Why I will use Windows 7 Until 2020.
The first operating system I remember using was Windows 98, which was the second version of Windows to have the start menu and task bar like interface.
The operating system I have the most experience with is Windows XP seeing as I was six when it came out, and I used only it until Christmas of 2009 when I got a laptop with Windows 7 on it, and I was amazed at the Aero effects, screen snapping, and all the other goodies. The best thing is that, it was easy to figure out, a lot of improvements but fairly easy to figure out if you've used Windows 95 to XP/Vista systems before.
I liked the fact that you can have two programs or windows open at once on your screen on each side, each sharing half of the screen. This way I can be writing an assignment, or an e-mail, or researching something, while also watching youtube, or porn, or anything at the same time. It also makes copying between folders much easier.
I tried Windows 8 when it was in Beta, but while it was cool, I found it unusable for the simple fact of the new "Start menu" and the basic design. I think Microsoft should've learnt their lesson not to compromise on an OS and make a desktop version and a tablet version, not a two-in-one, because it ends up being a disaster.
My father's laptop, a gaming laptop, actually i7, with 16mb of RAM, is running Windows 10 on it. I only use it rarely, but when I do I am confused and do not know what to do, where to go, and the start menu there just pisses me off with it's apps and such still in it, though it doesn't take up the entire screen anymore.
Also, on the design front, it's more flat, simple design just makes me want to puke. It looks like children's software, or like it belongs on a tablet and not a real laptop or desktop computer.
To me Windows 7 represents the last Windows version which takes itself seriously as an operating system for REAL COMPUTERS, and is the last operating that I am intricately familiar with and know how to use to it's full potential.
For these reasons, I will be using Windows 7 until 2020, or maybe even past then depending on what Windows 11 will be like.
The operating system I have the most experience with is Windows XP seeing as I was six when it came out, and I used only it until Christmas of 2009 when I got a laptop with Windows 7 on it, and I was amazed at the Aero effects, screen snapping, and all the other goodies. The best thing is that, it was easy to figure out, a lot of improvements but fairly easy to figure out if you've used Windows 95 to XP/Vista systems before.
I liked the fact that you can have two programs or windows open at once on your screen on each side, each sharing half of the screen. This way I can be writing an assignment, or an e-mail, or researching something, while also watching youtube, or porn, or anything at the same time. It also makes copying between folders much easier.
I tried Windows 8 when it was in Beta, but while it was cool, I found it unusable for the simple fact of the new "Start menu" and the basic design. I think Microsoft should've learnt their lesson not to compromise on an OS and make a desktop version and a tablet version, not a two-in-one, because it ends up being a disaster.
My father's laptop, a gaming laptop, actually i7, with 16mb of RAM, is running Windows 10 on it. I only use it rarely, but when I do I am confused and do not know what to do, where to go, and the start menu there just pisses me off with it's apps and such still in it, though it doesn't take up the entire screen anymore.
Also, on the design front, it's more flat, simple design just makes me want to puke. It looks like children's software, or like it belongs on a tablet and not a real laptop or desktop computer.
To me Windows 7 represents the last Windows version which takes itself seriously as an operating system for REAL COMPUTERS, and is the last operating that I am intricately familiar with and know how to use to it's full potential.
For these reasons, I will be using Windows 7 until 2020, or maybe even past then depending on what Windows 11 will be like.
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Comments
I didn't know that Windows 10 could run on 16MB of RAM. Did you mean 16GB of RAM?
yes GB. I'm just so used to talking in MB when speaking about ram lately. :P
Design-wise, I like Windows 10 ok and they have certainly made many improvements in terms of security... but I don't like not having fine grained control over Windows updates and the telemetry gathering still bothers me (although, it can be disabled. The problem being that any update could revert it and you have to trust that disabling it actually does something). Another thing that bothers me is the network authentication prompt for things like RDP. In 7 and 8.1, I can easily use the down arrow and select a new account / prompt for new credentials... with 10, I have to click on "other user" and it's just annoying. I RDP a lot for my job. I typically use mRemote so I don't have to worry about it, but any time I jump on a Windows 10 box that doesn't have mRemote installed and I need to RDP to something real quick, it just adds an extra step and slows me down.
