Aja on 10/8/2009 at 08:43
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
I also suspect there's something wrong with my install - I can't close a program by right-clicking on it and hititng 'C'
I never knew about this (I don't know most keyboard shortcuts, really) but I tried it on my copy (release candidate) and it works fine.
gunsmoke on 10/8/2009 at 09:44
Since Vista is doing so well on this laptop, I may try the beta. How large of a partition is recommended?
jay pettitt on 10/8/2009 at 11:17
Quote Posted by Renzatic
I doubt the RTM copy is vastly different than the RC, which is already about as solid as I could hope for.
I read much the same. Though the release candidate is time limited - shortly after 7 hits the shops it will stop being solid and start shutting down every two hours, which hopefully the official release won't do. Hopefully.
I remain utterly sceptical of Windows 7. As far as I'm concerned Vista was a stable, secure and capable operating system and as solid as one could hope for. What ruined it for me was that Vista was designed first and foremost, not as an elegant interface between user and computer, but as portal for turning your desktop into a free (for 'trusted' partners) market for commercial interests to ply their wares. You want branding, pop-ups, nag screens, opportunities to register for exclusive product updates, license restrictions, digital rights management, third party toolbars and hardware configuration wizards and all that jazz then Vista really was the wow.
Anyone really think 7 will be any different by the time in lands in the laps of Joe and Jill Consumer?
Nameless Voice on 10/8/2009 at 13:30
Quote Posted by Aja
I never knew about this (I don't know most keyboard shortcuts, really) but I tried it on my copy (release candidate) and it works fine.
Maybe I should try to acquire and install the 7600 build.
Matthew on 10/8/2009 at 13:48
Quote Posted by jay pettitt
branding, pop-ups, nag screens, opportunities to register for exclusive product updates, license restrictions, digital rights management, third party toolbars and hardware configuration wizards
Did - did we get different builds of Vista?
Nameless Voice on 10/8/2009 at 14:34
Sounds like the mess any version of Windows could easily become if you don't pay attention...
Aja on 10/8/2009 at 22:45
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
Maybe I should try to acquire and install the 7600 build.
I'm using 7100 right now.
Renzatic on 11/8/2009 at 15:24
Quote Posted by jay pettitt
What ruined it for me was that Vista was designed first and foremost, not as an elegant interface between user and computer, but as portal for turning your desktop into a free (for 'trusted' partners) market for commercial interests to ply their wares.
Ah, the DRM thing. As far as I can tell, there is absolutely nothing running in either Vista or 7 that keeps people from playing movies, new or old. No constant harddrive scanning to check if your software is legit, no blocks on certain hardware, nothing. Everything I've heard about the horrors of Vista and DRM have been either extreme exaggeration or outright fabrication. That's not to say there isn't some nasty digital rights monster sleeping in the underpinnings, waiting to sue me for using a DVD burner to watch movies. But so far, I haven't seen any evidence of it in actual use.
And to make matters even funnier, the only time I've ever been blocked by DRM from watching a movie was in XP. It was one of the Futurama boxsets. After popping the disc in, it told me that my DVD drive wasn't "trusted hardware" and locked me out. A bit of a horrible irony considering all the VISTA SUCKS, THE DRM SUCKS, AND IT RUNS SLOW CUZ OF IT. I'M STICKING WITH XP posts I used to see all the time.
jay pettitt on 12/8/2009 at 08:11
That's true actually - Media DRM is noticeable when you don't use Vista and you can't view a file because you're on the wrong platform.
The rest of it though: the pop-ups, unclosable nag screens, branding, third party bolt ons are all taken to new heights in Vista, and I suspect 7 too. Seems to me that opening the desktop up to competing third parties is where MS is headed. God help you all.
EvaUnit02 on 12/8/2009 at 08:38
Quote Posted by jay pettitt
The rest of it though: the pop-ups, unclosable nag screens, branding, third party bolt ons are all taken to new heights in Vista, and I suspect 7 too.
For Vista:-
Run (
http://www.tweak-uac.com/home/) TweakUAC which puts UAC into "Silent Mode".
W7 out of the box has a native nag free UAC option that's very similar to "Silent Mode".
Only the ignorant disable UAC. It provides the Windows platform with a tiered levels of read/write permissions structure that's comparable to Unix/Linux based OSes. Microsoft's way of implementing in Vista was very intrusive, yes, but it's a security feature that the Windows had sorely lacked for many many years and as mentioned in the previous paragraph they've addressed the complaints in W7.
