Windows 7: The Complete Guide

Fantastic Windows 7 Guide, but would LOVE a way to download and print the entire guide for reference material reading.

Any chance of that happening?

SibaniShella

Hey was wondering if anyone can clarify this. I just got done talking to a Comcast Tech support. I asked them if the internet will work with Windows 7 (they had problems with xp64, but eventually got it to work). The Tech said that if i installed windows 7 RC, i would have no internet.

can i get some clarification please.....

Artie Cortez

Make a PDF kplz

Justin Gerard

I have installed Win 7 32 bit on a Mac Pro using boot camp. When I attempt to boot into windows, I get a blue screen with a physical memory dump. It appears for only a few seconds, then is gone & computer reboots. Did I miss something in the installation?

VikasTelemachus

i like win 7 i am using it now. my only gripe with it is when you have to do some trouble shooting and go into the control panel everything is hidden and it takes to dam long to find. i hope they fix this other wise i love it, it boots up faster then XP, the wireless connects and works great. and one more thing SO MUCH BETTER THEN VISTA!!!

How about hardware requirements for my antique rig? How much memory will this one recognize?
Thanks
Steve

SukanyaElipster

@Captain Chaos Lite: but does it play Crysis?

@emergeoriginal: *mask your's

sorry... late night...

@MrHaroHaro: its like guys who talk about how big their trucks are. if you have to TRY to make everyone else feel inferior, you must be TRYING to mask your in some fashion.

way to go skippy.

i will disable 60% of the extras anyway ..

Cyfer911

@Jash Sayani: Dont forget how great it looks.

Brilliantly helpful, it was a nice refresher since I just got around to putting RC1 on the windows x-periment drive.

Awesome work as is standard here at Giz.

2Wheelsor4: Problem solving with gasoline.

You seemed to have forgotten to mention VWLAN Adapters, which allow you to connect to more than one Wireless network with only one WLAN card....

See: [www.istartedsomething.com]

@chinolam:
I just installed the 64 bit version a couple of days ago and its running great. I got Photoshop cs4 64 bit running in about 3 seconds.

Running home built computer:
q6600
8800 Gt
4 gb DDR3 1066
WD 150GB Raptor 10,000 RPM

Everything works perfectly except for my wireless card which I never use but would be nice to know that it would work.
Its a Dlink DWA-542

Sfenton

It also comes with some nifty WiFi bugs that destroy your internet viewing experience.

Kayonesoft

I've become a big fan on the Snipping tool w/ the use of my pen tool.

Allows me to copy text or pics from anywhere on my screen (instant screen shot of the specific item I outline w/ my pen)

SeventhExile

@JerryA: Absolutely!! I run Win 7 via BootCamp on Mac Pro and it's flawless. All my devices work, and I game on it too (COD 4 and 5) and it's simply perfect IMO!

Faslane

@Flying_Ninja123: It Rocks! Seriously!! Very nice, especially for a Beta. VERY solid, in fact. I can't find any issues that would prevent me from using as current OS. (But on my purchased Vista Ult. just in case. Dual Boot.

Faslane

Does anyone know if the sound recorder is back to being like it was in XP? I use insert voice for documents in Word all the time on xp but it won't work on vista because of the disabled sound recorder.

BertaSemele

I haven't fully tested RC1, I did a upgrade from vista rather then a clean install so I had to revert back, I'll try a clean install later to fully test it. But considering less then 6 months ago I purchased Vista Ultimate x64, and hearing that they plan on making Windows 7 even more expensive. I don't see myself upgrading anytime soon.

Windows 7 might be great for some folks but my system runs wonderfully with Vista.

Xanthan

@ripfire: RC is as good as a final release.

SewerShark: LOOK BEHIND YOU, A THREE HEADED MONKEY!!!

@Captain Chaos Lite: I wish I had more hands so I could give this post 4 thumbs down.

@Captain Chaos Lite: Seriously, just shut up. You make us Mac users look bad. Also, I have Windows 7 virtualized and it's pretty good.

Good stuff. All very useful.

Now, if you could stop the anti-Windows people from using it as a forum for their venom, it would be nearly perfect. :)

@Ubik2501: Virtual PC 2007 is free from Microsoft and will let you run older OSes fairly well both in 32 and 64 bit modes.

But the fact is, we need to get past the old 16 bit apps as trying to stay compatible with those is seriously making it hard to keep moving forward.

@philoneous: Really? Bizarre - I have it on mine and it's been rockstable. This is the AO110 - the original model. Not the 10" one.

@teohhanhui: NO, Its a W7 issue. Hopefully there will be an update.

aerick79

@ApolloCastor: iTunes most certainly DOES work in Win 7....got not one hiccup with it.

max11221

The summary seems nice, good job!

Oh, and yeah, W7 is like honey for my computers =)

@aerick79: Driver issue?

@vicsells: Compensating for something?