Otherwise, it's a decent OS. One other thing I'll say, they've made it so that customizing the install via answerfiles is practically required now. First, they've made it even more annoying to select the local account when setting up a new install instead of the stupid microsoft account. And they took what was a nice clean interface for setting up the new local account and split it out into several wizard pages... dear god why?! Were people installing their OS's too quickly? Was having all of the input boxes on one page creating too much cognitive overload? Whatever the reason, it's dumb and all my new Windows 10 installs will be via sys prepped images.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the ads. Microsoft really wants you to be using their new modern apps and when you try to switch away from them to something else, it begs you to try the modern app instead. It also pre-installs games like farmville and whatnot. Not to mention it occasionally throws up notifications to set up cortana and install Office 365... It's fucking ridiculous that in a paid for OS, it would be supported with ads.
Like you, I will probably be using 7 until the end of its time. And if we were to use it past its end-of-support date, it's going to be like XP all over again of it being immortal, and security holes being punched in. If I had to switch away from 7, I would either use Linux Mint (well, definitely, to keep this seven-year-old laptop going) or macOS. One of the two.
On a side note, Windows 11? Pfft, that won't happen son. That's merely a madman's dream when Microsoft had once said that Windows 10 will be their last release. To be fair, I'm more interested in seeing a macOS 11, personally speaking (because they need to forgo the "10.x" version number. They've been using that since OS X came to this Earth).
So far they're sticking with it. They've had 3 more releases of 10 since launch.
Linux has Steam and several steam games have Linux versions...
Although, I recently found out that there will be another new release called Windows 10 S for schools and businesses, where it's more or the same but can only allow apps from the Windows Store to be installed, probably for security reasons. Even when that comes, that may pose a problem too... I mean, the poor kids may be distracted by Candy Crush or Minecraft whenever they bring up the Start Menu during today's lesson. In the business world however, the boss would probably be staring at you from behind. Could even happen in the local library too.
But even so, it will take a long time for that to try and dominate the market share. So far it's only at about a quarter and 7 still prevails by being at 49%.
Even if they said it themselves, I doubt it.
As technology advances, power increases, things change, and an operating system that is new now, will look hideously out-dated and useless.
Think of it this way, if Microsoft had said that MS-DOS 5.00 was their last release, how would things look now? No native CD-ROM support, a command-line interface, etc.
Sorry Microsoft, but at some point you're either gonna have to make a new Version of Windows (or make a new OS), or you are gonna have to bow out of the operating system business.
Any admin managing a school or business site would never want users to willy-nilly install software from ANY external site or service. Enabling the Windows store is the exact opposite of "security".
But what will happen is Microsoft will bring down the price to a point where they can't say "no", and then kindergarteners are taught the only place to get "apps" is though the one true Microsoft Store, so they will be perfectly fine and happy many years later when Microsoft locks ALL desktops down.
I can pretty much guarantee you that average people stopped buying CDs for software from stores about 10 years ago. They are very much onboard with the whole app store ecosystem.
That's not what they're doing at all. Like I said, there have been 3 releases of Windows 10 since launch (not counting the RTM, which is 1507 / Threshold 1). All they're doing is instead of calling it Windows 10, 11, 12, etc... they've just renamed their product to Windows 10 and they're going to release updates to it instead of marketing it as a new major version. Kind of similar to OS X.
They've also adopted a year + month version scheme. The current version of Windows 10 is 1703, aka the creators update. They've also had 1607 (Anniversary Update) and 1511 (November update... not very original :roll: ).
You're comparing apples to oranges here. Honestly, DOS 5, 6 and 7 are almost the same thing anyway, and 7.1 just adds support for FAT32 and LFNs. Even the NTVDM is based on v5.
