Windows XP Windows XP - New lease of life (SP4??)

[jimbo45]

Hi guys
I'm intrigued with these new netbooks -- they are selling incredibly well and most are being delivered with XP installed.

I just wonder how Microsoft is viewing this development (I'll bet it was hugely surprised by the popularity of these). I've got one myself

-- I HATE BLACKBERRY'S -- A CORPORATE "TETHERING MACHINE" -- mark of a 21st century wage slave subservient to the whim of some boss -- rather like a domestic servant in the late 18th cent.

I also don't like looking at the tiny screens of mobile phones or fiddling around on the Internet with those tiny buttons. A proper computer is ALWAYS my preference of choice.

However travelling around with a 8.9 inch Netbook is great -- even better now in the days of hideous Airport security and limited carry on baggage.

Even for my clumsy fingers the keyboard is OK and it's a real computer where you can watch DVD's and do real work as well -- OK Heavy Photoshopping might be a bit of an effort but you can certainly process a few pictures.

I've managed to get 2GB RAM in mine as well. Eventually 4GB modules will appear but these are a little while off from being affordable.

(The surprise here is a bit like TEXTS for the mobile phone operators -- texting was just added on as an afterthought as the bandwidth was negligible --nobody expected it to take off) .

Now this places Microsoft in a dilemma. Most people with these netbooks won't want to run VISTA (although I suppose it's possible if you are mad enough to try). So what do they do.

By the time Windows 7 reaches retail there will be literally 100,000's of new netbooks out there running XP.

Do they go for SP4 and another few years extension -- or will they give these people a W7 upgrade path.

I know if I were a typical user I wouldn't be very keen on doing a fresh NEW install on a computer that was only say 2 months old.

Maybe 32 bit users will get a proper XP==>W7 upgrade after all.

BTW Build 7022 runs very nicely on the Netbook.

cheers
jimbo

 

[nbkp]

i rekon win7 will be able to run on computers with xp stats

 

[jefins]

It would be great if M$ will make SP4, because win7 is a little bit slower than XP, many users don't like Aero as much as XP's theme and it's easier to understand XP for typical users, because there are not so (too)many features that are unusual to most of users.

 

[Radenight]

It would be great if M$ will make SP4, because win7 is a little bit slower than XP, many users don't like Aero as much as XP's theme and it's easier to understand XP for typical users, because there are not so (too)many features that are unusual to most of users.

I disagree.. Windows 7 is NOT slower than XP.. not by a long shot.. Especially with the current hardware... If it's slow for you perhaps it's a hardware issue.. I have Win7 running on 4 different PC's.. all with veru different hardware and each runs Win7 faster than XP..

 

[djwayne]

hmmm. I have XP Service Pack 3 on one hard drive, Vista Service Pack 1 on another drive, and Windows 7 on a third hard drive....All three are running exceptionally well for me. So I'm thinking whatever was wrong with those OS's, has now been fixed. I really like the luxurious features of Windows 7. It seems everything has been improved upon. Lot's of polish here.

I'm also thinking that whatever programs don't work with Windows 7, will be upgraded in a reasonable time, so I don't see the driver conflict problems that Vista had., when it first came out. Most problems have been resolved, so that's anchient history.

After working with Windows 7 for awhile, XP seems to be stripped down, Vista seems to be a precursor to Windows 7...lot's of the things that were introduced in Vista, have been polished up in Windows 7.

So I view it as a nice progression.

 

[hammydown]

jefins i completely disagree. I have benchmarked XP SP3, Vista SP1, and 7 Beta Build 7022. I tested out different games like crysis and far cry and did other usual benchmarking procedures. My computer is a Gamer Xtreme XEWindows 7 Completely Obliterated Windows XP. I mean it wasnt even close. Now i do have to say a couple of the programs i tried to benchmark were incompatible so far with windows 7 which is to be expected from a beta. Windows 7 did not beat Vista as badly but that is to be expected. So i dont know what system your running but 7 Beats XP hands down. And all the special features will not be enable in windows 7 starter from sources i have heard. This means it will be a lot more generic for those users looking for simple.

