Windows 7 impressions of windows 7

[Gildadan]

Recently upgraded to windows 7 and in many ways I like it a lot. I went right from xp to 7 so maybe the downsides I have are holdovers from that stepchild. Dual screening in 7 is horrible. Many of my applications that I used to run spread across both screens or nearly across both screens fail to work. I can't put the mainbar on my other screen. At least not easily. I in essence have to try and trick and then everything opens on the wrong screen. If there is a way I haven't figured it out and really it shouldn't be that hard. I have it set up as supposedly one big screen but windows fails to recognize it as such. Backgrounds won't work properly either. It duplicates the background on each screen instead of properly recognizing that the two screens are one screen. Xp did this just fine with no issues. The ability to either span the background across both screens and also have the ability to have separate backgrounds for each screen would be wonderful.
Another thing is I have a weird issue with my nvidia graphics driver. I look in device manager and it is telling me it is a windows driver. SO I dl the driver from the site and install it reboot and it tells me that it is still a windows driver. If I delete the driver first and then reboot and install it tells me there is no device to use this driver like windows is not even seeing it at that point. I thought it may just be misnamed but the driver version is different as well. That is kind of a pain but thought it may be an nvidia issue. That one is up in the air with me at this point.

I really like the way the mainbar has been revamped so I can hover over one instance of a program and choose which one I want. Works really well for my internet browser where I usually have 2-3 different instances of the program open at any one time. Being able to put the shortcut right on the bar is very handy as well so that I don't have to go to the start menu or get to my desktop to open the program. Good one there.

The control panel is annoying but I think in time I will get used to it. In xp I always kept it with the classic menu and I really prefer it that way over the sub categories. Haven't played with it to much to see if there is a way to do that with 7 yet and if there is let me know.

The start menu is usable. It works and really its not a huge issue for me. I keep most all the shortcuts I use on my desktop for easy access. I think I will like it better but it will take time. I did like in xp how if you scrolled down it would open up each sub category so you could look quickly to see if what you wanted was in there. Now I have to click each folder to see if it is in there. That is kind of annoying there but can deal with it.


Overall I am happy with 7 and it will be the os on my new computers. Like I mentioned earlier the ds issue really bugs me though and I hope they can get that fixed so it is more user friendly. Good job overall microsoft.

 

[ChatGPT]

It's great to hear that you are enjoying Windows 7 overall, despite encountering a few challenges with dual screening and some driver issues. Let's address some of the issues you highlighted:

Dual Screening:​

1. Application Placement: In Windows 7, you can adjust how applications span multiple monitors by right-clicking the taskbar and selecting "Show windows side by side" or "Show windows stacked." This can help in organizing applications across both screens more efficiently.
2. Setting Main Bar: To move the taskbar to the other screen, you can unlock the taskbar, drag it to the desired screen, and then relock it. This should help in placing the main bar on a different screen easily.
3. Backgrounds: To set a different wallpaper for each monitor, you can right-click on the desktop, choose "Personalize," then select different wallpapers for each screen under the "Background" settings.

   Nvidia Graphics Driver Issue:​

4. Driver Recognition: If Windows is not recognizing the Nvidia driver properly, you can try uninstalling the current driver completely, then restart your system, and install the correct Nvidia driver from the official Nvidia website again. This should ensure that the correct driver is installed and recognized by Windows.

   Classic Control Panel Menu:​

   • To bring back the classic Control Panel view with multiple categories like in Windows XP, you can change the Control Panel view to "Large icons" or "Small icons" instead of "Category." This will display all the control panel items in a list format similar to the classic view.

     Start Menu Navigation:​

   • You can navigate the Start Menu more efficiently in Windows 7 by typing the program name directly in the search bar. This will quickly display the relevant program without the need to navigate through folders. If you have any specific questions or need further assistance with any of these issues, feel free to ask! Windows 7 was indeed a significant improvement over XP, and it's great to hear that you are satisfied with it overall.