S Ansell said "Here's hoping for an open source DirectX incorporated into a Linux distro in the next decade along with FULL gaming compatibility and a campaign to make software interoperable."

Well said indeed. I've been waiting for that day to come ever since I turned right and followed win32/dx4 software development to commercial prosperity (graphics isn't just games people). Where is the incentive to follow linux or even opengl? Perhaps there is some fake nostalgia involved for the next generation which makes them just feel better about themselves when they can install an application using the command prompt... but I was there when it was the only option around and all of the typing I've done for many years has been in visual studio which is enough for me. Shaders took care of the rest. It kind of reminds me of the netscape days.

You have it right for sure! I have Ubuntu on my laptop that I downloaded, just to try you know... Well I get it installed and seems to be working ok, but needs a nvidia graphics driver installed. So I go to a friends house and download it. (internet is broken at home right now...) I go to install through the GUI and it needs another file to install. So I go back. I get this file, then it needs another file to install!! I did this with three or four files then said heck with it!

I am willing to learn and I must admit if I had internet on Ubuntu it would be great, but I can't even get the wireless to work...

So until I take a course on Ubuntu and learn that my life will be better with it, (this is questionable...) I will stick with Windows 7 which is running great on my custom built box at home!

Just before anyone wonders my tech level is high. I am the one all of my friends, family, co-workers, bosses, etc. all run to for help with their PCs. I am not bragging I am just telling you my tech level before you assume I am just inexperienced.

These are my thoughts to everyone that are having problems with vista or 7:

If you have an old computer DO NOT UPGRADE! I will not go well! If you have already and you are having problems, then you know that... I have known some people with Pentium 4 boxes that will run win 7 fine, but some old hardware just won't run right!

If you have a new box: go with 7! It also depends on your printers too, but most manufacturers, like HP, put out basic drivers that work with most legacy printers on the new OS. I am running win 7 at work (I am the first one using it... sort of a practice run so I can work out the kinks) and we have an old laserjet 8150 that is working really well with 7. It even got the HP drivers from Windows Update without asking me for a driver. Very nice! Did the same with other devices.

Just before I get called a fanboy of windows I have to say that I have tried all the main OS's out there now and Windows just fits my needs! Sure if I could afford a MAC PRO desktop for my music production I would have one, but I would still keep my windows PC for games and other irreplaceable apps. So if I'm a fanboy because I tried the main ones out there and windows fits my style better then sure, I guess I'm a fanboy, but I do enjoy Mac as well. They are just too pricey for less hardware!

Since we all agree on Vista being a catastrophe I took on 7. Reference machine with XP. I have to tell you XP is still faster. All the new looks do not make up for functionality and the renaming game in personalized fashion. Windows 7 has not fulfilled what was to be in in Vista and is not in 7, too. WinFS is missing. The same network resource limitation and DRM, basically your hardware belongs to Microsoft now, which I do not like. Seven has not set out to be innovation as Microsoft most the time stressed during the anti trust trial. It is rather the opposite. An entrenchment with the claim that Microsoft is the Overlord PC and everything else is not. Warp speed back to the nineties I might say. This time the mad circus clown disguised as general M. Balmer. Really there are many reason for and against. Mine is the fact that if I want a monopoly I rather play it then hear the old drum beat of innovator, which Microsoft is not anymore.

This is what Vista *should* have been, and Vista was kinda scheduled to be released in 2003.

Sorry for the 6 year delay. We spent most of that extra time implementing DRM so we can keep the hackers entertained for a fortnight or so.

There are a lot of people having trouble installing Windows 7. The installation DVD created from the ISO at Microsoft does not boot. I am tired of trying. Check these links: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproinstall/thread/3efe0446-a10b-4cbc-8491-dda992976f8c
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproinstall/thread/b453d6fe-0df0-4df4-93ef-5e4effbb06cd
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproinstall/thread/1ec6bb1e-532d-4d30-b098-375b11f651ba
just to mention a few.

Windows 7 is what Vista should have been from the start. Very pleased with W7.

@free and secure beats expensive and vulnerable
I prefer Gnome over KDE, KDE is too Windows like.

@S Ansell
sudo apt-get install and sudo apt-get remove is so hard to do, I understand your dilemma. But there is a point and click system in place too that works very well.

I agree that games are owned by MS for the time being (necessary evil) and I have a self built gaming rig soley for gaming (XP) but will dual boot it soon with Ubuntu 9.10 to advantage of all that horsepower. For what reason I don't know yet. Maybe I will work on WINE and try to install some games as I read through my Linux book. Learning new things is a good thing.

My main computer is a cheap laptop that came with Vista but now runs Ubuntu Linux, with it I do all my real computing including shopping on-line and banking, no need for some expensive high end machine if I'm not worried about what games will run on it.

