Windows Vista: Should I wait for Windows 7 or move on to Vista now?

In addition to what Mark said...

by John.Wilkinson  - 1/10/09 8:16 AM

1.) It was never released to the standard Microsoft downloads website.
2.) It is only available through Connect for specially-selected beta testers...invite only.
3.) It is available to everyone with an OS-level or higher MSDN or Technet subscription, regardless of public beta availability.
4.) As noted in the forum sticky, the public beta's availability is flaky due to overwhelmed servers and technical glitches.

John

Breaking News!

Due to the high interest of Windows 7, Microsoft has decided to keep the download available to the public until January 24, 2009.

P.S. The Windows 7 Beta will only work until August 1, 2009. After that you'll have to re-install your original operating system.

(NT) WAIT

In reply to: Should I wait for Windows 7 or move on to Vista now? by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

Depends on how much you don’t mind computer crashes?

In reply to: Should I wait for Windows 7 or move on to Vista now? by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

Thank you for asking, Jerome T..

I asked the equivalent question when I had purchased my first computer with Windows98 Second Edition. When the RoadRunner technician arrived to hook up the cables I asked for his professional opinion on whether I might be better off paying extra to get the newly released Windows2000, however, I mentioned my priority is to use a computer that works rather than one that doesn’t work. He said it’s best to wait until two years after a new Operating System has been released so that way most of the bugs will have been fixed because all newly released OS’s are still prone to crashing until the bugs are fixed.

If you have the time to spare and don’t mind being a so-called unofficial beta-tester then it would make sense to grab the Windows7 soon as possible so that way you’ll be one of the first to encounter crashing with the new Operating System. When we human beings have way, way too much idle time on our hands we inevitably spend time inventing such things like art & music but after that’s all said and done and when there’s seemingly nothing else for us humans to do in our fight against boredom, that’s when we eagerly buy a new Operating Systems just to see how many times we can see it crash.

Or if you’re like most of us, then all you want is a computer that is most likely to work without crashing, in which case it makes most sense to wait until 2 years after Windows7 have been release.

Up to you?

Don't be among the first on a new OS

In reply to: Should I wait for Windows 7 or move on to Vista now? by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

I know others have said this, but I'd like to add my two cents as well.

This discussion really hinges on when your current computer actually decides to die. If it dies soon, go with Vista. If you can hang on until Windows 7 is released, try and hang on until after Windows 7 has its first Service Pack released before going to it.

Being one of the first people to run the first iteration of a new operating system is always problematic. Every release of Windows has fallen victim to this same problem. Vista was the same when it was first released. Generally, by the time a software company is ready to release its first Service Pack, the system has had the large majority of bugs flushed out.

Why don't they catch these things in testing before the product goes live? Primarily because they can't re-create every single operating environment or combination of hardware in their testing. The O/S is therefore bound to meet an environment that was never tested and is not correctly supported. It is not until the O/S makes it out into the hands of the general population that they really get a feel for the types of environments that it will be installed into, and they start getting feedback on what's working and what's not.

A Service Pack is released when the manufacturer has enough bug fixes collected which they determine are beneficial to the whole install base. They bundle them all together in a Service Pack. A Service Pack is almost like an incremental release; third party software vendors can know that you have all of those updates installed if you have the Service Pack, so they can require you to have a particular Service Pack level in order to install their software (i.e. Windows XP Service Pack 2 or SP2).

If your PC can hang on until Windows 7 has had at least one SP released, then you can pounce.

what specs?

"by Doh_1 - 10/01/09 00:40

There's really nothing wrong with Vista (and a lot right) on new hardware that's designed for Vista. It is more secure and reliable than Windows XP, and I've enjoyed using it for about the last 6 months or so. I have a newer desktop, Intel Quad-core, 1.33GHz FSB, 3Gb. of 800MHz. memory, and it runs Vista faster than the system that I bought with Windows XP ever ran that.
"

What specs did the XP system that you bought before vista have?

A lot of people upgrade their computers to run vista, and when it runs fast they think vista is great - but have they tried XP on the same spec as the vista machine to see if its faster than vista, or are they just using a much faster computer now so vista can cope easily and run faster than xp did on older hardware?

try both for the best of both worlds

In reply to: Should I wait for Windows 7 or move on to Vista now? by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

i've heard microsoft is planning a scheme in which if u buy vista after some point, u'll get windows 7 for free.
consider that