@tok3n ninja; found and killed Waldo: Note the date of the posts, people.

I still maintain that it was Windows 7 Beta coverage at the time, but now that we have an RC, this is more appropriately be titled as it is.

shiftyeyedgoat

Anybody having issue with their Card reader? I have SD card reading built into my Vaio. W7 does not see it.

aerick79

@frigg: you'd be surprised to how much of my day that actually is here at the plant.

Nick

@misses preview button_Nick: Looked into it after someone else suggested it. Nope. :/

I must knowww.

andthepickles

@misses preview button_Nick: Don't get too bored at work. Operating a nuclear power plant isn't all about eating donuts and throwing back a couple of Duffs when no one's looking.

@andthepickles: maybe google talk?

Nick

@andthepickles: it looks like an IM program.

Nick

@bosskev: haha, i guess we are all just doing our part and recycling. i hope wilson's next post is fanfreakintastic cause i am bored as all heck here at work.

Nick

@Captain Chaos Lite: I don't care too much about the OS, as long as it is current. I don't care about OSX, Win7, or Jaunty Jackalope, but I hate XP and Vista to no end.

Vista is bloated

XP is outdated.

@Pete Garza: You do know that Snow Leopard is really just going to be a slightly redone Leopard. It is supposed to introduce Grand Central and OpenCL, and a few visual tweaks. It is all going to be under the hood stuff.

However, unless you're running a Mac Pro, you won't be getting an i7. I can build an i7 PC with $1000. $1000 will get you a low end Core2Duo Mac Pro.

It won't be faster. OSX has died. It slaughtered XP & Vista, but not 7.

@misses preview button_Nick: What I think is funny is that this entire story and most of these comments/threads were all originally posted BACK IN FEBRUARY and it's now being re-run as if it were all shiny new.

@vicsells: I dunno about that, I have a quadcore with 8gb ram a 9800GTX+ 700w power supply and an antec 900 gamer case with lifetime warranty on the graphics card so I can overclock the sh!t out of it until it dies if so I choose ;)

Jaredu

@vicsells: A computer far more powerful than many of ours combined? As Vincent Vega would say, that's a bold statement.

@Captain Chaos Lite: i thought it was funny.

I'm Nick and I'm a PC.

Nick

@Pete Garza: I heavily disagree with your statement on 7 gaming. Yes XP is good for games, but it is also stuck in DX9worldland. The DX10 workaround is all in all crap. Sooner or later gamers will have to get off of XP whether they wait a few years or they get it upon release it's going to happen.

tok3ninja

@BambalinaPers?phon: I fully agree Ive been saying for years default Linux and OSX are all a plain washed out grey from the 90s with no inovation on looks, In fact almost every linux distro Ive seen all look like something from the 90s FUGLY AS SIN, although I personaly think OSX is the easiest to use and gets away with it.

Andre Oceans

@shiftyeyedgoat: That was also back in January. I think the point of this is to have full coverage of 7 from beta to release, not a specific stage.

tok3ninja

@philoneous: I never crashed or BSODed on my Aspire One. Weird.

tok3ninja

@[gizmodo.com]

ZFS? If you think Apple has exclusivity over it and is all revolutionary: [en.wikipedia.org] If I want it, I'll just flip on my Solaris box.

tok3ninja

@oxford: Any PC is a gateway for viruses. Put a condom (anti-virus) on your OS and you'll be fine.

tok3ninja

@danardemmanuelvincente: No OS will be the end-all for Linux at home. If Linux had better compatibility with games I'd run it all day. And yes I know about Wine and such.

tok3ninja

@Robert Matthew Swain: Just a heads up, don't fuck up your privilege. The ban hammer is stained with Facebook logos..

tok3ninja

I'm actually amazed Microsoft made an auto troubleshooter that actually does something other than offer to send an error report.

tok3ninja

Grr. I still don't know what that icon is.

First from left to right:

[cache.gawker.com]

Anyone know?

andthepickles

@Captain Chaos Lite: *sigh* this OS war is like Iraq. Drawn out and pointless. I expected this kind of behavior from a Facebooker at best, but from a star commenter? Come on who did you have to suck off to get that Lite?

Really, Giz supports ALL the operating systems. What you like is what you like. If you want to pay the Apple Tax that's up to you. If you want to keep giving Microsoft money it really is no big deal now in days. Linux? Forever.

As much as I don't want to pick sides, I have to point out it's usually Mac users who start these drawn out comment threads because 1) a human interface device with anything more than one mouse button confuses the fuck out of them 2) they can't find any good games to play and 3) they seem to have their head shoved farther up their ass than the average bear.

I'm not hating on all Mac users and hell I got respect for someone that is willing and able to pay the premium and not be a dick about it. But you Lite, are the chosen example for ignorance today. Congrats!

tok3ninja

@ripfire: its not the beta anymore its RC

cristian77

@chinolam: Man I wish my photoshop would load that fast. I am on a shitty computer though :(.

