Ask me about Windows 7! [Archive] - Team17 Forum

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SupSuper
30 Aug 2009, 22:57
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/windows7.jpg
Why? Why not?

Melon
30 Aug 2009, 23:09
Is it 2.2580645161290322580645161290323 times better than windows 3.1?
EDIT: It must be terrible compared to Windows 2000 if I'm going to make that crappy joke.

Akuryou13
30 Aug 2009, 23:42
is it as **** as vista?

SupSuper
31 Aug 2009, 03:08
Is it 2.2580645161290322580645161290323 times better than windows 3.1?
EDIT: It must be terrible compared to Windows 2000 if I'm going to make that crappy joke.Technically it's 1.(967741935483870) times better.
is it as **** as vista?It's pretty much "Vista but we actually did it properly this time", specially much faster and less annoying. Also new things like the taskbar and touch controls and stuff you might've already heard about.
I still disable UAC so I can save files any damn place I want without having to run every application as an administrator thouigh.

SargeMcCluck
31 Aug 2009, 09:26
Windows 7 is great. I've been using it for a few months now.
The UAC in Windows 7 is much smarter, and it "learns", so usually it doesn't ask the same question over and over. I've found it to be faster than Vista, too.
The new taskbar is _excellent_.

Paul.Power
31 Aug 2009, 09:33
You mean the latest masterpiece of fantasy storytelling from Microsoft's™ Steve Ballmer™? Why it's an extraordinary adventure with an interface on magic... stunning, high-resolution, 3D landscapes... sophisticated score and musical effects. Not to mention the detailed animation and special effects, elegant point 'n' click control of characters, objects, and magic spells. Beat the rush! Go out and buy Windows 7™ today!

thomasp
31 Aug 2009, 10:40
Should I get Windows 7 or Snow Leopard? :p
I also consider the following rather epic fail from Amazon.co.uk...
32633

Xinos
31 Aug 2009, 19:05
Why? Why not?
Why should we trust you?

MtlAngelus
31 Aug 2009, 19:08
The question is... will it blend? :eek:

worMatty
31 Aug 2009, 20:51
The question is... will it blend? :eek:
Hahahahaha!

MadEwokHerd
1 Sep 2009, 03:18
Has it been released yet?

MrBunsy
1 Sep 2009, 09:49
Only on MSDN I thought, not yet to the general public. I've got a copy from uni, so as soon as I get a new hard disc I'm gonna give it a whorl too.

SargeMcCluck
1 Sep 2009, 10:17
There was a public RC release a few months ago, that's what I'm using. It's going to work until Feb or so, at which point it will start turning off after an hour...

thomasp
1 Sep 2009, 11:07
...at which point it will start turning off after an hour...
So... no different to older versions of Windows then :p

SargeMcCluck
1 Sep 2009, 11:13
So... no different to older versions of Windows then :p
This time it's intentional! It's documented.

thomasp
1 Sep 2009, 11:20
Well that makes it all ok then :)

SupSuper
1 Sep 2009, 15:40
Why should we trust you?Would you rather trust *gasp* Microsoft? :eek:
Only on MSDN I thought, not yet to the general public. I've got a copy from uni, so as soon as I get a new hard disc I'm gonna give it a whorl too.Yeah that's where I got mine too. Nothing beats free legal stuff. :p

MrBunsy
1 Sep 2009, 16:11
Nothing beats free legal stuff. :p
Mmm. Free as in I pay £3000 a year and get a few 'free' books and bits of software in return. And a degree.

SupSuper
3 Sep 2009, 16:55
And unemployment.

MrBunsy
20 Sep 2009, 15:06
Woo! Windows 7 64bit Ultimate etc, etc, now installed! Was surprisingly quick, now just to install all my programmes again.

Xinos
21 Sep 2009, 17:51
I have that on my laptop, what can I say.. It's windows! Yay.
It runs everything fine. I'm not sure what to do with my shortcuts since I used to store everything in QuickLaunch in XP and Vista. The new taskbar isn't big enough to hold every shortcut I want. The Library function is interesting, but will most likely go unused and therefor just be in the way. Is it just me or is Explorer getting worse with every version of Windows? It used to be a rather good file manager, but now it's almost painful to get to the folder you want. I will probably stick with using Total Commander.
I'm a bit confused about the Paint update. It feels like they started to upgrade it's features but got distracted in the middle of it. They redid the whole interface and moved everything around (trying to make it look like Office 2007?) There are some new brushes with anti-aliasing which is nice, though the icons for the brushes look almost exactly the same so it's hard to tell at a glance which is which. They capped the maximum brush size, just to be mean I'm sure. And I think they at least could have implemented layers and tablet pressure sensitivity support, but no. So, barely any new features and a new interface to learn. Nice.
It's not a huge loss since I don't use Paint, but I might have if they just bothered to make it good. Perhaps Adobe forbade them in order to get people to buy Photoshop.

MrBunsy
21 Sep 2009, 17:53
I'm not sure what to do with my shortcuts since I used to store everything in QuickLaunch in XP and Vista. The new taskbar isn't big enough to hold every shortcut I want.
I found a solution to this! You can set it to use small icons for more space, and to get a quicklaunch area back you can right click the taskbar, toolbars - new toolbar. Make a new folder, shove all the icons in that and set small icons, no text, etc to get XP style quicklaunch back.

Muzer
21 Sep 2009, 19:05
Windows 7 sounds terrible. Try to convince me it's not :p

MrBunsy
21 Sep 2009, 19:38
Windows 7 sounds terrible. Try to convince me it's not :p
It's stable, so far it seems as quick as XP was, it's 64bit and it runs all the games I've installed thus far. And I got it for free :p

Muzer
21 Sep 2009, 22:03
It's stable, so far it seems as quick as XP was, it's 64bit and it runs all the games I've installed thus far. And I got it for free :p
I'll stick with Kubuntu if you don't mind ;)
All those advantages apply to me (yes, including the games - I'm not much of a gamer), as well as quite a few more...

MrBunsy
21 Sep 2009, 22:33
(yes, including the games - I'm not much of a gamer)
Ah, you can't have many then. I've tinkered with wine in the past and it's always taken hours to get each game working.

Muzer
21 Sep 2009, 22:49
Ah, you can't have many then. I've tinkered with wine in the past and it's always taken hours to get each game working.
Wine has come on in leaps and bounds. Most random apps I download off the internet work (if I just need to do a quick, very specialised task and can't find a Linux app, such as ripping music from a DS game for example), and the few games I've tried mostly work without too much hassle. Wine's own AppDB is a real help, let me tell you!

MrBunsy
21 Sep 2009, 23:18
Wine has come on in leaps and bounds. Most random apps I download off the internet work (if I just need to do a quick, very specialised task and can't find a Linux app, such as ripping music from a DS game for example), and the few games I've tried mostly work without too much hassle. Wine's own AppDB is a real help, let me tell you!
Hmm, I may have another go sometime then. But, this was free for me and I rather like it so far.

SupSuper
22 Sep 2009, 03:25
I have that on my laptop, what can I say.. It's windows! Yay.
It runs everything fine. I'm not sure what to do with my shortcuts since I used to store everything in QuickLaunch in XP and Vista. The new taskbar isn't big enough to hold every shortcut I want. The Library function is interesting, but will most likely go unused and therefor just be in the way. Is it just me or is Explorer getting worse with every version of Windows? It used to be a rather good file manager, but now it's almost painful to get to the folder you want. I will probably stick with using Total Commander.Funnily enough with every new version of Windows I've relied less and less on shortcuts. Right now I only have 2 on my desktop and 3 on Quick Launch. I've found out I don't use most shortcuts I create, and the Start Menu has evolved enough that it doesn't take that many extra clicks to access whatever program I want, and it's a lot more organized. I don't get the people that manage to flood their Quick Launch and Desktop with shortcuts, because I really doubt they use a hundred programs regularly. On the upside, although technically Quick Launch buttons take more room, programs take less, so it works out (and I've seen a lot of people who manage to flood their taskbar with running programs too).
Libraries is pretty pointless yeah, because most people will just shove everything into their Documents (and if they don't, their applications will) and split that into folders if they want. Also the actual folders are called "My Documents" again, why? Since every Windows version gives it a different name, I imagine the actual real name we don't see is WINDOWS_USER_STUFF_FOLDER by now.
I don't see what's different about Explorer? It's been much the same since... forever. Well there's Favorites now. And an "Open in new window" option, which is nice. I still would prefer a column-split though.
I'm a bit confused about the Paint update. It feels like they started to upgrade it's features but got distracted in the middle of it. They redid the whole interface and moved everything around (trying to make it look like Office 2007?) There are some new brushes with anti-aliasing which is nice, though the icons for the brushes look almost exactly the same so it's hard to tell at a glance which is which. They capped the maximum brush size, just to be mean I'm sure. And I think they at least could have implemented layers and tablet pressure sensitivity support, but no. So, barely any new features and a new interface to learn. Nice.
It's not a huge loss since I don't use Paint, but I might have if they just bothered to make it good. Perhaps Adobe forbade them in order to get people to buy Photoshop.To be fair Windows Accessories aren't meant to be good. They're meant to be cheap lightweight applications to simply fill in until you buy something proper if you need. Paint is to drawing applications what Notepad is to writing applications, and it does that well, it doesn't really need much more. Though I'll admit layers would be pretty nice, but they might not implement it because Paint doesn't support any format that saves them. But hey, new version means a whole lot more Undo levels! Because you can never have enough Undo.
I think the new interface is fine. I don't see new interfaces as "oh no I have to learn something new" but as "oh hey this might actually be faster and intuitive" (while you could say otherwise for Office 2007, you can't really say it about Paint). Now the Zoom is finally quick to use and all the features are clear and visible, so the average user will no longer wonder how to edit colors or use transparent selection boxes or what's different about the various image formats.
But I don't like the new Shape tool, it makes it a pain to draw a lot of them close to each other. And the anti-alised brush might **** off pixel artists.

Akuryou13
22 Sep 2009, 03:33
And the anti-alised brush might **** off pixel artists.wait. did they remove the NON-anti-aliased brush!?

bloopy
22 Sep 2009, 04:31
NON-anti-aliased brush
You mean the aliased brush? :p

FutureWorm
22 Sep 2009, 05:13
You mean the aliased brush? :p
'avin a larf over ere

worMatty
22 Sep 2009, 12:10
You mean the aliased brush? :p
Lolé, sir.

