Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

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  1

  BizHacks Dave

  01/12/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Those things are fine, Rick, but it seems to me that you focused on the most superficial chnages in Windows 7. Relabeling the Shut Down button (which you can do in Vista yourself anyway)? Adding Windows Explorer to the Task Bar (which you can do yourself in Vista anyway)? If I was making a list of the top 5 or 10 improvements, these would hardly be near the top.
  
  The new dockable task bar, the ability to snap windows to the sides of the screen, the ability to easily configure side-by-side document windows, the new show desktop feature that makes all windows go transparent, the new libraries and improved search engine, the improved document preview feature in folders -- these are the meaningful and substantive features that will really mean something to users.

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  2

  BizHacksRick

  01/12/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Well, Dave, my point here was not to spotlight Windows 7's best features or top improvements. As I think the headline and copy indicated, these were things that I discovered immediately upon tinkering with the OS for an hour or two, and liked.

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  3

  reginald.smith

  01/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Rick .. thanks for starting this conversation. I am not an experienced Vista user. I downgraded about 9 months ago after it did some very scary things, crashing and deleting my profile unexpectedly. My Windows 7 is set up on a desktop (dual boot - I won't cut the umbilical cord to Windows XP just yet.
  
  My initial reaction is that it looks and feels like Vista (maybe dressed up in drag). Is this really a brand new OS, or in reality just an upgrade release of Vista?
  
  I had no problems downloading, installing and getting drivers working quickly.
  
  I must say I am disappointed in the Windows Explorer tool. It appears to be a low priority to Microsoft. I've become a fan of Directory Opus which is a powerful and versatile file explorer. Thankfully, it downloaded and appears to be working well.
  
  Realistically this is the first 24 hours experience ... who knows what delights I will encounter in the journey!

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  4

  Rob C

  01/14/09 | Report as spam

  FREE replacement, and an Apology

  MS will apologize and replace all Vista's with a FREE copy of Windows 7

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  5

  BizHacksRick

  01/14/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  @Rob C: Sure, and pigs will fly south for the winter. But seriously, what does Microsoft need to apologize for (besides UAC)? A more stable and secure operating system? Vista may not be perfect, but it improves on XP in those very important areas.

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  6

  Vista_Lover

  01/21/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  I honestly do not believe that Windows Vista Was really all that bad of an OS. I like it much better than XP. Active index searching helps eliminate the amount of mouse clicks that i have to make. I don't reboot as often as well as with (UAC) it's helped eliminate multiple spyware threats that could have been installed on my system. One of the hardest things that held it back was the fact that people couldn't use their printer or webcam that worked with there Windows ME Machine, because it's cost the manufacturers more to make the software that it would for the consumer to just go and buy a new device that is compatible. Windows XP had issues when it first came out too, and yet so many people forget this. Windows 7 Is going to make things better, but it couldn't get there without vista.

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  7

  krisnodoubt@...

  01/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  14+ GB for a clean install?
  
  My Linux server - http/mail/ssh/ftp/print server, complete with graphical environment + composite manager + 3d acceleration - resides on an 8GB partition total... and still leaves roughly 4GB for my stuff.
  
  I mean, W7 improves vastly on Vista - I no longer have to fight my computer in order to use it - but there's still a long way to go.

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  8

  eggmanbubbagee@...

  01/23/09 | Report as spam

  Vista was fine, 7 looks like Vista refined

  Seriously I actually like Vista much better than XP. It has it's quirks but so does XP. You can argue Vista was a dissapointment and it was a bit, but to say it was ME-like is just wrong. I find my experience with Vista is echoed by many tech-savy usres all over the web yet you almost never see Vista's good side covered by the bloggers who seem to fear they will get lauged at by some other no-nothing bloggers writing out of out of Apple Valley.

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  9

  krisnodoubt@...

  01/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Funny - if you see your experienced echoed so much yet no one blogs about it... do Vista lovers have secret clubs or handshakes? Or do they simply not exist?

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  10

  lilsim89

  01/23/09 | Report as spam

  @krisnodoubt

  That's wrong. I installed Windows 7 Beta on an exactly 10GB partition and had ~1GB to spare.
  
  Factor in that the swap is actually on that partition and is probably about 1.5GB, the total is...
  
  7.5GB (About half of what you stated!)
  
  I don't understand how you got '14+ GB'. Care to explain?

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  11

  krisnodoubt@...

  01/24/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  I installed the beta on a larger partition. Clean install, no extras. First thing when I booted I checked the occupied space on the hard drive. 14.1 GB, plain and simple.

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  12

  eggmanbubbagee@...

  01/26/09 | Report as spam

  @krisnodoubt

  Blogs have comments sections. We are in one now. See how this works? In fact, there are innumerable people commenting on the internet as we speak who are not blogging and nary a secret handshake. Understand now?
  