Where do some of you get the time? I mean you must devote a substantial amount of work and, or home time to keeping on to of this stuff.

peter_kelowna

You should really try to install 7 on an EeePC. It runs incredibly fast! Really... It's overwhelming.

Th3Chos3n0n3

Could Windows 7 be the final nail in the Coffin 4 Linux...

I think for personal computers YES, but for business (e.g. Web site Hosting, Server etc...) use i think it will most definitely be around 4 years to come...

For me Windows 7 came JUST IN TIME, because i've just got a Brand new Computer @ Circuit City and Finally WAS GOING to Switch to Linux (Ubuntu 8.10 Interpid), but i decided to stick with Windows in lite of this NEW Revelation.

But I kinda haVE problem you see... i read that a 16GB HardDrive is required, and i have a « 750GB HardDrive with 8GB of RAM...☻ LOL MAYBE I have to MUCH SPACE for Windows 7 hahahaha! I'm Kiddin' Can't wait till the Finally Release.

Windows Vista has been great for me, any upgrade would be appreciated. But i hope Windows 7 is LOW in PRICE but NOT, i Repeat NOT in Security... Which is Vintage WINDOWS in prior years.

danardemmanuelvincente

I have a macbook (don't hurt me please) and a DVD-RW with Win7 on it I have had it three times on and off on my MacBook because my friend keeps tellin me that windows creates a gateway for virus's on macs and this Beta is the most vulnerable one even with the antivirus software. Is he right or is he wrong. No hardcore stuff on Win7 just email, IM, and internet browsing.

oxford

I have loaded Windows 7 on three systems, one of which is a 1.6 Celeron Laptop with 768MB and is not really supported because the video is not Directx9 compliant. Well it actually runs pretty good. I must say it is not revolutionary and I think Microsoft needs to get with the picture, people want eye candy, usability and SPEED!! I must admit it is better than Vista, less bloated thank God, but still needs work. They changed windows explorer and is now less intuitive. Need more driver support, desktop reminds me more of Linux for some reason. They just need to add a Rocket Dock and a tool bar that maps to the users folders and a way to backup and move that stuff to a new computer. Also no video editing (Movie Maker), you have to download Windows Live Essentials to get it.

As long as they make it Stable and Fast Fast Fast!! IE8 I hope is much more stable, faster than IE7, but you can only get IE8 Beta on Windows 7 and IE8 RC1 is already out and they wont let you update it? Go figure!

Keep up the good work Microsoft, lets see if you can pull of an OSX Killer by release date???

Get those Indian slaves to work harder MS!! God knows the unemployed in the US don't need jobs.... Sarcasm

No disrespect for Indians, just MS needs to educate and higher Americans!

HildaMagoondo

itunes 64 bit doesn't work with windows 7 or in Compatibility mode.=(

ApolloCastor

diabolusunknownTheSecond: Well for me the only computer gets a kernel error (no beachballs of death at all for me) is when i run tiger on my 2001 imac g3 (don't have it anymore) or when the heatsink on my macbook breaks and the processor frys and random shut offs happened when the processor maxed out (i have monitors on memory and cpu) which is probably some kind of anti-overheating function.

heloww

Luis Fontana

One feature I have not seen you mention is Speech Recognition, which I find to be excellent in 7. It was very good in Vista, where it got panned when a MS demo of the feature bombed. That left an unfortunate impression with many users. Speech Recognition is a splendid feature of 7, and it also has excellent commands to control the computer, too.

ChristianKapis

vicsells

do you know a guy named payton delong?

john_slaughter_newby

@VardonGeryon: I have the 160GB version as well - are you dual booting with XP?

@diabolusunknownTheSecond: So the heatsink is internal to the AAO? I do have dual boot with XP, so maybe I should look further into that.

I ahve to say that Windows 7 is a sweet program! Installed without a hitch on my Foxconn C51xem2AA board with no conflicts. Some bloggers reported difficulties with DVD hardware... not me. Norton 360 beta antivirus caused shutdown hang-ups in the user hive, but AVGFree 8.0 runs without a hitch.
The desktop is clean with frequently used icons in the taskbar (any program you choose to place there), control panel is comprehensive, and the Superbar is, I think, user friendly all the way.
I will be the first person to get a copy when the beta runs out, unless one of you push your way in front of me when the time comes to lay the money down.

LetaGabynoodle

@vicsells: Kind of... the point of a good operating system is to ensure stability during use. If a program crashes the computer, it's a both the program programmer's fault as well as the OS programmer's fault for letting it happen.

shiftyeyedgoat

@Wilson Rothman: I'm with ripfire; as the final version has not yet been released, the features and design issues are not finalized and as of yet not implemented into a package meant for retail.

Microsoft said it itself, and you guys reported on it, to quote Buchanan:

Hey guys? Windows 7 "may not work the way a final version of the software will. We may change it for the final, commercial version. We also may not release a commercial version." That would do lovely things to Microsoft's stock, eh?

