Windows 7, final verdict?

[SickBoy]

While I was initially very impressed with Windows 7, it's evident to me why I'm primarily a Mac guy - Windows is still up to the same old M$ dirty tricks. I've been getting a fair amount of the blue screen of death lately, actually, which they claimed to have eliminated. Mind you, the only apps I had open at the time were Winamp and Firefox, and the sites I was browsing were primarily text-based.

Are you absolutely sure there's nothing wrong first with your RAM and HDD, then with your PSU, MB and whatnot? Any of these could've been the culprit and cause BSOD...

If nothing else, Windows is a terribly inconsistent product. Microsoft should try to actually make a product that works well for everyone. As you said, it doesn't seem to require more than a few simple programs for W7 to BSOD for some people.

It seems all to easy to many apparently... Let's do a quick math:
- how many MB types do Apple's computers have? a few
- how many MB types do PCs have? too many

Since MB is the core of every computer, both PC and Mac, any further variables introduced into equation (those being different MB vendors, different MB designs around the same chip/set, different features added and so forth) make it extremely difficult for M$ to actually test all the possible combinations, the best they can do is to try to make it work well in most cases and then fix the issues as you go. Sometimes they fail badly (Win ME, Vista), sometimes they hit it (XP and now 7). And what was mentioned before - let's not forget the responsibility of hardware vendors and their sloppily written drivers/BIOSes. Apple has much less such problems just because they are the only ones designing the MBs and building the final product.
M$ ain't no angels but they sure aren't the only guilty party...

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Had a mismatched ram issue that led to numerous crashes, but once I got that sorted (4 1 gig sticks from the same manufacturer) Win7 64 has been rock solid.
I'm extremely impressed.... In the last two months, I haven't been able to crash the machine even once.

BTW, here's a nice little 'how to' guide to speed things up. Turn off Aero & Win7 really picks up the pace.
http://www.computingunleashed.com/2009/06/speed-up-windows-7-ultimate-guide-to.html

 

[thefyn]

I am having issues.

I can't install certain things (like the recent british bundle plugin on sale at audio midi) without jumping through hoops.

And the ASIO driver support for w7 64 is making me return my Lexicon USB interface. ASIO 4 all improved my latency issues but it was still recording out of sync which wasted about 3 days for recording. I could drag the tracks I recorded into place but I am not 100% they are synched so i just bought a new EMU 0202 device.

That has support for Vista 64 so I should be okay.

It's not all roses. Esp for noobs like me.

 

[updog]

Wasn't trying to turn this into the 9974562424sghhsh Mac vs PC thread, I just thought it was a valid point, even though didn't come off as a surprise for anyone.

From what I heard, W7 was 'supposed' to be better or at least as good as OSX. It was just talk of course, but I was hoping it would prove surprisingly good. The point about motherboards is of course true, but no matter which platform I would buy, I would never again buy anything that has the pretty much randomly selected poor quality hardware inside it. Has Microsoft compiled a list of all the pieces of hardware that are absolutely compatible with their OS? How can people custom-build a PC that they know will work?

 

[Kazrog]

I built the machine myself from NewEgg parts, with a video card and some input from JBroll. It's awesome, but the ironic thing is that Mac OS X runs far better on it than Windows 7. It's my belief that both operating systems are running optimally, and I'm positive my RAM is good and is matched (Patriot Extreme Performance 2x2GB.) The power supply is an Antec NeoPower 650 Blue, and the machine is Intel Core 2 Quad based inside an Antec 900 case. The hard disks are 500GB Seagate Barracudas, 7200RPM SATA.

The fact that OS X runs better on third-party, unsupported hardware than Windows runs on the same hardware speaks volumes. In fact, I'd say that OS X runs just as well on my "Hackintosh" as it does on my MacBook Pro.

I'm not trying to turn this into a Mac vs. Windows thread. In fact, as I said before, I really wanted to like Windows 7, and for the most part, I do. I can at least say that I haven't had a crash while running Cubase 5 in Windows 7, and that is ultimately what matters most. Perhaps once more apps are finely tuned for Windows 7 performance, we'll see a lot less of the BSOD.

 

[SickBoy]

BTW, here's a nice little 'how to' guide to speed things up. Turn off Aero & Win7 really picks up the pace.

I myself would strip W7 down bare naked Win2000 look as I really don't care for the looks, especially those like Aero which could degrade the audio performance...

and I'm positive my RAM is good and is matched (Patriot Extreme Performance 2x2GB.)

Positive as in "I've given it a memtest and it passed" or "it's a respectable brand and I they have my full trust"?

The fact that OS X runs better on third-party, unsupported hardware than Windows runs on the same hardware speaks volumes. In fact, I'd say that OS X runs just as well on my "Hackintosh" as it does on my MacBook Pro.

I've been thinking of installing the Hackintosh on my PC just for the heck of it, since I've never actually worked in OS X and would like to see what it's like.
Maybe it would run better than Windows on my machine as well

I'm not trying to turn this into a Mac vs. Windows thread. In fact, as I said before, I really wanted to like Windows 7, and for the most part, I do. I can at least say that I haven't had a crash while running Cubase 5 in Windows 7, and that is ultimately what matters most. Perhaps once more apps are finely tuned for Windows 7 performance, we'll see a lot less of the BSOD.

I for one didn't get the impression you were on another "Win vs Mac" crusade, but you really do have an interesting situation
Since the majority here expressed their satisfaction with W7 I'd think that's more like some kind of strange coincidence with your machine running better on Hackintosh than W7... I'm still running XP (too lazy to set everything from ground up again I guess) and it's very stable from the day one (I've bought this PC 2 years ago), but I'm very curious to give W7 and Hackintosh a try...

 

[Winston Wolf]

This is purely religious issue nowadays.
these rants are rather entertaining
On win 7 I had a BSOD only once,when i tried to install drivers for old Creative SB.
i also don't remember last time i got BSOD on XP.i don't even use branded computers,
only self built base from cheap components.
no,i don't use any tweakers,system managers,antivirus software,Win 7 is a great system right out of the box.
for the first time with M$ products i don't use third party firewall,antivirus etc...built-in stuff is good enough.
i don't really get it why people say Mac is easier to use.

 

[SocialNumb]

This thread sucks.

 

[updog]

i don't really get it why people say Mac is easier to use.

I don't really get it why people tell me my experiences on Windows operating systems are as bad as they are because I can't use Windows properly