Windows 7 - commentary and experiences

Gonna start up a thread here detailing my experiences getting Windows 7, and more specifically, CoH, up and running.

Before we begin, here's the system I'm running:

* Asus P5Q Pro motherboard
* Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 (2.53GHz, OC to 3.16GHz)
* 4GB PC2-6400 RAM
* 2x 500GB SATA-II hard drives
* Gigabyte Radeon HD4850, 512MB GDDR3, Catalyst 9.7 drivers
* Windows 7 Professional x64

This system was originally running XP Pro x86 so I wasn't looking forward to having to reinstall all my programs and copy all my documents back (heck, I'm still not back to where I was at this time yesterday). However, first thing I did before the install was check Asus' website to see if they'd released 64-bit Win7 drivers for the chipset and various motherboard components. They had, so I got right on the install. Copied all my documents (only about 40 gigs worth, turns out the bulk of my old XP install was program files) to my second internal hard drive, then rebooted to install Win7.

The installation process was a bit slow (contrary to what I've been told) but the system runs very well for a new install. No hiccups during the install, and I began by installing all the necessary drivers. Didn't have to reboot once, which was a pleasant surprise. First snag I hit after the install though was a fairly simple one - I use a wireless connection because I'm not close enough to run wiring to the router, and Win7 didn't find drivers for my Edimax wireless card. I ended up downloading the drivers on my MacBook and then transferring them to the desktop via my external hard drive (I've lacked a USB flash drive for a while, and hadn't missed it until this point). Began re-downloading and re-installing applications as fast as my internet connection would allow and had most of my basic stuff up and running within two hours. No compatibility issues with programs I've used, though I cannot stand Skype 4 and Skype 3 doesn't run well under 64-bit Win7.

Of course, my biggest concern was CoH - how would it run? Since I didn't want to wait to download both the live and test versions, I did it a little differently - I copied the CoH and CoHtest directories to my second hard drive, and then exported their respective registry keys to those folders. When it was time to get CoH up and running, I copied the two folders to the Program Files folder and then re-imported the registry keys. Left Aero on while the game was running, and noticed that while the framerate wasn't as high as it was under XP (usually 50-60 FPS while standing at Talos WW's), it was still well above what I'd consider playable (40-45 FPS in the same location). No complaints here.

In regards to the user interface: I don't like the Start menu. Specifically, I hate how the "All Programs" menu doesn't pop out like it did under XP, because scrolling through dozens of programs in a tiny little area isn't conducive to good user experience - at least it arranges the programs alphabetically automatically, unlike XP which required you to do it manually. I prefer the Win7 Explorer window over that of XP but it still seems a bit clunky compared to the OS X Finder. Aero Peek is really nice (though Win+Space seems more like a superfluous addition than anything functional, since you can't do anything while the windows are hidden). Notably, I completely disabled UAC since I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing on my own computer, and I also disabled the "resize windows when I drag them to the edge of the screen" feature since I often intentionally drag windows around and don't want to resize them in such a manner. I then discovered that Win+D will show the desktop, and pressing Win+D again will restore all windows (much like F11 does for Expose in OS X). New taskbar is very nice and the ability to rearrange items there on-the-fly is something I was quite happy about, since I had to rely on a third-party utility to do the same in XP.

I'll throw more experiences out there as I can. Overall I like Win7, mostly for the fact that it'll run on older hardware (I've never been one to believe that advancements in hardware should be used as an excuse for sloppy and lazy coding). It's no OS X, but it's leaps and bounds over XP and Vista.

FYI, a large number of players have already done this in the following thread. Windows 7 and City of Heroes

I noticed that, but that was last updated in May and Win7 didn't even go to RTM until a few weeks ago.

Let me tell you a few swish things about Win 7 you may not know.

You see the box to the right of the clock on the task bar? Hover your mouse over it. That will peek at the desktop like Win+space. Click it and everything truly minimises. This is designed to let you peek at desktop gadgets, instead of putting them on a sidebar. I have gadgets that show me CPU usage on all of my cores, RAM usage, and the weather forecast.

There is no longer a quicklaunch area of the taskbar. Instead, you pin programs to the taskbar directly. Just right-click it and click "Pin this program to the taskbar". As I understand it, this is similar to how the OS X Dock works, but in my opinion it's much clearer. On OS X, open windows are not tied to the actual process; even if you shut down all windows of a program, it will still be running. I do not like this behaviour. The only clue as to if a program is actually running is a small LED-like dot near the bottom of the icon. As a man who obviously cares about framerates, I don't think you would appreciate programs running in secret.

