Window 7 Review

**TheAtheist** · 07-28-2009, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Windows 7 RC review

Recently Microsoft announced a new version of the Windows operating system, called Windows 7. Whilst it has not been released yet, Microsoft have released something known as a Release Candidate (RC). This is, put simply, a version of the operating system that has been extensively tested, even Beta tested and the programmers use this Release Candidate to analyse real world use of their OS and fix any bugs people have before it goes on general release. It is often seen as a thing for tech pros and not the general public, but it is freely downloadable from the Microsoft website. The Author has downloaded such a copy and in this article will show how to go about using it and the features of Windows 7.

Downloading and installing Windows 7
Firstly, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win.../download.aspx
Read all the information on that page carefully before procceding to install windows 7.

Techsupportforums(www.techsupportforums.com) will not be responsible for any damage caused by downloading and/or installing the operating system. The Author used a virtual machine to run the release client, as he did not a machine free to test on with a high enough spec, and a virtual machine protects all your files.

Select either the 32 bit or 64 bit download depending on your own system specification.
The next screen will then ask you to login to windows live using a windows live ID (if you don’t have one, you can sign up on the left hand side)
Once successfully logged in, the next screen displays your product key to use Windows 7. Make a note of this, whilst it is retrievable at a later date, it can take time. Then just click “download now” and wait a few hours for the .iso file to download.
Once it has downloaded fully, either burn the iso to a disc to use as a conventional setup disc or mount the iso file as a Cd inside a virtual machine. Setup is, from now on, fairly self explanatory.

First Impressions
When the desktop loaded up for the first time, the authors first impression was that it looked fairly simple in design. The taskbar at the bottom of the screen was fairly basic, looking quite chunky. The only icon on the desktop was the recyle bin. There was not the usual My computer logo or any internet explorer link. Internet explorer was tagged as an icon to the taskbar at the bottom, the area that would be refered to as quicklaunch in previous versions.
The desktop background is one area that can be very much customised. For example, you can setup in effect a “my pictures” screensaver as your background, using either Microsoft preset images or ones of your own from your personal photos.

New features
Whilst a lot of Windows 7 is as it was with Vista, there are some new features, but a lot of the changes are under the hood. Windows Media player and Internet Explorer are the latest versions as shown in Vista as well as downloadable for XP. A new feature, possibly taken from Outlook, is “sticky notes” which allows you to write reminder notes and stick them on the desktop.
Desktop Gadgets
Desktop Gadgets are little widgets that can be displayed on the desktop. There are a plethora of default gadgets, as well as many that are available online. Many, however, require an internet connection, such as the weather one, and the stocks display.

Security
Security is a large feature of Windows 7, as it has increasingly been with new version of Microsoft Operating systems. However, in comparison to Vista, the security features appear slightly more in the background, or this was certainly the authors experience of using Windows 7.
The Windows firewall is much more complex than in previous iterations with two different modes, one for home and work based networks and another for public networks. This allows you to perhaps make a trusted home network a bit more relaxed on its security policy, whilst having a very stringent policy for when connecting to unprotected public networks in an internet café. Obivously, this only works for laptops and netbooks, but it is useful none the less.
User access control(UAC), a feature implemented in Vista, is used as well in Windows 7, but it is more flexible than before, although the author often still found it to be slightly too intrusive to begin with - this could be because the author is so used to Windows XP, which does not utilise this technology.

Gaming
A lot of work has gone on under the hood in Windows 7 which should make gaming a lot quicker and more efficient. Windows 7 has greater support for Hyper Threading technology as well, which allows for greater use of multiple CPU's in the manner they were designed.

The author also became aware of another advance relating to Windows 7 and the GPU and CPU which should make the whole system run more efficiently. DirectX Compute is the name given to this technology and in fairly simple terms it allows the GPU to be used in much the same way as the CPU, not just for rendering gaming graphics as has been the case up until this point. For example, this type of technology is used in the Folding @ Home software being run by many members of this forum to make quicker calculations and speed up the rate of data processing.The graphic's cards processor is much better at doing massive parrelel calculations than the CPU for example. As an example of how quicker this system could be, Nvidia claim this could make transcoding of media files from your computer to your ipod upto 5 times faster.

Known issues
The Windows 7 forum have compiled a list of all the current issues in Windows 7 Click here to see their list

Clearly this is an unfinished article, but because i currently have no access to a virtual machine - i had to uninstall due to other major computer issues on the host machine - i thought i'd post what i'd already figured out and written, so others who have also used can comment and disagree if needs be (Theres a high probability on the last point

)

JohnthePilot · 07-28-2009, 02:13 PM

Thanks Joe. Comments anyone?

