Power Sellers Unite

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 16923 Location: Texas

At long last, Windows 7 is officially here. Here's what you need to know about the latest and greatest from Microsoft.

Windows 7 is now for sale around the world. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is officially kicking off the Windows 7 launch at an event in New York City. Microsoft's partners will be unveiling new hardware and OEMs are now no longer recommending Vista to consumers and are switching their default choice to Windows 7. Today is easily the most important day for Microsoft this year (the operating system's RTM date of July 22, 2009 comes in at a close second place). Here's everything you need to know about what's happening today.

The editions
Windows 7 comes in six editions, and while this may seem like a lot, don't worry, you only really have to worry about two: the Home Premium Edition and the Professional Edition. Home Premium is what you want if you use your computer for personal use and entertainment purposes. Professional is what you want if you're in the corporate world—basically anything significant for work. Both are available at retail and with the purchase of a new PC, and Microsoft will make sure to market both like there's no tomorrow.

Starter Edition is only available via OEM purchase, and is shipping only on low-end computers. Home Basic Edition is only available in emerging markets, so chances are you won't see it at all. Ultimate Edition and Enterprise Edition are pretty much one and the same, the main difference being that the former is aimed at computer enthusiasts and the latter is for corporations. You'll find Ultimate on sale at retail and on select OEM computers, while you'll likely only encounter Enterprise if you work for a large company.

Users might also want to know that Windows 7 is available today worldwide in 14 different languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Chinese (Hong Kong). The remaining languages will be available starting October 31, 2009.

Get it cheap
more.. link to news article

kfellmysinkers · Joined: 30 Apr 2009 Posts: 61

after their last software release? I'll pass.

mojavelyn · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 5:25 pm Post subject:

I'll wait for multiple service paks to be releases first.

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 16923 Location: Texas

kfellmysinkers wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")after their last software release? I'll pass.

:lol: My 73 year old mother still curses vista and has since replaced it with XP...again :roll:

Like most new toys, I too like to allow the techies to work out the problems before jumping on the bandwagon.

mojavelyn · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 8:22 pm Post subject:

I hope someone sends this page to Microsoft and let them know we ain't buying their marketing hype.

Nor am i buying a new computer just because they came out with a new OS.

Windsor Bear · Joined: 20 Sep 2008 Posts: 96

...and I love this... there is NO upgrade from XP to 7. To go from XP to 7 requires a complete install that totally wipes out your hard drive. Everything must be reinstalled from scratch. Use an older version of Microsoft Office, say... Office 2003? Once you reinstall it from your original Office CDs, then you have to wait while 6 years of Office updates reinstall from the Microsoft Update site.

No thanks. I'll pass on this one. As long as XP continues to work, I'll stay with it.

kfellmysinkers · Joined: 30 Apr 2009 Posts: 61

I went out and bought a new computer that had Vista. In the next two months I went through two hard drives. That computer is now a part of the reef system here in Florida.

beckysthisnthat · Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1577 Location: Texas

Windows 7 student upgrade hell
Posted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt
October 24, 2009 8:03 AM

Microsoft's big launch, it turns out, was not entirely trouble-free
Image: Digital River

Image: Digital River

College students who took advantage of a "deal too sweet to pass up" have run into a bit of trouble.

The $29 electronic version of Windows 7 Home Edition sold for Microsoft (MSFT) through Digital River (DRIV) doesn't seem to install properly on some 32-bit Vista machines.

Apparently the download files weren't properly packaged and when some users tried to "unload the box" they got an error that read:

"We are unable to create or save new files in the folder in which this application was downloaded"

A discussion thread with that title was begun on Microsoft Answers' Windows 7 install forum less than 3 hours after the new operating system launched. By Saturday morning it had generated more than 500 replies and been read nearly 44,000 times.

Microsoft acknowledged the problem Thursday evening and by Friday was reportedly offering refunds. Meanwhile, however, Microsoft technicians are pointing users to a five-step Download Squad workaround (pasted below the fold) that might be enough to send students screaming to the nearest Apple Store.

rest of story here

hotandvintage · Joined: 09 Feb 2008 Posts: 1705

I seen this one so I think I will agree with the rest of you and skip it

Windows 7 upgrades "crippling" PCs
Windows 7 problems

Posted on 28 Oct 2009 at 08:45

Microsoft is struggling to find answers for people whose attempt to upgrade to Windows 7 has sent their machine into an endless reboot cycle.

Reports of the problem first began appearing on Microsoft's support forum on Friday, the day after the operating system was first released. According to the complaints, Windows 7 claims the upgrade has failed and that Vista will be restored.

