Intrepid Ibex vs. Windows 7 beta

[studentidiot]

So....I installed Windows 7 beta yesterday to try it out.

I installed it on my Vaio FZ340E/b. So far I have no complaints, whatsoever. Everything worked out of the box. The wifi, card reader, graphics card, suspend/hibernate, bluetooth, and screen brightness all worked out of the box.

Installation was BLAZING. It's at least as fast as Ubuntu, probably a couple minutes or so faster. While I was installing it, Windows saw all the networks around me using my Intel 3945AGN and asked me which one I wanted to use. This was the same as Ubuntu, but I suspect Windows 7 will work with much more cards out of the box.

Like Ubuntu my memory card reader worked out of the box. But, unlike Ibex, my memory stick duo reader worked! Hurrah!

I have a Nvidia 8400 GS that I figured was going to be a nightmare to install, but Windows automatically installed the drivers and even updated them through Windows update. And the drivers are sooooooo, much better than the windows one. The drivers on Windows actually let the card help process video besides mpeg2, unlike the linux ones. Videos open so much faster and play much much smoother. Aero and the gui look much better than the horrid look of Ibex.

There was no difference in suspending and hibernating between the too. Both worked flawlessly. In Hardy suspend/hibernate didnt work, but at least that was fixed in Ibex.

My bluetooth (broadcomm something) works great out of the box in '7'. I can send and receive files from my phone or macbook and connect my bluetooth mouse. It does not work on Ibex.

And, finally screen brightness. Screen brightness was a major problem for me in Hardy and Ibex. I couldnt change it at all. But in Windows 7, it works out of the box. Battery life can be greatly improved on my laptop.

Other areas of improvement: power management, video codecs, search, boot up time, and no pulse audio problems.

I'm think about buying this when it comes out.

[aaargh486]

I'm having a hard time believing Windows installed your Nvidia card drivers. Especially on a laptop.
Screen brightness works? You're kidding me. You're lying.

What are you trying to prove here? This is an Ubuntu forum, if I gave a damn about Windows 7, I would go to a Windows forum.

I do agree bluetooth is a horrible mess though. But in the end, everything works here.

[studentidiot]

I'm having a hard time believing Windows installed your Nvidia card drivers. Especially on a laptop.
Screen brightness works? You're kidding me. You're lying.

What are you trying to prove here? This is an Ubuntu forum, if I gave a damn about Windows 7, I would go to a Windows forum.

I do agree bluetooth is a horrible mess though. But in the end, everything works here.

ok......

[efexD]

ok......

Basically if you post here its an automatic: "WINDOWS SUCKS UBUNTU IS THE BEST IF YOU DON'T AGREE LEAVE"

[wolfen69]

i don't see linux users going to windows boards. even if they did, they would get mauled even worse.

the few windows lovers that hang out here waiting to thank someone for a windows post will love to hear the news about win7, but most others won't care. plus, if someone wants to learn about the new windows, they can always google a million reviews.

ubuntu runs perfect for me, so i really don't give a rat's behind. i choose not to feed the corporate killing machine.

[damis648]

I'm having a hard time believing Windows installed your Nvidia card drivers. Especially on a laptop.

Well it did, and for me too. Windows update installed ALL the drivers automatically, it was quite amazing.:popcorn:

[wolfen69]

Basically if you post here its an automatic: "WINDOWS SUCKS UBUNTU IS THE BEST IF YOU DON'T AGREE LEAVE"

go to a windows board and say how ubuntu loaded all your hardware and windows didn't, and how pleased you were with ubuntu. see what happens. :shock:

[wolfen69]

Well it did, and for me too. Windows update installed ALL the drivers automatically, it was quite amazing.:popcorn:

you sold me! i'm quitting linux right now. i've seen the error of my ways. get ready Bill, i'm coming at ya with open arms and open wallet. you're my hero!

[damis648]

you sold me! i'm quitting linux right now. i've seen the error of my ways. get ready Bill, i'm coming at ya with open arms and open wallet. you're my hero!

Well fine I'm exxagerating a little, but seriously it installed drivers automaticcally which i find is a major feat for windows.

