Thinking of upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7.

[Atlantian]

Hi all,

Since Windows 7 is on sale until July 11th I was thinking that I should ask if it is worth getting.

Right now I have Windows Vista SP2 on a Toshiba A200-AH6 laptop. I have a 2.0 Ghz Core Duo, 4 GB RAM, and a 160 GB HDD.

The thing that I am thinking about is that with Windows Vista (knock on wood) I have not had the problems or bad experiences that everyone is talking about.

That being said I am wondering if it would be worth the money to upgrade to Windows 7? The only thing that I am concerned about is finding drivers for my hardware but I am guessing that since I bought my laptop in 2007 there should be generic drivers in Windows 7 by the time it comes out.

For those who had Windows Vista and switched to the Windows 7 experience how was it? Is the difference in performance noticeable? As for a "new interface" that does not concern me because after a few hours I will figure out where everything is and not give it a second thought.

Bottom line is going from Windows Vista to Windows 7 worth (I am in Canada) C$64.99? Also I am a university student (not computer science) so I will see on Monday what price they are at the university computer store.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[Twoboxer]

When was the last time you *ever* saw a new version of MS software deliver noticably better performance lol?

Save money. Buy more beer.

 

[dafin0]

windows 7 is a nice jump from windows vista, the user interface is not that different so you dont really need to learn anything new there, with performance everything feels a lot smoother and the changes to the UI does help with any type of work flow you might have. driver support is great and chances are you will not even have to go find any, just install windows 7 run windows update and you should be set.
but at the end of the day it comes down to do you have the money for it, i personal think its worth the upgrade just because its usability.

 

[Atlantian]

I am thinking of it more from the perspective of useful life of my laptop. Since I have a 2.0 Ghz Core Due and 4GB of RAM for everything I do (no extreme 3D gaming, etc) I am thinking Windows Vista will be out of its service life but my laptop will still be useful.

Also I have 2 hard disk bays (that is one of the things I love about this) so I was thinking of getting an SSD for the OS when Windows 7 comes out.

When will the service life for Windows Vista end? I did try Google and looking around the Microsoft website but I could not really find anything.

 

[RetiredChief]

Installed win 7 RC on Toshiba A205 (Core Duo) and a A305 (T6400 C2D). It recognized and installed all drivers. Seems a little better than vista in terms of performance, but not a quatum jump. I can play a blu-ray (Power DVD ver 7.3) on the A205 even though the Proc is a 1.67 and recommended min is 1.8.

 

[baddad]

I'm guessing 4 or 5 years.

 

[croc]

I am thinking of it more from the perspective of useful life of my laptop. Since I have a 2.0 Ghz Core Due and 4GB of RAM for everything I do (no extreme 3D gaming, etc) I am thinking Windows Vista will be out of its service life but my laptop will still be useful.

Also I have 2 hard disk bays (that is one of the things I love about this) so I was thinking of getting an SSD for the OS when Windows 7 comes out.

When will the service life for Windows Vista end? I did try Google and looking around the Microsoft website but I could not really find anything.

You are correct, MS has not announced end of service life for Vista. My guess is that your laptop will be needing replacing before that happens though...

Personally, I do find a small increase in performance, and some of the new features are very nice. That said, I personally find no real compelling reason to upgrade as Vista does everything I need it to do. I also don't see any compelling reasons for an SSD at this time, either...

If you can get a great deal through your Uni, I'd consider it though.

 

[Zoron]

Vista was released... 2007? So mainstream support will be 5 years (2012) and extended support runs 10 years (2017). That means MS will continue to release security and critical updates up until 10 years after the release date. This applies to ALL versions of Windows as per their support policy.

The only reason XP's support was extended was due to Vista's delay in being released. I was on the fence about upgrading to Win 7 myself... but with Home being 58% off and Pro being 50% off... that suddenly makes it awfully tempting...

 

[RetiredChief]

Zip
Do not think that Vista will see that much improvements down stream other than "bug" fixes and security patchs. They are going to be investing their time and efforts into improving Win 7. A number of large clients (ie NASA) did not bother with vista; Hopefully they will migrate to Win 7. If so that will put added emphases on concentrating on Win 7.

I think I would rather jump on the "bandwagon" now so I get my "Free" upgrade for my laptop and a 1/2 priced copy for my desk top as opposed to wating a yr, or two and paying full price for it.

But that's just my opinion.

 

[Twoboxer]

That's certainly in line with Microsoft's position.

 

[Zoron]

Vista will get the same treatment every other OS since 98 has received. Five years of mainstream support and 10 years extended support. If you stick with Vista, you won't be left out in the cold... at least not for a few years yet. The only compelling reason for Vista users to upgrade to Win 7 right now is the price... in my opinion. I wasn't considering it until I saw the substantial discount MS is offering.

 

[Twoboxer]

. . . The only compelling reason for Vista users to upgrade to Win 7 right now is the price... in my opinion. . . .

. . . and in mine. And in Microsoft's, apparently, hence the "pre-order now" deal. Even a "family pack" deal of say 3 licenses for the price of one wouldn't prompt me to convert the 6 PCs I have running.

Those PCs range in age from 3 yrs to 1yr old. In a year or two half will be replaced, and the other half moved down to secondary status. The new ones will require a new OS. I'll "upgrade" then. With a Family Pack.