However, when the machine reboots it offers the same error and reboots again in an endless circle. Despite numerous reports of the problem, it seems Microsoft is still no closer to an answer and tempers are becoming frayed.

I just got an email from Windows, titled 'Windows 7: Your PC, Simplified'. I really want to email them back and say 'Windows 7: My PC, Crippled'

"I just got an email from Windows, titled 'Windows 7: Your PC, Simplified'. I really want to email them back and say 'Windows 7: My PC, Crippled'," reports one poster on the Microsoft Answers forum, identified as Chimaera717.

chuck77777 claims "I now have a completely non-functioning (new) laptop. Do you think Microsoft will buy me a new laptop?".

Microsoft support engineers have questioned whether users' copies of Windows 7 are corrupted. The company has suggested they burn ISOs to CD at their CD writer's slowest speed to ensure the data is complete.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/352846/windows-7-upgrades-crippling-pcs

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4782

Well...now I don't know what to think.

My old computer up and died on me monday, so I looked around for a refurbished or used system. Found nothing that was worth what they wanted for it, so I went to Best Buy today and purchased a new one.

So far, all I've managed to do is hook up the mouse, keyboard and monitor, then got the phone line plugged in, so I could try and get on the internet.

The keyboard is gonna take me forever to get used to. I've hit the backspace key at least 50 times so far typing this.

Anyway, you've guessed it, the computer has Windows 7. You think going from Vista or XP is rough...I went from Win98.

There are some things I do like about it, and one big one I don't. On the desktop that they (the computer) set up, in the second item is ....eBay! That is going to have to go.

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 16923 Location: Texas

Latest:

"Windows 7 Upgrade Woes Mount"

Call it the legacy of Microsoft's Vista operating system. PC users upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 have run into a variety of hair pulling problems since last Thursday when Windows 7 launched. Complaints range from endless reboots to refusals by Windows to accept Microsoft's assigned product keys.

As of Monday morning, Microsoft had answered about 2600 questions that poured into support forum regarding upgrades. At last count, around 1400 questions remained unanswered.

Unable to Unpack
more.. link to news article

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 16923 Location: Texas

Update:

"Windows 7 Sales Outperform Vista Launch"

Initial sales of Microsoft's Windows 7 software outperformed those of Vista's first few days on the U.S. market, according to the latest analysis from The NPD Group.

Windows 7 software unit sales in the U.S. were 234 percent higher than Vista's first few days of sales. A combination of early discounts on pre-sales and a lack of promotional activity for the Ultimate version resulted in dollar sales that were 82 percent higher than Vista.

"Microsoft's program of early low-cost pre-sales, high visibility marketing, and aggressive deals helped make the Windows 7 software launch successful," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD.

"In a slow environment for packaged software Windows 7 brought a large number of customers into the software aisles."

more.. link to news article

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 16923 Location: Texas

Update:

"Hackers bypass Windows 7 activation"

Hackers have managed to find a way around one of the key antipiracy protections built into Windows 7.

Ordinarily, the operating system requires users to activate their copy of Windows 7 within 30 days. However, a recently outlined method allows the normal notifications to be turned off.

The software doesn't actually get confirmed as legitimate, but users are able to keep using the product indefinitely.

Microsoft confirmed on Friday it is aware of the technique, but said that it is working to shore up the activation procedure.

more.. link to news article

Temlawn · Joined: 16 Nov 2009 Posts: 34

Hello,
As with any new operating system there are going to be glitches and hackers are going to attack anything new to try to find any backdoors or loopholes.

I went from 98, to me, to 2000 professional, to xp, to vista or something like that..lol..

how does the new 7 fair? Is it high on memory usage or cpu usage? Just curious. I havent upgraded yet, was thinking about it, but with the comments above I might have to pass this time..

Windows Me was good, fast, not to bad on memory, xp is ok I guess, vista.. took a little time getting used to the new features...

Guess my main question would be.. what would be the benefits of upgrading again... are there any new features that would really be worth upgrading for from vista to 7 ?

Thanks,
Temlawn

hotnana · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 875

I bought a Gateway PC in January that had Vista, I didn't really think it was that big of an adjustment from XP. Well the Gateway crashed already and had to be sent to the hospital and I could not do without my main computer for weeks. So I bought another PC by HP that has Windows 7. I haven't had any trouble adjusting to it, although it is a little quirky when I am working with folders.
No problems so far...just a little getting used to, I hate change! :lol: