Windows 7 operating system - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

cmac2012 · #1 03-16-2010, 05:00 AM

The time has come. My Gateway laptop of about 6 years is going south. I went to Best Buy tonight, expecting to see a bunch of computers with Windows Vista loaded, and of course, the reviews on that one are not so hot.

Somehow Windows 7 has arrived and escaped my notice. One review I found said that it may or may not be better than XP, with which I've been pretty happy.

Anybody know?

Some good looking laptops for less than I paid for my Gateway ($1300 in '04). One Gateway ($600) has the Intel Core i3-330 M processor, 4 GB of Ram, 500GB hard-drive (!?), good thing as I was planning to put 2 or 3 different encyclopedias on it. The salesman claims that the Intel is faster than the Athlon which comes on the lower priced models.

Ara T. · #2 03-16-2010, 05:12 AM

Go for it. It wipes the floor with POS Windows XP (and Vista, of course). It is an updated version of vista with better performance and a slick interface... and its crash proof as far as I can tell; i've yet to experience any annoying crashes in a little less than a year.

As far as AMD vs Intel, intel CPU's tend to have better processors and the AMD's tend to have better graphics chips. IMO you can't go wrong with either, may as well get whatever's cheaper and whatever laptop manufacturer you feel comfortable with if you are a casual user (internet browsing, word processing, music etc). 4gb of RAM will only help you if you get the 64bit version of Windows 7, so make sure it has that if you do go for that model. I run 4gb of RAM on Win7x64 and it runs amazingly well.

cmac2012 · #3 03-16-2010, 05:47 AM

Hey, good news. Sounds like the Intel will work better for me as I'm not real picky on graphics.

My current unit worked pretty well for several years but the last year has been way annoying. Lately, ctrl-alt-delete has been a regular companion.

'Please tell Microsoft about this problem' my ass. I'm just sure that Microsoft is going to be shocked at the news that my computer is seizing up . . . over and over . . .

My current crisis came on when I got tired of waiting for everything to unfreeze itself - not responding to c-alt-delete for a few minutes so I did the naughty thing and held the start button down til it all went black. Never has been a problem before though I avoid it if at all possible. Turns out you really can damage stuff as it didn't seem to have Explorer on board when I turned it back on. Other stuff acting weird so I updated my peripheral storage device, erased, and reloaded.

Explorer works now but all sorts of weird hiccups keep coming up. No audio at present, and it's moving pretty slowly. Six years doesn't seem too bad for a laptop. My first PC, a dell only lasted 3 years. It had Windows Me (Millenium Edition) which my nephew, an IT prof, claims is the worst product Microsoft ever built. It did suck, I'll tell the world.

LUVMBDiesels · #4 03-16-2010, 07:03 AM

I have been running W7 since it came out as a pre-release and I can tell you it is MUCH MUCH better than Vista. With Vista 64 Ultimate, my laptop would crash at least twice a day. Since I have been running 7, it has not crashed once!

I stripped out all the 'Aero Theme' BS and run an XP like interface. It is quite fast on 4GB or ram.

HuskyMan · #5 03-16-2010, 08:20 AM

let's see, Windows 3.11 came out around 1992, right? it has taken Microsoft HOW long to actually create a product that WORKS? AND we have all been 'beta testers' along the way. wonder how many hours and $$$$ have been spent fixing and repairing crashed computers thanks to Slindows? anyone venture a guess? and, how about those cryptic three word messages when something goes south? time to roll out the UNIX solutions. Nationwide Insurance did and has saved big $$$$ as compared to running slindows.

LUVMBDiesels · #6 03-16-2010, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HuskyMan

let's see, Windows 3.11 came out around 1992, right? it has taken Microsoft HOW long to actually create a product that WORKS? AND we have all been 'beta testers' along the way. wonder how many hours and $$$$ have been spent fixing and repairing crashed computers thanks to Slindows? anyone venture a guess? and, how about those cryptic three word messages when something goes south? time to roll out the UNIX solutions. Nationwide Insurance did and has saved big $$$$ as compared to running slindows.

Exactly! At home I run linux on ancient Sun IPX systems that Sun no longer supports with Solaris and they are FAST! They sport a whole 64MB of RAM and a 110mHz chip!

I also run Linux on my vintage 1999 Thinkpad and it is faster and more reliable than my 1 year old W7 laptop and MUCH better than the Vista OS I replaced. If I was ALLOWED to use it at work I would. The ironic thing is I have to use W7 to log into a slew of LINUX servers to administer them!

HuskyMan · #7 03-16-2010, 11:07 AM

that is ironic. Nationwide Insurance went with SUSE Linux which resulted in major $$$$$ savings over slindows. it appears they hired a top notch consulting firm which set them up with a power house computer system second to none. I believe windows day in the sun may be coming to an end. it is overpriced, buggy and doesn't really meet the needs of the corporate user.

BTW, Unix was developed by Bell Laboratories and is the OS for the world's fastest internet server, the IBM pSeries (formerly RS/6000). time to get out of the bush leagues and start playing pro ball.

HuskyMan · #8 03-16-2010, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

Exactly! At home I run linux on ancient Sun IPX systems that Sun no longer supports with Solaris and they are FAST! They sport a whole 64MB of RAM and a 110mHz chip!

I also run Linux on my vintage 1999 Thinkpad and it is faster and more reliable than my 1 year old W7 laptop and MUCH better than the Vista OS I replaced. If I was ALLOWED to use it at work I would. The ironic thing is I have to use W7 to log into a slew of LINUX servers to administer them!

just curious, which version of Linux are you running?

LUVMBDiesels · #9 03-16-2010, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HuskyMan

just curious, which version of Linux are you running?

Slackware on the Sun boxes and Redhat on the intel ones...