Maybe

 

[croc]

Zip
Do not think that Vista will see that much improvements down stream other than "bug" fixes and security patchs. They are going to be investing their time and efforts into improving Win 7. A number of large clients (ie NASA) did not bother with vista; Hopefully they will migrate to Win 7. If so that will put added emphases on concentrating on Win 7.

I think I would rather jump on the "bandwagon" now so I get my "Free" upgrade for my laptop and a 1/2 priced copy for my desk top as opposed to wating a yr, or two and paying full price for it.

But that's just my opinion.

And also do not think that Win 7 will see any more 'improvements' than Vista after the October release. All dev. teams will be re-directed to Win 8 as soon as Win 7 is done and dusted. Gates does not run MS anymore, Ballmer does. And I get the feeling that he likes 'churn'.

NASA, BTW, is kinderspeil when it comes to corporates like Intel and IBM sitting on XP still. So I wonder how Ballmer's 'churn' strategy will go down with some of the larger corporates? My crystal ball is very foggy right now...

 

[Twoboxer]

Hehe. What they learned is that *not* upgrading saves lots of money. No payments to MS, and no productivity lost learning where MS shuffled all the old commands in order to simulate a "new Windows experience".

Only thing that will drive them to W7 appears to be a security scare solely related to XP.

 

[geofelt]

I would suggest that you download and run the windows 7 upgrade advisor tool to check your system for compatibility:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1B544E90-7659-4BD9-9E51-2497C146AF15&displaylang=en

I would not worry about support on Vista expiring. Still, there might be some enhancements in windows 7 that you want. There are supposed to be improvements in ssd support, for example.

I would nail down a copy before july 11. If you decide later that it is not worth it, you will get your money back, and then some when the retail price doubles.

 

[Lippy13]

From my experience, if you don't really notice any performance problems with Vista (in other words, your computer can handle it well), then you won't really see any noticeable performance gain in Windows 7. However, on a less capable system that struggles with Vista, it can be surprising how much better Windows 7 performs in relation to Vista. I still don't think Windows 7 is as fast as XP, but I consider its performance overhead to be closer to that of XP than Vista. One area where Windows 7 seems to fare much better than Vista is hard disk activity. Vista would endlessly thrash my hard drive, and it can't be a problem with low memory as I have 4 GB installed. Disabling SuperFetch would quieten it down a bit, but overall the disk activity was still pretty high. Under Windows 7, I've found that my hard drive remains relatively quiet even with SuperFetch enabled, so at least my hard drive should last a bit longer now. The same was true with my laptop, which of course has a much slower hard drive, and only 1 GB of RAM.

I'll personally be upgrading from Vista, mostly because the upcoming discount of Windows 7 here in the UK will be very cheap compared to the full price that will be instated later. I've more or less been using Windows 7 as my primary OS since the beta came out, and I've got used to its features. I wouldn't consider the new features compelling enough to upgrade from Vista for the full price however, but the discount has tempted me.

 

[Twoboxer]

. . . Still, there might be some enhancements in windows 7 that you want. There are supposed to be improvements in ssd support, for example. . . .

*This* may be a significant reason. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[foolycooly]

Is there any way of knowing how the backwards-compatability will be fore Vista 64 drivers? I know 7 will have solid support for most newer devices, but I am running a usb wireless adapter from linksys on my new system at home. Linksys still does not have official 64 bit drivers for the 'older' usb adapters...I had to use one created by someone on the linksys forums.

Do you think windows 7 will have driver support for these older items? Will my custom vista 64 bit driver work in windows 7 as well? Should I stop complaining and buy an internal wireless card for like $30? P)

 

[Scotteq]

...I am running a usb wireless adapter from linksys on my new system at home. Linksys still does not have official 64 bit drivers for the 'older' usb adapters...I had to use one created by someone on the linksys forums.

Do you think windows 7 will have driver support for these older items? Will my custom vista 64 bit driver work in windows 7 as well? Should I stop complaining and buy an internal wireless card for like $30? P)

If your driver works in Vista 64, then it should work in 7.

Having said that - for $30, I'd have jsut spent the money.

 

[jnjkele]

I've already committed to the Win7 RC until my pre-order arrives Having skipped Vista on my desktop and lived with it on my laptop (no trouble really aside from unreliable sleep/hibernate recovery performance), I'm still going to 7 because there are some pretty cool UI enhancements with the taskbar and start menu that I like. It also seems to power manage (hibernate/sleep) more reliably than XP or Vista. On top of that, I just can't resist making a purchase of windows for what I think it should go for regular price, regardless of the deal. For once I can say I only paid what I think it's tuly worth price wise.

 

[Zoron]

Well I pre-ordered Pro for my desktop and Home for the laptop. The price was just too good to pass up.

 

[DAK_59]

When was the last time you *ever* saw a new version of MS software deliver noticably better performance lol?

Save money. Buy more beer.

It is a shame when people talk without know what they are talking about.

I'm no fan of Microsoft. I hate Vista, but... I have been running 7 for a few months now. It is stable. It runs everything I have tried. It runs faster than XP (way faster than Vista). I get about 20% longer run time on battery. What is there not to like?