Worth going to (windows) 7 from vista?

[daves87rs]

I'm wondering if this would be worth th upgrade. Currently wondering if both of my computers running Vista (w/updates) would benfit from windows 7.

My thought would be that my labtop might (almost 3 years old with a pentium dual core/2 gigs of RAM /120GB hard drive), but I'm not sure about the wife's gaming desktop(quad core/4GB of ram)

Both are a few years old, and in good shape.



Also, would there be issues with files (pics/music) if I upgade?

 

[Quattro Pete]

I saw very little difference when I upgraded from Vista to 7. I only did it because there was a promotion where you could get the 7 upgrade for cheap. Otherwise, I'd say it's not worth it.

But if you do upgrade, there should absolutely be no issues with your existing user data/files.

 

[SrDriver]

I too upgraded my desktop only because of the promotion where I got a good deal when Windows 7 was first released.

Both of our Laptops have Vista on them and see no reason to upgrade.

Save your money.

 

[UNC151]

I would say it depends on what you do on the computer and the computers role and age. I have been in IT for a long time and I can say without any doubts that Windows 7 is more stable and is faster than Vista. In many ways, Vista is to Windows 7 what Windows Me was to Windows 2000--a production R&D platform that was "sold" as an OS.

Vista was intended to be Windows 7 but spent so long in development that MS had to get something out the door and thus we were introduced to Vista in all its glory.

If you are experiencing problems with Vista I would say that you could benefit from the upgrade (but I would wipe the disks and perform a clean installation), but if things are relatively stable then there may not be any advantages to upgrading as MS will support Vista for some years to come.

There are no differences in file systems and data files (documents, spreadsheets, pictures, music, etc.)

Hope this helps!

 

[casperfun]

The vista drivers didn't allow me to use any printers. After the upgrade, printers were working.

Vista 7 is faster and less bloat.

thumbs up!

 

[UNC151]

Originally Posted By: casperfun
Vista 7 is faster and less bloat.

Windows 7 is faster or Vista is faster? Could not tell from your post...

 

[wallyuwl]

Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
Originally Posted By: casperfun
Vista 7 is faster and less bloat.

Windows 7 is faster or Vista is faster? Could not tell from your post...


I didn't make that statement, but Win 7 is faster than Vista. There is a noticable difference in speed with my two-plus year old Toshiba Centrino (core duo 2.0 MHz) with 7 Ultimate vs. Vista. Actually not a lot of difference between the old laptop and my 4 month old Toshiba i5 laptop with both running Win 7.

To the OP, if you are happy with Vista then keep it. Win 7 is best with a clean install, not an upgrade. If Vista isn't giving you any problems, it isn't worth the $200 IMO to upgrade to a full version of Win 7.

If you or someone in hour household is a teacher, you can often get Microsoft products for really, really cheap. Or if you or one of your children is a college student, same type of thing. The exact products and prices vary from school district to school district (or sometimes whole states have a contract with Microsoft for their teachers), and university to university (or university system). If you can get it cheap through one of these programs, then I'd upgrade, but be sure to get the full version of Win 7 and do a clean install (you'll probably have to download and manually upgrade all your drivers after the install - display, LAN, sound, etc.).

 

[beanoil]

Yes, yes, yes. Vista is painfully slow and fat compared to 7. Upgrade to 7 if you have to stay with Windows. The company I work for has over 6000 laptops nationwide. We waited to upgrade from XP for 7 because Vista just crawled. There is a reason Vista is an acronym for Virtually Incapable STinky Attempt.

 

[crinkles]

I'd say no. I had heaps of trouble with my print spooler and network driver when i upgraded. If you are confident your driver's won't be affected and the suppliers cater to your needs, then ig uess not a problem. vista is fine.

just keep your mind open to having to do a clean vista install at some stage due to W7 [censored] out.

 

[Jakegday]

for me, upgrading to windows 7 from vista (both 64 bit) seemed like i had just bought a new computer... much MUCH faster!

and x2 on wiping the hard drive and doing a completely clean install

 

[Quest]

Yes and no.

Yes-- if you want streamlined workings (Vista very "heavy" by comparison) of Win7 if you have hw-related problems

No -- if you already have Vista working somewhat satisfactorily on your new PC.

Q.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Jakegday


and x2 on wiping the hard drive and doing a completely clean install

Even if you reinstall the same operating system from scratch, you will notice it's faster... for a while.

