BigBodZod wrote:

I'm thinking the better question is wether to go with either the 32-bit or 64-bit builds, luckily it appears that Microsoft will include both version on the same install media or perhaps their own install media discs.

As for me I'm using the RC1, build 7100 release and like it a lot, however, I will most likely just stick with the Professional/Business edition as I don't need that extra fluff like Media Center etc...

Haven't got to Windows 7 yet. Still using XP Pro SP3 32-bit and Vista Ultimate SP2 64-bit. Entertainment-wise, Assassin's Creed plays well on both. Vista has access to the DX10 version of the executable and using a 64-bit OS doesn't deter the fun factor. Creative's Alchemy software brings back the 3D multi-channel gaming to the forefront.
However Windows XP still reigns supreme in the gaming and entertainment scene.

So, does Windows 7 do away with the absence of native 3D sound aspect as seen in Vista?

i wouldn't know everything sounds the same is it did with xp with the games i have played

do you have a card capable of eax

As far as I know Win7 uses the same audio system as Vista. I'm planning to build a new desktop with Win7 and move my Asus Xonar DX from my old desktop (which I barely use, and not for gaming) to my new one. I'm happy to see that many hardware sites are now pushing Xonar cards over Creative cards.

I've been running Win7 (beta/RC whatever) and I really like it. Never did the Vista thing, was happy with XP.

Anyway I preordered Win7 Home Premium when it was $50 and it's come out next month. Thing is I'm not ready to reinstall every freakin thing again and will prolly continue to use RC well into next year. Anyone else going to hold off installing the retail? Any drawbacks?

I'm planning to build a new desktop soon, so I'm thinking of picking up Vista x64 Home Premium for $90 on newegg and using the free upgrade coupon to get win7, although I heard win7 x64 home premium isn't going to be a lot more expensive than that from the sounds of it.

I hadn't heard about a $50 pre-order, doh.

HunterZ wrote:

I hadn't heard about a $50 pre-order, doh.

Yeah it was back in late June, really wish I ordered more then just one. I ordered mine from newegg for 49.99, no tax and free shipping. Too hard to pass up.

I bet at the end of next month ebay will be flooded with copies from the preorder.

I've just pre-ordered Windows 7 Home Premium for £69.99 from Novatech. I went with the Home version as i will never user any of the extra features found in the more expensive versions... Just web browsing and gaming for me 😀 Windows 7 should be fine for my new i7 gaming rig that i'm currently building 😎

cdoublejj wrote:

disk thrashing? sounds more like vista. i have not had any disk thrashing issues but, my flash drive seems buggy in w7 might me my all in 1 card reader causing it that or a bug in the os.

I've been running win7 64bit RC and seemes faster then the XP 32bit that i had come from. Also I preordered home premium, I dont see anything more useful in the more expensive releases.

I have received and installed Windows 7 Home Premium on 2 of my PC's and one of my laptop's.... so far it's been excellent! I bought all 3 for £69.99 each from Novatech (special pre-order price).

I'm using the 64-bit version and i find it more responsive than Windows XP and it's obviously far better than the dreadful Vista! The Windows XP compatibility mode found in the more expensive version of Win 7 is only good for business applications etc... (rubbish for games) i'm pretty sure it can be downloaded and installed on the Home Premium edition anyway (will be sooner or later)!

It is quite decent. I have some issues with how the folder views work, but that's about it. I'm not sure how much faster it is than Vista though. Vista isn't that bad anymore, thanks to faster hardware, better drivers and service packs.

BTW, the XP Mode is just a slightly more accessible Virtual PC + XP install. You can do that yourself on any MS OS with the free MS Virtual PC 2007. I use it to run some old apps on a virtual Win 98 sometimes. VPC2007 can definitely run 2D games fine. Video performance isn't much slower than your real OS, but there is no 3D hardware support so no 3D games. I've read that XP Mode uses RDP instead (yuck).

Agree with swaaye regarding vista, it's running smoothly without any issues on my amd quad core rig...but before service pack 1 I had some stability issues.

Regarding Windows 7 I'm pleased with it as well, running the 64-bit version on my Mac Pro...it's a bit faster than MacOS Snow Leopard I have on the same machine....Win7 really utilize the eight cpu cores 😀

Also running the 32-bit version of win7 on my P4 s478 3.4 extreme rig in dual boot with WinXp Pro...on that rig you can feel how lightweight win7 is 😎

I tried the XP Mode several months ago that they released for people running Win7 RC1 and it was a joke. The worst part was that you had to connect to it via Remote Desktop, which kills video and sound performance and accuracy.

I found that Win7 x64 RC1 runs World of Warcraft just as good in windowed mode as it does in full-screen mode due to the new graphics architecture in Vista/Win7. Specifically, it runs just a couple of FPS lower than 32-bit XP full-screen on the same machine, but because I prefer to run windowed (for quicker alt+tabbing) it's a huge improvement over running windowed under WinXP.

Also for XP mode you will need a minimum of 2gb RAM (more than the minimum requirements for Win 7 itself!) and you will also need a CPU that supports Virtualization (i think most or maybe all current processors have this feature.).

I think most people will be running Windows 7 on a recent PC so they should already have at least 4gb RAM and will no doubt have a CPU that supports virtualization.... but XP mode is still a bit poo as it does not have direct access to sound and video hardware 😵

The Remote Desktop limitation is worse than the emulated sound and video, by far.

http://www.sevenforums.com/gaming/5739-window … ility-list.html
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2339542,00.asp
http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2009/10/22/ … ility-testing/5

bit-tech couldn't get 20% of the 60 games they tried to work. FYI, they mention DOSBox. Better than Vista, and some say XP too(though comparing just 32bit,) if what you want to run works on it.

Luckily it's so easy to dual boot Win7 and XP. Just add 7 to an existing XP setup and it will make a boot menu for you.
I ended up getting a new HDD so I partitioned as followed: C:\Win7 D:\games E:\backup F:\WinXP

I'm going to keep my old desktop and my laptop around for XP stuff, and just go with Win7 on my new desktop. Old games won't like the new hardware anyways.

I'm also thinking of dual-booting Ubuntu on my laptop once I have my new desktop and/or the Win7 x64 RC1 expires on my laptop.

you can run the install disk "in the" RC1 once you go out and buy win7 this way you don't have to reinstall all your apps. also win7 32bit supposedly does as slightly better job at dos than 64bit.

cdoublejj wrote:

also win7 32bit supposedly does as slightly better job at dos than 64bit.

The 64-bit version of Win 7 will not run anything Dos related as it cannot run any 16-bit software. Are you sure the 32-bit version of Windows 7 supports Dos? Native Dos support was phased out years ago!