Windows 7 Ultimate (Build 6801) vs Vista Ultimate Comparing the two on the same machine with these specs. 2.4ghz Pentium 4 CPU 256mb GeForce 6200 Graphics 1gb PC2100 RAM To begin with unlike some I have never had a real problem with Vista, however I thought Microsoft would have come up with a more stable and compatible with hardware package before releasing it. OK so I have Vista Ultimate running on my PC its never been blisteringly fast probably due to only 1gb RAM (Microsofts recommendation) but at the same time not painfully slow so it is pleasant enough to work with. Also I have found with the release of Service Pack 1 performance has indeed improved somewhat. Out of pure curiosity I downloaded a torrent of Windows 7 Ultimate (Build 6801) so I could draw some sort of a comparison to Vista. The result was quite amazing. Windows 7 took just 15mins to install as opposed to 25mins for Vista if I remember correctly, things were looking good. Boot time is almost halved. Speed when up and running is crisp and snappy. This is also with more eye candy than Vista has ie. the new glass 'SuperBar' and the UAC although still included is less obtrusive. So how have Microsoft managed this with Windows 7 but were unable to with Vista, it leaves me bewildered. The major downside is Internet Explorer 8 Beta which at present lags terribly. The first action I took was to install Firefox 3 and it performed at lightning speed. So it would seem Windows 7 has the performance of XP and the security of Vista together with a attractive Desktop. It looks as though if (Build 6801) is anything to go by it is going to be everything that Vista should have been. Nice one Microsoft its just been a long time coming. LUg.
Pretty interesting... have been toying with the idea of installing 7, maybe this weekend's task! Server 08 will be my choice though, if only i can find an enterprise slp key
Hi datcat, You could read a thousand posts about this sort thing and get a thousand different answers. One person likes 'this way' the next perfers 'that way' the third is trying to sell 'this product' etc, etc... The only real way to answer the question is to try it yourself. It sounds like you have a deadicated PC for this, so I'd suggest you install each OS in turn and do a test run. That way you will know which is the best OS for the type of Encoding and the Hardware you have. Good Luck.
I agree - it only matters how it works for you on your machine. I've had Vista 32 and 64 and Windows 7 32 and 64 on this machine. I formatted the Win 7 64 drive because I had a few issues I didn't feel like fooling with. I got rid of Vista 32, but have an image saved, cuz having all those OSs is just plain stupid......... Kept Vista 64 on C:\ and Windows 7 32 on D:\. Something old, something new. This is what works for me.
@bchat and ZaForD: -I thank you for your honest opinions... As usual time is a limiting factor. I am testing lots of things but there will never be time enough for everything... Hence it is nice to be able to listen to the experience you guys have collected. That's what such forums are for... I am glad to help others, as I am happy to get help myself... Recently Suicide Solution got me on the right track with one of my laptops! (wxpmce) I still didn't find time to continue and install SP3 - it gets boring to work on the same machine all the time - so now I'm "recovering" by learning new stuff, planning some new OSes, chatting with you guys etc. I had it set up to convert video source on three computers parallell. (Due to the long hours it takes, especially if you convert "Two Pass *.mpg => *.mp4") On two of the PCs I even ran dual converting processes (to force them running unattended during night-time and daytime) - guess if the hardware got smoked! - after one month a fan bearing quit, the graphic card was at melting point, and I had to replace the fan... All of my PCs have 2 HDDs. I am looking at having M$ OSes on the 1st HDD on all PCs. On the 2nd HDD, on all PCs, I plan to install Linux Ubuntu with VMware Workstation for Virtualization. Then I plan running M$, Linux and FreeBSD... whatever OSes virtualized. As I have done so with one PC, I feel this is working for me. Can't wait until the new subsections show up - then it will be easier to comunicate these issues...