So, I'd say it's more fair to call this the Win7 Beta Complete coverage for the simple fact that there is no retail version of Windows 7 as of yet.

shiftyeyedgoat

@TBM-Fan: hmmmm you said programs. Programs aren't what we're talkin about. I said WINDOWS 7 has never caused a problem for me. Of course retards can produce bad programs that hang operating systems, but is that really Windows 7's fault? nope

vicsells

Windows Vista will go down in history as Windows Me Service Pack 2 once Windows 7 is released. Because really everyone can agree that windows 7 is better then vista but for gaming, XP still reigns.

Pete Garza

Totally excited to use Windows 7 on my new mcahine in a virtual PC to test all tese new features!

Nate Luzader

Ugh, my Compaq Presario X1000 uses an older video card that doesn't even have vista drivers. Needless to say windows 7 isn't running full speed on my machine. The good news is that it does run with only 512m ram.

ADogg80

@Pete Garza: OS X is built for one computer. Windows is built to run on any hardware and supports thousands of peripherals that'll never be supported on a Mac. So of course Macs will crash less, it doesn't have to do nearly as much. Everyone says Mac and Linux will kill Windows. I'd have it the other way. Linux will kill OS X, and Windows will mope up the casualties.

Harry Cohen

@philoneous: i haven't had any blue screens on neither vista nor windows 7 but windows 7 has frozen on me 4 times before.

anus1220

@Mac_Pro: yes. dual boot.

anus1220

@Robert Matthew Swain:

can't play wow and download files at the same time? must still have a single core PC.

:P

caL

The Complete Guide to something not yet Complete. This is very interesting.

Well impress me by telling me that Windows 7 will run smoothly (and by smoothly I do mean being able to do stuff after it boots up) on a Single Core 1.6 GHz CPU with 512MB memory.

Operating systems are becoming very bloated, defeating the fundamental purpose of an operating system - that which should help you operate a computer with the least possible footprint. This seems to reverse itself.

I know already people will need to buy new hardware and change their electricity supply to 3-phase to provide enough power to the bloated OS

Mark Bishop

@Anonymoose: lol

VakeroRokero

@Harsha Kotcherlakota:

is this an osx leopard article? NO! is your post relevant? NO! are there more than 3 noticeable fixes in leopard? YES! are the new features in leopard obvious and plentiful? YES! is windows 7 better than vista? YES!

@Confuzius: It's a beta.

UnexpectedEOF

Yeah, because every time Apple adds a 10th of decimal to their OS, it becomes totally revolutionary. I remember the reviews for Leopard. 300 fixes! But people only really noticed 3 of them!

How convenient.

Harsha Kotcherlakota

@Lite: has a bacon wallet.: You fail at sarcasm. Sounds too much like machead talk.

dbaet

@JerryA: Am I the only person who thinks OSX is ugly? Oh wow, it looks like metal...

BambalinaPers?phon

I've been using the beta for about a month now and I'm very pleased with it. I'd say it is shaping up to be one of the better releases from MS. For a beta, I've encountered very few hardware glitches. And while still a tad buggy, hardware switching when you are using a docking station (aka port replicator) is much improved.

My biggest complaint

While visually the new networking section is nice, it seems a bit less user-friendly than previous versions of windows. I will say, once you figure it out, it does find and connect to networks faster than before.

I do think MS should offer a discount for folks who were forced to switch to Vista. Vista, while stable, was an extreme resource hog. Win7 is based on the Vista kernel and is more of a refinement than a true upgrade. Charging high upgrade fees is counterproductive, IMHO.

Mobius SF

@philoneous:
hey there, sounds like the problem you have is either hardware or driver based.. cause i've got windows 7 running fine on my acer aspire one (160gig version). It boots faster than vista on my really expensive laptop lol. Get the max ram you can buy from crucial too, helps : D

VardonGeryon

@[www.pcpro.co.uk]

Read it and weep, Fucktard

Counterglow

@Pete Garza: Thanks, Pete. Nice to see somebody else has seen some of the same Microsoft comments I have.

Counterglow

@zeroprime: lol Point taken.

Counterglow

my only issue so far is wmp12 and srt's , i installed k-lite and no luck, i just like using wmp

Eduardo Flores

I like Windows 7 a lot more than Vista, but I don't completely jump for joy about it.

BrianB

@dmanbluesfreak: Should have used the official Obama font. :)

Anthony Kern

@Ubik2501: VitualPC or DosBOX?

I'm a beta tester for the Hauppauge HD PVR ( avchd-usb video capture device ) ...and am now recording HD video from my Comcast DVR and PS3 onto my PC under Win7 MCE.
It's freekin' awesome. All my fav HD movies and TV shows can now be archived on my PC in the AVCHD standard format!
[www.hauppauge.com]

cheers, -RT

rivertrance

@Keith Edwards: Ummm, actually thats Myriad Pro - Adobe's standard font. Apple uses a modified version of it on their products, but it is in no way apple's font. Nice try though.

