Differences between Vista and W 7

[Al Smith]

XP is the os I have liked the best of any I have had. I am learning to
like Win7 though and I expect that, once I have learned more, I will
like better

I'm thinking that maybe after software writers start to write
programs specifically for Windows 7 x64, instead of just trying to
kludge them so that they sort of run under Windows 7, the
instability might improve. Not so many programs will need to be
run in compatibility mode. I like Windows 7, but I agree with you,
XP will be very hard to beat. It was probably the best OS out of
Microsoft.

-Al-

 

[Al Smith]

That may be your experience, but it's very far from everyone's
experience. I've been running the released version here since it first
came out, and the RC for several months before that. Neither one has
*ever* crashed or locked up on me. And I know many others with similar
experiences.

I had no problems with Vista either.

Since your experience is different, you should be looking hard for
problems on your machine. Perhaps malware infection?

LOL, some say that Microsoft software is itself malware. I run a
clean computer. I don't have malware. Even so, I get lockups of
programs that require a hard reboot (because the monitor screen
fails to respond at all), spontaneous reboots, and blue screens.
Doesn't happen often, but it happens. I put this down to
*probably* the older programs that I am running. It is, of course,
possible that I have a flaw in one of my RAM chips. But I'm not
going to blame my hardware just yet, for what I believe is
software instability. The problem I had with dragging windows is
gone, thanks to an update in the nVidia driver.

-Al-

 

[Bill Yanaire, ESQ]

So can we.

You are right. Alias is an asshole. Without a Service Pack.

 

[Pulse]

Both Vista and Win7 support "gadgets". In Vista the default for them was to
exist on the 'Sidebar' usually on the left side of the desktop. One could
drag the gadget off to the desktop, but then they would enlarge to their
expanded mode.

Anyway, Win7 did away with the darkish sidebar and the gadgets both in
default and expanded can exist anywhere on the desktop. If the sidebar is
turned off in Vista, go to the Control Panel and turn it back on.

 

[Peter Foldes]

Alias

It was concerning you since most of the time you are a bit off base. This time you
were right on

 

[Roy Smith]

I'm finding Windows 7 to be less stable than my last Os, Windows XP.
Vista went off my wife's computer so fast, I didn't really get a chance
to use it. Once I saw that I couldn't do file operations with Vista,
that was it, I replaced it with XP and never looked back. At least I can
copy and move files with Windows 7, which is an improvement, I guess.
But it locks up or crashes more often than XP did.

Then something is seriously wrong with your PC, either it's hardware
related or you have a bad install of Windows 7. I've been using Win7
beta & RC1, and now the Home Premium version without the specific
problems you speak of.

--

Roy Smith
Windows 7 Home Premium

Timestamp: Monday, February 01, 2010 5:02:45 PM

 

[Jeff]

Both Vista and Win7 support "gadgets". In Vista the default for them was
to exist on the 'Sidebar' usually on the left side of the desktop. One
could drag the gadget off to the desktop, but then they would enlarge to
their expanded mode.

Anyway, Win7 did away with the darkish sidebar and the gadgets both in
default and expanded can exist anywhere on the desktop. If the sidebar
is turned off in Vista, go to the Control Panel and turn it back on.

Thank you for the info. What about the USB? Is it a known bug (or feature)?

I apologize for having started a thread that lead to so much acrimony.
That was not my intent. I was just trying to understand because so many
of the solutions I was referred to happened to be Vista solutions.

Jeff

 

[Jeff]

Thank you for the info. What about the USB? Is it a known bug (or feature)?

I apologize for having started a thread that lead to so much acrimony.
That was not my intent. I was just trying to understand because so many
of the solutions I was referred to happened to be Vista solutions.

Jeff (OP)

 

[bb]

I apologize for having started a thread that lead to so much acrimony.

It's USENET, there's no entrance fee.

 

[Al Smith]

Both Vista and Win7 support "gadgets". In Vista the default for them was
to exist on the 'Sidebar' usually on the left side of the desktop. One
could drag the gadget off to the desktop, but then they would enlarge to
their expanded mode.

