Windows 7 Advice

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Id reformat and then upgrade when it is out, installing windows and a quick format shouldnt take any longer than 30 mins. Your machine should run Windows 7 just fine, my brothers specs arent as good and he has it running perfectly.

 

I'm not a Mac fan boy. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.

here are several advantages in favour of Macs:

• Speed. - The latest release of Mac OS X (Snow Leopard) is fully 64 bit, EXTREMELY fast, can use many many gigabytes of RAM, and is generally much more lightweight than Windows.
• Security. - Macs are secure. There are no viruses, and very little malware. Contrary to popular belief, this has nothing to do with Mac's market share. There are millions and millions of Mac users in the world. Why would a hacker not want to create a virus that would get to millions of people? The trouble is, Mac OS X is much much more secure than Windows, so it is much more difficult to create a virus for Mac than it is Windows. Yes, there are a few pieces of malware floating around, but these are in Pirated versions of software 100% of the time. In any case, you have to give it permission to run on your computer.
• No anti-virus. - You don't need anti-virus. No hourly scannings, no anti-virus updates - nothing. I've used Mac OS X for nearly 10 years now, with no anti-virus protection, and I've never had a virus. It's true.
• Operating System. - Mac OS X is far superior to Windows. Window management is a breeze and superior on a Mac with Expose, and multitasking is great. I regularly run 20 applications with no slowdown. You can really multitask on Mac, without and sluggish feeling. Drag and Drop is system wide and 'feels' right - if it feels like you can drag and drop something, you can.
• Mac Applications. - Most Mac applications are of a good quality - for any app that is on the PC, there is almost always a better one on Mac.
• No Crashes. - I think my Mac has only ever crashed once - and that was an incompatibility with the display driver (because the laptop had a new display port instead of DVI) that got fixed with a software update

The only real advantage of a PC is it's use for gaming, and some Windows-only applications such as some of the more expensive CAD/CAM stuff. In any case, you can run games using boot camp, or general windows applications at the same time on the Mac part natively without rebooting.

There is the price, as well - but you get what you pay for in most respects. Sure, PCs might have many more gigabytes of RAM, but they can't really use that RAM to it's full potential because of software restrictions. I think this is right - but don't quote me.

Also, Software upgrades are much more expensive for Windows, so it works out. A Mac will last a much longer time and won't get sluggish and bogged down with anti-virus software etc., and has a high resale value even after 5 years. A comparable PC will be worthless after this amount of time.

Basically, a Mac is just generally a more consumer-friendly experience, and it's speed and solidness are why designers choose them. A Mac isn't like Linux - all popular applications on a PC have a Mac equivalent. In fact, Microsoft Office was originally created for the Mac, BEFORE it was available for the PC.

Another advantage is that Apple goes back and rewrites applications to reduce bloat. Mac OS X Snow Leopard has most of the standard applications rewritten so that they feel speedier than they already are. Getting rid of legacy code etc actually gained 7GB of disk space for users that upgrade to the latest operating system (Snow Leopard), which is quite impressive. Microsoft essentially just keeps adding more and more code to each release - for example Vista was a terrible fail because it crashes and crashes, and Windows 7 will probably be the same, because they're not going back and making the effort to re-write parts of the OS.

 

I have more experience on Macs than I'd care to admit. It was in Media Arts and Animation school. It may have been OS9 a that point...I don't remember.

Anyway, we had Macs crash on us all the time. It happened to be many many times when I was working in Illustrator.

And what's with this stupid ONE-button mouse???

Sorry, but I personally prefer PC's. I actually LIKE Windows (I'm dual-booting between XP Pro and W7 right now).

I really like W7!!!

Back on topic...reformat now and upgrade later. Be sure to save all of your information (duh), including any emails that you want to save (I still have most of my emails dating back to 2001!).

On a personal note...I won't demand that you type any differently (I don't have that power, obviously), but I will tell you that you will get more respect from professionals if you actually type out complete words and use proper capitalization and punctuation.

I'm just sayin'.

 

OS9 is dead old. What do you expect.
The later macs never crash
Macs have a two button mouse. Five I beleive if you count the side buttons and three on top.

 

I've used Macs since OS 8.6. I agree the pre-OS X days weren't great.

Yeah - Mac OS 9 is a completely different system to OS X, and OS X is therefore much more reliable, and 1000x more stable than Windows. I'd encourage you to try it if you haven't already!

All recent OS X machines come with the one buttoned mouse, which actually has two buttons (you can set this up in the preferences). I still use Control-click though

Windows 7 is getting better - however some of the most touted features have probably already been in Mac OS X for years - just like Vista's "gadgets" and Vista's new "search bar".

I don't mean to start a flame war - I respect you like Windows, but from your post I assumed you think of Mac OS X as Mac OS 9 - the two systems are built upon two different architectures.

 

Alright, my mac knowledge is also limited, however it all came from pre OS-x days as well. So I just bought the 17' MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard? on it for school rather than sticking with what I know works so wish me luck, if I dont like it, at least i'll be able to bash it with experience of using it.