SupSuper
22 Sep 2009, 12:46
You mean the aliased brush? :POh snap!
Anyways I got bored so here's some random screenshots. I'm sure nobody cares but neither do I since and it requires very little effort (less than updating my Sims 3 thread DON'T JUDGE ME):
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/th_w7_taskbarpeek.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/w7_taskbarpeek.jpg)
The new taskbar! Hover over a button, it shows you every window in that group! Hover over the thumbnail, it previews the window on the screen while hiding all the others! !!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/th_w7_quick.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/w7_quick.jpg)
Right-click on one, and get a list of tasks. Use them, pin them, ignore them!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/th_w7_trayicon.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/w7_trayicon.jpg)
And now all those nasty tray icons get grouped together. Also you can finally see the current date. And a Show Desktop button. YES!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/th_w7_uac.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/w7_uac.jpg)
You too will have fun jacking this slider up and down all night!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/th_w7_action.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/w7_action.jpg)
Find out all the boring facts about your computer's condition in the new ACTION CENTER! Take action against your computer's agonizing death by constantly doing backups and hoping they won't screw up!

SupSuper
22 Sep 2009, 12:47
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/th_w7_games.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/w7_games.jpg)
New Games Explorer, old games. Yes (by popular demand?), the return of the Internet-enabled gamology! And the elimination of InkBall because nobody had a bloody clue what the hell that was about.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/th_w7_themes.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/w7_themes.jpg)
Customize your Windows! Change your sounds! Paint your windows! Find out colors with names like Sky, Twilight, Pumpkin, Sun, Chocolate, Frost, and more!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/th_w7_calculator.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/w7_calculator.jpg)
Calculator! Now with even more obscure methods of calculation than ever before.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/th_w7_paint.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/w7_paint.jpg)
Paint! Never before changed since Paintbrush from Windows 3.1 (and even using its icon)! Now with more brushes, more shapes and more... erm... anti-aliasing!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/th_w7_wordpad.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/w7_wordpad.jpg)
Wordpad! Now only 1% less useless by actually supporting Office 2007 and OpenOffice documents!

Akuryou13
22 Sep 2009, 12:53
You mean the aliased brush? :pI'd honestly never given any thought to what that would be called :p
you're a fag. :cool:

MrBunsy
22 Sep 2009, 14:17
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/th_w7_taskbarpeek.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/w7_taskbarpeek.jpg)
The new taskbar! Hover over a button, it shows you every window in that group! Hover over the thumbnail, it previews the window on the screen while hiding all the others! !!
Heh. The new taskbar got on my nerves, so:
http://www.lukewallin.co.uk/images/win7small.jpg (http://www.lukewallin.co.uk/images/win7.jpg)
Tada! Old style taskbar!

Xinos
22 Sep 2009, 16:48
Funnily enough with every new version of Windows I've relied less and less on shortcuts. Right now I only have 2 on my desktop and 3 on Quick Launch. I've found out I don't use most shortcuts I create, and the Start Menu has evolved enough that it doesn't take that many extra clicks to access whatever program I want, and it's a lot more organized. I don't get the people that manage to flood their Quick Launch and Desktop with shortcuts, because I really doubt they use a hundred programs regularly. On the upside, although technically Quick Launch buttons take more room, programs take less, so it works out (and I've seen a lot of people who manage to flood their taskbar with running programs too).
Well my desktop is almost completely empty 'cept for the trashcan and my documents folder, and the random files temporary files.
This is how I use QuickLaunch. I find it much simpler then having to scroll through the endless startmenu to find something.
http://xinart.net/wp-content/uploads/crap/quicklaunch.jpg

bloopy
22 Sep 2009, 22:46
Also you can finally see the current date.
With the double height taskbar, I've been looking at the current date and the day of the week in XP this whole time.
7 looks delicious though.

SupSuper
23 Sep 2009, 10:17
With the double height taskbar, I've been looking at the current date and the day of the week in XP this whole time.
7 looks delicious though.I thought XP only showed the weekday.

Xinos
24 Sep 2009, 15:55
This is like an offline version of this thread! :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPUyVVnWVmM&feature=related

FutureWorm
25 Sep 2009, 03:24
This is like an offline version of this thread! :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPUyVVnWVmM&feature=related
ahaha microsoft's advertising is so terrible
i love how everyone's like "ooh, ahh" for search when apple was doing this with spotlight four years ago

Akuryou13
25 Sep 2009, 04:22
i love how everyone's like "ooh, ahh" for search when apple was doing this with spotlight four years agoand especially stupid when you realize that even WINDOWS has been doing it for years. it's not a remotely new feature, just something that wasn't QUITE as convenient before...
glad windows is finally going to a mac-esque task bar, though. I hope we can load it up just as much as the mac one with similar results in terms of auto-scaling.
hell, there are people here with 7. how does that work? when you open a program does it just show up along side the rest in the task bar but on a different section or something? and what happens when you load it up with too many programs to all fit onto the bar at their default size?

Xinos
25 Sep 2009, 14:24
I haven't tried pushing the limit of icons on the taskbar yet actually.
Any program that you start will be added to the right of all other icons, so unless you 'pin' something to the taskbar after you start a bunch of programs all pinned stuff will be grouped leftwards.
Any program that is running will glow, so if it's not running and on the taskbar you know it's a pinned icon. However you can't tell the difference between a running pinned program and a running unpinned program unless you right click and look for the pin or unpinn option.

Akuryou13
25 Sep 2009, 14:37
Any program that is running will glow, so if it's not running and on the taskbar you know it's a pinned icon. However you can't tell the difference between a running pinned program and a running unpinned program unless you right click and look for the pin or unpinn option.so pinned programs won't also glow?! that's retarded.

