Category: Windows 7

Warning: Moderate to partly cloudy compgeekiness ahead.

---

…but I still intend to buy a full install copy of Windows 7 for one computer and upgrade another one here at twc central. Fickle? Nah. IMO, Win7 is about as good as Ubuntu 9.04–better in one regard: media center functions–and I suspect I’ll get a more than a few calls on support for it from friends and family and nodding acquaintances–ships passing in the night, etc.–though primarily from folks who don’t really need support at all, just a little friendly tutoring to feel comfortable, as it is a little easier to figure out any differences between Win7 and previous Windows versions than between any Windows version’s way of doing things and Ubuntu’s way of doing things.

Of course, media setups for Ubuntu are still kinda geeky, an issue that is still holding back adoption among average users. And media center setup? Fugettaboutit. The first three steps in setting up an Ubuntu (or any Linux distro) media center that is also intended for use as a desktop: “Tear hair out. Let regrow. Tear out again.” *heh* It can be done, but it’s a bloody mess. For almost all other uses, choosing between Windows 7, OSX, Ubuntu (and a few other easy-to-use Linux distros) and PCBSD is simply a matter of personal taste, IMO, as each has advantages and disadvantages and each has apps that are “good enough” for average users available in plenty.

Woody asked a question in comments on Win 7 Upgrade, so I thought posting PC World’s chart showing the feature sets of different versions might help folks out:

CLICK on pic to enbiggen. 😉

Do note: to upgrade Windows XP or 32-bit Windows Vista to Win7, at the present time, the only way is to install a fresh copy of Windows 7, requiring a backup and restore of your current data. Fortunately, the Win7 install routine will do a “files and settings” type “transfer” of your current data to a folder in your new Win7 installation, from which you may later “import” your data. Applications will require reinstallation in almost all cases. Vista 64-bit users are in luck, though, since Win7 64-bit will simply upgrade your computer w/o needing to do a “transfer” of files and settings. Backing up before ANY Windows upgrade is just the right thing to do in any case.

And again, for those who want to sniff the flowers from across the divide, here are links to PC-BSD and Ubuntu. (PC-BSD still holds the record in my personal use for easiest and fastest installation of an OS–even easier and faster than a hard disk install of Puppy Linux, which nevertheless is still my fav OS for older, under-powered machines.)

If you “preorder” Windows 7 by July 11, 2009, you can upgrade to the best Microsoft OS (for the average user) since Windows 2000 Pro. I’ve been using Win7 since the general beta release early this year and it’s been an overall pleasant experience. Right up there with a fresh install of Ubuntu 9.04, IMO. For someone who’s committed to using Windows, for whatever reason, if your hardware meets the basic requirements, the deal’s a steal. Better, IMO, than either XP or Vista, at $50 to upgrade there’s little reason for a dedicated Windows user to skip this one.

(CLICK on pic to enlarge)

See the M$ order page here. And no, M$ doesn’t give me a dime for my opinions or for your purchase, should you buy.

If you want to jump ship from the M$ juggernaut, try Ubuntu or PC-BSD.

Wait until Fall, if you want a Windows computer. Seriously. M$ has announced that Windows 7 will ship October 22 this year, and folks, if you must buy a Windows computer this year, you will benefit by waiting on Windows 7 as opposed to buying a Vista-based computer. Note: Vista has improved somewhat, but it’s still bloated, slower than XP or Windows 7 and far, far too resource-intensive, IMO.

So, if you are planning to buy a Windows computer this year, hold onto your computer dollars, if you can, until Fall and buy a Windows 7 based computer. When you do, think carefully about your intended use, though. There will be several consumer-oriented “flavors” of Windows 7 and you’d probably be better-served in the long run to buy the most advanced-featured version that will run well on the hardware you select.

OTOH, if you intend to run another OS on your new computer purchase (or build), Ubuntu 9.04 (in a fresh install only–an upgrade from 8.10 failed horribly for me), PCBSD 7.1 or any number of other OS offerings (I still very much like Puppy Linux for low-spec machines!) would do well on nearly any new computer. In fact, Ubuntu is offering a netbook-tailored version of Ubuntu 9.04 that could make such low-powered machines much more useful than the Windows 7 Starter Edition that M$ is authorizing for installation on netbooks.