Anyway, Win7 did away with the darkish sidebar and the gadgets both in
default and expanded can exist anywhere on the desktop. If the sidebar
is turned off in Vista, go to the Control Panel and turn it back on.

I just uninstalled mine. Tried a few out, took at look at what was
available, and decided that they were all useless.

-Al-

 

[Al Smith]

It's USENET, there's no entrance fee.

On Usenet the bar is lowered far enough to roll across the urns
containing the ashes of dead people.

-Al-

 

[Al Smith]

Then something is seriously wrong with your PC, either it's hardware
related or you have a bad install of Windows 7. I've been using Win7
beta& RC1, and now the Home Premium version without the specific
problems you speak of.

Congratulations.

-Al-

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Thank you all. Very helpful despite the sometimes conflicting opinions. ;-))

Since you bring it up, <grin>:
a) the USB support needs some more work.... In XP when I asked it to safely
remove the usb flash drive, a popup appeared and the FD's led light went off.
In W 7, I am told in a popup that it is safe to remove the FD but its led
remains lit.

b) what is the sidebar? The gadgets say they can be put on the desktop or
sidebar but I cannot find a sidebar.

Thanks. Jeff (OP)

The sidebar is defunct in Win 7, as Pulse said...

The light on the USB drive is irrelevant, as long as it's not flashing
when you unplug it. Just believe the message - and be glad you're not
running Vista, where Safely Remove often says, Sorry, you can't remove
it because it's in use. Never is there a clue as to who is using it.

 

[milt]

Unfortunately this time Alias was correct with what he posted above

That troll is never right about anything, hence, why most of us don't
care what he posts and wishes others would quit quoting him because if
we wanted to read his crap, we would.

 

[Bob Hatch]

That may be your experience, but it's very far from everyone's
experience. I've been running the released version here since it first
came out, and the RC for several months before that. Neither one has
*ever* crashed or locked up on me. And I know many others with similar
experiences.

I had no problems with Vista either.

Since your experience is different, you should be looking hard for
problems on your machine. Perhaps malware infection?

I've been running Windows 7 Pro 32 bit on 2 computers since a few days
after the release. I didn't even do a clean install on either computer
and moved both to Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.

One is a Dell desktop that was running XP Pro. I used Laplink Upgrade
Assistant to install Win 7. Prior to the install I ran the Windows 7
Upgrade Advisor and followed the advice that program gave me. I
uninstalled any programs that were listed as "not compatible". I then
downloaded all the drivers for my system that Dell recommended as well
as new drivers for my video card, scanner, printer, and several other
devices. I updated the BIOS and when I had everything in place I ran the
Laplink software, installed Win 7, updated all necessary drivers
including the chipset drivers, the ran the Laplink software again to
move all my programs and settings to Win 7. My computer stays on 24/7
and I've never had a blue screen, black screen, spontaneous shutdown,
freeze or any other kind of serious problem. I'm unable to Right Click
on the desktop and create a shortcut, but other than that Win 7 has been
flawless.

The other computer is a Toshiba laptop running Vista Home Premium. I
took the same steps as I did with the above computer and have had the
same experience. By the way, that computer runs 24/7 as well.

I'm about as satisfied as can be with Windows 7, but I believe I took
the proper and necessary steps prior to and during the install. YMMV.

--
"Never argue with an idiot, they will just beat you
down to their level and beat you with experience."

http://www.bobhatch.com
http://www.tdsrvresort.com

 

[Ophelia]

Thank you for the info. What about the USB? Is it a known bug (or
feature)?

I apologize for having started a thread that lead to so much acrimony.
That was not my intent. I was just trying to understand because so many
of the solutions I was referred to happened to be Vista solutions.

Jeff, apologies are not necessary! It wouldn't matter what you wrote about,
the same old, same old will stir it up. You will learn either to ignore
them or if they get too much, stick them in your bozo bin

 

[PeeCee]

I moved from XP to Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Often when I ask for
advice about something in W 7 I am referred to a source for Vista which
makes me ask the question: how different are Vista and W 7 other than the
friendlier uac and cosmetics?

