Windows 7 Options

[Saffy]

Does anyone here use Windows 7 yet? What are your opinions of it?

I've been used to Windows Vista for the past few months, and I was definitely excited to upgrade to Windows 7. It was the first time I had ever gone out to purchase an upgrade - instead of waiting to get a new computer. While there are some new features about that I quite like, such as the new taskbar or some updated programs, it sort of bothers me at the same time. I've only had Windows 7 installed for about two weeks yet I've already encountered a ton of problems. My fault for being an "early adopter"? Perhaps. Some of these issues are Windows 7 specific while others are to do with HP having not created patches for those who have upgraded. Overall, I don't feel the upgrade was worthwhile and I've begun to miss Windows Vista.

Here's some problems that annoy me even if they are small.

MSN almost always crashes when I first login to my computer and start it up. I'm sorry, but Windows Live Messenger on Windows 7 doesn't work without first crashing? It's one of your key programs on your own operating system. How could you not have it work properly? This has happened ever since I installed the OS.

In order to use the audio control buttons on my laptop I must first open a program called HP Mediasmart. The program needs to just run in the background, but instead it gets launched whenever I start up my laptop. Sure it's just a simple click to hide it, but it's the fact I have to.

On that note, my buttons still mess up whenever I do anything with my microphone, it appears. Suddenly I can't mute my sound until I restart my computer.

Clicking "Include in Library" sometimes crashes Windows Explorer (i.e. folder view) for no particular reason. Windows Explorer doesn't even work? I can understand if I had Windows 7 installed for a few months and errors began to appear, but that's a tad pathetic.

The folder list pane no longer automatically horizontally scrolls. There's also no horizontal scrollbar. This means that if you go deep enough into your folders that eventually you cannot see what you're looking at. Useless.

Windows 7 came only with outdated screensavers from the nineties. Hells yes, I can do pipes and 3D text! There wasn't even a default Windows 7 logo screensaver.

Alright, so I've definitely had quite a rant. I was excited to upgrade to Windows 7 but in the end it feels I spent $150 for more problems and a downgrade. I will admit the new taskbar is nice but most certainly not worth the price and newfound problems. I truly hope Microsoft will release some significant patches shortly.

Your thoughts? Any problems with it?

[Chicken]

Haha. I actually rarely have problems with mine. But, maybe I just don't pay that much attention?

You would think they would have updated the screensavers and stuff, though. I really don't see much of a change in the program, honestly.

[Saffy]

Apparently they removed three of the screensavers from Vista. I was looking at version history of Windows 7 and those screensavers were definitely still available and working on Windows 7 but they removed them. Sucks. I actually had to resort to a "fan made" Windows 7 screensaver.

The problems may seem trivial, but when you're faced with them constantly they quickly annoy.

[Crystal Talian]

I'm still using Vista. I've seen the commercial for Windows 7 and some of it, like working with two thing at once, looks really cool. However, I'm not sure I want to upgrade. I've never really had any problems with Vista. As a matter of fact, the only problem I had was last night. It kept saying, this wants to use Flash, this want to use Flash, this wants to use Flash, and so on. I had to click it twenty times just to view the page! But I fixed that by telling the computer to stop asking me about that. I've not had problem getting any games to work, but I haven't tried any older games yet. Although, I've seen at least one video that shows exactly how easy it is to get older games to work on Vista.

All in all, I don't feel like the upgrade's really worth it. Until I see a customer review or something that really 'wow's me, I'm sticking with Vista.

[Saffy]

I actually don't see why people were so against Vista. Everyone just hated it even if they hadn't used it. Sure, Windows 7 is basically what Vista was meant to be, but Vista itself is not terrible. I definitely grew to enjoy it.

The main problem I had with Vista that comes to mind is that my folder views would always change on their own. I'd go from My Documents to My Pictures to My Music, and their view would change from large thumbnails to details without much explanation why. I manged to resolve the problem once by going into the registry editor but it still came back unfortunately. Otherwise, Vista worked pretty well and I had no complaints.

After some searching regarding my previous complaints, I feel I have come out a bit better. I was able to get my old screensaver (that came with Vista) to work again on Windows 7. Also, I have learned that the horizontal scroll in the navigation pane was removed as it proved to be more of an annoyance to people. Visually, I'll admit it did look a tad weird swaying back and forth and sometimes it wouldn't even work. I'd still prefer a simple scrollbar to shift the view over though. The other issues I still see no excuse for and am disappointed.

Also, my other complaints stem from my laptop being designed for Windows Vista and not Windows 7. I've contacted HP who has said they are aware of the issues and intend to issue fixes.

I'm hopeful some new updates will come out for Windows 7 to resolve these problems.

[Peter]

No issues with my version of 7 as of yet. I obtained it as part of an upgrade program Microsoft was offering, and the only thing that bothers me is when I boot up I have an error from a missing .dll file. It's a simple fix I'm sure, I'm just too lazy to do so. Other than that, I'm really enjoying 7, especially the everchanging wallpaper.

[Saffy]

Admittedly I probably complain too much. For the most part my issues are minimal or trivial. Yesterday, my sound did stop working for a few hours but I managed to get it fixed. Otherwise Windows 7 is not that bad.

What do you mean changing wallpapers?

[Peter]

In your settings when you go to pick a wallpaper you can pick a bunch of them, then have them change intermittenly. Like, I have 15 wallpapers set up, and they change every hour. (Hurray FFXIII)

[Saffy]

Interesting. I'm definitely going to have to check that out now :D

What version of Windows do you have?

[Chase What Matte...]

I'm using it, I actually LOVE Win7!

[Saffy]

I just wanted to say that after a few weeks of not complaining, Windows 7 has really grown on me. The issues I have are unnoticeable or have been fixed without too much trouble. So I'm happy with Windows 7 now.

[trinest]

I've been using Windows 7 since it was in pre-beta etc. I've never had any problems with it etc. What you mentioned isn't and issue for me and I'm sorry your experiencing issues with the product.