DX is a proprietary and closed piece of shit done on purpose by MS, Open GL is much better and will come back again as the major development platform. Games for Windows scam was invented to keep developers locked into their proprietary piece of crap called Direct X but many are dropping off that band wagon.

Windows 7 Rocks. Rest sucks. You also.

I was happy with Vista x64 SP1 on my overclocked Corei7 920 / Asus P6T Deluxe 6GB box. Upgrading to Windows 7 worked but has yielded no obvious benefits, one lingering problem, and several time wasters:

1. MS didn't list Norton User Account Control in the programs that should be uninstalled before upgrading. However, it conflicts with Windows 7. I removed it after booting in Safe Mode.

2. Windows 7 User Account Control pops up a dialog box every time I run RealTemp, even though I have the shortcut set to run as administrator.

3. The Asus process aaCenter was causing two dialog boxes about AsIO.sys to pop up on every boot. I stopped it from running in msconfig and deleted the folder containing aaCenter.exe. This may have killed some of the Asus software I never run anyway.

4. Upgrading overwrote all my dpi, background color, and windows colors and fonts changes with no option to save them, as usual with MS "upgrades".

5. Bootup time is about the same as Vista, possibly slower.

Brand new HP laptop running vista 64 home premium... can't use the upgrade option to windows 7 professional...

Improved? Same old Microcrap strikes again.

Hi Ansel.

You are right; if you want to play games on your PC, then Windows is the way to go.

No doubt about it.
But I am not as rich as you; Win7 (the software) by itself is way more expensive than a console! (HW+SW)
Not to mention the hardware you need to run any decent game.

Oh well.. we poor souls will just stay with Linux for productive work and a console for the gaming.

From personal experience with W7 i can tell you that DRM is still alive and well in this OS.

If you want SOMEONE ELSE to decide what you can do with the hardware YOU payed for, then buy Windows 7!

Google DRM and Windows 7 for a lot of stories.

Hooray! I'm going to make an absolute killing on upgrades, re-installations, virus removal and disaster recovery.

Long live Windows :)

Forgot to take your medication this morning?

Well, since there are no responses to your post, it looks as though you have, in fact, put the Linux "KnowBoys" in their place. Of course I'm betting not now. :+)

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned you hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head. And since an OS is little more than a hammer (a tool to do my bidding as I see fit)I agree with you.

Oh well .... target's been hung KnowBoys. Potshots??? Feeble attempts??? Ramblings???

Get this into your arrogant, smart-arsed skulls: linux is an elitist piece of software that the vast majority of people want NOTHING to do with.

Why am I so angry with you here about this? If you're not smart enough to realise it, then I actually pity you.

1) Command Line: no-one wants to resort to using this to install a program and most Windows users can go FOREVER without seeing it.
2) Games: Whether you accept it or not, most games are designed for Windows and will not run on Linux or require some convoluted Wine solution which is beyond the remit of the average gamer.
3) Hubris: These problems could have been solved a decade ago, but Linux developers refuse to steadfastly resolve the issues that keep most users away from Linux or even properly advertise the OS.
4) Elistism: Many Linux users don't want Windows users to migrate to Linux because then it would no longer be the OS for the intellectually superior humans of the world and Linux would be forced to simplify trivial matters and make greater use of GUI interfaces than it already does.

True, there's great variation between Linux distros, but until they can ALL pretty much have the same basic standards as Windows or (dare I say it) Mac operating systems when it comes to usability and ease of use, Linux is simply an elistist farce.

I'd LOVE to be able to consider using a MATURE version of Linux which could do EVERYTHING my Windows based machine can do, but it's just not realistically ever going to happen until open source developers and Microsoft bury the hatchet and work together.

Here's hoping for an open source DirectX incorporated into a Linux distro in the next decade along with FULL gaming compatibility and a campaign to make software interoperable. Furthermore, man berets, penguins and command lines will be severly scaled back.

Great another plug for your sister site. The Inquirer has really lost their way.

Wonder what's the hype of naz?
I think his parents should have just got a dog.

Wonder whats the hype of Windows 7 ?
I think MS should have released a service pack instead windows 7.

Why waste your money buying a Windows 7 dvd, when you can download this great OS for free from:

http://www.kubuntu.org/

What a great desktop, stable OS, and well-designed user interface! Oh, wait a sec, that's Linux (that explains it). Oh well, more groceries for me, so maybe Ballmer can diet a bit (looks a little of the obese side to me, just like the bankroll of his company).

finally fixed Vista, called it Windows 7 and when the rock wore off I was running windows 2.0.

I was smoking rock today and evaluating the new operating system from Billy. As much as I wanted to hate it; it isn't half bad. I am a die hard xp fan but soon xp will be just another tick in software history.