Kitz Forum
Computer Software => Windows 7 => Topic started by: mr_chris on October 20, 2009, 01:16:49 PM
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Yep - Windows 7 Pro - preordered in July at £89.99, courtesy of Dixons (coz they offered free delivery!)
Never thought I'd be able to say well done to Dixons, but I can't fault them throughout this process.
There was a problem with my credit card (bank rang up to say it had been in a batch of copied cards and could they close the account now). This happened last week on the day Dixons were trying to take the money from the card - and my bank declined the payment authorisation - typical! I had visions of them cancelling the order coz payment couldn't be taken or something.
Rang up Dixons and got straight through to someone who put me through to head office - they took a new card number and the order went through fine.
They've sent out a couple of informational emails including a link to an online guide (http://www.dixons.co.uk/store_doc/09/emails/wk24_09_Win7_installation/Windows7-installation.pdf) to installing - and a half-price offer for their in-store guys to install it and transfer data across for only £24.99, which I think is a very reasonable fee. Don't know what standard of job they'll do of it - I've never dealt with them, but they've obviously embraced the launch and done some decent consumer relations marketing stuff, which I am impressed with. Of course the support line costs £1 per minute, but at least it's there.
Got an email this morning containing my order receipt and delivery details, which also stated:
PLEASE NOTE: If you have pre-ordered a copy of Windows 7 this will not
leave our warehouse any earlier than Wednesday 21st October (the day before
the official launch date). You should expect delivery to be 5-7 days after
this date.
So given it's only the 20th... I'm impressed ;D
All this in stark contrast to Ebuyer, from whom I have still heard zilch! (I preordered a copy from there too - hedging my bets in case one or the other didn't fulfil the order!)
Now to find a spare hard drive to install it on ;) I'm half wish it hadn't arrived yet coz I don't really have time today - gonna try and make some time tomorrow though!
Excuse the pics... I'm just excited lol 8)
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Sorry but I dont understand the hype.... I currently run XP and cant see any reason to upgrade, in fact I still run W2K as well for my weather pc. I really doubt that anyone really needs to upgrade to V7 especially at launch since there are bound to be bugs. I am a cynical old codger and believe that these upgrades really only drive faster PCs. After 35 years in the IT world before retiring I still believe in the maxim if it aint broke dont fix it. :no: ;)
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Ooh looks nice ;D
Mine was dispatched by Amazon today and due to tomorrow by City Link :)
Getting excited :)
@ Broadstairs - they are saying that Windows 7 is gonna be amazingly quicker than both XP and Vista (which I would love to see!)
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@ Broadstairs - they are saying that Windows 7 is gonna be amazingly quicker than both XP and Vista (which I would love to see!)
Well they need to say something to get folks to buy it! Lets not forget Microsoft is a business which needs to feed its shareholders and if V7 does a Vista then they could (will) have problems. I doubt you will see many corporate users rushing to upgrade anytime soon.
Well I'll believe it when I see it, frankly the amount of bloat in Windows is staggering and much of what it does is completely unnecessary so if they turned all that stuff off by default then XP would go faster and W2K, so you are paying for something that they should have done years ago, but hey they need to keep Bill Gates in the style to which we have let him become accustomed.
I also bet half the stuff I run, both hardware and software, wont run under V7 for ages if ever.
Also provides a gravy train for software developers to bring out upgrades for their stuff which will drop W2K and XP from support and all that for a fee. There is nothing I cant do (that I need to do) with my existing setup so why bother shelling out £90+ for absolutely no benefit. I'd be better off upgrading my hardware to a quad core than upgrading an OS.
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As an active independent techy person I need to stay abreast of what's going on in the industry - having used a prerelease version of Windows 7 I was very much impressed by its features and how well it seemed to run.
I thought the offer price, although expensive, seemed too good an opportunity to miss out on given that I wanted a copy anyway. The offer was for the version I had decided on (pro), which gives me most of the features apart from some of the (mostly) enterprise ones that neither my clients nor I will probably ever need to use!