  If you think Vista does not have a large number of tech savy fans then who think it is much better than the formal press it gets then you are quite out of touch.

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  13

  Lord-Nicon

  01/29/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  i havent notice any problem on windows 7 yet, everything works fine and faster than in vista, the startup is so freaking fast, i was so impressed of the speed when it did the first boot, then after log in is still freaking fast, even with the antivirus and the other things running, i use linux and i have to say sadly that windows 7 boots and start faster than linux, so hopefully it will be better when its finished. and about the hardware, well also everything ok, even my old 1999 webcam it worked, i cant even get it work good on linux, so this OS gets my aproval so far, not like vista AKA millenium 2.0

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  14

  Hobbeshax

  01/29/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Your not seeing the new "Aero Peek" feature obviously (which gives you the thumbnail preview and window preview by bringing your mouse to the lower right corner of the taskbar) because you need to update your drivers.
  
  Update your VGA drivers to "Windows 7" drivers, which are (for Nvidia) anything of the 180.00 series and above. You can find those easily on Nvidia's site, but you will have to say your running Vista under their search tool to get to them
  
  As for ATI, I'd expect the same. But I don't use ATI (never have/never will), so if you have one of their cards your gonna have to look for yourself.
  
  Hope that helps.
  
  -Steve

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  15

  BiggaStill

  02/08/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Just something to think about: Windows 7 was what Vista was supposed to be.

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  16

  bnetbug

  02/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Most of these "improvements" can be done in Vista with freely available 3rd party apps like Ultimate Windows Tweaker and Vista Start Menu.
  
  It's sad Microsoft tries to pass these minor changes off as "improvements" in order to justify upgrades that cost hundreds of dollars anyways. It's even sadder that Microsoft fan boys/paid off reviewers keep trying to hide the fact Windows hasn't made any significant developments for going on 8 years now.

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  17

  FargoUT

  02/16/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  For some reason, when I installed Windows 7, the Aero was not implemented right away. I had to do the following to fix it:
  
  1) Click on Start and where it says "Search program and files", type "Aero". Don't hit Enter though.
  
  2) Let it come up with the list of search results and select the one which says "Find and fix problems with transparency and other visual effects".
  
  3) Click on that and let Windows 7 fix the problem. After it is done, you shouldn't have problems.

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  18

  Tangoblue

  02/17/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Things to think about....
  
  The key questions are does whatever O/S allow one uses allow them to do work faster and with less downtime (BSOD, learning curves, and attacks from the dark side).
  
  Isn't it patently clear that MS has not done significant work in any of those areas. 3rd party software protects me from the dark side...not MS, learning curves (wading thru all the features few use)can be substantially higher for new users, and "ya know" object dock and Firefox have contributed more to my efficiency than anything MS has put out in the last 10 years. Key rist...they don't even have a disk cleaner or a decent defrag application 15 years later...can one imagine a reason why...duhh, ya don't mean dat people mit tink der machine is no good and buy another do ya?
  
  And yes I know that "patches" are intended to take care of threats but how much was under engineering by MS (for which many have paid). Could one view in excess of 400 patches for Xp as oversight or are Hackers United simply smarter than the MS gene pool.
  
  And of course there is one other thought given the profit dollar stream MS has. Could this be by design? Think this through. With all the hype what happens....more systems are bought with more Windows 7 loaded on them (and MS and the equipment manufacturers shake hands and smile).
  
  I use (daily) Windows 2000, Xp, Vista and Ubuntu on a variety of machines. Windows 2000 is faster on and off the net with an Athlon 2.8 cpu without an NCQ drive than Vista is on dual core 5000 chip with an NCQ drive.
  
  And isn't it a bit sad that normal people who don't have the time to keep up with this ever changing world think it's necessary to buy the latest and "greatest" when functionality is what it's really about
  
  ...and sadder still that so many discuss so little and some get paid for it.
  

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  19

  Tangoblue

  02/18/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Things to think about perhaps...
  
  The key questions are does whatever O/S one uses allow them to work faster and with less downtime (BSOD, learning curves, and attacks from the dark side).
  
  Isn't it patently clear that MS has not done significant work in any of those areas. 3rd party software protects me from the dark side...not MS, learning curves (wading thru all the features few use)can be substantially higher for new users, and "ya know" object dock and Firefox have contributed more to my efficiency than anything MS has put out in the last 10 years. Gentlemen they don't even have a disk cleaner or a decent defrag application 15 years later...can one imagine a reason why..."duhh, ya don't mean dat people mit tink der machine is no good and buy another do ya"?
  
  And yes I know that "patches" are intended to take care of threats but how much was under engineering by MS (for which all of us have paid far more than the cost of the O/S). Is reasonable to view in excess of 400 patches for Xp as oversight or are Hackers United simply smarter than the MS gene pool.
  