@SJRNWT: Nah, it's the nerd equivalent of sports teams. This is exacerbated by some companies using their perceived alternative status as an emotional selling point.

JerryA

@diabolusunknownTheSecond: To be honest, I haven't had any instant-reboots or "Turn of your PC" in multiple languages on any of my macs for the past 7 years but aint denying the spinning beach ball of deaths. But the mac does not crash as much as a PC running Windows ( there is more I could say about windows but i'm a nice guy today).

Pete Garza

Got it up and running on my girlfriend's eeepc 900 last night, but hibernate/sleep is broken, which is less than optimal...

Confuzius

@Mark Pena: That is because like the OSX .1 releases it is a refinement and improvement on some of the things that started with Vista. Like OS9 to OSX there were a lot of issues with the new framework but just as Apple has avoided a lot of major hiccups by building on a tried and true base, Win7 ought to be less of a jump than XP to Vista and should avoid a lot of the issues that came from new driver models and the like.

JerryA

@Lite: has a bacon wallet.: Minus the support for any non-Apple-branded PC or half of my peripherals and most of my software. OSX is not the solution to every problem. It is a great solution for many, however not for me. Until such time as Apple allows me to run their OS on whatever hardware I damn well please I won't be buying it. Slick and idiot-proof at the cost of functionality is great for some, not for others.

JerryA

@Lite: has a bacon wallet.: Someone smash this guy's head with the Banhammer. I'm SO sick of OS wars going on. I use a PC, my friend uses a Macbook, we both fix peoples' computers as a side job, and somehow, by some divine miracle, we both are still friends lol.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Mac VS PC = Digital racism lmao

SJRNWT

That you have offered this compendium free of charge is truly magnanomous.

whootowl

being a die hard OSX user, i must say that i'm impressed with w7 compared to Vista. Wish i could get my bluetooth mouse to connect to it though :(

Mark Pena

@Zomb: You forget the benefits of the new file system ZFS " automatic file corruption repairs on the fly" So long FSCK!!!

Pete Garza

@Pete Garza: An emulator's better than nothing. What programs are out there?

@Pete Garza: Well if a facebooker says so I guess it must be true...

@Lite: has a bacon wallet.: I think we're all just a bit sensitive to Apple fanboys just being annoying fanboys for the sake of it. Since this is a windows article I think most of us got the impression your comments fell under the "fanboy for the sake of being a fanboy" category. That being said, my install of w7 just got the theme treatment and looks nothing like OSX or w7 anymore.

FullSpecs

Windows article using Apple's character style?

mrnako

@vicsells: I have some programs that makes your pc hang @ a BSOD

and no they are normal mount programs

TBM-Fan

Thanks for the Win 7 Beta coverage. Encouraged me to try it and I love it. Works really well with my new computer... my first 64 bit system. Programs run so much faster than in Vista. Photoshop CS4 sometimes loads as fast as 2-3 seconds.

@Pete Garza: Yea, but have you seen the OS 10.6 list of improvements. #1 among them is improved 64-bit compatibility. I don't know about you, but I get an update every month that improves 64-bit compatibility and every mac user will have to pay for theirs if they want to update. So Apple is selling even fewer changes as a full OS (unless you consider all 10.X the same OS in, which case you have paid for all your major updates(service packs?)).

Zomb

@craig_16: No its more like his computer is so fast it can reboot while he blinks if it blue screens:P

Zomb

Very nice guide Giz. I installed Windows 7 about two weeks ago but I've yet to do much with it. Perhaps I should get on the ball about that.

Flying_Ninja123

Last night I saw the post, on either Lifehacker or Giz, that the Beta deadline was nigh. I had been putting off the download to feed my WoW addiction, but wrapped up my WoW session early and quickly signed up for a Live account and downloaded the Beta just before the cut-off. I checked it this morning and the Java download client said "100%" and the .iso was waiting eagerly on my desktop. I am gonna doo the deed when I get home tonight.

I recently replaced a blown HDD in my "old" E1505 and left a partition for a linux distro(Kubuntu most likely or some other KDE run distro), but am now gonna test drive 7 instead. I was dreading wading through all the info on 7, so this guide is much appreciated. Thanks Giz!

PS: Love the Facebook integration, one less thing to remember.

Robert Matthew Swain

@Ho0ber: rofl yep truth be told. Have a spotty OS? need more ram? no problemo boss, I fix, I fix!

vicsells

@Ho0ber: You mean to say that if IE crashes, his computer will go and erase MS Word?

Rustabout

good stuff, gentlemen.

technical difficulties

@Ubik2501: I'm afraid not. You will need to run an emulator to play those old games. sorry pal. Don't mean to rain on your parade.