I completely understand your scepticism, broadstairs... and part of me is exactly the same - hence why I'm going to install it on a spare PC / hard drive for a long time before it becomes my main OS - so I learn about it and poke, prod, tweak and tinker to my heart's content, and not worry about breaking my main work/play platform.
Given the gravy train is gonna happen anyway, I figured I might as well follow it's progress at least!
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If you used Linux instead you'd have enough cash left over to buy your own gravy. :lol:
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As an active independent techy person I need to stay abreast of what's going on in the industry - having used a prerelease version of Windows 7 I was very much impressed by its features and how well it seemed to run.
I thought the offer price, although expensive, seemed too good an opportunity to miss out on given that I wanted a copy anyway. The offer was for the version I had decided on (pro), which gives me most of the features apart from some of the (mostly) enterprise ones that neither my clients nor I will probably ever need to use!
I completely understand your scepticism, broadstairs... and part of me is exactly the same - hence why I'm going to install it on a spare PC / hard drive for a long time before it becomes my main OS - so I learn about it and poke, prod, tweak and tinker to my heart's content, and not worry about breaking my main work/play platform.
Given the gravy train is gonna happen anyway, I figured I might as well follow it's progress at least!
Given your requirements to support your clients I can completely understand why you need it, however I still have grave doubts about corporate clients upgrading, although those who skipped Vista might go to V7.
I certainly cannot see any real technical reason why any home users need to upgrade at least not while XP is widely available and supported. Even W2K gets security upgrades and mine runs for weeks on end with no problems running a weather station 24x7.
I'm not sure the gravy train is going to happen, at least not to the extent Microsoft hopes.
If you used Linux instead you'd have enough cash left over to buy your own gravy. :lol:
Well I do run Linux, under Virtualbox on my XP system, and on my laptop which is getting old now and the horsepower needed for even W2K makes it a bit slow, although I dont use it a lot.
I'd run Linux for my weather PC if the application I used gave me all the features I need, it does have a Linux version but it's not as fully featured as the Windows version although its getting better.
I find Linux now very easy to install and use and I'm quite sure I could get Mrs Broadstairs to use it without really noticing (she hates computers and is not techy at all).
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12 October 2009, 10:45 PM
Windows 7 gets its first patches and its not even officially out yet as a monster bundle of fixes and updates hit the net today.
http://apcmag.com/big-patch-day-for-all-windows-versions-including-7.htm
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If you used Linux instead you'd have enough cash left over to buy your own gravy. :lol:
Well this guy certainly has enough cash for plenty of gravy.......... ;D
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/19/windows_dell_linux_refund/
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@ Broadstairs - they are saying that Windows 7 is gonna be amazingly quicker than both XP and Vista (which I would love to see!)
Amazingly is not a word I would use (not at this stage anyway) :)
http://www.trustedreviews.com/software/review/2009/10/15/Windows-7--Performance-Analysis/p1
Edit.I have a spare copy of Windows ME in case anyone has installation problems..........(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdl2.glitter-graphics.net%2Fpub%2F178%2F178532iabz0sxuts.gif&hash=709f4dcea6ddbb6c078358c8a8c41b86ac8b8824) (http://www.glitter-graphics.com)
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Got my two as well from Dixons.
Home Prem on Monday and Pro today.
I thought the service was very good, not to sure about not having to sign for it.
Where is the product key?
I have not opened any at the moment.
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I'm with broadstairs on this.
XP runs just fine.
Anyone who is interested can de-bloat XP by disabling un-necessary services, by staying well away from anything Norton, and even by re-building it from scratch as a minimal system using XPLite
I'd lay odds that in 12 months time, Windows 7 will be in the same position as Vista is today; XP will still be king.
Vivat Rex!
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I'd lay odds that in 12 months time, Windows 7 will be in the same position as Vista is today; XP will still be king.
Vivat Rex!
I think you may be wrong this time, I also hated VISTA and have kept XP but I know so many people who have been testing windows7 and love it.
