Windows 7

[tkam]

After waiting for the painfully slow download from MSDN I was able to install the RTM of Windows 7 (ultimate x64 version). I didn't have any blank dvd's around so I installed it from a usb thumb and I really think it's the way to go. The install only took 10-15 minutes.

Some early thoughts on Windows 7, it's definitely snappier than Vista, especially when it comes to UI affects and such. I should mention that 7 had drivers for everything in my laptop which was nice.

I like the new taskbar it's refined and the UI affects actually improve overall usability.

[Iron_Dreamer]

I am getting closer to sticking it on my laptop. You running it off an HDD or SSD? I don't have much speed complaint about Vista, but then again, both my systems have 4GB+ RAM and an SLC SSD.

[tkam]

SSD and it's not that Vista is slow really its just that Windows 7 appears faster when it comes to pretty much everything UI related.

[Iron_Dreamer]

Cool, well, I'll definitely take it!

[aardvark baguette]

My Win7 (RC) netbook without Norton or a Drobo attached boots pretty much as fast as my Quad Core midtower with Vista, back when it didnt have a Drobo attached or Norton installed.

I dont have it on the QuadCore because of VPN.

[strid3r]

Just downloaded the RTM last night, but won't have a chance to play around with it this weekend. The RC is still going strong on my laptop. Did anyone notice any major differences in the RC and the RTM?

[Torpedo]

I installed the RC and while I liked it a lot, way more than Vista for sure, the lack of drivers for my graphics card, so it won't go any higher than 60Hz refresh (still using a CRT), made me keep using XP.

Is it possible to download the RTM for the non MSDN subscribers? If so, from where? I've been checking MS Technet site and only keep the RC download, which will end on the 20th.

[NoValidTitle]

I think I went through every beta and the RC and now I'm running the RTM. Highly recommended. It runs like a champ on one of my pcs that only has 1GB of ram in it.

I think there are only 3 ways to get the RTM right now.

1. MSDN

2. Private Beta users were granted the RTM

3. Shady methods

[tkam]

I installed the RC and while I liked it a lot, way more than Vista for sure, the lack of drivers for my graphics card, so it won't go any higher than 60Hz refresh (still using a CRT)

What graphics card do you have? Windows 7 comes with pretty recent drivers for every ATI and Nvidia card I can think of.

[Torpedo]

It's an old Radeon 7500 which on XP supports the 100Hz refresh rate so the monitor won't flick at 1152x864. On W7 it just installs generic VGA drivers which won't allow highish refreshing rates, nor my preferred resolution.

I've tried to install several different drivers for Ati cards, almost everything I've been able to find, but most of them simply won't get installed. Some seem to go through, but in the last step, they don't install, so W7 keeps the generic VGA. I keep checking Ati site, but they don't seem to be interested in releasing W7 drivers for such an old GPU.

I'd rather keep using XP than getting a new GPU for this computer

[tkam]

Ahh well it's hard to blame them for not supporting a piece of hardware that's 8-9 years old .

[Torpedo]

Yup, I'm afraid that's the case, however if they want us to keep green, why change something that works well... (it's obvious I'm more of an audio geek than a computer one )

[GPH]

Windows is usually pretty good for supporting old hardware, at least compared to Apple. I'd be pissed off if I had a two-years old G5 that isn't supported in Snow Leopard.

[MrSlacker]

Is enough gracious enough to give me a serial for RTM?

[Grand Enigma]

Pre-RTM beta NVIDIA drivers sucked it up big time on my Lenovo... I had no ability to dim the screen until I reverted back to the non-beta drivers. I would like to know if this has been fixed.

[John E Woven]

I'm using windows 7 RTM on my Thinkpad X300. So far, so good. Damn fast and stable, but the windows 7 driver for the lenovo network connections and power manager don't let you use small icon mode with the half-height taskbar, system update doesn't work, and on screen display doesn't show up when you're dimming the display. Even with these minor things, I highly recommend upgrading to windows 7.

[Nebby]

Installed Windows 7 RTM on my main desktop. It certainly feels snappier than Vista, but this is just a fresh install so I'll see how it goes in time though I have no reason to believe otherwise from my experience with Win7 Beta on my laptop.