Thanks. Jeff

Jeff

From what I've observed Win7 is Vista with a lot of the 'complaints' fixed.
As you have seen there is varied opinion on what to call Win7 but Vista
Second Edition is probably a fair assessment.
Vista broke many applications just like 95, NT and 2000 did in their era.
Unfortunately because MS left such a long break between major OS revisions
Vista was bound to disappoint.
Because the name 'Vista' became so tainted I suspect the pointy heads at MS
insisted Vista SE was a non starter.
So even though the Version is actually 6.1 MS had to call it Win7 in order
to remove it sufficiently from Vista for the market to regain confidence &
buy the new version.

The practical differences between Vista/Win7 in my experience are:
1 No more frustrating 'hangs' while the OS hives off into hyperspace doing
it's own thing, something Vista was 'very' bad at.
2 Minor 'GUI' changes eg the addition of Devices and Printers to the start
menu, dropping the gas hog Windows Vista Sidebar etc.
3 Removal of several previously bundled apps like an Email client, Movie
Maker, Messenger etc.
4 For the Pro and Ultimate versions the availability of XP Mode Virtual
Machine to carry forward mission critical apps that 'broke' on the move from
XP.
5 Apparent speed increase, though I've some reservations on that as I went
from an AMD X64 to an i7 which would explain at least some of the speed
boost.
6 The left window in Windows Explorer is worse than Vista, this is one area
where MS has got it totally wrong compared to 9x through XP.

From a broader perspective your change from XP to Win7 will bring a lot of
minor niggles and factors that were no different than when going from Win 3x
to Win 9x
* Bit depth: now is the time to go to 64bit. 32 bit's 4GB max RAM is a
complete dead end and should only be used as a last resort to keep legacy
software running.
(& make sure your new motherboard can handle more than 4GB)
* Missing bundled apps, go to MS website and download 'Windows Live
Essentials' to regain a bundled Email Client, Movie Maker etc.
* The search tool does seem to work much better than XP's version ever did.
* Things moved from where they were in XP is probably the biggest
frustration with Vista/Win7. Vista to Win7 changes are fairly minor.
* I find the 'dumbing down' of the UI worrying.
* While the Control Panel has more icons, somehow it seems harder to find
critical settings (search helps here)
* Start Menu: is in my opinion better, Luddites will scream bring back the
'classic' menu, but on a PC with lots of apps installed (as any power users
machine is likely to be) the new menu means you can get access.
With XP you had to resort to Windows Explorer or spend time 'nesting'
shortcuts.
* A negative for me is the pastel colours MS has used in both Vista and
Win7. Windows Explorer is much the poorer for this change.

Then there are the 'bitches' that have plagued Window since many versions
back that irritate the bejesus out of me.
* File extensions turned off by default.
* Burying Email message stores in an obscure location.
* ditto with the Address book/Contacts.
* Inflexible backup tools. (Win 7 does at least allow you to decide 'what'
to backup, but 'where & how' is another story)

Perhaps the biggest annoyance I've found going from XP to Vista/Win7 is the
self serving abandonment of peripherals.
Scanners and in particular HP Scanners are the worst.
Of the 6 scanners I have here I've only got one working with 64bit Win7 by
installing it in XP Mode.
Bar one the rest have 'no' 64bit drivers available.

I've also been disappointed at how incompatible some fancier software is
with Win 7/64.
Premiere Elements & Video Studio won't work for me in Win7/64.

FWIW
Paul.

 

[felmon]

I updated the BIOS

why was it necessary to update the BIOS?

but you didn't do this on the laptop too?

just want to know.

Felmon

 

[Seth]

So what "proof" do you have that Windows 7 is actually Vista SE?
I'm sure we'd all like to see it.

Vista and Server 2008 use the same core.

W7 and Server 2008R2 use the same core.

R2=SE

Vista was renamed purely due to marketing. They had to shed the "Vista"
name and the bad taste that came with it.

While this has not been directly stated, it has been implied by MS, most
notably by the Server Dev team.

