What To Expect From Windows 7 SP1 344
snydeq writes "The first inklings of a public Windows 7 SP1 beta program are beginning to emerge, with hidden registry keys and a leaked list of post-RTM build numbers surfacing on the Web. 'Beyond the obvious bug fixes and security patches, we'll no doubt see support for the new USB 3.0 standard. Likewise, enhancements to the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi stacks will be slipstreamed in, allowing Windows 7 to retain its mantle as the most easily configured version ever,' writes InfoWorld's Randall Kennedy. 'But perhaps the most significant "update" to come out of Service Pack 1 will be the fact that it exists at all, and that by delivering it to market Microsoft will be signaling that it is now OK for IT shops to pull the trigger on their Windows 7 deployments.'"
Re:Easiest Network config? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Easiest Network config? (Score:5, Informative)
If you are in an environment where that is all you need, I'd be hard pressed to think of an OS that wouldn't Just Work. Even the more notoriously hostile Linux and BSD distros with text-based installers and a hatred of all things autoconf will typically at least offer to write the config file needed to bring eth0 up with DHCP on boot.
You start to see the differences in configurability when you need to do something modestly unusual or complex.
Re:Cue the morons (Score:5, Informative)
I present to you for your reading pleasure right from the horses mouth.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/mojave-experiment/ [microsoft.com] Seems they have changed it since the last time I looked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_Experiment [wikipedia.org]
What did they learn? People really do not care what it was called just dont call it vista. They even tested it on a group of people.
http://www.whibb.com/win-7-windows-vista-difference.html [whibb.com]
The real differences between vista and 7 are fairly 'minor' usability changes. 'faster' should have been in a service pack (oh sp2-sp3)... The under the hood stuff was not really that compelling to warrant a full version change. It is a rebrand to make people think 'oh they fixed a bunch of things'. When the reality is they made all the hard changes in vista. Vista was miserable because of those changes. They had 4 years to fix all of that in the driver stacks... Which is why 7 is firing on all cylinders...
You look at the benchmarks coming out and they are pretty much the same between vista and 7.
Call me a moron if you will. But I see a marketing ploy that is working pretty good.
Meh, relatively speaking (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Easiest Network config? (Score:2, Informative)
(I'm at work on win xp right now so I could be remembering the problem I had incorrectly)
Re:Only management is fooled (Score:4, Informative)
Well, first of, Microsoft wants to make money. Purchasing SA to an existing Windows 7 Professional OEM license is pretty cheap for corporate standards (around 100$). This will net you Windows 7 Enterprise (and a bunch of other goodies, like reimaging rights which you NEED if you have more than 5 computers).
Also, there's the whole "shoot yourself in the foot" thing. If Bitlocker was in HP/Pro, there'd be countless people "trying" it out, then losing their USB key (for non-TPM machines) or changing the hardware configuration (for TPM machines), without having the recovery key handy.
Re:Only management is fooled (Score:3, Informative)
And you probably need to cut back on the pompous asshattery.
For /., actually, that was pretty mild.
I know people that do senior software deployment for Fortune 100 companies and still refer to themselves as a techie.
The comment wasn't insulting people who call themselves techies. It was panning the typical Geek Squad so-called techie.
It's mystifying why you got so many positive mods for insulting someone and then re-stating the exact same point they made.
He/she didn't restate the exact same point you made. Go back and read again; he/she made a contention that was exactly opposite. Your point was essentially "it used to be said you never buy a Microsoft OS until they get to SP 1, and now you have to wait until SP 2". 0racle's point was "people should evaluate the OS on its own merits, and Windows 7 was found upon evaluation to be fit for deployment at release".
Re:Cue the morons (Score:2, Informative)
Or you could look at the Wikipedia "New Windows 7 features" page and realize that article is full of crap.
Re:Only management is fooled (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Meh, relatively speaking (Score:1, Informative)
Um most of us skipped the ass-hattery that was vista. Coming from XP win7 has nearly useful firewall
Re:Only management is fooled (Score:5, Informative)
Every printer I've worked with did just fine after following that basic step.
Re:Still waiting... (Score:3, Informative)
I agree and I'm not bothering either. Sure it works fine on my water cooled rig but I'm using two laptops and some old Duron systems as well. In these systems Windows 7 is from just slower to unbearably slow compared to XP, while XP still allows the old Duron systems to be used for Firefox browsing, text editing and word processing comfortably and securely (with the addition of Comodo & Avira).
As for bluetooth, there is always the Widcomm/Broadcom stack which is miles better to Microsoft's.
So, what's the point in Windows 7 ? A cooler UI ? I would rather play a game than stare at the OS UI...
Side-by-side - what will SP1 fix? (Score:2, Informative)
With all patches and updates, here is the question: will Windows 7 SP1 allow the following to work:
Canon Canonscan LiDE 30 scanner - Win7 Not supported - Ubuntu/OpenSuSE - works perfectly
HP Color Laserjet 3600N networked colour laser printer - Win7 Not supported - Ubuntu/OpenSuSE - works perfectly
NOTES: Fair's fair: the netbook's WiFi Linux driver (both O/S's) will not connect to WEP WiFi APs (WPA works fine).
All Win7 Home versions have had the ability to connect to domains REMOVED. All previous versions of Windows allowed this.
Windows7 Home (all versions) is a DOWNGRADE from Vista/XP in terms of this connectivity.
Microsoft should do the right thing and return this 'feature' to the home edition(s) - you can't connect Win7 to an NAS server for basic backups - for example.
The default NTFS filesystem that Win7 creates is NOT backward compatible with XP/Vista.
Boot times to having network and desktop on the desktop machine: Win7 - 64 seconds, Ubuntu - 32 seconds
I won't editorialize - draw your own conclusions.
Re:Only management is fooled (Score:4, Informative)
Having worked in a laboratory, I understand the need to wring life out of ancient equipment. The motherboards on this page may be of some interest to you:
http://www.adek.com/ATX-motherboards.htm
So far I haven't found a Core 2 motherboard with 2 ISA slots anywhere else. The NT 4 drivers will probably work under 32-bit XP, too; I can't vouch for Vista or Windows 7, but this could be a handy piece of information to tuck away somewhere. :) Happy experimenting.