And I notice there is the arrangement of crashing windows, I can sit here with a straight face and honestly say, windows has never crashed on me to a BSOD, and I can't get it to freeze or destroy itself.

I think a lot of the bad press with MS is due their OS being based of like a 640k architecture from the 80's. I think they need to do a completely new OS from scratch and make use of more available modern technology to regain some glamour.

 

IF the upgrade path is the same sa it was in Vista, you can install Win7 basic, then upgrade from that to the version of Win7 you ordered. However, who knows what the upgrade path will be. Gone are the days of just putting in the Windows disc and upgrading, which was a MUCH better situation.

You're going to have to format when 7 comes up, for an upgrade anyways, so, just wait and then upgrade it then.

 

ummm i already know what im doing..

I was planning to reformat anyway so i reformatted and installed win7 enterprise (full) when my Win7 comes ill reformat again and install that..

There isnt a windows 7 'basic' its Home, Professional and Ultimate which you can buy publicly, Enterprise is for businesses.

Im going to buying the FULL Version (not upgrade) for £150 of Windows 7 Home, With a 64bit installation.

 

I didn't suggest you don't know what you're doing .
Why go with full though, if you've got Vista, you can save (typically) a decent chunk of money by ordering an upgrade version

 

My Vista OEM disk is 32bit and you cant upgrade from 32bit to 64bit.

 

I had no problem with the download edition, went from 32 to 64 with ease.

 

No you didnt because it wouldnt of allowed you to do a straight up upgrade from a 32bit OS to a 64bit OS and they a totally different, your probably running 32 unknowingly.

 

Maybe so, but the same things were being said back then when comparing Windows to Macs. :doh:

My mom recently got a Mac from her school district.

She absolutely hates it and won't use it. Oh...and it has one mouse button.

 

Errm, no, I know how to tell what I'm running.
I picked up the 32 bit dl version of Vista
Then, I ordered the WAU disk (64 bit)
Using the same key I got for the DL version, I upgraded to 64 bit, not just once but twice. The version I ordered was mislabeled as the "premium" (I think, whatever the max vista version was), but instead was just over home (ultimate, like I said, can't recall), so I had to buy the upgrade for prem. features, and the upgrade paths were insane.

I went from 32 to 64 bit easily. How to tell? Easy. Looking at the system properties, you can easily tell this. For one, you're never going to be able to run more than 4GB of Ram on a 32 bit system (without using a PAE patch), but on 64 you will. Then, of course, is the "system type", which will display 32 or 64 bit. THEN, of course, you have the driver signing garbage that is a PITA with 64 bit, which I ran into problems with 64, but not 32, using certain drivers and programs.

Go ahead, tell me again I don't know what I'm doing?

 

I'm not trying to start a flame war either. I hope none of you got me wrong.

I'm just honestly tired of all the PC bashing, especially in a thread that has nothing to do with Macs nor did the OP ask anyone's advice about Macs.

I've run PC's since '96 or so and, altho I have had my share of blue screens, they do what I need them to, and before just a couple of years ago, there were no good solutions for 3d modeling and animation on Macs (Lightwave and Maya are no available for Mac, but I use 3ds MAX (legally), which is NOT available for Mac).

I'm considering switching to Maya, but I'll not switch to Mac. :p

 

Your Clearly lieing, you could of not of done that with a native upgrade.


Taken directly from the MS Help Site:

No. If you are currently running a 32-bit version of Windows, you can only perform an upgrade to another 32-bit version of Windows. Similarly, if you are running a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, you can only perform an upgrade to another 64-bit version of Windows Vista.
If you want to move from a 32-bit version of Windows to a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, you'll need to back up your files and then perform a custom installation of the 64-bit version of Windows Vista. For more information, see Installing and reinstalling Windows.
For detailed information about installing and upgrading 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, go to Installation choices for Windows Vista (32-bit) or Installation choices for Windows Vista (64-bit) online

 

Don't ever accuse someone of lying without knowing all of the facts. This can be done. Just because your OEM says it can't (you probably got it with a purchased PC) doesn't mean it can't.

There are a number of factors for why this can't be done (as you put it), the biggest one being you got the OS with your PC, which gives you very limited control over what you can do.

I know this can be done, because I've done it on my main pc multiple times. Not just once, but every major hardware upgrade I have gone through. The 32 bit keys that are available online (through legal purchases) work fine for upgrading to 64 bit versions. Now, I haven't tested the packaged product (DVD), but I'd bet dollars to donuts that it's the same thing. IF you got the OS from a hardware manufacturer, or some unknown reseller, then no, it probably won't work, but if you get the OS through the proper channels it will.

 

It doesnt matter if its my OEM disk its the fact that windows does NOT allow you to do that, as i stated above that paragraph from the MICROSOFT Official Support site also states you cant do it.

 

And Everything microsoft says is factual and true.
I'm not gong to sit and argue with you about this. I know what I know, and how it's been done. Don't ever call me a liar again.