Pete Garza

@zeroprime: He was referring to Windows 7. Microsoft did say that Windows 7 was just sorta like a service pack to fix Windows Vista only it will be sold as a whole new OS.

Pete Garza

I'll ask again: Will the 64-bit version run old 16-bit apps from Win3.11? I still want to be able to play Chip's Challenge and Pipe Dream.

@craig_16: His machine just OVERPOWERS THE BUGS. It's roughly the same thing as our foreign relations strategy for the past eight years.

Ho0ber

@Leo Herrera: it takes a tard like you to make a response to his comment..are you trying to be cool or something?

Pete Garza

@Pete Garza: I suppose instant-reboots and spinning beach balls of death, or "Turn off your PC" in multiple languages on the Mac is a better option?

All OS's crash. The funny thing is that Macs on a tiny subset of hardware still crash.

Not funny. Sad actually.

diabolusunknownTheSecond

@philoneous: I have had blue screens on my AAOne when Vista and XP were installed.

I suspect it was overheating, since after i slapped a small heatsink onto the metal plate used to cool the Atom and Chipset chip, it has not done it again, and now runs at 50 degrees with the fan off.

Everyone should do the same on theirs.

diabolusunknownTheSecond

@Pete Garza: Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath about that one. Microsoft knows that they really screwed up w/ Vista, and that it's really going to hurt them if Windows 7 tanks as well. Not only does it hurt them, but all of the OEMs that throw their support in w/ Microsoft as well.

Lite: killed Dumbledore

@Lite: has a bacon wallet.: ..and better. :)

Pete Garza

@vicsells: I don't get it... if Windows 7 is going to have problems it will have problems. Bugs don't just disappear because you have a powerful machine.

craig_16

@enm4r: Interesting. I had Windows 7 on my screen playing with it, my wife (A long time Mac fan) wandered in and said, "What's that?" I said, "Windows 7", her first response was, "Oh, wow it looks even more like OSX now."

I'm pretty much OS agnostic unless it's Vista, which is a bloated rotting carcass of a dead horse for an OS. On a daily basis I use Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008, Multiple Linux Flavors, and OSX. It's part of my job. I'm looking forward to Windows 7 to be quite honest. But make one joke and people get all freaked out.

You guys really need to get out a bit more. :)

Lite: killed Dumbledore

@Lite: has a bacon wallet.: no, Monty Pythonesque humor. Now for the blow to the head can you answer this question.....

KhaiJB

@Counterglow: "Wow! A Service Pack that costs like a whole new Operating System! It's great! We all LOVE it!"

Sounds more like you're talking about a mac.

zeroprime: I agree with you

@KhaiJB: Yes, faux internet thread violence. So pithy.

Lite: killed Dumbledore

@Counterglow: Thanks for filling me in! I took for granted actually READING past articles and learning that the basic version will not even be available in retail, but I'm glad to have a tard like you to inform me of the truth.

Leo Herrera

@Arggh! there goes a...snake a snake! ohhhhhhhh it's snake!: Apparently you missed your daily dose of sarcasm.

Lite: killed Dumbledore

@Lite: has a bacon wallet.: Cheaper? Really? Seriously?

@enm4r: OSX 10.6 is gonna blow Win 7 out of the water, just wait and see.. save your puny comments against mine til hell breaks lose.

Pete Garza

WOW! It's Vista SP1! It still likes to Phone Home! The basic release version will only run 3 aps at once! Wow! A Service Pack that costs like a whole new Operating System! It's great! We all LOVE it!

I think we're all going to.......groan.......

Counterglow

@philoneous: Welcome to the wonderful world of Windows BSOD. :)

Pete Garza

@Anonymoose: LOL! I second that! vicsells head is overblown.

Pete Garza

@Lite: has a bacon wallet.: Brilliant! I'll just go out and buy an OS that probably won't run on my PC and certainly wouldn't run most of my apps and games. But it looks the same!

mye

@Lite: has a bacon wallet.: Being fluent and having systems running OSX, Vista and XP prior to the Win7 beta, I can only say to you "No."

They are not visually the same, nor to they operate the same.

enm4r

Windows 7 is really cool !!

I love the OS.

Best features:

Taskbar

Backup

System Repair

@Lite: has a bacon wallet.: Thank you for the mandatory Mac useless post in a Windows Thread. here's your blow to the head *Thwap*.

KhaiJB

@Lite: has a bacon wallet.: Thanks for your contribution, it's extremely relevant to this post

GIZMODO I LOVE YOU!!!

(But you know that.)

Congratulations on your purchase of Windows Vista SP3, er Windows 7. First things first, return this and go purchase a copy of OSX 10.5 as visually it's the same damn thing only cheaper.

Lite: killed Dumbledore

@Anonymoose: u slink? U DIRTY ROTTING SLINK!

vicsells

The most vaulable lesson I learned during the beta was how to boot an ISO from another internal/empty hard drive. That was fun.

