Windows 7 Help me decide - New Vaio - Vista 64 bit or latest 64 bit build of W7?

[TanMan]

Hi all,
New to the board and essentially new to W7.
I just purchased a new Vaio (Asian model - Z36GD/J or /B)...same machine different one with a motif and one without.

Here are the specs:
Core Duo Processor P9600 (2.66 GHz) 5100 Chipset,
Processor System Bus 1066 MHz Memory Bus 1066 MHz Cache Memory 6 MB
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM*3
320 GB*4 (Serial ATA, 7200 rpm)

Graphics Accelerator NVIDIA® GeForce® 9300M GS, Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD (STAMINA MODE)
OR (switch on the fly!...great feature)
Dedicated Video Memory 256 MB (SPEED MODE)
Link Removed

Anyhow...it comes installed with Vista Business 64 BIT...runs fast! Option to downgrade to XP is available (CD's included), but not something I am interested it.

How about going to 7? I would like your thoughts. Yes...this is my primary machine! I know, I know...7 is still in development. But I back-up a couple times a week...and could even start to throw working files on a USB for a while.

I would like to hear from those of you who have used this new OS. Any significant issues to consider?

Actually...can I even get a product key that will work for the latest builds at this point? (yes, I will download a leaked copy...) I am big on paying for licenses, but this seems a bit different as it will all expire soon enough and is probably "leaked" on purpose.

Sorry for the lengthy post! I hope it generates discussion that is useful for many.
Cheers,
David

 

[davehc]

Hi David (from David)
I am not sure if my response is appropriate to your query, but I am snatching the chance to get , what you could call a "blog" of my mind.
If you tune up a Vista installation, taking out superfluous programs from the (MsConfig, for example) startup, and then use an expert, who has already done the homework for you, such as Black Viper (Link Removed) you can achieve the same startup speed. One of the "smoke" effects that MS has evoked, is not to load some of the services at all, until needed. I think they probably referred to Black Vipers suggestions! Another trick is that they are using the onboard memory, from boot, to load processes in parallel.
If you look through the configuration opportunities in Gpedit, you will find that all of the items, without exception, refer to Vista or even XP. Not a single one mentions 7.
Again, examine the files in the Windows folder, particularly System32. You will not find many changes, apart from the dates, from Vista.
As I stated in some posts months ago, at the first available tries of 7, I honestly believe that 7 is a tuned up Vista.
This is not a bad thing! Vista wrongly received bad publicity. It is a magnificent program. It failed very much by lacking compatibilty with a lot of hardware, and some software. The manufacturers, working with MS, have now had a chance to catch up. 7 has added a couple of new items and moved a few others around, which gives it a fresh appearance. All of these could have been incorporated into Vista, through another monster SP. The only way that Microsft were going to move on from the alleged Vista disaster, was to create something that had a good reception. The 7000 Public release was an outstanding publicity boost. If you go back to the earlier days of posts, you will see that 60% of the acclaim was for the boot up time. (250 posts on another site I visit, alone) What a stroke of genius from Microsoft!!
Memory useage, with, as I allege, the Vista tuneup and removal of superfluous items, is naturally more impressive in its use.
I do not point a suspicious finger at Microsoft. They are, at the end of the tech day, a business organisation. The Vista black shadow had to be removed. What they have done to achieve this, whether my view is right or wrong, is to be applauded.
I will certainly be moving on to 7, as it will save me the weary task of recustomising my Vista OS on every reinstallation.
For your query, at last, you will find the 7 will run, "out of the box" as efficiently, and more, than Vista, without the much needed tuning. I can see you have a 64 bit machine, so I would reccomend that would be your direction. Most 32 bit software will run on 7, but of course, without the 64bit advantage. I am not able to discuss the acquisition of pirated downloads, but there is an exception here. It would be to your advantage to try 7, before purchase, to ascertain that your machine is totally compatible, hardware wise - there have been some problems in this area. I would give earnest consideration to what you test with, however. Some of the pirated builds have had bugs. 7048 is, at the moment, the most stable and feature complete.

 

[TanMan]

Thanks David!
Lots of good stuff. Thanks for the tip on the particular build to consider.

Keep it coming! Anyone else?

 

[jefins]

Windows 7 build 6048 x64 will be more stable and faster than vista business x64.
I'd suggest to install windows7 on different partition, however OS reinstall will not affect your warranty(as far as i know it doesn't in Latvia).
Hmm, a have only 3 keys, butt all of them have worked on all builds starting from 7000.
That expiring date...you can find few cracks to deactivate it. Just ask google.