SargeMcCluck
25 Sep 2009, 14:54
I haven't tried pushing the limit of icons on the taskbar yet actually.
Any program that you start will be added to the right of all other icons, so unless you 'pin' something to the taskbar after you start a bunch of programs all pinned stuff will be grouped leftwards.
Any program that is running will glow, so if it's not running and on the taskbar you know it's a pinned icon. However you can't tell the difference between a running pinned program and a running unpinned program unless you right click and look for the pin or unpinn option.
You can drag icons around, if you don't know, so you can drag non-pinned icons in between your pinned icons, etc.
so pinned programs won't also glow?! that's retarded.
Pinned programs "glow" if they're running, and also have a border around the icon. If they're not running (or, annoyingly, minimized to the system tray), the icon will show, but no glow or border.
If glowing & bordered: Running
If not glowing & not bordered: Pinned, not running
If icon isn't there: Not pinned, not running
If you have more than one instance of the same application open (or, in the case of Internet Explorer, more than one tab), then it will appear as if there are multiple icon boxes stacked up on each other.
Hell, a demonstration:
In this screenshot, Firefox is open (one window), TweetDeck is open (one window), Notepad is open (two windows), previewing both of them), iTunes is pinned but closed, Spotify is open, and the last two buttons are unpinned (explorer and Picasa).
Firefox is white because it's the window I have selected, and Notepad is glowing because I'm showing the preview.

thomasp
25 Sep 2009, 16:47
Pinned programs "glow" if they're running, and also have a border around the icon. If they're not running (or, annoyingly, minimized to the system tray), the icon will show, but no glow or border.
If glowing & bordered: Running
If not glowing & not bordered: Pinned, not running
If icon isn't there: Not pinned, not running
If you have more than one instance of the same application open (or, in the case of Internet Explorer, more than one tab), then it will appear as if there are multiple icon boxes stacked up on each other.
Hell, a demonstration:
In this screenshot, Firefox is open (one window), TweetDeck is open (one window), Notepad is open (two windows), previewing both of them), iTunes is pinned but closed, Spotify is open, and the last two buttons are unpinned (explorer and Picasa).
Firefox is white because it's the window I have selected, and Notepad is glowing because I'm showing the preview.
Trust Microsoft to take something really quite simple and make it rather complicated and confusing :p
The Mac way: Blue blob under the icon in the dock - running (even if minimised). No blob, not running. None of this "different colours because its active" nonsense. I can see which window I've selected, because funnily enough its the front one :p

SargeMcCluck
25 Sep 2009, 18:14
I dunno, I find it's really intuitive (and this is coming from a lover of the Mac OS Dock).

SupSuper
25 Sep 2009, 20:37
I hate the Mac Dock, it reminds me of the Windows 3.1 days where closing programs didn't really close them and they'd get hidden behind crap if you didn't really minimize them and ughhh. :p
I don't see what people are making such a fuss about. Every window gets a button in the taskbar to maximize/minimize, they get grouped by program, and if you fill it up (you mad man), it compresses and eventually scrolls, same old.
If it's pinned, it stays there when there's no window, working like a Quick Launch shortcut.
Yes the buttons look different if the window is active / inactive / blinking, they have always done this, it's not a Mac Dock!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/Windows7/windows7_xp.jpg

worMatty
25 Sep 2009, 20:57
So the Windows 7 task bar takes the Quick Launch menu and combines it with the task switcher, using icons in the Quick Launch section to also control instances of those programs that are open? Sounds efficient.

Akuryou13
25 Sep 2009, 21:45
oh, thanks sup. that looks rather nice.

MadEwokHerd
26 Sep 2009, 04:34
I can see which window I've selected, because funnily enough its the front one :p
Unless you have focus follows mouse..
Oh wait, you can't.

thomasp
26 Sep 2009, 09:58
What's "focus follows mouse" and how would it improve my day-to-day life? ;)

Muzer
26 Sep 2009, 12:14
What's "focus follows mouse" and how would it improve my day-to-day life? http://forum.team17.co.uk/images/newsmilies/wink.gif
Rather than having to click a window to give it input, you just mouseover it.
I personally hate it, except for scrolling with the scroll wheel, when it's really useful. This seems to be the way KDE does it (so on one monitor I can have a piece of code, on the other in a browser some reference manual, and I can scroll in the browser and then type in the program without having to click)

SupSuper
26 Sep 2009, 12:24
So the Windows 7 task bar takes the Quick Launch menu and combines it with the task switcher, using icons in the Quick Launch section to also control instances of those programs that are open? Sounds efficient.Yup, a pinned button is like a Quick Launch button. If the program isn't running, it'll launch it, otherwise it'll min/max the window. This is based on the trend of single-instance programs, though you can still Shift-click the button to run multiple instances.

SargeMcCluck
26 Sep 2009, 12:45
You can also middle-click a button to open another instance of it.

MtlAngelus
26 Sep 2009, 13:46
Rather than having to click a window to give it input, you just mouseover it.
I personally hate it, except for scrolling with the scroll wheel, when it's really useful. This seems to be the way KDE does it (so on one monitor I can have a piece of code, on the other in a browser some reference manual, and I can scroll in the browser and then type in the program without having to click)
You can scroll another window in Mac OS X without having to click it. :p

thomasp
26 Sep 2009, 16:14
Rather than having to click a window to give it input, you just mouseover it.
I personally hate it, except for scrolling with the scroll wheel, when it's really useful. This seems to be the way KDE does it (so on one monitor I can have a piece of code, on the other in a browser some reference manual, and I can scroll in the browser and then type in the program without having to click)
Yeah that got changed in Leopard - you can scroll in whichever window/frame the cursor is over. Something I'm still trying to get used to from Tiger, which lacked that feature :p

MadEwokHerd
26 Sep 2009, 17:42
I personally hate it, except for scrolling with the scroll wheel, when it's really useful. This seems to be the way KDE does it (so on one monitor I can have a piece of code, on the other in a browser some reference manual, and I can scroll in the browser and then type in the program without having to click)
Yep, windowing systems that aren't Windows know the scroll wheel input should go where the pointer is, not where the focus is. It's not a feature of other OS's so much as a Windows bug.
Focus-follows-mouse lets me focus windows without raising them. So I can have a text editor maximized and a terminal on top of it, mouse over the text editor, and edit my text without obscuring the terminal.

