications are my main usage applications now. When it's time for the new computer, I'm going to try and get one configured specifically for music and sound applications. FWIW
Stan
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Personal opinion but ask yourself what will the new OS give you that you don't already have.After others prove the new system and the proven benefits are there, then consider the upgrade. If the upgrade cost you time and irritation because of incompatible drivers, etc, wait, you will have lost nothing by letting others prove out the OS.
Wyndham
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Quote:
what will the new OS give you that you don't already have.
Wyndham
An excellent question.
The main answer in my case is much more stability in my system than under XP, and somewhat more than under Vista. I value that, and it more than offsets the added time to set up the new system.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Matt, what stability issues in xp were a problem for you. Mine might be a simpler system, just curious. Wyndham
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No doubt almost everyone's system is more stable than my test machine. I experiment a lot with new software (including doing several software beta tests). I solve other people's computer problems, which means I try things that make their systems fail. I've also admitted to being an early adopter, since I need to keep current for my students.
What I like best about Windows 7 is that a failure in one program does not bring down the whole system. That was supposed to be the way Windows in general worked for years, except that it didn't. I can't recall the last blue screen of death in Windows 7, and it's been four months of punishment.
Hope that helps. I realize I'm not a typical user. My production machine does just music, and Windows 7 runs very well for that, too. It just feels smoother and faster.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Problem for me moving to a new Vista 64 OS is the fact that music apps and drivers have not as yet caught up to the 64 bit platform.
Just determined yesterday that my GuitarRig 3.0 will not run on Vista 64. So downloaded the newest "demo" version of GuitarRig 4.0 just released this month and it is still not compatible with the 64 bit OS (based on Native Instruments support page and my experience).
So the real problem so far is not the OS but the 32 versus 64 bit versions.
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I've been running Win7 RC on my laptop, and I have NEVER had an issue with it. I am seriously thinking about putting it on my netbook as well. I also have the RC running on this computer, dual boot with Vista, and on another computer as well. All instances are rock solid stable. As to getting the M-Audio drivers running, I found that you could run the driver installer in Vista compatibility mode...right click the setup.exe icon, select properties, go to the compatibility tab, select Vista and click ok. Then, run the installer. It works fine. The only reason I haven't switched entirely to Win 7 on this computer is we're two weeks away from release, and I'm going to have to move the RC off this computer when I do, so I'll just upgrade Vista. For Windows XP users, you are going to have more of an issue as Win 7 will not do a direct upgrade from XP. What idiot at MS thought of that, I have no clue, but it's a sure way to shoot yourself in the foot. You also can not do an upgrade from ANY 32 bit version to a 64 bit version. So, even if you have a 64 bit processor in your computer, and you're running a 32 bit version of Vista, you'll need to do a new install. Upgrading from XP to any version of Win 7 will require a clean install, so you'll be re-installing all of your programs.  Also, if you're running the RC, you'll have to do the same thing, so I'm going to have to completely redo my laptop. However, I have been very happy with Win 7 RC, and will be ordering my copies very soon. Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Dan,
I'm surprised. I am running Vista 64 bit, and I have no problems with any 32 bit application, of which most things on my computer are. The one issue I have had is running Sonar 7 SE in 64 bit mode, because the drivers for some of my audio cards don't support 64 bit, so I reinstalled it as a 32 bit app, and it's fine.
Also, I just looked at GR4 Essentials, and it says it is Vista 64 compatible. What exactly are you using?
Gary
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!
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Gary has a lot of good advice in there, including the fact that you cannot upgrade from XP or from the Windows 7 RC (which was free). One other reason I am hesitant to try Windows 7 on my Toshiba netbook is that those little computers have lots of manufacturer-supplied software drivers and utilities. I don't know if my hardware will work without them.
As for the desktop computer, I started several years ago installing only the OS on my boot drive. Software goes, as much as possible, on another drive if it will let me. Data is always on the software drive and is backed up to yet another internal drive (as well as an external drive, and an off-site computer). Bottom line is, to install the full Windows 7, all I had to do was substitute for a new (faster) small hard drive ($60) and install Windows 7 and re-install some software applications. My data continues to be where it was, so everything feels the same. The process has become quite routine. I prefer clean installs to upgrades, anyway. After everything is tested, the old boot drive gets wiped and goes to another computer as a data drive.
Jazzmandan correctly mentions the issue of 64-bit compatibility. The situation is getting better, but I still can't go there until Tascam releases a driver for my control surface and SONAR.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Quote:
Dan,
I'm surprised. I am running Vista 64 bit, and I have no problems with any 32 bit application, of which most things on my computer are. The one issue I have had is running Sonar 7 SE in 64 bit mode, because the drivers for some of my audio cards don't support 64 bit, so I reinstalled it as a 32 bit app, and it's fine.
Also, I just looked at GR4 Essentials, and it says it is Vista 64 compatible. What exactly are you using?
Gary
Gary, look closer, deep in the support section it says that while the GR4 Essential ($99 with no interface provided) is compatible with Vista 64, however, the interface must be able to provide 64 bit conversion to 32 bit (or some stange technobabble like that). My internal sound card will not do this. So unless you want to run GR4 without an interface, it looks like the same driver problem you have seen with with the audio card.
A few other observations regarding 64 bit compatiibility with my apps:
Protools LE 8.0.1 while not qualified for 64 bit , does run and appears to be functional to all my needs.
Celamony Melodyne - the standalone version works in 64 bit, but the RTAS MelodyneBridge does not work with ProTools.
GR4 with my internal sound card does not work as either standalone or VST to BIAB. I have not yet tried the RTAS with the MBox
BIAB (current version) no problems.
RB (current version) no problems.
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My quadcore desktop can run Win 7 easy enough according to the test. I had to make some effort finding a XP-licence when I had my system build; Vista was all that was available. Luckely the store had OEM license left, and they gave me the full XP-disk  I have my DAW running on my desktop and I use some hardware for which the software support ran out with Vista (no Vista-drivers available). I'm intending to stick with XP for my DAW for as long as I can. When my desktop (or my wife's desktop, whichever comes first) should need replacement, I seriously am considering buying a Mac. ***runs into garden to add fertilizer to the moneytree***
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