I have been 'doing' Unix since Sun was running BSD and AT&T was on the 3Bt system

Out of all of the ones I had to deal with (Solaris 1 and 2, AIX, HPUX, Digital Unix, Unixware, Ultrix, SCO, and so on, I liked AIX the best...)

I have disliked MicroShaft since DOS 4.0

aklim · #10 03-16-2010, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

The time has come. My Gateway laptop of about 6 years is going south. I went to Best Buy tonight, expecting to see a bunch of computers with Windows Vista loaded, and of course, the reviews on that one are not so hot.

Somehow Windows 7 has arrived and escaped my notice. One review I found said that it may or may not be better than XP, with which I've been pretty happy.

Anybody know?

Some good looking laptops for less than I paid for my Gateway ($1300 in '04). One Gateway ($600) has the Intel Core i3-330 M processor, 4 GB of Ram, 500GB hard-drive (!?), good thing as I was planning to put 2 or 3 different encyclopedias on it. The salesman claims that the Intel is faster than the Athlon which comes on the lower priced models.

6 years??? That isn't even heavy enough to be a boat anchor for my Jetski.

How could that happen?? Used to be you could upgrade for $99 when they first released.

Very few things are not better than XP

The wife is very happy with her Asus notebook other than she has to get used to a new interface. I have had the best luck with them when I built desktops.

aklim · #11 03-16-2010, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

My current crisis came on when I got tired of waiting for everything to unfreeze itself - not responding to c-alt-delete for a few minutes so I did the naughty thing and held the start button down til it all went black. Never has been a problem before though I avoid it if at all possible. Turns out you really can damage stuff as it didn't seem to have Explorer on board when I turned it back on. Other stuff acting weird so I updated my peripheral storage device, erased, and reloaded.

Wife has a Sony running XP that had issues. Slow and unstable. Upgraded her to the Asus and "sold" it to my company. Wiped it clean and ran a Western Union program on it. Works much faster. Have you tried doing a total restore on the old thing?

okyoureabeast · #12 03-16-2010, 01:13 PM

I absolutely love Windows 7. Microsoft really took a leap in terms of security and stability with this one.

I know people rag on Vista, but it was really a difficult stepping stone much like 10.4 was for Mac users.

The built in security and protection of the system files is by far one of the best things Microsoft has done.

However, I do still have some older crappy programs that do not like to run on 7. Right now I'm running EPC Net, TI Connect, and some Latex programs through the Windows XP virtual machine.

If you have Windows Home Pro then you may have to do some hacking to get XP Mode to work, but if it's Windows 7 Professional then you can go ahead and install it.

cmac2012 · #13 03-16-2010, 02:15 PM

Interesting information. Thanks to all. I'm not doubting any of the remarks about Linux, and I've heard similar elsewhere, though not as detailed. I have to wonder though, if it's that much better, why do market forces continue to reward Microsoft? Inertia, perhaps but it does sound as though MS is sorta getting their act together.

My inclination is to buy the Gateway and look for an upgrade to W7 pro. I've been using XP pro and it's just smoother than home. Ditto for the Word, Excell - what's that, the office package? My B-i-L gave me a copy of an E. Europe CD with office pro on it and it's just better than the homely home version. I might want to go with the XP motif, sometimes change is just gimmicky - I liked the feel of XP well enough

Then I'm thinking to experiment with LINUX on this Gateway I'm typing on now. It's a long way from dead but something isn't right. I did the web search for laptop lifespan and the consensus was 6 years was about the best you're going to get on average. I've been using the external fan thingy since the beginning (thanks to advice from the long gone leBenz) and I think it helps. My old Dell would get hot as hell - the table under it would be way hot after an hour or so of use, and heat is what kills them, or so the scuttlebutt goes.

I've had unpleasant experiences with Apple in the past also though I've not used the latest generation.

cmac2012 · #14 03-16-2010, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Wife has a Sony running XP that had issues. Slow and unstable. Upgraded her to the Asus and "sold" it to my company. Wiped it clean and ran a Western Union program on it. Works much faster. Have you tried doing a total restore on the old thing?

Haven't heard of Asus. It came with a Gateway CD that does the complete erase and then restores the operating system which is what I did. Might have to do it again as I'm not sure I clicked on the 64 bit option. It's missing some useful features it used to have, such as a little box in the bottom right corner that would allow you to change all font on web pages upward in fixed or custom percentages. Can't find it in any of the help menus. I didn't even know it was there for years, just discovered it a year ago, just in time as my eyesight is slowly heading south.

Also my toolbar is weaker than it was. I no longer have the little round swirly thing that tells you it's loading a page. Handy feature as sometimes you think you've clicked on a link but the computer doesn't think so.

Years ago, I erased my Dell hard-drive w/o a CD doing it. I forget how but I'm sure I could find it. Once I figure out how to get LINUX software I'll do that.

aklim · #15 03-16-2010, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

Haven't heard of Asus.

It came with a Gateway CD that does the complete erase and then restores the operating system which is what I did. Might have to do it again as I'm not sure I clicked on the 64 bit option. It's missing some useful features it used to have, such as a little box in the bottom right corner that would allow you to change all font on web pages upward in fixed or custom percentages. Can't find it in any of the help menus. I didn't even know it was there for years, just discovered it a year ago, just in time as my eyesight is slowly heading south.

Also my toolbar is weaker than it was. I no longer have the little round swirly thing that tells you it's loading a page. Handy feature as sometimes you think you've clicked on a link but the computer doesn't think so.

Years ago, I erased my Dell hard-drive w/o a CD doing it. I forget how but I'm sure I could find it. Once I figure out how to get LINUX software I'll do that.

It is one of the better, if not the best brand out there when it comes to mother boards, IMO.

Sounds like you didn't install one of the programs that came with it.