Windows 7 = Vista renamed?
Even I had a bit of faith that Microsoft might come to their senses and make Windows 7 more lean and mean, but frankly it's just a slightly more matured version of Vista with a new name.
I've been under the assumption that I'd finally trade XP for Windows 7 and just skip over Vista, but most likely I'll be sticking with XP for awhile still.
My PC blazes brightly enough, but I don't see much sense in trading framerate in games for slightly better shadows with DX10, especially at the tune of a couple hundred bucks for a new OS.
Marketing-wise (or should I say marketing machine-wise), Microsoft is going to do really well with this. Windows 7 will perform better simply because the average PC is catching up, although it'll still be a dog on most laptops. In other words, buy a new PC this year with Windows 7 and it will run faster than a PC from last year with Vista: The PC itself is faster.
I think Microsoft is doing their customers a disservice though, the minor tweaks and improvements just aren't much. A whole lot of current laptop owners will upgrade to (desperately?) push their performance a little bit more, no matter how small. And for some of them, it could be the threshold they need, although for many others they won't see much difference at all. Either way, the mainstream press has been run over by Microsoft's marketing steamroller.
Apple could have capitalized on this at MacWorld, but they're being dumbasses this season, going back to their old passive-aggressive nature instead of the simply aggressive stance they took against Vista. Oh I'm sure there will be a bit of rumblings, but it's after the fact at this point. It's like they're Microsoft customers themselves, playing wait-and-see. That'll be too late, Microsoft will win this round and it may be the end of Apple's recent upward curve unless they can leverage another iPhone-like device.
I was also a little delusional last year thinking I could maybe switch to Linux on my desktop once Wine catches up to DX10, but once again I overestimated desktop usage on Linux overall, I think it's almost moving backwards in usability while the geeks keep adding flashy gadgetry.
*sigh*
Update: If you want to try it for yourself, the Windows 7 Beta should be available (starting tomorrow afternoon) at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/
Another Update: The Beta is available again after being offline for a day or so.
Jan 8, 2009 7:01pm
i used 7 for a bit on my laptop, but was ultimately unimpressed, and went back to vista. it has a few features that are "duh, they should be like this in vista" (case in point, clicking the 'networks are available once pops up a full list of which to connect to, instead of you having to go to the network and sharing center), but ultimately it's just a forced update that isn't really changing much.
i'll do just fine with what I have. :/
Jan 9, 2009 10:26am
I have to say the shadows in DX10 are pretty gorgeous. Lighting and some other effects get improved too... but it's not enough of a reason to bother, especially since it hitches far more often than in XP.
I'm not going to bother with the beta, but it was good to read a bit about it. I've not kept up on it much at all. From the sounds of it, I'm not sure why we should even have to pay for it in the first place.
Jan 9, 2009 12:51pm
If you know how to work with the OS, then you can find all the little tweaks.
I use Vista 64 ultimate exclusively now, and will not go back to XP.
Jan 9, 2009 5:36pm
@Tony: LOTRO has the best example of DX10 shader usage I've seen, so it's the biggest temptation. With most other games, especially when it's barely noticeable during the action, it's really not worth the tradeoff to me in performance.
Jan 10, 2009 7:37pm
@Openedge1: Even when configured really well on the 64bit version, Vista still doesn't match XP's performance. That said, there is a hardware threshold where most people wouldn't notice much difference on the desktop (and some things, like DVD playback, get smoothed out if your PC is fast enough), although for games it really depends on the particular game.
To be perfectly fair to Microsoft, Windows 7 has a much nicer default configuration than Vista, so for the people who don't know how to tweak their system it will be a lot easier to tolerate. That's where the Windows 7 Beta actually shines.
I think Microsoft has done some right things here, it's just not the revolutionary streamlined OS they claimed it would be. In Ballmer's own words, it is "Vista" ... "just better".
Jan 14, 2009 8:59am
[...] pointed out recently that Windows 7 is mostly Vista. I even used Ballmer's quote in a followup comment that it was Vista "just [...]
Mar 17, 2009 11:37am
Im sick of all the "smoke & shadows" comming from microsoft over the last few years and honestly vista just sucks . Anything built from a shaky foundation will more than likely fall .
Microsoft has lost it's sight lost it's handle on it's own OS , windows 7 doesnt have enough of a step up to take the step itself and "upgrade" . I'm fine with what I have if they cancle support for xp then i will go full time linux , if I cannot figure that out I will silently turn the pc off and retire it .
I havent played games on a pc in 5 years everything game wise has all but moved onto console , and the blame can fall on microsoft windows and the lack of games for linux . Im sick of the public not having a choice .