On Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:48:35 -0700, mike wrote:
>BTW, I am running Win7 on a laptop here so I do know what it looks and runs
>like.
Mostly due to perceived (based largely on early reviews) excessive
hardware demands and UAC issues, I also plan to skip over Vista. Even
though I desperately need a new computer (desktop, PIII 450), I'll wait
for Win7's official release to do anything about a new one. And
besides, Win7 isn't that far into the future.
I've also got Win7 running on a laptop (Toshiba 1.73 GHz, 2GB). So far,
so good. . .but not without problems (yes Tom, I'll save you the
trouble: MS fanbois *expect* there to be problems with MS products, so
it just wouldn't seem right if everything ran smoothly [never mind that
this is still beta]).
It runs at least as well as the XP that came on it (dual booting). I
don't know if Vista would run on it, but frankly, I don't care either.
The UAC doesn't get in the way all that much. Although it can get
tedious if you're doing some system maintenance, it's not that hard to
plug in the admin password when installing a new program, but I found
it odd that you need admin privileges to delete desktop icons. Probably
icons for "all users", but still. . .
It would be nice to have a little more control over when UAC controls
user access.
I find the XP interface to be just butt ugly. Not necessarily the use
of it, but visually. On all the XP computers that I administer (all 3),
the first thing I did was switch to the "classic" view. Win7's not so
bad. I can live with it.
I kind of like Gadgets for one reason: the analog clock. I like that
you can set the opacity and leave it up front (yes Tom, a rip-off from
Apple). It would be nice if you could put the date on the clock face.
Also if you could scroll over them (any of the Gadgets) without them
taking focus (like to click on any part of a window that's hiding
underneath), that would be nice. I found one (clock) on Download.com
for Win2k that was not unlike the Clock Gadget, but that was a painful
resource hog. It sucked up CPU time like it was mana from heaven.
I had the calendar on, but that seems to have disappeared, and I don't
remember turning it off.
I'm finding Windows Explorer a little annoying. It seems keyboard
unfriendly. In the old days (XP-back), when you scroll to a folder on
the left side, the right side would show the contents of that folder.
Now you have to hit <enter> to get there (or click on it, which you
were trying to avoid doing in the first place if you're using the
keyboard). I thought I found the option to turn that on ("Automatically
expand to current folder"), but I can't see that that actually *did*
anything.
The "Libraries" folder seems pointless. It's just a rehash of some of
the folders in "Username" (My Pictures, My Music, My Documents, and My
Videos).
I'd prefer to use the classic version of Explorer.
Although I don't use it that much (I set up keyboard short cuts for my
most used programs), I'm coming to terms with the Start Menu. I do kind
of like the search box's "find as you type". If you know what you're
after, a few keystrokes will usually bring it to the top of the list.
Windows Firewall. . .well I just don't understand. "Notification
state:" is set to "Notify me when Windows Firewall blocks a new
program", but I haven't heard a peep out of it after installing a
number of Internet apps. IE is not on the approved list (that I can
see), but it just sails right through.
Zone Alarm, last I checked, will not work with Win7. Not until it's out
of beta, anyway. That's a Zone Labs/Check Point thing, not a Windows
thing.
Of course, it's not all fun and games. I've had some BSODs. Apparently,
if you've got an anti-virus program installed--not necessarily running,
just installed--and open network shares, eventually, it's going down.
That's been my experience. I see there's a hot fix for it
<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/967891>. You'd think if
you're getting automatic updates, it would get sent automatically.
A few times it has locked up with the screen all distorted. Horizontal
blocks all over it. Not sure what that is, or even what to Google for.
Two things to remember: I'm not a power user and this is, of course, my
own experience. Would be interested to hear others.
--
R:\katan
------------------------------------------------------------
Tea. . .Earl Grey. . .Hot
*************************************************************************
** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy **
** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ **
*************************************************************************