 

[Pablo]

Does it cost money?

If so, HECK NO. You can debloat Vista and make it plenty quick.

If you are having network printing issues with Vista, yeah upgrade. I run a (now) 9 PC network, 4 hard wired, 5 wireless. 4 PC's have Vista and work fine, but a couple of them don't want to find all the printers. I've read this is a Vista issue. Four have Win 7 and they seem pretty zippy, but since they are newer they have more RAM. The dog of the group is the XP PC, but I broke down and bought 2 more GB of RAM for that beast.

I say 2 GIG is now absolute Minimum for Win 7 or Vista. You might just be quite AMAZED what happens when you go with 4GB. That's a better investment, IMHO. Ooops just noticed the wife has 4GB.

 

[Quest]

sounds like you are dealing with 32bit Win7, Pabs?

Q.

 

[Pablo]

64 Bit. Even on the Netbook.

Name is Pablo.

 

[Scienceman]

I would have to say yes it is worth it.
Windows 7 is faster, easier to use, and has better "tools"

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Jakegday


and x2 on wiping the hard drive and doing a completely clean install

Even if you reinstall the same operating system from scratch, you will notice it's faster... for a while.


How long is a while? Win7 is the first version of Windows that has worked more than a year on my main admin machine w/o the need to be reloaded due to WinRot. Installed in August 2009, still running fast, hasn't slowed down like all previous Windows machines have done.


It's worth going to Win7 especially on a laptop. As always, make a backup of your data in case something happens during the upgrade.

Vista SP2 and Win7 both have updated code to make battery life on laptops last longer, up to 10% they claim. I saw about 20% better when i still used Vista SP2.

 

[UNC151]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
You can debloat Vista and make it plenty quick.

Compared to what? Both XP and Windows 7 are faster than Vista any day of the week--debloated or not. I have never heard of anyone upgrading from XP to Vista on the same hardware and seeing a speed increase of any kind, but I have seen this with Windows 7. There is also no way to fix Vista's inherent network performance even with the latest service packs). W7's improved networking capabilities blow Vista away.

Here from MaximumPC - “One of the main problems with Windows Vista prior to Service Pack 1 was poor network performance. Well, we’re happy to say that the days of waiting for files to copy across a network are done. Check the benchmarks and see for yourself—Windows 7 is stupid-fast at transferring files across a network.’’ XP versus Vista versus Windows 7

It depends on your particular environment too—a standalone PC or very small peer-to-peer network will likely not see an improvement with Windows 7—IF Vista is stable. However, this is not the case in large enterprises that transfer large amounts of data or perform many processes across WAN connections. We have more than 10,000 PCs in our enterprise and we bypassed Vista and went straight to Windows 7 due to performance issues with Vista and saved a few million dollars in the process.

So it all depends on your particular application…but by and large, Windows 7 is superior to Vista in every way.

 

[Pablo]

I stand by my statement. Delete stuff, turn off the extras and Vista simply is not that bad.

From your very link:
Quote:
It’s also worth noting that in several of our tests Vista was actually a big winner, thanks to performance enhancements that hit in Vista Service Pack 2.


Compared to XP, Vista is much better. XP is just quirky. Crashes, locks up. Doesn't play well. Vista is stable and just plain less vulnerable to abuse. I agree, Vista networking does suck, but so does XP. As I clearly stated, there are Vista computers in my network that just can't even see some printers, no matter what. Stupid. I agree that Win 7 is quicker and much more networkable (good move on waiting!!), but how does this apply to the OP?

 

[UNC151]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
but how does this apply to the OP?

He was asking if it is worth it to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7; I say it depends, but in my opinion the answer is yes, it is. I have heard PLENTY of complaints of people who upgrade from XP to Vista, I have heard ZERO complaints of upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 (or from XP to Windows 7).
I ran Vista for a full year and jumped on Windows 7 as soon as it released. My gaming machine saw a huge performance increase and not a single BSOD--could not say that with Vista. IMHO--Vista will go the way of Windows Me very shortly...

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Compared to XP, Vista is much better. XP is just quirky. Crashes, locks up. Doesn't play well.

The very same could be said for Vista right out of the box--hardware incompatibilities, no printing, sluglike networking performance (even with remote differential compression). XP is almost 10 years old and Microsoft was forced to extend the support life not once, but twice due to backlash from the user base. This will NEVER happen with Vista...