 

[TanMan]

Hi all -
Here is my update so far:
I have been using the installed Vista 64 bit for a week now. I am not terribly impressed. Some things are considerably quicker from launching Word or Excel to working with Photoshop. However, other annoyances linger...such as boot-up times ranging from 1+ minute to almost 3 minutes. Not sure why of the inconsistency...unless updates are occurring without the typical notification.
Slow start-up is just incredibly annoying to me. I tweaked the OS settings quite a bit, turning off services I don't need (looking for a second monitor, Snippet tool, etc.)...but still slow to boot-up sometimes. Macs are not for me, but I am envious of their start-up time. Shut-down time is actually great (again after tweaks)...the machine shuts down in 12-15 seconds every time.
Anyhow, I am now ready to give 7 a whirl. Need to decide which build of the 64 bit OS to try.
Also, I have read some reviews, and it looks like start-up time is still going to be 60 seconds at best. Sound right? Would love to cut that in half!
FYI...(sorry...a bit off topic)...I am also using the most recent Norton Internet Security application. It is fantastic! Quick install and uses hardly any system resources! Really...I know many have drifted away from Norton, but as many reviews of the 2009 product state, there have been tremendous improvements. I am on the 15 trial now, but will likely buy the 1 yr subscription. I did not even try the Mcafee version which came on the laptop. Considered Panda as well. Read that the latest Kaspersky is a dog.
So...recommendations on which 64 bit build to use are appreciated...plus info on shortening start-up time in that environment.
Cheers,
David

 

[jimbo45]

Note that if you use VISTA SP2 it also will expire in Mar 2010.

Installing the SAME software (with same installation options) on the same machine (and on the SAME drive) -- two clean installs the disk space used for W7 was around 30% less than with VISTA so whatever else you can do with VISTA there certainly is more "bloat" in it.

I certainly found VISTA SP2 better than standard VISTA (although still a lot of disks thrashing around during boot up and for a little while afterwards).

I'd suggest going with the later builds of W7 (they will last till March 2010) and if you install the W7 RC due sometime soon that will last till June 2010 so you've plenty of time to decide which is for you.

Since W7 is this far along the development cycle any effort by Microsoft will be along the W7 path with Vista presumably being left in purely "Maintenance mode".

So I'd suggest using W7 if your hardware will all work with it (doesn't cost anything to try it apart from some download time).

Beta 7000 keys still waork and can actually be got from the Microsoft download site.

Current builds most people are using are (both x-86 and x-64) 7032, 7048, 7057 and 7068 (brand spanking new).

7048 seems to be the favourite (we have to see what 7068 brings) with 7057 not far behind. Both seem to beat VISTA by a reasonable margin -- unless you've optiomised your VISTA insta;llation. W7 works fine "Straight out of the Box".

7068 is just too new to make any comment on it -- will be trying both versions today --in spite of the fact I said I was going to wait for the RC --juts got "sucked in " like everybody else.


BTW I suppose more people would suggest W7 than Vista (it's a W7 Forum

You could also ask the same question on a Vista forum and compare the responses.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[TanMan]

In the interest of continuity, I will keep my initial experiences under this post...

Just installed my first W7 OS (build 7068). I have not tried LAN access, so I can not confirm Jimbo's reported troubles.

Probably need to do some tweaking, but having the following issues:
1) Having trouble with activation. Concerned I don't have a good product key. Saw something about 3 days left to activate, although expiration date does show March 2010.

2) Some of the keyboard functionality is lost, including:
- FN-F3 for voume down
- FN+F4 for volume up
- Eject Button for Optical Drive
Other work fine, such as FN-F2 for mute, FN-UP-ARROW for page-up, FN-DOWN ARROW for page-down

Boot time is still unfriendly...about 60 seocnds to user/password screen. The 45 more seconds until cursor stops clocking at desktop. (have not install security software yet, but NIS 2009 runs like a dream on Vista 64 bit...and hoping to find the same in W7...it did little to nothing to impact boot-up time in that environment)

Of course, I will search for drivers and tweak services I do not need running. Will post again as I proceed.

Still your thoughts are welcome and appreciated!

 

[emuu]

Hi TanMan

I've just found this thread and I'm very interested in your progress - I have the same machine and will want to update to W7, but will probably wait for the RTM version. I notice you've got a number of keyboard losses but you didn't mention the "stamina-speed" switch and the S1 and S2 buttons. Are they working? I would be disappointed to lose the "stamina-speed" functionality... Have you found any drivers at the Sony site which activate the switch (and work with W7)?