Depending on the user’s needs, I could recommend Windows 7, Ubuntu 9.04, PCBSD 7.1 or Puppy Linux 4.2.1. It all depends on what YOU want to do with your computer, what its hardware is, etc.

No, that’s not a typo. At least half (the Ubuntu half) of my primary computer is “pouting” right now. The upgrade from 8.04 to 8.10 was a tad rough, so I thought I’d put off the upgrade to 9.04. After all, it was working… OK (pretty darned well in fact). But. Yeh, you guessed it. I caught the bug and initiated the upgrade process.

Fragged my Ubuntu install. AFTER the upgrade “finished” the update manager warned me (AFTERWARDS!) that some packages had not installed correctly. Oopsie. Yep, my first really, really unstable Linux box is now on that “side” of a dual boot machine.

So… fortunately, I’ve been saving my data off in a couple of ways and have easy access to it on an external drive. The programs I can always just reinstall… and tweak and reconfigure and fiddle with, etc., until they’re the way I want ’em again. Notaproblem, really. Heck, I might just bag it on Ubuntu 9.04 on this machine and install an alternate Linux designed for more media-intensive computing. We’ll see. (LinuxMCE with add-ons, perhaps?)

Meanwhile, back on the Win7 side of the box, I’ve been having fairly good luck with the original, official, Windows 7 beta, 7.00. But the release candidate’s been out for a few days now–released to the general public today, though “developers” have had their hands on it longer–and I started downloading the 3.1GB DVD image about 15 minutes ago. About three quarters done now, and that means…

Back up this side of the dual boot. No, not a full backup, just a “files and settings” transfer to nail down my documents libraries and settings. No email backup, because I’m using Thunderbird Portable so each “side” of the dual boot “sees” the same thing. Handy. Oh, the “Easy Transfer” utility will miss my Opera profile, but backing that up and reimporting it is a snap. One folder and bob’s your uncle.

Soooo… what time I have to spare over the next few days will be devoted to:

Making sure everything I want from the Ubuntu side is backed up (only about a gig or so not currently shuffled off–that’s pretty good for me. :-)). *Mostly “Check”*

Back up what I want from the Win7b side. *Check* (ET utility saving that data now and Opera profile saved already)

Print the license keys for the Win7 RC.

Burn the Win7 DVD.

Do a clean install of the Win7 RC.

Import files and settings and reinstall all my applications in Win7.

Hunt down the Linux distro I want, burn the ISO and install it.

Why both? Well, frankly, because after nine months of almost exclusive daily use of Ubuntu on this machine, I found it fit almost all my needs almost perfectly (save for my gripes about updates and upgrades and just a couple of very small issues with apps I really, really wanted working perfectly under WINE). Then, after gaining a sense that perhaps Windows 7 wasn’t going to be the grinding pain in the neck (substitute a much lower part of human anatomy for more accurate wording–*heh*) that Vista has been, I decided to test it out on this same machine.

I was pleasantly surprised. I have only a very few small issues with apps and some small pains with computer management “the Win7 way” but overall, it’s running neck and neck with Ubuntu on ease of use and–until this last “upgrade” to Ubuntu 9.04–it’s close to Ubuntu in stability, even surpassing it now that the 9.04 upgrade has fragged that “side” of the computer. So now, at the very least, I’m going to keep Win7 around in order to be on top of the curve for early adopters who may call on me for help with the OS’s few quirks. And yeh, I have a “spare” XP on hand to try out the XP mode that is available for use on the advanced Win7 SKUs and on systems that have processors that handle virtualization natively (this computer qualifies).

So, for the foreseeable future, once I get these little niggling details worked out, this box will remain a dual boot box. I’ll probably “live” on the Linux side most of the time, but Win7 is certainly good enough to win a fulltime install on a new HTPC build I hope to do soon.