Win7 was fun too, but since I was having driver issues and decided to wait until full release before spending hours figuring it all out only to have to potentially go through that again. I'm hoping they're fixed in which case I saved myself a few hours of frustration.

enm4r

@Mac_Pro: It works fine for the most part, but I've had 4 blue screens so far (with daily use). They seem to be mostly related to highlighting text!

I used Gparted to partition the drive, and the drivers I grabbed off of the 'Acer Aspire One User' forum. It was painless to install, but the blue screens are a bit annoying.

[gparted.sourceforge.net]

[www.aspireoneuser.com]

@vicsells: hahaha, that is hilarious, oh man. whew.

I love that you used apple's font for the first banner.

Keith Edwards

I want it more and more

Rezwan Abbas

GREAT work guys. This is way more useful than Paul Thurrot's reviews. Well done.

suckacheese

So not much luck on Acer One? Was thinking of trying it out, but scared a bit. :-)

Any Advice?

Thx!!

Is my Avatar inappropriate?

I've had zero problems with Win 7. Granted I have a computer far more powerful than many of yours combined, but still, it works great hahahah

vicsells

@ripfire: Actually, it's the guide to Windows 7. Only the troubleshooting chapter deals with issues that are particular to the beta. The rest of it deals with features and design issues that are all slated for the final release.

I've had quite a few blue screens on my Acer Aspire One -- but the font on the blue screen text is so tiny I can't read the error message! I suppose I should go look at the dump file...

Shouldn't it be "Windows 7 Beta: The Complete Guide"?

@this for neater, better formatted printing on any of the Gawker Media sites.

@Artie Cortez: bullshit.

blash

@Artie Cortez: bullshit. as long as your ethernet or wifi is picked up by Win7 it will work. no need to even talk to your ISP

apollo89

@Xanthan: Windows 7 will be cheaper than Vista actually.

And while your Vista setup runs wonderfully, Windows 7 will run like a dream.

apollo89

@Redsox310: when you open the start menu, type in what you want. that's the point now

apollo89

@HildaMagoondo: ummmm, it does have usuabiliy, eye candy, and speed.

apollo89

I thought the article started "From tumor to golden master".

daqman

@andthepickles: I know in vista/xp that icon is used for the desktop cleanup wizard, but whether or not that translates to win7 ...

RW-1

How do I fav this? I can't wait, I have my pre-order already. I probably should have ordered 2, 1 for my netbook, but oh well.

Wicked1

@SugitaCharon: where can I find the wallpaper in the image just bellow "Intro" with the monster?
OMG! Ponies! uploaded them a while back - [www.flickr.com]
[www.flickr.com]

Our Uni has Win7 pro up and as soon as I get a new HDD I'm upgrading ( Woot!)
I used the beta and thought it was fantastic, however I had one major gripe and that was that any folders, shortcuts, my computer etc all got bundled in the Explorer jump list thing. Is there a way to separate them yet?
I currently use Object Dock on my second screen so I guess it won't be too much trouble, but it could start to get annoying having to use object dock as my main taskbar.

@KhaiJB: Thank you, it never fails, hahaha

Wicked1

where can I find the wallpaper in the image just bellow "Intro" with the monsters?

SugitaCharon

This is pretty awesome.

andthepickles

@andthepickles: I think it's Digsby

fo0you

@deanbmmv: Thanks, I just downloaded them.

@VikasTelemachus:
Thats because you are using a 32 bit operating system on a system with atleast 8 (logical) cores and 8 gbs of ram. Install the x64 version.

Kerfudle

@TeresaNinja: This is all discussed in the sections above, particularly the Review at the very top, and the "Real Cost of Upgrading" chapter.

@HaldenNermit: Yep, any Beta or RTM version has to be replaced with upgrade version in a clean install.

Alright I'd like to see a chapter on weather is worth upgrading from windows XP, because we all know if you have vista you should already be killed on the spot so that shouldn't be a worry...

Also id like to see pros, cons, and speed tests compared to each other what speed tests? I have no clue but things relevant to the fact we all know windows vista made your machine run worse.. Will this Magic window of 7 remedy this?

also id like perspectives on this from a gamers point of view.. As well as some one who works in computer security...

These will be the deciding factors of what i put on my new mac... and if i update my PC

TeresaNinja

Nice guide!

Mr.X.

Where can I get that cool background image displayed on the INTRO screenshot... :)

GwynnGoat

@Artie Cortez: You may have to do ur DNS and IP manually (comcast can be bitchy like that) but once you've got it set up you're flying free.

Bobwama

Phenomenal review.... but ive been wondering, what do us users with build 7600 as our only OS do?? Can I upgrade, or does it have to be a Custom install?

HaldenNermit

Did you know Windows can read HFS+ now? Just found out that I have access to my Macintosh HD while running it with BootCamp. Pretty cool.