Good luck with it.

 

[TanMan]

Hi Emuu,
Interesting to hear you have the same model...I have not seen anyone posting with it yet or any reviews. I can not even register it yet for the international warranry (called Sony Singapore and they promised to have the registration site updated by this weekend to include this model!).

Anyway...onto the W7 stuff.
Well, I wrongly posted the volume keys were not working. They work fine...just not indicator on the screen as you get in Vista. I think this is part of the drivers I am still missing. Sorry, not a lot or progress to report...but I am about to start playing with it now (Sunday evening plans - fix drivers on Vaio with W7! )

Here is Link Removed to the 64 bit drivers. Honestly, not sure which ones I "need" yet...unclear on what controls the microphone (which is also not working).

Keep in touch via this thread or a PM as you progress, and I will do the same.
Cheers,
David

... you didn't mention the \"stamina-speed\" switch and the S1 and S2 buttons. Are they working? I would be disappointed to lose the \"stamina-speed\" functionality...

Sorry forgot to mention...lost this functionality (S/S and S1/2) too! But again, hope the drivers will cure all!

 

[emuu]

Hi David

I see the W7 RC has been released by Microsoft and I'm wondering if I should take the plunge... I'd be really interested to know what your experience has been, especially in getting back some of those functions.

By the way, have you managed to get anything specific on the motherboard inside the Z36? CPU-Z tells me it is a Sony MB based on a GM45/GM47 chipset. That means we are completely reliant on Sony to update its drivers for W7? It would make me very happy to hear the current drivers all work with W7... And am I right in understanding the InsydehH2O BIOS software will play with W7 without any issues? Too many questions...

Mike

 

[whoosh]

Hi David (from David)
I am not sure if my response is appropriate to your query, but I am snatching the chance to get , what you could call a \"blog\" of my mind.
If you tune up a Vista installation, taking out superfluous programs from the (MsConfig, for example) startup, and then use an expert, who has already done the homework for you, such as Black Viper (www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm) you can achieve the same startup speed. One of the \"smoke\" effects that MS has evoked, is not to load some of the services at all, until needed. I think they probably referred to Black Vipers suggestions! Another trick is that they are using the onboard memory, from boot, to load processes in parallel.
If you look through the configuration opportunities in Gpedit, you will find that all of the items, without exception, refer to Vista or even XP. Not a single one mentions 7.
Again, examine the files in the Windows folder, particularly System32. You will not find many changes, apart from the dates, from Vista.
As I stated in some posts months ago, at the first available tries of 7, I honestly believe that 7 is a tuned up Vista.
This is not a bad thing! Vista wrongly received bad publicity. It is a magnificent program. It failed very much by lacking compatibilty with a lot of hardware, and some software. The manufacturers, working with MS, have now had a chance to catch up. 7 has added a couple of new items and moved a few others around, which gives it a fresh appearance. All of these could have been incorporated into Vista, through another monster SP. The only way that Microsft were going to move on from the alleged Vista disaster, was to create something that had a good reception. The 7000 Public release was an outstanding publicity boost. If you go back to the earlier days of posts, you will see that 60% of the acclaim was for the boot up time. (250 posts on another site I visit, alone) What a stroke of genius from Microsoft!!
Memory useage, with, as I allege, the Vista tuneup and removal of superfluous items, is naturally more impressive in its use.
I do not point a suspicious finger at Microsoft. They are, at the end of the tech day, a business organisation. The Vista black shadow had to be removed. What they have done to achieve this, whether my view is right or wrong, is to be applauded.
I will certainly be moving on to 7, as it will save me the weary task of recustomising my Vista OS on every reinstallation.
For your query, at last, you will find the 7 will run, \"out of the box\" as efficiently, and more, than Vista, without the much needed tuning. I can see you have a 64 bit machine, so I would reccomend that would be your direction. Most 32 bit software will run on 7, but of course, without the 64bit advantage. I am not able to discuss the acquisition of pirated downloads, but there is an exception here. It would be to your advantage to try 7, before purchase, to ascertain that your machine is totally compatible, hardware wise - there have been some problems in this area. I would give earnest consideration to what you test with, however. Some of the pirated builds have had bugs. 7048 is, at the moment, the most stable and feature complete.

Yes the Ultimate truth ! This guy knows his stuff
Noting he says his spurious = listen and learn