[wolfen69]

Well fine I'm exxagerating a little, but seriously it installed drivers automaticcally which i find is a major feat for windows.

they must have learned a thing or 2 from linux. ;)

[damis648]

they must have learned a thing or 2 from linux. ;)

Yeah, I suppose. What really bugs me now though is because I have been spoiled by Ubuntu is that I feel lost and alone without a package manager and repositories. :popcorn:

(Also, I'm using IE at the moment and I really miss spell check :-\)

[wolfen69]

Yeah, I suppose. What really bugs me now though is because I have been spoiled by Ubuntu is that I feel lost and alone without a package manager and repositories. :popcorn:

(Also, I'm using IE at the moment and I really miss spell check :-\)

quick, go back before the subliminal brainwashing techniques have a semi-permanent effect on you. or just wear a tin foil hat with ubuntu colored glasses. :confused:

[damis648]

quick, go back before the subliminal brainwashing techniques have a semi-permanent effect on you. or just wear a tin foil hat with ubuntu colored glasses. :confused:

*Takes out tin foil hat and Ubuntu glasses convieniently located under desk*

MUAHAHA, you can't get me now Bill! :popcorn:

[solwic]

Well fine I'm exxagerating a little, but seriously it installed drivers automaticcally which i find is a major feat for windows.

Windows XP has picked up the drivers for my ATI card for about a year now. I don't use them (figured MS was modifying them or something...why would they help me out?), but they're there.

Something Ubuntu has never been able to do. At least not with a fully functioning driver.

Ah well. I tried to get the Windows 7 beta, but the download link was dead. :(

[efexD]

go to a windows board and say how ubuntu loaded all your hardware and windows didn't, and how pleased you were with ubuntu. see what happens. :shock:

Don't need to. i don't have problems with windows. on the otherhand...
(I dualboot by the way, so don't make it come off that i'm here to hate on ubuntu/linux)

I seriously don't see how vista wouldn't install drivers. out of all the hardware i've had i haven't had 1 problem.

[efexD]

-double post-

[ade234uk]

So....I installed Windows 7 beta yesterday to try it out.

I installed it on my Vaio FZ340E/b. So far I have no complaints, whatsoever. Everything worked out of the box. The wifi, card reader, graphics card, suspend/hibernate, bluetooth, and screen brightness all worked out of the box.

Installation was BLAZING. It's at least as fast as Ubuntu, probably a couple minutes or so faster. While I was installing it, Windows saw all the networks around me using my Intel 3945AGN and asked me which one I wanted to use. This was the same as Ubuntu, but I suspect Windows 7 will work with much more cards out of the box.

Like Ubuntu my memory card reader worked out of the box. But, unlike Ibex, my memory stick duo reader worked! Hurrah!

I have a Nvidia 8400 GS that I figured was going to be a nightmare to install, but Windows automatically installed the drivers and even updated them through Windows update. And the drivers are sooooooo, much better than the windows one. The drivers on Windows actually let the card help process video besides mpeg2, unlike the linux ones. Videos open so much faster and play much much smoother. Aero and the gui look much better than the horrid look of Ibex.

There was no difference in suspending and hibernating between the too. Both worked flawlessly. In Hardy suspend/hibernate didnt work, but at least that was fixed in Ibex.

My bluetooth (broadcomm something) works great out of the box in '7'. I can send and receive files from my phone or macbook and connect my bluetooth mouse. It does not work on Ibex.

And, finally screen brightness. Screen brightness was a major problem for me in Hardy and Ibex. I couldnt change it at all. But in Windows 7, it works out of the box. Battery life can be greatly improved on my laptop.

Other areas of improvement: power management, video codecs, search, boot up time, and no pulse audio problems.

I'm think about buying this when it comes out.

Go back to Windows then if you have nothing positive to say. The reason **** works out the box on Windows 7, is because Windows has support from major manufacturers Linux does not. Linux has had to work bloody hard, and it's people like you the ruin it's reputation.

[Tamlynmac]

(http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=718482)studentidiot (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=718482)
I have a Nvidia 8400 GS that I figured was going to be a nightmare to install, but Windows automatically installed the drivers and even updated them through Windows update.

Money talks. When you have the number one profit motivated product, it's amazing how quickly others jump on the bandwagon. Ubuntu doesn't need no stinking drivers - at least not until they have a larger market share. Think about it next time you purchase any hardware. No linux support = no sale.

wolfen69
you sold me! i'm quitting linux right now. i've seen the error of my ways. get ready Bill, i'm coming at ya with open arms and open wallet. you're my hero!

Key words - "OPEN WALLET" only missing phrase - "REMOVE AND SURRENDER CREDIT CARD".
I also agree that posting a positive review of Ubuntu on a Windows board would undoubtedly result in a plethora of unpleasant responses.
I did enjoy your sarcasm. +1

[Geekkit]

So....I installed Windows 7 beta yesterday to try it out.


I'm just curious, not being facetious, how many GB of RAM does Windows 7 use without any applications loaded?