 

[kevin from Chi-town]

Not to mention the fact that you can disable Aero on older machinesand have a very functional 7!

 

[jefins]

On my hardware win 7 is a little bit slower than xp. Games are slower too. Ok, win 7 boots up much faster, programs opens faster, but after ~3h using it becomes very slow. Look at your hardware and then at mine. For people that have hardware or even lower, win 7 works not as fast as xp. I've disabled all services that i'll never need, all visual effects that i don't need. I hope that M$ will make win 7 more faster, because then people with low hardware will be able to use win 7 without any problems.

 

[kevin from Chi-town]

unfortunately for you, I don't see that happening. You have to understand one thing. All internet applications are expanding using more intensive graphics than before. Plus, you now have more media content being delivered over the web than ever before, and those applications need newer hardware to perform their designated tasks. The Pc and software manufacturing game has always been about bait and switch.They get you started, and then you continually have to upgrade.

 

[jefins]

I understand that, but i'm not one of those rich kids that can buy everything what they want. I'm going to buy more RAM in next two weeks, i hope, but i can't afford new cpu or new graphics card right now.

 

[jimbo45]

I disagree.. Windows 7 is NOT slower than XP.. not by a long shot.. Especially with the current hardware... If it's slow for you perhaps it's a hardware issue.. I have Win7 running on 4 different PC's.. all with veru different hardware and each runs Win7 faster than XP..

Windows XP X-64 runs RINGS around any other OS I've tried (including some bloated Linux Distros). Note I'm comparing DESKTOP / WORKSTATION OS'es here not Server type stuff --- Windows Server 2003 was great as a Server (even the 32 bit version was fine).

OK comparing a highly tuned OS with a load of fixes and service packs plus removing a load of bloatware with nLite can't really be properly compared with Windows 7 Beta yet but the trouble with making an OS "Accessible to the masses" or in plain English "Dumbing it down" is that it probably will be an almost impossible job to fremove stuff that you don't want with such programs as nLite so we will probably be stuck with the product "as shipped".

That's not to say I don't like W7 I do -- but for sheer speed and efficiency (TODAY Sat 21 Feb 2009) on a Desktop OS you can't beat Windows XP - X-64 with the latest service pack and fixes applied.

Also note I'm NOT recommending people to go out and install XP PRO 64 bit -- it IS a DINOSAUR OS with no future - but for the moment until W7 ships in Final I'm VERY HAPPY with XP PRO 64 bit and this will probably be the last machine I'll upgrade. I've only got 1 Machine running XP 64 bit, most of the others are running Windows XP PRO 32 bit which I'm gradually changing to W7 Beta build 7022 --OK shouldn't do it I know but this build is stable enough and the performance is certainly comparable to Win XP 32 bit.

It's the XP 64 bit version that I disagree about the speed / p;erformance vs W7.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[brian_g]

Going back to the original post - Windows 7 (build 7000) runs great on an Advent 4213 (Specs as follows)

Intel Atom N270 [1.6Ghz]
1GB DDRII 533Mhz RAM
160GB Hard Drive etc. etc.

The netbook market, as jimbo has said, is bloody huge right now. Considering the market didn't exist just over a year ago, this is pretty amazing. MS know that as much as anyone if this is how Well 7 can run on this sort of spec.

As for upgrading, I would think there might be some sort of e-distribution for Netbook users (since they do not generally have DC/DVD drives).

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
these netbooks all have USB connections as well -- on mine you can boot from a USB drive (whether an external USB drive or DVD. You can also add something like Virtual Clone drive and mount a "Virtual DVD" to load software if you don't need to boot from it.

You can also boot from a USB stick (note some USB sticks don't seem to work properly but a lot do.
Just enable boot from USB device in the BIOS.

Mine is a bit strange in that I have to have the USB device actually connected before the BIOS will show the option -- there's probably some hardware probing taking place at boot time.

Works a treat.

Cheers
jimbo