  And of course there is one other thought given the profit dollar stream MS has. Could this be by design? Think this through. With all the hype what happens....more systems are bought with more Windows 7 loaded on them (and MS and the equipment manufacturers shake hands and smile).
  
  I use (daily) Windows 2000, Xp, Vista and Ubuntu on a variety of machines. Windows 2000 is faster on and off the net with an Athlon 2.8 cpu without an NCQ drive than Vista is on a dual core 5000 chip with an NCQ drive and Vista has 4x the ram plus it's faster ram).
  
  And isn't it a bit sad that normal people who don't have the time to keep up with this ever changing world think it's necessary to buy the latest and "greatest" when functionality is what it's really about
  
  ...and sadder still that so many discuss so little and some get paid for it.

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  20

  unifex_

  02/28/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  I don't know why do you people complain about Vista. While I never tried top compare Vista to XP on the same hardware, my newer Vista desktop boots up faster than my XP laptop. As far as stability, both are as stable as one can wish for - neither has crashed even once. Now, Windows 7 beta I have on the same desktop - as a dual-boot, on a separate hard drive. So far I like it a lot, despite the bad Windows Explorer, which to my taste was actually better in XP. But other than that, 7 is faster and looks better. I did try Ubuntu once, on my older desktop, but there is no comparison - Windows 200 on the same old hardware is much better - faster and more software choices. It does not crash either. I must add that only the Windows 7 beta did not come pre-installed, which I think makes a big difference.

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  21

  BizHacksRick

  03/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  @unifex: Point taken. I think a lot of the Vista-bashing is unfounded. The fact is the OS runs splendidly if you give it sufficient hardware. And from a security standpoint, it's a huge improvement over XP. But I still dislike some of the seemingly unnecessary interface changes Microsoft made.

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  22

  massawill

  03/12/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  I don't understand the vista bashing either. I
  was a little worried when i bought my laptop
  last year and almost downgraded to xp because
  of the hate.
  
  One year later and it still runs great. Its
  really speedy and all my software and devices
  work perfectly..even with full aero. I'm not
  even running a powerhouse machine. 1.7 dual
  core,3gb ram, integrated graphics, 600 bucks.
  
  I don't think theres any reason to buy vista or
  win 7 if your happy with your xp machine but I
  see no reason to not want it pre-installed on a
  new one....unless you just hate microsoft in
  general.

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  23

  psharkauburn

  03/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  @krisnodoubt
  With drive space hovering around $.10/GB how could you possibly care about an extra 10gigs? Just think, if only you bought 1 less soda today you too could have afforded the install space.

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  24

  psharkauburn

  03/13/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  I've never understood the vista bashing either, I feel it's just marketing forces at work (Mac Vs. PC commercials as example, but man they are great). Vista runs beautifully for me, of course using modern hardware for a modern OS. The improvements to the network stack alone are reason enough to recommend the switch in an enterprise environment. The only issues encountered with been with legacy (read very old) applications and hardware. Every time one of these issues comes up, my first thought isn't to blame the OS but instead curse and swear wondering why our enterprise is using 10+ year old software/hardware that's simply inferior in quality/features/performance.

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  25

  graveltruck204

  03/16/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Question does windows 7 have a 64bit os ? i run vista with 64bit and like it . i think when it comes down to it all os. are good , it depends on the operaters capabilitys .

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  26

  BizHacksRick

  03/17/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  @graveltruck204: Yep, there will 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7. I'm running Vista x64 as well, and while I can't claim to see any real-world advantages to it, I do like having access to more than 3.5GB of RAM (which is where 32-bit Vista tops out).

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  27

  eelcov

  04/07/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Windows 7 will be much better in memory management, soo i think this will have a great impact on the perfomance of the operating system.

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  28

  xsaint32

  04/07/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Send an apology and a Mac OS X DVD.
  
  When Windows grows up, it wants to be Mac.

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  29

  duncandXPSP3

  04/08/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  @xsaint32: You send me an apology and a Windows XP SP3 CD when Mac grows up, it wants Windows notoriety

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  30

  xsaint32@...

  04/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  @duncandXPSP3: Charles Manson had notoriety. That doesn't make you grown up and/or good.

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  31

  martinhardy

  10/05/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Five Ways Windows 7 Improves on Vista

  Pretty decent comparison of Vista with Window 7, i did use vista for couple of weeks but after that i came to conclusion that Window7 is a lot better then vista. Its now more then 2 year, but still vista has bugs and no one feel secure while using vista. There are a lot of block holes which prevent vista to get most popular regardless of its marketing. Most of IT related firms, like, seo, software development, designing ,networking, web hosting etc etc are still using Window 7 instead of vista. No doubt a boom came to vista in start but that was due to marketing, but after couple of months; most of them reinstall windows or XP. I was in contract of bluehost for link building and seo when vista was launched, i did install this but after two weeks i start preferring windows 7.