Xinos
26 Sep 2009, 18:07
You can scroll another window in Mac OS X without having to click it. :p
There is a fix for that in Windows, it's called WizMouse (http://www.pcworld.com/article/160061/scroll_inactive_windows_with_wizmouse.html).

worMatty
26 Sep 2009, 22:51
The X-Mouse Windows Power Toy gives you hover focus. Oh wait, was that in '98? Uhh, I have a proggy in my CP named TweakUIXP that seems to have the same option. There are probably a few proggies out there that can give it to you. Power Toys are cool. Microsoft web site!

FutureWorm
27 Sep 2009, 04:51
I hate the Mac Dock, it reminds me of the Windows 3.1 days where closing programs didn't really close them and they'd get hidden behind crap if you didn't really minimize them and ughhh. :p
probably has to do with you being used to the windows method of window management, which has always been different from mac os. in mac os you must specifically quit the application in order to stop it from running, whereas in windows when you close out all of the program's windows you also close that program. personally i prefer the mac approach (because it's what i grew up with) but to each his own i suppose

MadEwokHerd
1 Oct 2009, 03:53
The X-Mouse Windows Power Toy gives you hover focus.
Indeed it does. There's a good chance it's still available (but I don't seem to ever use Windows long enough for it to be worth it).
But you can't get it on a Mac.
Edit: I know it works on XP, haven't tried Vista (and haven't had any opportunity to use Win7).

Melon
24 Oct 2009, 01:51
Windows 7 is pretty kickin' rad fyi.

SupSuper
24 Oct 2009, 13:43
In keeping up with the latest trends, you can now also ask me about Office 2010 and Visual Studio 2010.

Xinos
24 Oct 2009, 14:00
How much more does Office suck?

thomasp
24 Oct 2009, 14:11
Does Office '10 have a new totally different file format that can't be read properly by any other version of Office?

SupSuper
25 Oct 2009, 00:37
How much more does Office suck?Much the same :p just more stuff. More options, more formatting, typical new Office version fare. The only big change is that every Office application now uses the new interface, and the new Ribbon menu:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/th_office2010_menu.jpg (hhttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/supsuper/office2010_menu.jpg)
Also there will be a free web version too.
Does Office '10 have a new totally different file format that can't be read properly by any other version of Office?http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en
If you don't like it, you can just use any Office derivative since the new format is no longer proprietary.

Akuryou13
25 Oct 2009, 00:44
currently 74% done with the download of the upgrade to 7. :cool:

thomasp
25 Oct 2009, 10:25
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en
If you don't like it, you can just use any Office derivative since the new format is no longer proprietary.
I find those don't work. :p An equation created in Office 07, using its equation editor, will not open in any other word processor, be it Office 03 on Windows, Office 04 or 08 on Mac, Pages, OpenOffice... they'll all refuse to render it, even with the official MS converters.

SupSuper
25 Oct 2009, 16:07
I find those don't work. :p An equation created in Office 07, using its equation editor, will not open in any other word processor, be it Office 03 on Windows, Office 04 or 08 on Mac, Pages, OpenOffice... they'll all refuse to render it, even with the official MS converters.Yeah Office 2007's equations are raw MathML instead of embebbed objects. If you're making the document just use an interchangable format like LaTeX, MathType or even ye olde Microsoft Equation Editor (still availabie in modern Office through Insert > Object). If not... wait for the free web Office. :p

thomasp
25 Oct 2009, 16:44
Yeah Office 2007's equations are raw MathML instead of embebbed objects. If you're making the document just use an interchangable format like LaTeX, MathType or even ye olde Microsoft Equation Editor (still availabie in modern Office through Insert > Object). If not... wait for the free web Office. :p
That only works when you've made the document, and not someone else, and you've already moaned at them for sending it as a .docx format :p
Incidentally, I've decided to ditch Office, due to absolute awfulness of Office 08 on Mac (including its ability to read Office 07's equations) and go to LaTeX - much better for report and thesis creating :D

FutureWorm
25 Oct 2009, 17:25
That only works when you've made the document, and not someone else, and you've already moaned at them for sending it as a .docx format :p
Incidentally, I've decided to ditch Office, due to absolute awfulness of Office 08 on Mac (including its ability to read Office 07's equations) and go to LaTeX - much better for report and thesis creating :D
latex seemed interesting to me but i just can't justify learning a whole different syntax for questionable benefits over a wysiwyg, stripped-down text editor like bean or whatever
plus the package is ****ing huge

thomasp
25 Oct 2009, 17:29
Its good because it actually sets reports out in a way that looks much better than any other word processor with a fraction of the effort. And its nowhere near as irritating as Word or Pages :p

Melon
25 Oct 2009, 17:41
Latex is pretty sweet. I did my "dissertation" thingy for my Maths degree using it. The end result looked pretty awesome. Much better than anything I could have done in Word, and it wasn't very hard to learn at all.