**TheAtheist** · 08-03-2009, 03:57 PM

Gonna work on a gaming section in the coming days and possibly weeks(depends how slow i work!! :) ), but i'll need to talk to one of the guys who has run games on Win7 as i haven't done so and i have no machine right now to run them on.

Mcninjaguy · 08-05-2009, 08:00 PM

Hey TheAthiest,

i will be installing Windows 7 RTM in a couple days or a week after I make sure my data is backed up. I have a dual subscription to MSDN and Technet Plus, so I get Windows 7 RTM for free on august 6th.

The one thing I do notice is that games on Windows 7 don't have to use compatibility mode as much as Vista. With Steam I had to run it as an administrator otherwise it would constantly screw up.

I did notice that my sound card (Creative Audigy SE) driver got auto installed and worked right away, unlike Vista where I need the driver from the site.

I would like specific questions, if you have any. That way I don't have to ramble on and can think of something else while doing so. I will always add extra points too.

**TheAtheist** · 09-05-2009, 03:26 PM

Gaming section, albeit small, has been added. Mainly focused on one bit of technology in gaming etc.

Mcninjaguy · 09-08-2009, 06:56 PM

Ok, so Windows 7 supports Directx 11 right under the hood. There are not current games that support but soon ATI will be manufacturing Dx 11 cards with Nvidia coming out a bit after.

Source

Quote:

We don’t have many details, but we know that in the top of enthusiast market, ATI is preparing a mobile DirectX 11 GPU codenamed Broadway. This should be the fastest mobile gamer and workstation card in DirectX 11 flavour and you can expect 30 to 60W TPD.

The performance market comes with a card codenamed Madison who should be enough to cover the mainstream market and of course it shares DirectX 11 support but it fits 15 to 30W TDP which is much more acceptable for notebooks.

The third in line is a mainstream card codenamed Park and it looks to us that for mobile GPUs ATI used New York avenue names. This should be “high performing” mainstream DirectX 11 card with 8 to 15W TDP.

That only has info on the mobile stuff but here's a video showing what the new hardware is capable of.
YouTube - AMD demonstrating DX11 hardware at QuakeCon 2009

I would add that games that worked under VIsta should work perfectly fine and a lot of the time without runnig them as administrator or under compatibility mode. There are the few exceptions but those are for some games that are just troublesome.

If you notice in my dxdiag there is dx 11 beside directx Version:

07-28-2009, 02:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
JohnthePilot Manager, TSF Articles Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cheltenham, near Wales. Posts: 30,889 OS: XP Home SP3, PCLinux, Vista Home Premium SP1 My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Window 7 Review Thanks Joe. Comments anyone? __________________ Submit New Articles Here If you feel that TSF has helped you please make a donationand help to keep the forum free Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon Folding@Home - Team 85015

08-03-2009, 03:57 PM	#3 (permalink)
TheAtheist Mentor, Articles Team Join Date: May 2006 Location: Portishead, Bristol Posts: 1,312 OS: xp sp3 My System	Re: Window 7 Review Gonna work on a gaming section in the coming days and possibly weeks(depends how slow i work!! :) ), but i'll need to talk to one of the guys who has run games on Win7 as i haven't done so and i have no machine right now to run them on. __________________ Submit New Articles "Freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds, which follows from the advance of science" - Darwin Join the TSF folding team - Team 85015

08-05-2009, 08:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Temporarily Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Window 7 Review Hey TheAthiest, i will be installing Windows 7 RTM in a couple days or a week after I make sure my data is backed up. I have a dual subscription to MSDN and Technet Plus, so I get Windows 7 RTM for free on august 6th. The one thing I do notice is that games on Windows 7 don't have to use compatibility mode as much as Vista. With Steam I had to run it as an administrator otherwise it would constantly screw up. I did notice that my sound card (Creative Audigy SE) driver got auto installed and worked right away, unlike Vista where I need the driver from the site. I would like specific questions, if you have any. That way I don't have to ramble on and can think of something else while doing so. I will always add extra points too.

09-05-2009, 03:26 PM	#5 (permalink)
TheAtheist Mentor, Articles Team Join Date: May 2006 Location: Portishead, Bristol Posts: 1,312 OS: xp sp3 My System	Re: Window 7 Review Gaming section, albeit small, has been added. Mainly focused on one bit of technology in gaming etc. __________________ Submit New Articles "Freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds, which follows from the advance of science" - Darwin Join the TSF folding team - Team 85015