 

[Tecknomage]

Jeff

From what I've observed Win7 is Vista with a lot of the 'complaints' fixed.
As you have seen there is varied opinion on what to call Win7 but Vista
Second Edition is probably a fair assessment.
Vista broke many applications just like 95, NT and 2000 did in their era.
Unfortunately because MS left such a long break between major OS revisions
Vista was bound to disappoint.
Because the name 'Vista' became so tainted I suspect the pointy heads at MS
insisted Vista SE was a non starter.
So even though the Version is actually 6.1 MS had to call it Win7 in order
to remove it sufficiently from Vista for the market to regain confidence &
buy the new version.

The practical differences between Vista/Win7 in my experience are:
1 No more frustrating 'hangs' while the OS hives off into hyperspace doing
it's own thing, something Vista was 'very' bad at.
2 Minor 'GUI' changes eg the addition of Devices and Printers to the start
menu, dropping the gas hog Windows Vista Sidebar etc.
3 Removal of several previously bundled apps like an Email client, Movie
Maker, Messenger etc.
4 For the Pro and Ultimate versions the availability of XP Mode Virtual
Machine to carry forward mission critical apps that 'broke' on the move from
XP.
5 Apparent speed increase, though I've some reservations on that as I went
from an AMD X64 to an i7 which would explain at least some of the speed
boost.
6 The left window in Windows Explorer is worse than Vista, this is one area
where MS has got it totally wrong compared to 9x through XP.

From a broader perspective your change from XP to Win7 will bring a lot of
minor niggles and factors that were no different than when going from Win 3x
to Win 9x
* Bit depth: now is the time to go to 64bit. 32 bit's 4GB max RAM is a
complete dead end and should only be used as a last resort to keep legacy
software running.
(& make sure your new motherboard can handle more than 4GB)
* Missing bundled apps, go to MS website and download 'Windows Live
Essentials' to regain a bundled Email Client, Movie Maker etc.
* The search tool does seem to work much better than XP's version ever did.
* Things moved from where they were in XP is probably the biggest
frustration with Vista/Win7. Vista to Win7 changes are fairly minor.
* I find the 'dumbing down' of the UI worrying.
* While the Control Panel has more icons, somehow it seems harder to find
critical settings (search helps here)
* Start Menu: is in my opinion better, Luddites will scream bring back the
'classic' menu, but on a PC with lots of apps installed (as any power users
machine is likely to be) the new menu means you can get access.
With XP you had to resort to Windows Explorer or spend time 'nesting'
shortcuts.
* A negative for me is the pastel colours MS has used in both Vista and
Win7. Windows Explorer is much the poorer for this change.

Then there are the 'bitches' that have plagued Window since many versions
back that irritate the bejesus out of me.
* File extensions turned off by default.
* Burying Email message stores in an obscure location.
* ditto with the Address book/Contacts.
* Inflexible backup tools. (Win 7 does at least allow you to decide 'what'
to backup, but 'where & how' is another story)

Perhaps the biggest annoyance I've found going from XP to Vista/Win7 is the
self serving abandonment of peripherals.
Scanners and in particular HP Scanners are the worst.
Of the 6 scanners I have here I've only got one working with 64bit Win7 by
installing it in XP Mode.
Bar one the rest have 'no' 64bit drivers available.

I've also been disappointed at how incompatible some fancier software is
with Win 7/64.
Premiere Elements & Video Studio won't work for me in Win7/64.

FWIW
Paul.

This is a very, very personal comment.

All the above MAY be true, but for me Win7 is a non-starter.

The problem is having to *reinstall* 100+ games and apps I have on my
WinXP SP3 system. Especially since my home system is rock-solid as
is.

The other issue I have with Win7 when I look at it (videos, store PCs,
and friends with Win7 systems) it's all eye-candy. Things that look
fancy but have no *real* operational value. Example, I run WinXP with
everything in the classic mode.

Now, IF Microsoft had made the upgrade method from WinXP-to-Win7 by
mounting the Win7 CD at the WinXP desktop and Win7 would install
*without* having to reinstall apps/games, INCLUDING NOT needing
special drivers, I may have considered the change.

By the way, I've been using Windows since the Win95 days, so I have a
very long view.