FutureWorm
25 Oct 2009, 23:28
the thing is, i'm not in math or science so i don't need the ability to create large equations and tables. i realize this is an advantage of latex but all i ever do is write

SomePerson
26 Oct 2009, 21:29
I heard that Windows 7 was supposed to include better support for solid state drives, so that they don't bog down so much when writing lots of small files or something - did they do it? I want to get a solid state drive, and I want to get Windows 7 since I get it free with the university, and so I'd like to do those both at the same time to minimize the number of windows installing I have to do.

KRD
26 Oct 2009, 22:13
Yup, I think it's in already and even if it wasn't, it'd be coming any time now via an update. Just make sure the SSD you're getting supports TRIM, keep its firmware/Windows updated, and you'll be fine. At least until you still have enough free space on the drive; I believe 10% is the number most websites recommend as the minimum, although obviously more is better as far as wear levelling goes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM_%28SSD_command%29

SupSuper
27 Oct 2009, 13:37
Yeah Windows 7 uses TRIM and formats SSDs differently for the most performance, so make sure you format your new drive from the Windows 7 disc.

MadEwokHerd
1 Nov 2009, 04:13
My copy of Windows 7 has finally arrived, and I've installed it. It is indeed "kickin' rad".
I love the new taskbar. It is much better than any other taskbar or taskbar-like thing I have used ever.
Still, I'm sticking to Linux for reasons described here (http://madewokherd.livejournal.com/7444.html) (executive summary: Windows sucks for development).

SupSuper
1 Nov 2009, 16:21
I just keep my Linux development environment in a VM.

MadEwokHerd
1 Nov 2009, 22:52
VM's also suck for development.

SupSuper
2 Nov 2009, 10:31
Why? I can see that it's not a native environment, but it saves me from having to dual-boot and restart between systems everytime I need to do a different task.

Vader
2 Nov 2009, 15:40
How come Windows Live Mail is so crap?

SupSuper
3 Nov 2009, 01:28
How come you're using it? :p

Vader
3 Nov 2009, 03:17
I'm not now, I moved to Outlook 2007, which rocks.
So, is there any point in this hovering over the Show Desktop button malarkey? Is it just so you can look at your wallpaper?
Maybe it's better if you use gadgets. Are there any good ones?

Akuryou13
3 Nov 2009, 04:14
Maybe it's better if you use gadgets. Are there any good ones?weather and post-it notes. I enjoy both. aside from that I looked through like 30 pages and found nothing but the same 4 gadgets over and over.
as for the show desktop button? you can click it to go back to just the desktop. so if you want to click something on said desktop (if you actually use desktop icons) you can do so easily.

Vader
3 Nov 2009, 04:27
weather and post-it notes. I enjoy both. aside from that I looked through like 30 pages and found nothing but the same 4 gadgets over and over.
I got as far as about page 4 or 5 and gave up for the same reason.
edit: I found a gadget which may be of interest to any 360 owners out there. You put a friend's Gamertag in and it displays their avatar and stats and stuff. Since you can run multiple instances of the gadget you can have all your buddies lined up on your desktop and see what they're playing and stuff or whatever.
Avatar360 (http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=d0dd4642-9f03-41ec-bcb9-18478bc137f6&bt=1&pl=1)
as for the show desktop button? you can click it to go back to just the desktop. so if you want to click something on said desktop (if you actually use desktop icons) you can do so easily.
Well, I know that but you can also hover over it and it makes all the windows transparent instead of minimising them. The only thing I can think of it being useful for is looking at gadgets. With a slight delay. And a fade animation. Instead of just clicking to see them and clicking again to not see them. Except, when I do that in Windows 7 it doesn't bring the windows up in the order they were in.
What a stupid button. The XP one was perfectly fine.

SupSuper
3 Nov 2009, 11:08
I'm not now, I moved to Outlook 2007, which rocks.
So, is there any point in this hovering over the Show Desktop button malarkey? Is it just so you can look at your wallpaper?
Maybe it's better if you use gadgets. Are there any good ones?Aero Peek previews any window (or in your case, the desktop) you hover in the taskbar. I guess the idea is "what if I just wanna check something without minimizing everything out of the way?", but if you don't like it you can disable it in the taskbar settings.
You might still be able to make an old-fashioned Show Desktop shortcut if you look around.

Xinos
3 Nov 2009, 17:37
You might still be able to make an old-fashioned Show Desktop shortcut if you look around.
or just press 'Windows Key + D'

Vader
3 Nov 2009, 17:43
I'm totally fine with that feature, it just seems pointless.
Clicking the button or hitting WinKey+D is fine by me. I have no problem with showing the desktop or with the window previews.
What I don't get is why you'd want to hover over the button. It just seems to be a redundant (or perhaps just useless) feature.

thomasp
3 Nov 2009, 18:41
Aero Peek previews any window (or in your case, the desktop) you hover in the taskbar. I guess the idea is "what if I just wanna check something without minimizing everything out of the way?", but if you don't like it you can disable it in the taskbar settings.
You might still be able to make an old-fashioned Show Desktop shortcut if you look around.
Flicking 4 fingers up my trackpad sounds an infinitely easier way of viewing my desktop :p

SargeMcCluck
3 Nov 2009, 20:24
Flicking 4 fingers up my trackpad sounds an infinitely easier way of viewing my desktop :p
I can roll my mousewheel (with a key pressed) down once to view my desktop. Hah.

