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389 Comments
- 80hd, on 01/13/2009, -41/+225Digg me up if disabling sidebar was among first things you changed with vista.
- motang, on 01/12/2009, -8/+143I been using it since yesterday and it's been really nice. Love the GUI improvements and also that it's snappy.
- zdiggler, on 01/13/2009, -8/+113It play Divx Xvid without installing anything.
- csuftech, on 01/12/2009, -4/+86I agree with you that the article was well written but I don't understand what you mean about 7 being released too soon after Vista. If I remember correctly Vista was released on January 2007 so by the time 7 is released (late 2009 is what most people are saying), nearly three years will have passed. How is this too soon? MS took a lot of heat for taking too long to release Vista and now they are set to release 7 in a much better time window and you complain anyway? I guess some people will always find something to complain about.
- Zervaman, on 01/13/2009, -3/+74Just got a copy installed on my PC.
Gotta say, I like it. I like it a lot. Love the UI changes and it does seem snappier than vista. I think Microsoft may be onto something here... - Mynsc, on 01/12/2009, -5/+55Best review I've read in a long while. Nice one Ars!
- Gizza, on 01/13/2009, -2/+50Boy does it suck to be Microsoft.
They release, 95, 98, ME and XP all within a few years of each other. Then take ages on Vista and get heaps of ***** for it. So now they come out with 7 within a few years like they did with their previous OS's and still get ***** for it.
Vista was bashed for changing too much ***** around and breaking too much compatibility. 7 gets bashed for not changing enough.
Windows gets bashed for having old code for BC clogging it down, but people complain when their 10 year old printer doesn't work with a new version of WIndows.
They get ***** for the OS not being very secure, so they add UAC to try to improve things and get ***** for it.
They try to bundle useful apps with their OS and get anti-trust cases against them.
They are the epitome of damned if you do, damned if you don't. I guess that's life when your customer base is a over a billions PCs. - dynamicx, on 01/12/2009, -20/+66Anyone else still unconvinced about the new taskbar? One of the first things I do on an XP/Vista install is turn off "Group similar taskbar buttons" so the prospect of being forced (for things with more than one window) to use two clicks rather than one is not so appealing.
Guess I'll have to try the beta and see. - bartonnen, on 01/13/2009, -0/+44The important thing for me would be fixing the god awful broken folder views in Vista that will never stick at what I want (usually I want "details" with file type, size & modified date) - but Vista will randomly decide I'd rather see rating & author!
But the taskbar improvements on their own have me excited. - krystalo, on 01/12/2009, -1/+39Yeah, try before you comment. You can customize it. Right click taskbar > properties > taskbar buttons > never combine
- MadOgre, on 01/13/2009, -5/+36I'm just worried that MS is going to pull a big slick Mojave trick on us after we all install it... "HA! It's really just Vista with a different THEME!"
- krystalo, on 01/12/2009, -1/+30There's also "Combine when taskbar is full." FFS people try the beta first.
- feyded, on 01/13/2009, -1/+25The new taskbar is really quite good. I was skeptical at first as well, but after using it for a while it's a breeze. I've always found the taskbar in Windows to be more functional/useful than the OSX dock, and Windows 7 takes it a step further by seemingly blending all the positive elements of the OSX dock and keeping the power/control of the traditional Windows taskbar. Kudos to the design team.
- onelikeseabass, on 01/13/2009, -8/+32Wow, they added a codec.
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -2/+26I dunno, maybe i'm old... but multitouch doesn't seem like it's that great of an idea... I'd rank it up there with using two mice at once.
- twiztidsinz, on 01/13/2009, -1/+24Sidebar is gone....
Widgets are there, but free floating. - MScrip, on 01/13/2009, -6/+2817 inches is now considered a ***** of screen real estate?
- Shadic, on 01/13/2009, -3/+23*****, I'm a 22" in 1680x1050, and I disabled the ***** first thing.
- voidentry, on 01/13/2009, -1/+20The GUI improvements and all around snappy features are running surprisingly well on my old pentium 3 and 4 machines that have 512MB RAM. It seems that Microsoft improved the RAM caching system this time around!
- Murdats, on 01/13/2009, -3/+21@richeemxx
tell me the major differences between win98 and win95 (with the same time between releases) or win2k and winxp? - benitojuarez, on 01/13/2009, -1/+19its not supposed to be xp....
- artfuldodga, on 01/13/2009, -1/+18change it in the taskbar options, solved
- jivemasta, on 01/13/2009, -2/+19The peeking and half-maximize functions of the window manager are great for programming and Web Dev. You can have your code on one half, and your browsers on the other half, and you don't have to fiddle with the windows for a minute to get everything where you want it. Just drag to the sides, and drag off when you are done. Then add in peeking if you use a css reference sheet, and you never really have to click on 50 taskbar buttons to get around to all the windows you look at.
- benitojuarez, on 01/13/2009, -1/+17im really not interested in touch screen for a desktop. hold your arm out straight to your monitor for a full minute. watch youll already be a little tired. obviously in most cases you would by holding your arm out like a goof but add that repetition up.