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I'd lay odds that in 12 months time, Windows 7 will be in the same position as Vista is today; XP will still be king.
Vivat Rex!
I think you may be wrong this time, I also hated VISTA and have kept XP but I know so many people who have been testing windows7 and love it.
I have been using Vista since March 2007 and find it excellent,I never have used XP though.
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I received my pre-ordered copy of W7 Home on Monday, 19th October 2009 from PCW.
It is sitting in the bottom of my wardrobe, still wrapped and in the envelope.
I now find that I am with Broadstairs in that I too feel that 'if it ain't broke - don't fix it'.
Have been using Vista since a month after it was first released and my Dell lappy is working fine with Vista Business Edition. I have another laptop for Ubuntu and that too offers me almost all that I need so I am going to hang on to the disk and see if I change my mind later.
As you get older, change and innovation don't seem to be so important (well, for me anyway). :no:
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I use XP SP3 and shall continue with it as long as is possible; for me it's more that I am of the 'old school' and don't like to spend something where I can't justify it (I bet Unc and TD have just choked on their coffee :D ..... I don't include wine and lunches ;D) Whilst my system works, (and for the extent that I use my machine, it suits those purposes at the moment) I shall stick with what I have, and when the time comes will change to something else; it may still be Windows 7 or that may have been superseded, OR Eric may even convince me of Linux ;) However, to all who have bought the new Windows 7, for whatever reason, enjoy it !
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I have been using Vista since March 2007 and find it excellent, I never have used XP though.
That's the difference, apart from possibly Win98x, you started with Vista and have no comparison to judge it against.
With all the hype W7 is and has received, I don't see as they can all be wrong.
Let's face it, Vista was being slagged down right from the start (and still is)
With the minimum decent spec's to run Vista are still out of reach of most current PC owners.
Whereas W7, minimum HDD space only 10GB, compared to Vista?
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That's the difference, apart from possibly Win98x, you started with Vista and have no comparison to judge it against.
Well I had Windows ME for 6 years and Windows 95 before that............. 8) ;D
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Guys.....running Windows 7 ;D
Its very very quick :) On my machine it flies compared to Vista ....
Will keep you updated...
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Guys.....running Windows 7 ;D
Its very very quick :) On my machine it flies compared to Vista ....
Will keep you updated...
Does that mean you will get more homework done then............. ;D
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Does that mean you will get more homework done then............. ;D
Oh so so quick!
However after all the farce they had with IE and EU legislation I haven't seen any pop ups asking what browser to use :blush:
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You don't need a browser for learning those Latin verbs.... :graduate:
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From what I've been reading Microsoft are saying that you can only upgrade to V7 from Vista, running XP or W2K then it has to be a full complete re-install of everything.
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I think that's right, and it certainly wouldn't update from my RC version of W7 Ultimate.
Install went pretty smoothly though, I'll get back to adding everything I need else tomorrow.
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If you used Linux instead you'd have enough cash left over to buy your own gravy. :lol:
Took the words right out of my mouth :lol: Just think what you could do with £90 . ;)
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Mine arrived from Dixons last week, but being a tad busy I hadnt really had chance for a play until this weekend.
Not having time to do a full format - my current PC desktop is far too messy and needs a lot of sorting before doing a clean install... Ive temp installed it using Virtual PC until I find time to do things properly.
Like Chris, its one of those things that if you go round repairing other PCs then its a must to know your way around an o/s.
So far it looks quite good - well I seem to be getting on with it a lot better with it than I did with Vista and it does have some nice features.
I personally didnt like Vista and despite having 2 legit copies I rolled both machines back to XP
One important point to note for the techies who have routers. Telnet isnt installed by default on Windows 7.
This can soon be remedied by
Start >
Control Panel >
All Control Panel Items >
Turn Windows Features on or Off >
Tick Telnet Client
Ive added full step by step instructions at the end of this page Telnet into your router in Windows 7 (http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/telnet_router.htm)