I didn't compare the speeds sadly, and now i use the machine for other things, but it wouldn't surprise me if there are problems at first that then settle down.

XP had its problems too in it's heyday, and so did/does vista as we all know

18 Features: Windows 7 Live Photo Gallery : Downloading and Installing Windows Live Photo Gallery


Windows Live Photo Gallery for Windows 7 is one of several programs now available for free download from the Windows Live Website. It offers an extensive set of photo-editing actions that will satisfy nearly all ordinary photo users without having to buy a potentially expensive photo-editing application from a third party.



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Windows 7 Deal: Students Win, Others Lose


Microsoft announced yesterday that it is offering Windows 7 to college students for $30, one-quarter the price that everyone else will pay.

This got me thinking about a couple things:

First: Those damn college kids. It's all keg parties, classes that don't start until 11 am, copious vacation time, hope in the future, and more keg parties. Now they get Windows 7 for the cost of a large pizza and a case of Bud Light. Youth is wasted on the young.

Second, the discount for scholars magnifies how overpriced Windows 7 is for the rest of us. In its necessary effort to appeal to the young and try to curb the momentum of Apple's strong-selling $29 Snow Leopard, Microsoft also shined a glaring light on Windows 7's hefty price tag of $120 for the Home Premium version.

Windows 7 Bible: Your Complete Guide to the Next Version of Windows



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97 percent of Intel testers recommend Windows 7


Intel recently posted the results of a study titled "The Value of PC Refresh with Microsoft Windows 7" in which it describes its experience while testing Windows 7 during the second quarter of 2009 for its own use within the company.

As one would expect, Vista's successor received much praise. 291 Intel users out of 300 said they found that Windows 7 showed improvement performance and stability over Windows XP.

Intel's IT environment includes more than 100,000 PCs running Windows XP; about 83 percent of these are notebook PCs. Back in June 2008, we learned that the chip giant decided against upgrading its computers to Windows Vista after a lengthy analysis by its internal technology staff which found no potential benefits of upgrading to the newer operating system. The company did the same for Windows 2000 back in 2002: it simply waited a bit longer and moved to Windows XP.


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Windows 7 – whats all the HYPE about?


Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took the stage in downtown New York at the lead event for a somewhat — for the software giant — soft-edged launch for Windows 7. Ballmer presided over a day of speechmaking and sales promotions in cities worldwide. But the events were on the whole smaller than the usual major Microsoft launches.

The scaled-back hoopla and the marketing mantra of “simplicity” fit Microsoft’s characterization of the new OS — above all, faster and more straightforward to use than its predecessor, Vista. That much-maligned OS was plagued by hardware compatibility problems, slow performance and annoying system alerts.

The older Windows XP, as of the Win 7 launch, was still being used by more than 70 percent of computer users. Microsoft, no doubt happy to turn the page on an embarrassing chapter in its history, says Win 7 is being adopted faster than Vista.


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Windows 7 Fastest Selling OS: Microsoft CFO says demand for the software will increase further as enterprises upgrade their PCs


Microsoft has sold 90 million copies of Windows 7 since the operating system hit the market last October, according to the company's chief financial officer. That, Microsoft said, makes the software the fastest selling OS in the history of the PC industry.

Microsoft formally rolled out Windows 7 on Oct. 22nd. The software includes built-in support for touch-screen applications, and carries a lighter footprint and less intrusive security measures than its unpopular predecessor, Windows Vista.



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Windows 7’s Worst Features: Windows 7 fixed many of Vista's ills, but it also introduced a few of its own.


There’s a lot to love about the Windows 7 operating system: it’s fast, it looks great, and it has some cool features--like Jump Lists for quickly opening recently used files, Homegroup for sharing files between computers, and Aero Snap to help you quickly organize your open desktop windows.

Windows 7 is addresses some of the problems that plagued its predecessor, Windows Vista, such as the Universal Access Control security system, the constant stream of notifications, and the lack of device drivers for printers and other peripherals.

Microsoft hasn’t solved all of those issues--in fact, getting Windows 7 drivers for some printers continues to be a struggle--but so far Windows 7 is a vast improvement over Vista, despite their underlying similarities.


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Windows 7 makes 64-bit headway


The choice between the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7 appears to be shifting toward the latter.

With the new operating system less than nine months old, 46 percent of all computers running Windows 7 are using the 64-bit edition, said Microsoft in a Thursday blog post. That compares with 11 percent for the 3.5-year-old Windows Vista.

The major benefit to running a 64-bit OS is that it can address more memory. A 32-bit version of Windows can see only up to 4GB of RAM, and effectively use only around 3GB, since that extra gigabyte is reserved. A 64-bit OS can theoretically address around 17 billion gigabytes of RAM. In the real world, though, the more expensive and advanced versions of 64-bit Windows 7 can handle up to 192GB, while the lower-end editions are more limited.

Microsoft is attributing the surge in 64-bit Windows to a variety of factors. Though the cost of memory does fluctuate, overall the price has dropped over the past few years, so it's less expensive for PC makers to bump up the RAM. And unlike several years ago, today's CPUs are all capable of running a 64-bit OS. As as a result, more OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) have jumped onto the 64-bit bandwagon, many of them moving their entire lineup of PCs into the 64-bit world, according to Microsoft.



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