Win 7 is much clearer. When a pinned program is closed, the program becomes an icon without an outline; click it to run the program in place, where it gains definition and glows when you hover your mouse over it. This is a much more distinctive way of showing you what's a program and what's an icon.

I must caution you against disabling UAC, especially on Windows 7. Whatever you think you know about UAC is irrelevant; it is a very robust security measure, which is quite unobtrusive on Win 7. If you go to change settings in the control panel, UAC will no longer prompt you; it will only prompt when a program tries to get administrator access, when you try to modify files in a protected folder (C:\Windows, for example), or when you try to adjust UAC itself. Many actions that previously required a prompt now simply have a UAC shield on the OK button to let you know what you're doing. Sure, you could argue that you're smart enough not to need UAC, but personally I think I'd let my operating system tell me when something tries to do an admin action.

People do seem to be polarised by the All Programs screen being self-contained, but on Windows XP I inevitably had a massive pullout that obscured the entire screen, or if I enabled scrolling it would take a good ten seconds to get to the bottom. Now, I can just search for what I want, quickly and easily.

Win 7 is also much more sensible with drivers, almost... straightforward, actually. You can install the latest graphics driver by Windows Update, and I do mean the latest, without a restart. Microsoft are leaning hard on ATi and nVidia in particular to comply with this. Practically every Vista-compatible printer out there doesn't even need a driver install, with all scanning and printing duties accessible within the control panel, along with whatever manufacturer-specific options are available. I myself have a HP scanner/printer combination. I plugged it in and wham, done. It worked. I could scan, print, copy. No driver CD, no dialog box. It was incredibly refreshing. I recall using an Epson printer on Win XP, the stupid driver installer wouldn't even recognise that the printer was plugged in.

Win 7 is also much friendlier to running games in windowed mode. You used to have to be a certified schizophrenic to even THINK about trying that, but things are much easier now, without that much of a dent in performance. It makes alt/tabbing a joy.

I'm sure there's more, but my time is running out. I hope you enjoy Windows 7.

Up until last night, I had been a big fan of Win & RC. However, last night as I was dualboxing the Positron TF, my computer locked up. Locked up in a way I've never seen before. Game image was frozen on the screen and nothing moved, and I also couldn't get to desktop or move the cursor. Rebooted no beeps at all and nothing posts to the screen.....sigh*

Walked away for a bit, came back and tried to boot again. Now I've got a succession of long beeps and my code on the mobo is telling me I have a ram issue.


Hmm, ya'll didn't need to know all that I guess, I'm still frustrated though.

Anyways, got it started again by locating the bad stick but now I have the "NTLDR not found" problem. Spent a fair amount of time researching and trying different fixes and got nothing. Bit the bullet reformatted to reinstall RC and it simply won't install, keeps telling me It can't find the system disk to install to.

OK, I know I'm doing something wrong with the installation, but as I need the computer, I went and reinstalled XP to get it up and running.

Biggest annoyance right now (other than the All Programs menu, which once I learn to use the search bar will be mostly a non-issue) is the apparently lack of ability to get all my windows off my desktop fast, open something from the desktop, and then restore all the windows as I had them before. I tried Win+space originally and was quite disappointed to see that while I had a clear view of the desktop, I couldn't do anything with the desktop. I'd simply wanted to scoot all my windows off the screen, open a folder or document from the desktop, and when I was done, have all my windows restored to how I left them, with the new one in front (as I said earlier, like the F11 key does in OS X's Expose).

Someone pointed out that Win+D will show the desktop, and pressing Win+D again will restore the windows, but only if you don't open another window between the two commands. That's kind of self-defeating, since the only reason I ever want to see the desktop is when I'm trying to find a file or folder to open, and then have all my windows back to how I'd left them. Under XP, I used a program called TopDesk, which mimics Expose's feature set. It apparently plays well with Aero and is compatible with 64-bit Vista, so I'd assume it works with 64-bit Win7 as well, but I haven't had a chance to dig up a 64-bit version (although I'd also assume my 32-bit installer would work just fine).

I can only suggest that you put your shortcuts onto the taskbar or start menu.

You'll soon get the hang of the search. Just press the Win key and start typing. This will also search your desktop.