- fugazied, on 01/13/2009, -2/+18Maybe the less than exciting reception that users/critics gave vista shook things up at Microsoft. There are plenty of talented UI guys around, maybe they let one of the young guys add his toolbar ideas this time and the boffins decided that people shouldn't have to buy a new computer to run a new OS. With the UI, Apple brought in concepts like expose (years ago), spaces, stacks, instantly clearing desktop with a gesture etc, they were pulling ahead big time. But Microsoft is actually contributing some fresh innovative ideas with their new toolbar stuff, good to see them fighting back.
- them3nace, on 01/13/2009, -1/+17agreed. it is surprisingly quick
- gfxlonghorn, on 01/13/2009, -1/+17monitorS... I have a 22 inch, and a 17 inch on either side.
- Memnochxx, on 01/13/2009, -1/+15You select small icons and never group. Problem solved.
- artfuldodga, on 01/13/2009, -3/+16they just pretty much went through everything i enjoy about Windows 7, it is much more advanced than Vista, much more intuitive... might be labeled an incremental update but its alot more, looking forward to the retail though lets give MS time so they get this thing perfect, along with the manufacturing sector =P
really good overview. - twiztidsinz, on 01/13/2009, -0/+13Right Click the Desktop -> Personalize
Scroll down to the "Ease of Access" themes
Middle theme, top row should be Windows Classic
http://www.istartedsomething.com/wp-content/upload ... - Dougman82, on 01/13/2009, -0/+13Yeah it sucks, because I'm testing Windows 7 on a virtual machine right now. My host OS here at home is Vista SP1, which I've gotten very used to over the last several months. But then I go to work each day to an XP system. Not that it's bad, but the more I get accustomed to the new stuff, the more XP feels not quite right...
- Jektal, on 01/12/2009, -1/+13Apparently there's still an option to "Never Group & Always Show Labels", but I wish they had come up with a good middle-ground solution.
- MWeather, on 01/13/2009, -6/+18Windows 7 is Mojave on a mass scale.
- artfuldodga, on 01/13/2009, -1/+13the option is there, have you used Windows 7...
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -0/+12My favorite part:
"In Windows 7, user-initiated actions are distinguished from software-initiated actions." - twiztidsinz, on 01/13/2009, -0/+12Right Click the Taskbar -> Properties
Check "Use small icons"
Set "Taskbar Buttons" to "Combine when Taskbar is full"
Looks just like Vista's - pyroguy56011, on 01/13/2009, -2/+13What do you mean "people _want_ to like" it? People _do_ like it. Professionals, consumers, and critics are all giving a beta of it incredible praise, especially for a Microsoft product. Try not to be quite so close-minded.
- newaffect, on 01/13/2009, -1/+12What's wrong with this one?
- twiztidsinz, on 01/13/2009, -0/+11Right Click the Taskbar -> Properties
Check "Use small icons" (thins the bar out too)
Set "Taskbar Buttons" to "Combine when Taskbar is full"
Looks just like Vista's
Though I say give it a try. I didn't like it at first, but now I love it. - artfuldodga, on 01/13/2009, -2/+13i guess you didn't read the article
- Dougman82, on 01/13/2009, -1/+12Eh, I'd characterize it more like the jump from Win95 to Win98. Same basic system, but a lot of bugs fixed, corners polished, along with some new features. Not a major release, but I still feel it's a step in the right direction.
- jsauter, on 01/13/2009, -0/+11It works better then grouping in XP/Vista in my opinion. A little bit to get used to, but once you figure it out it works well.
- StormTroopr, on 01/13/2009, -1/+12Darn, I was hoping you had some kind of massive wall of 17 inch monitors.
- aubinhick990, on 01/13/2009, -1/+11Yeah, I'm torn with this. My primary computer is Windows, but I've had to use Macs a lot for school. Honestly though, I've found that Spaces is only good for hiding programs that you don't want people walking by to see. (As I get dugg down for mac "bashing")
- Trax91, on 01/13/2009, -0/+10Try this:
Right click the taskbar > Properties > There should be an option for grouping and labeling. - kd420, on 01/12/2009, -32/+42Ars comes through with a solid, comprehensive review of the changes. Though 7 seems to be going in a very good direction, I can't shake the feeling that a lot of the changes are just fixing poorly implemented features of Vista. The taskbar is obviously completely new, but beyond that there isn't much except for slight modifications to Vista.
This isn't really a bad thing, of course they should improve on old features, that's the point of a new release. But should users have to pay hundreds more for these issues to be ironed out? Windows 7 was released too soon after Vista to justify the cost, IMO. Hopefully MS works out some sort of upgrade pricing scheme. - jivemasta, on 01/13/2009, -2/+12One could say that OSX's dock steals from the windows taskbar + quicklaunch. In Mac OS 9, there was no way to switch between windows besides going up to the finder icon and choosing from a list, or moving windows around to find the one you want. Learn your OS history.
- Dougman82, on 01/13/2009, -0/+10It's actually very honest and praises MS on a job mostly well done.
- suprxtragrav, on 01/13/2009, -1/+11Shhhh... keep it quiet, as they'll probably start bitching and moaning about how slow and unstable and how windows 7 sucks all of a sudden.
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