Currently I see Vista taking up 1.2 GB (on a home laptop) and Ubuntu 8.10 taking about 430 MB (on another home laptop).

[jbysmith]

I experimented with it a while. Mixed impressions. (Taking it with a grain of salt of course, it is a beta.)

Start time was noticably improved on my hadware. Vista takes a while; Win7 felt more or less on par with XP.

Memory usage wasn't bad; idling at ~450MB after installation, completely untweaked. Didn't disable anything, that's out of the box.

Benchmarks were a little disappointing though. (Yea yea take those with a grain of salt too.) Overall it "felt" faster than Vista, about on par with XP really. But Geekbench kind of surprised me; the results were a tick lower than Vista, which is lower than XP, and significantly lower than my Linux distros. Very unscientific testing, just a fresh install with zero tweakery on my spare drive. (Same for XP and Vista, just drivers and Geekbench.) But it definitely "feels" faster than Vista, no arguments there.

I was disappointed to see they completely dropped nForce2 support.. yes it's an older board. (Vista supports it, go figure.) On that system it actually did run rather well.. just no drivers for networking, audio and the like. My other more current system it picked everything up just fine, as expected from Winders.

I like the new "sidebar" in the file manager; the one in Vista is just plain clunky. Win7's actually works, and makes sense.

The new taskbar... not sure how I feel about that one yet. Not bashing different, just need to get used to it. Functionality though is rather nice.

Just little things here and there are nice; dragging a window to the side of the screen for example makes it fill up half the display automatically.. nice touch. The "desktop peek" thing.. not so much. Rather pointless to see just the outlines of windows. Bite the bullet and clone Expose.. everybody else has, and for a good reason. Touch screen support? I guess that's subjective. I go absolutely crazy if somebody gets a fingerprint on my monitor. You can call me a Linux Commie, but don't you dare smudge up my display...

That aside it's still Winders. Sill has quasi-spyware under the hood phoning home, probably even more-so. Still has the damn registry. Probably still going to cost an arm and a leg, once you decide between a gajillion "editions". Extra smackdown to the Vista users for having to buy it twice; Microsoft needs to start giving out Frequent Sucker Miles.

My bashing aside, it is noticably better than Vista; once the thing goes gold I'm actually tempted to finally ditch XP for it. Still won't be my main OS, you'll have to pry the penguin from my cold dead hands, but for the casual desktop user, it's really shaping up nice.

[Geekkit]

Memory usage wasn't bad; idling at ~450MB after installation, completely untweaked. Didn't disable anything, that's out of the box.

This was what annoyed me the most about Vista. Having said that, I've been using Linux/Ubuntu now for almost two years exclusively (home and work) and unless something goes horribly wrong in Ubuntuland, I'm not switching back.

Thanks for the info.

[efexD]

I'm just curious, not being facetious, how many GB of RAM does Windows 7 use without any applications loaded?

Currently I see Vista taking up 1.2 GB (on a home laptop) and Ubuntu 8.10 taking about 430 MB (on another home laptop).

Vista taking up 1.2GB of memory? What the hell are you running? I call ********. My friend runs vista on 1gb just fine.

[Geekkit]

Vista taking up 1.2GB of memory? What the hell are you running? I call ********. My friend runs vista on 1gb just fine.

Vista, McAffee, all the drivers for printer, wireless, bluetooth, nothing else.

You call what? I don't know what ******** means.

Edit: Oh, you mean BS? So you're an expert on Vista because your friend runs Vista? That's a bit obtuse don't you think?

[cariboo907]

I too installed Windows 7 64bit this afternoon, and my experience was totally different from the OP's. I have a BFG 8400GS, the default drivers do work, but none of the effects worked until I installed the Vista 64 bit drivers. The only programs I could install with out Windows telling me that they weren't compatible were Firefox and AVG. The manufacturers drivers for my web cam wouldn't install, as they were incompatible. I had to install a beta version of Skype, that is incompatible, but will run for about 5 minutes before it crashes. I had to install the Vista 64bit drivers for my sound card before it would play all the sounds you would normally hear, the default driversjust barely worked.

I found that it really doesn't boot that much faster than VIsta, or Ubuntu Jaunty, and regular operation is about the same for all three OS's. The one thing I did find, that I was mentally tired after using it for about three hours.

Thankfully with help from the forums, I had grub restored and Jaunty up and running in about 5 minutes.

Jim

[Tamlynmac]

IMHO - this thread would be more appropriately placed in the "Other OS Talk" section under "Windows Discussions"? As it's not focusing on "Ubuntu" Testimonials & Experiences.

Just an observation - and I could be wrong.