Soon? This old dog is still trying to learn that new trick. Every few days I find myself searching through the file system for 10 minutes plus. Then, with a loud "DUH!", I go down to the Search and find it in two seconds. And I got Vista just a month after it hit the streets!

I think I need to set up a wave file that plays when File Explorer starts. It will just be a voice saying "You sure search won't be faster?"

Took me a good 10m to find the Run Command. Turned out to be the lil search bar at the bottom of the Start Menu.

Side note, win-D has existed since at least XP.

(I'm just going to mention I've been running Win7 Beta and RC... and it's the first time since OS/2 3.0 that I've planned on picking up a new OS ASAP.)

See my Guides and Tutorials

Been running Win7 64-bit RTM since it was released on MSDN. No problems what so ever. System is Phenom X4 9950, 4gb ram, GTX 260 card. I didnt even have to install sata drivers this time around. If your system worked with vista then it should install just fine so long as you dont do a dirty upgrade.

Followup:

TopDesk runs on my 64-bit version of Win7 and is fully compatible with Aero. Works like a charm. Still trying to get used to using the search box to look for programs (though it's second nature for me to use Spotlight as an app launcher under OS X, go figure). Had to Google how to enable hibernation - apparently you have to disable "hybrid sleep" which is neither intuitive nor user-friendly. Under XP it was as simple as checking the "enable hibernation" box in the power control panel. Now you've got to dig through several layers just to turn on hibernate - and there's no mention of hibernation whatsoever in that dialog? WTF?

Running Win 7 Ultimate x64 since RTM on TechNet. I love it and haven't ahd any issues with it and CoH.

Asus P5E WS Pro
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.86 GHz
8 GB DDR2 800 MHZ Ram (4 Corsair Dominators)
500 GB 7200 RPM SATA II
nVidia GeForce 260

Windows 7 Subscores
Processor - 7.3
Memory - 7.3
Graphics - 7.2*
Gaming graphics - 7.2*
Primary Hard disk - 5.9 ^

* - Went from 7.3 to 7.2 after 190.62 driver from nVidia.
^ - Using a swap bay for the hard drive which is temporary.

I've been running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit RTM (since it was released on TechNet) on an HP Pavilion dv4-1225dx.

No issues so far.

I'll load it on a few desktops when I return from vacation.

Interesting turn of events here... since I installed Windows 7, the computer's hard crashed a few times (never did it under XP). It was usually a few days between crashes and wasn't such a big deal since I could just reset it and be on my merry way. Yesterday, I got another hard crash, so I reset it and started my apps back up only to have it crash again. Did this four times before I finally powered down for the night. Woke up today, gave it another go, and it crashed a few times again. Pulled the memory and video card, reseated them, and tried it again, and it ran for a minute or two longer than before, but crashed again. I've got it running in safe mode right now and haven't had it crash on me yet, so I'm not sure what the deal is. Guess I'll just start axing startup items one by one to see what the problem could be (I have a feeling it might be ATI's drivers since that's the only change I've made in the last few days).

After some digging around, it might be due to faulty drivers (crashes were sporadic under Catalyst 9.7 but now they're happening on every boot under 9.8). I replaced the stock heatsink and RAM coolers with Zalman HSF/coolers but again I had no problems with them under XP. Thinking I'll see if I can't uninstall the video drivers and try again from scratch. Not finding much information on this via Google either - someone suggested disabling Aero or even disabling the second processor core, but I'm hoping it's something software-related that I can fix without having to lose functionality.

EDIT: Did a system restore to before I installed the Catalyst 9.8 drivers and I'm now back in working order.

EDIT EDIT: Nevermind, locked up again - just took a bit longer.

Not sure if this has been noticed by anyone, but since I upgraded to Windows 7, CoH has taken to randomly locking up on my main desktop. I've never seen this before, but it usually results in me having to pop open Task Manager and kill off the client. It can be a bit of a pain when in a task force, although it can happen with pretty much any action or inaction.

I've also seen that on my other desktop that I occasionally use for dual boxing, which is also running Windows 7, CoH appears to have the gamma maxed out, although the gamma setting within CoH and in Windows has not actually changed. No amount of fiddling with the graphics controls gives me the desired normal graphics.

I'm attributing the gamma weirdness to my graphics card in my second desktop being a bit old (7300GS) and maybe not all that great for Windows 7, but when running Windows XP I did not encounter any of these oddities. In fact, when I ran Vista I did not encounter them either. It was only after upgrading to Windows 7 that these anomalies showed up.