Actually there is a way to upgrade from the RC. It is completely unsupported, discouraged and is generally considered a bad idea. However for those willing to take the risk (I personally am running one machine that I upgraded and one that I built clean and have seen no difference in reliability, and I know of a few dozen other folks that have done it successfully), all you have to do is copy the file from the CD to your Harddrive, then open the cversion.ini file in the sources directory. Edit the line that say MinClient=7233.0 to MinClient=7100.0 You should then be able to run the upgrade from the hard disk.

As dumb of an idea it is to upgrade from the RC, it is even more dumb to upgrade from the beta, so setting it to 7100 still prevents that :)

LaraPandion I

So I'm thinking about installing a Windows OS on my Macbook via bootcamp, and am wondering weather to take the Win7 plunge. Anyone have any recommendations as to weather I should pick up a copy of XP or go to Win7?

Daniel Rosenthal

@Daniel Rosenthal: 7 runs like a dream on my macbook. Very smooth, but you should expect the same experiance as you have in OSX the drivers arent the same. It's still very nice though. I ran the beta and will probably run the full OS when I get the money.

Golden Master? You mean RTM?

jbuk2k7

@GwynnGoat: Right click on Desktop - > Personalize -> Desktop Backgrounds. Choose "Windows Desktop Backgrounds" as the picture location and then scroll down to the "Scenes" section. It is there.

@jbuk2k7: No, he means Golden Master. That is what they call the build that is signed off on by the suits as being the final build.

The same build is then Released To Manufacturing.

@Daniel Rosenthal: I clean installed both Snow Leopard and Win7 and aside from a long boot up time from Win7, they're both running quite nicely. As long as you have 2 GB of RAM you should be fine and Win7 is definitely what Vista should have been. It feels great, especially with all the macbook drivers allowing two finger right clicking and scrolling.

@jbuk2k7: Got it?

robogobo

@Bobwama: You dont have to do anything different, it woks fine.

@[DFX] Deimos: Oh, I thought they were conflicting Microsoft/Apple terms for the same thing. My bad.

jbuk2k7

STILL NO WORD ON GAMING...

XP, vs win7

And I am tired of seeing Crysis as the "model," I only know 2 people that ever even enjoyed the damn game. How abot some real performance and compatability tests with XP and 7? MMOs, shooters, rpgs, RTSs.... no more crysis or Far Cry 2 please!!!!!

AndromedaHorse

The url should have been:

[gizmodo.com]

Bodie1550

@HaldenNermit: Do you mean the RC build which is 7100? 7600 is the final RTM build already.

SScorpio

@Bodie1550: aside from spelling screen wrong, give it up. old joke is old.

@AndromedaHorse: i cant give you accurate fps/etc readings, but my win7 machine runs pretty well for gaming, 8800gt, 2gb ram, 2.5 dualcore amd

"Windows 7? You guys are totally biased and can't get enough of MS. It totally blows. You reek of Bill Gates' man juice. Gosh!

"Wait? What? A Snow Leopard guide too?

"Snow Leopard? You guys are totally biased and can't get enough of Apple. It totally blows. You reek of Steve Jobs' man juice. Gosh!"

Wah fucking wah, boo fucking hoo. Thanks for posting these guides, Giz. I'd like to say it quelled some of the babies who frequent the site, but from looking at the comments people still get their panties in a bunch over the absolutely most trivial shit ever. However, I suppose these rivalries will always exist.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Jalopnik to explain why Chevy is better than Ford.

@blash: Dear lord. That's bullshit on a level I haven't seen in quite a while.

@Kayonesoft: Like? I haven't seen any.

@madog: You'd be completely wrong because Ford is SOOO much better than Chevy.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Jalopnik to explain why you are so totally off your rocker.

@Daniel Rosenthal: Win 7 all the way. I just set up bootcamp on Thursday night with Snow Leopard and Windows 7 on my two year old macbook pro 15". I have the 2.2 ghz core2 duo and 2 gigs of ram and it runs a treat, even running resource heavy Rhino and Cad models.

electricarchie

@andthepickles: It's a reminder, hence the "i" for information.

Max_Lux

Mr. Rothman, you need to add the 'digg' option to your articles more often. I might actually start using it.

probably a pain in the @$$ to upgrade to Windows 7. Upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard the friday it was released. changed about 3 or 4 computers to Snow Leopard. No problem at all and it didnt even take that long.

@iPost: Nope, I have done the upgrade loads of times.

No problems, all files and settings transferred fine, and all hardware was installed and working after the upgrade.

thelestat

@iPost: I upgraded from Vista to Win 7 no problem in about an hour too. Hmm that reminds me of another recent upgrade process I just had... hmm oh yea Snow Leopard.

adambadam

@Wicked1: Chances are you won't need two licenses to install 7 on two computers. I've installed the same copy of Vista on three different machines now, twice on two of them, and haven't had any problems.

Communist Pope