Windows 7

[jumbopackage]

I still don't understand the hatred for Vista. I think a lot of it is that people just want to complain. I've had 2 PC's and 1 laptop that have had Vista and I can't remember any of them ever locking up, blue screen, etc. The only software problem I've ever had has been with Itunes and I had issues with that with XP as well.

I don't think it's so much hate. I mean, it's largely as solid as XP in a lot of ways. UAC is annoying as hell by default in Vista. It's much less obtrusive in 7.

I guess Vista kinda sucked because it was basically window dressing on XP, for the most part, but it was different enough that it wasn't compatible. You don't really get any new features, but you have to put up with enough hassle to make it a painful experience.

7 at least has some stuff that makes it a big enough delta to deal with the hassles, IMO. I love the new taskbar, and I'm slowly learning to live with the vista-style start menu.

It seems a bit more user friendly in a lot of ways than Vista (or XP, for that matter) was as well. Most of the legacy menus are there (you can still find Device manager if you dig around a bit), but you don't necessarily have to use them.

That's probably my biggest gripe about it, though. It seems like to get to simple things like the IP settings on my ethernet adaptor, I have to dig through way too many disjointed menus to find the settings for it. I guess Windows has always been that way, though.

[Clonehomer]

As an engineering student we've been able to download the full version for a month or so now and I must say that I love 7. One difference is the common programs on the taskbar rather than under the start menu. I thought the biggest difference for me was that it ran a lot faster. On my laptop Vista used up a lot of resources which prevented me from using programs like Inventor. With 7, I've had no problems running anything.

[djkent01]

I have a small business that runs six workstations and a server running SBS 2003. All of my workstations run XP. I've always skipped a generation of OS upgrades in the past, and really don't want to upgrade now. Any advice?

[Haverhill]

Finally completed installation. That took forever!!

[jumbopackage]

I have a small business that runs six workstations and a server running SBS 2003. All of my workstations run XP. I've always skipped a generation of OS upgrades in the past, and really don't want to upgrade now. Any advice?

If SBS 2008 is as big of a difference as 2003 Enterprise to 2008 Enterprise, it's well worth the upgrade, IMO.

Windows 7 has some nice window dressing. Server 2008 is light years better than 2003 in almost every way I've seen.

I'm sort of the opinion for businesses, though, if it ain't broke, don't fix it (until it's no longer supported).

MS is going to force you to move to Windows 7 at some point down the road, but there's no need to go out and upgrade just for the sake of it. When/if you buy new hardware, windows 7 will work great for you. Otherwise, why fix it if it isn't broke?

The business case for Windows 7 is much stronger for medium/large businesses IMO, thanks to better management tools and closer integration. It's pretty eye candy for everyone else that runs better than vista, and probably about on par with XP.

[bos]

If SBS 2008 is as big of a difference as 2003 Enterprise to 2008 Enterprise, it's well worth the upgrade, IMO.

Windows 7 has some nice window dressing. Server 2008 is light years better than 2003 in almost every way I've seen.

I'm sort of the opinion for businesses, though, if it ain't broke, don't fix it (until it's no longer supported).

MS is going to force you to move to Windows 7 at some point down the road, but there's no need to go out and upgrade just for the sake of it. When/if you buy new hardware, windows 7 will work great for you. Otherwise, why fix it if it isn't broke?

The business case for Windows 7 is much stronger for medium/large businesses IMO, thanks to better management tools and closer integration. It's pretty eye candy for everyone else that runs better than vista, and probably about on par with XP.

For 2008 R2 and windows 7, the full disc image backups are nice. I am also excited about branch cache.

[TykeClone]

I have a small business that runs six workstations and a server running SBS 2003. All of my workstations run XP. I've always skipped a generation of OS upgrades in the past, and really don't want to upgrade now. Any advice?

How new is the workstation hardware?

If it's a couple of years old and due to be replaced over the next couple of years, I would just go the "upgrade through attrition" route.

Same for the server unless you've got software that will force you to upgrade to server 2008.