Xinos
3 Nov 2009, 20:39
I'm totally fine with that feature, it just seems pointless.
Clicking the button or hitting WinKey+D is fine by me. I have no problem with showing the desktop or with the window previews.
What I don't get is why you'd want to hover over the button. It just seems to be a redundant (or perhaps just useless) feature.
I just think it's for the sake of consistency. When you hover over any other window in the task bar everything else goes transparent.
Maybe you want to check gadgets, or check if a file is actually on the desktop before minimizing all those windows.. Anyway, it's not like the feature slows you down or is in any way in the way.

Vader
3 Nov 2009, 23:34
I can roll my mousewheel (with a key pressed) down once to view my desktop. Hah.
I have a button on my mouse dedicated to it. I also have a thumbwheel which lets me scroll through apps in WinKey+Tab style. This mouse has way too many buttons, to be honest.
Anyway, it's not like the feature slows you down or is in any way in the way.
I never said it was. I said it seems pointless, not intrusive.
One thing I like and have only just noticed is how a task's button acts as a progress bar if you're, say, copying files. Neat.

Xinos
4 Nov 2009, 15:41
You know what really bugs me? The shadow that's always under the mouse cursor in almost every operating system, I feel so indifferent about it that it makes my blood boil!

MtlAngelus
4 Nov 2009, 22:39
You know what really bugs me? The shadow that's always under the mouse cursor in almost every operating system, I feel so indifferent about it that it makes my blood boil!
But it makes it look like it's hovering. :(

SupSuper
5 Nov 2009, 11:02
You know what really bugs me? The shadow that's always under the mouse cursor in almost every operating system, I feel so indifferent about it that it makes my blood boil!I won't stand for such amounts of indifference! :mad:

FutureWorm
5 Nov 2009, 15:58
how much hd space does a windows 7 install take up?

Vader
5 Nov 2009, 19:27
I think it's like 10-15 gig, isn't it? Something like that.

SupSuper
5 Nov 2009, 23:37
11GBs more or less.

Vader
6 Nov 2009, 20:09
Is there a way to stop Win7 from jpegging my desktop background?
If I download a nice crisp png image I want it to appear nice and crisp on my desktop, not all uglified.

SupSuper
7 Nov 2009, 00:00
Aside from converting it yourself to a 100%-quality JPG, I think your only other choice is BMP, anything else gets converted for you (if you're wondering, XP and below converted any wallpapers to BMP so you wouldn't notice).

Star Worms
7 Nov 2009, 12:17
In keeping up with the latest trends, you can now also ask me about Office 2010 and Visual Studio 2010.
What the frig?! I've only just heard about Office 2007!
No wonder Microsoft is trying to flog it off cheap (though at £30-odd I'll probably still buy it).

Vader
14 Nov 2009, 07:10
Can anyone recommend a safe and decent websites from which I can download good screensavers?
I don't like the ones which come with win7.

Xinos
14 Nov 2009, 20:40
Can anyone recommend a safe and decent websites from which I can download good screensavers?
I don't like the ones which come with win7.
This is the only one you need
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gnudawn/johnny/

FutureWorm
14 Nov 2009, 21:42
This is the only one you need
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gnudawn/johnny/
hell yes, johnny castaway owns

MtlAngelus
14 Nov 2009, 22:51
This is the only one you need
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gnudawn/johnny/
Says it doesn't work with 64-bit systems... any good screensavers for Win 7 64-bit? :p

Vader
14 Nov 2009, 23:26
Any others?
Some choice would be nice. ;)

bloopy
15 Nov 2009, 09:15
Can anyone recommend a safe and decent websites from which I can download good screensavers?
I don't like the ones which come with win7.
Program your own. :cool:

Vader
15 Nov 2009, 15:29
Plausible but not going to happen. I have other things to programme at the minute and I just want a screensaver which doesn't suck **** or contain a virus.
I guess finding screensavers is as tricky as I thought.

Xinos
15 Nov 2009, 15:31
I don't see the point of screen savers. Modern monitors don't get images burnt into them, and displaying all black uses as much energy as anything else. I just turn my monitor off when I know I'll be gone for a while.

SupSuper
15 Nov 2009, 22:22
They became time wasters really.
Says it doesn't work with 64-bit systems... any good screensavers for Win 7 64-bit? :p
This version might work since it's apparently 32-bit: http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gnudawn/johnny/links.html#jaap

SomePerson
15 Nov 2009, 22:26
My screen goes into standby mode and turns off it I don't use it for a while...
My W7 adventure is being continually delayed as I try to get my solid state drive. They hyped it as being $85 after rebate but they listed it at $105 for a few days and I was like WTF? but then they actually had it for $85 for a few minutes until it imediately sold out, and then it went up to $130 because now they aren't even selling the drive by itself but rather as part of a bundle which I don't even want, so I'm looking everywhere to get just the drive itself at around the MSRP of $115. Grr I hate marketing and I'm never paying $130 for a drive that was so hyped to be $85.

Xinos
15 Nov 2009, 23:36
Ok I installed W7 on my stationary computer too. Dual-booting Vista until I know all games work and my files and settings are transferred.
Do any of you W7 entrepreneurs have a tablet, and if so how do I get rid of the animated ring that shows up whenever your pen is tapped on the tablet?

MadEwokHerd
15 Nov 2009, 23:48
http://community.electricsheep.org/, though it just has a "Windows" version and doesn't specify 32- or 64-bit. But 64-bit Windows can run 32-bit programs, so what's the problem?

