<b>Windows 7 vs Vista</b>

[Gamputer]

From what I understand, Windows 7 utilizes less CPU and RAM for operating than the Vista, and it's kind of like a hybrid between XP and Vista.

Is the above info correct and is there any other benefits for using Windows 7?

Oh and the title btw...I accidentally did that for bold by habit...

 

[Half Evil]

I wouldnt say its a hybrid because it has nothing to do with XP.

Its a variation of Vista because it uses the same kernal I think (?) someone verify that -

However, you're kind of right. I understand what you mean because it behaves more like xp with less downtime then vista and its smooth like xp.

 

[berry120]

I agree with the above, it's not a hybrid at all. In my mind, it's really what Vista should've been out of the box - and I applaud Microsoft for taking the time to make it that way rather than whacking a load of pointless new features in at the expense of performance and efficiency.

The benefits of using windows 7 over Vista are pretty clear cut, and asides from perhaps the odd backwards compatibility case I can't see many reasons for choosing Vista over 7. XP is less clear cut - its requirements are far less and therefore on older systems it may run more smoothly than 7. I'm still using XP personally, it works, it works well and it does what I need it to. Upgrading to 7 could cause a number of problems compatibility wise, none of which I want, and the OS may run slower than XP. When Microsoft ditch the security updates I'll probably have a rethink, but for now I'm going with the if it ain't broke don't fix it philosophy.

 

[Mantook]

Will I be able to have both vista and 7 installed?

 

[Half Evil]

Dual boot it. Make a partition for each.... then sure.

 

[jmacavali]

I think people will be suprised how low of a system will run 7. I had it running fine on a computer that had 512 MB RAM and a Pentium 4 2.x processor. If your still using a computer 'older' than that then it's time to upgrade anyway.

 

[root]

Vista, I think is now consigned to go the way of ME,

differences between vista and 7 are most that windows 7 runs a little slicker, requires a little less hardware performance, and for laptops has better power utilisation, meaning that your battery should last longer.

differences between xp and windows 7,
well xp is NT5.1 7 is NT6.1, so it is fair to think about it as the same kind of jump that there was in functionality look and style as there was between windows 98 and windows xp.

as for software compatibility, windows 7 does have a backwards compatibility mode, (just like windows XP has). but there is a second sort of compatibility mode for running apps that will only run in XP and that's to run XP on your windows 7 box as a virtual machine, (so you can have XP running on top of 7).
When you do this I'm told (according to the live meeting overview stuff that I'd attended over the past couple of days) that you can drag and drop between the desktops etc.

I really can't think of any situation where you're going to be running applications that there isn't an 7 equivalent of, (because Vista has been out for a couple of years and any application working on v6 of the kernel should still work in windows 7, which is still version 6).

but if you have some kind of bespoke business app or something then you can always run windows 7 as your man desktop and the run xp in a virtual machine on top of that.

 

[Celegorm]

When you do this I'm told (according to the live meeting overview stuff that I'd attended over the past couple of days) that you can drag and drop between the desktops etc.

Quite easily yes. I think it's only a feature on Business and up, but I found it quite useful for school.

 

[ringtemek]

windows 7 is more user friendly than xp and vista(i think), it has device stage, directx 11, and the side bar gadgets can move around the screen instead of being stuck on the side bar