Dave I've been running Windows 7 RC ( release candidate ) for almost 3 months know. Maybe I've just been lucky, But the pnly problems I've had with it was compatible programs such as AV etc. All these are being fixed with 7 due out the end of next month. I'm running a HP G60 laptop that came with Vista home premium on it. I paid about 16 USD to get a restore disk from HP. I have 3 gigs of ram and a AMD Turion X2 64 CPU. As far as price I can't help much as 7RC is the ultimate version, and I have not used the pro. Don't know how much this will help, Steve On Sat, Sep 26, 2009 at 11:38 AM, David TW Chun <dtwchun@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote: > Hi! > > I just wanted to get some opinions on Windows 7. Should I wait a few > months before updating? I'm planning to upgrade eventually since I > think that I hate VISTA. My problem with Vista is that several programs > that I want to use (currently low priority since I'm behind in things; > but will be a higher priority when I get caught up) such as Corel > Painter 4 as well as other programs won't install , or programs that > have installed won't install the upgrades, such as Corel Paint Shop Pro > Photo X2. Another annoyance is that there are folders that are grayed > out that Vista won't let me view (which also means that I can't > manipulate/edit). My current system is a HP desktop with a quad-core > processor, 3 GB memory, and lots of hard drive space, internal and > external. And I set myself up as the administrator, even though it > seems that Vista has doubts about that and often won't let me install, > upgrade and view things on occasion -- but usually it will ask and then > let me run/install programs such an SlyFox's 'AnyDVD' etc. > > > I just saw that Amazon is offering Windows 7 Ultimate for $219 which is > just $20 more than Windows 7 Pro which is the OS version that I was > thinking would be the minimum system that would make me happy (so I'm > sort of leaning towards Ultimate now). I'm hoping that Windows 7 will > be a smooth upgrade that will let me dump Vista without losing my 'data' > on the 'C','E','L', 'O' etc drives. I'm looking for an OS that will let > me do what I want with installing programs etc. The XP option is very > attractive since I'm hoping that programs that I'm having problems > installing, but works on my XP laptop, will either install smoothly in > Windows 7 or in Windows 7 running under the XP mode. I'm still using > lots of older programs such as Office 2003 (I still can't believe that > Office 2010 is about to be released -- where has the time gone?) and the > Netscape mail program. > > Also, the HP computer didn't come with CD's containing the OS. Rather, > I had to create 'restore disks'. I liked things better in the good old > days that when you bought a computer, the computer came with disks that > had the OS. This was good because then in case of a serious crash, such > as when your 'C' drive becomes defective and you need to replace the > drive. I've had desktops fail and when I tried to install the OS from > the restore disks, I found that the restore disks were somehow defective > and the only way I could use the computer was to install the OS from an > OS installation CD. So, I'm looking forward to having the OS on CD's > to start with, for the peace of mind. > > > Also, I'm hoping that Windows 7 really requires less resources so that > my 3 GB will seem like more memory (I would add more memory; but if I > understand the VISTA 32-bit version OS, the maximum is 3.6 GB anyway). > > > Anyway, I'm just putting this out since I suspect there is lots of > interest now that Windows 7 availability is become a 'reality' for many > of us who want to divorce ourselves from VISTA. > > > Thank you, > > David > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------- Please remember to trim your replies (including this sentence and everything below it) and adjust the subject line as necessary. To subscribe, unsubscribe or modify your email settings: //www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk OR To subscribe to the mailing list, send an email to pctechtalk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject. To unsubscribe send email to pctechtalk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject. To access our Archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/ //www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/ To contact only the PCTT Mod Squad, write to: pctechtalk-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To join our separate PCTableTalk off-topic group, send a blank email to: pctabletalk+subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---------------------------------------------------------------