SomePerson
16 Nov 2009, 01:19
Ok I installed W7 on my stationary computer too. Dual-booting Vista until I know all games work and my files and settings are transferred.
Do any of you W7 entrepreneurs have a tablet, and if so how do I get rid of the animated ring that shows up whenever your pen is tapped on the tablet?
It's not the same as in Vista? In Vista it's Control Panel -> Pen and Input Devices -> Pointer Options. I can't imagine they'd move it too far?

SupSuper
16 Nov 2009, 01:36
http://community.electricsheep.org/, though it just has a "Windows" version and doesn't specify 32- or 64-bit. But 64-bit Windows can run 32-bit programs, so what's the problem?No problems with any modern screensavers, it's just Johnny Castaway that's 16-bit.

MtlAngelus
16 Nov 2009, 06:16
They became time wasters really.
This version might work since it's apparently 32-bit: http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gnudawn/johnny/links.html#jaap
Yeah... norton tells me it's not a good idea to follow the link in that page. :p

Xinos
16 Nov 2009, 20:43
Yeah... norton tells me it's not a good idea to follow the link in that page. :p
If Norton told you to throw your computer off a bridge would you do it?

MtlAngelus
16 Nov 2009, 22:20
If Norton told you to throw your computer off a bridge would you do it?
Hell yeah. Then I would sue them for it. :cool:

bloopy
17 Nov 2009, 00:47
I don't see the point of screen savers. Modern monitors don't get images burnt into them, and displaying all black uses as much energy as anything else. I just turn my monitor off when I know I'll be gone for a while.
Plus, with LCD screens, using a screen saver instead of having the screen go on standby is going to shorten the life of the screen. What a party pooper.

Vader
17 Nov 2009, 22:40
But I want a pretty screensaver. It's cool to have a screensaver in the same way it's cool to have a Walkman.
That's right, isn't it?

Paul.Power
17 Nov 2009, 23:45
But I want a pretty screensaver. It's cool to have a screensaver in the same way it's cool to have a Walkman.
That's right, isn't it?
We need a "Never Quite Left the Nineties" support group.

bonz
18 Nov 2009, 15:21
Plus, with LCD screens, using a screen saver instead of having the screen go on standby is going to shorten the life of the screen. What a party pooper.
Is that why you made your WA replay screensaver?
Too poop on everyone's parties?

bloopy
22 Nov 2009, 02:17
Is that why you made your WA replay screensaver?
Too poop on everyone's parties?
No, I still use a CRT. It's the LCDs which are pooping on my screensaver.

Vader
23 Nov 2009, 19:48
We need a "Never Quite Left the Nineties" support group.
Maybe once the Nineties ends we will. Which is never. Okay? Thanks.
'95 is where it's at. Recognise.

MadEwokHerd
24 Nov 2009, 03:26
I forgot how broken focus follows mouse is on Windows.
Oh, and that thing where you can dock a window to the side of the screen and it fills half the screen? That's just as broken.

Slick
24 Nov 2009, 04:46
Have Windows 7 Starter for a new NetBook I got recently.
Now everything is fine and nice with Windows 7 so far except with the "Starter" edition it has a lot of restrictions that are really starting to **** me off. I can't rotate pictures. I can't change the background. I can't run the game Splunkey at all. :(
Just really simple things that you take for granted until you can't do them anymore.
After doing research, it seems that I'm pretty much screwed with the 'Starter' unless I upgrade it for like $80+ and we all know that's not going to happen.
So if anyone can 'help me out *WINK WINK* with upgrading' send me a PM please.
If that's not possible, I guess I'll just have to try and run the netbook on Linux or something I guess.
What I gots -
Intel (****) Atom Processor Z530
1 GB memory
160 GB Hard Drive
Nothing spectacular, but it's just a net book. Any suggestions on maybe running something else?
Cause finding out that Windows 7 Start doesn't do another simple thing after another is really ****in' me off.

FutureWorm
24 Nov 2009, 12:14
So if anyone can 'help me out *WINK WINK* with upgrading' send me a PM please.
If that's not possible, I guess I'll just have to try and run the netbook on Linux or something I guess.
What I gots -
Intel (****) Atom Processor Z530
1 GB memory
160 GB Hard Drive
you're not going to be able to run any version of win7 beyond starter on those specs; not enough memory or processor. google's chrome os should be coming out soon and you could look into that i guess. otherwise windows xp will work

SupSuper
24 Nov 2009, 13:49
You should be able to get away with upgrading to Home Premium on those specs (without shelling out money for it is another matter :p), but if you're looking for a cheap simple solution, Ubuntu should be fine and you can run most Windows games through Wine.

FutureWorm
24 Nov 2009, 19:18
You should be able to get away with upgrading to Home Premium on those specs
on one gig of ram? really?

SupSuper
25 Nov 2009, 13:04
on one gig of ram? really?Yeah if it was Vista I wouldn't advise it, but 7 has been reported to cope fine with 1GB, specially since low-spec netbooks are pretty common these days.

MtlAngelus
26 Nov 2009, 09:24
Got Windows7 running on my iMac. I've got 1GB of RAM and it runs just fine. :P

Vader
30 Nov 2009, 00:52
I'm running win7 on 1GB of RAM and it's as good as XP was.

Slick
6 Dec 2009, 18:44
Found a way to change my wallpaper despite having Windows 7 starter.
So you can go f**k yourself Microsoft. :cool:

SomePerson
29 Dec 2009, 02:11
Fresh Windows 7 + Kingston's 40 gb boot drive that uses intel chips = boot time 30 seconds
AWESOME :cool:

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