This is sad but true. I like to keep physical copies of my software around so if I need to reinstall, just pop the disc in. Having to download all your crap from the "Micro$oft $tore" is just ridiculous.
Meh, it's just like Chromebook. To essentially get you used to the fact you don't own your computer, and you never did.
You really have no control over it, and Mama Microsoft or Papa Google knows best.
I'm surprised they didn't remove the ability to create local accounts and log in without internet.
Chromebooks don't have these features, and without internet you can't do anything real on it.
And when they place it on "high-end" high priced computers (e.g. surface laptop)? Yeah...
You know, why doesn't everybody in this thread go out and cut their DSL or Cable wires, or smash their satellite dish if they have satellite internet. Can't control me if I don't have internet! Oh, and let's smash our cell phones so nobody from the outside world can get to us. They're all out to get us! They want us to buy.....ELECTRONICS. Oh and we can all switch to Windows 2000 on a Pentium III system because that doesn't have evil big brother spying on you.
(I feel like I have to note that the second paragraph is sarcasm because sometimes it's hard to grasp sarcasm over the internet and people can appear insane as a result)
Humans have been mostly thoughtless zombies for many thousands of years. For a brief time a long, long, time ago it seemed like humans generally might wake up... but I've seen nothing but downhill progress my entire life. I look out the window here and it already looks like a scene from the movie "Idiocracy".
And I can clearly see the move towards locked down environments everywhere. Why? Because that is where we started out. Back when Personal Computing was the thing of science fiction, if you wanted to crunch some numbers, you had to pay for some time on a big, centralized, locked down mainframe/timeshare, and you were constantly at the mercy of those that ran the thing. Locked down cell phones are just one step back towards that. Is locked down stuff better for some or even most people? Sure. But all the higher ups see is people paying big bucks for these, so why not lock down everything?
Let me rephrase that a little for you:
"You know, why doesn't everyone here in this thread go out and look at the services they are paying for and see if they are actually needed and worth the money, and cancel or avoid purchasing anything that is not truly needed. Where possible, perhaps move to, or at least help promote, an alternate service or product if the current one is too shoddy or abusive. Sadly there is quite a bit of marketing pressure for everyone to use the "latest and greatest" and buy products that are largely fluff or have large but unseen long term risks. Not everyone can own an Altair, Commodore PET, Apple II, or IBM PC 5150 , but it would do us all well to understand and appreciate the history behind them, what we may be giving up, and where possible and practical, hold on to the things that made them great."
Doesn't sound quite so paranoid now?
But, you see, framing it all as mindless tinfoil-hat paranoia falls in to the very real trap that the marketing folks have set.
I believe so.
So wear the WinWorld badge with pride. Because, in the end, it's not your choice of OS that matters. It's just common sense and etiquette that will take you through life. Whether that is expressed via face-to-face contact or through a forum is irrelevant. What does matter is how you conduct yourself. Would you rather be a wastrel on the road, or would you be a respectable person with a well-paying salary? The choice is yours.
So I ask you, the reader, to take a moment to reflect on this. Quit with the paranoia and sarcasm, please, and bring some sense back into this discussion.
With respect,
Erito17.
I originally just made this to explain why I am sticking with Windows 7.
Mine is more Interface/looks based.
But while people may see those as surface level, interface and how things look and work, are crucial.
If you don't like an interface, or find it hard to use, would you want to use it? Would you want to actually pay out money for it?
I wouldn't.
With people who are scarily like mirror images of the people in "idiocracy" in power I can understand what you mean by thoughtless zombies, but not all humans are these thoughtless zombies. I know plenty of "average people", and they know more than you'd give them credit towards. The ones I know aren't the most knowledgeable on electronics but will still give a shot at repairing them and enjoy the used markets. Yeah, there are people out there who have more money than sense (or have not very much money and just no sense at all) who will buy new cars every 5 years before paying them off, but then there are people like my dad who had been enthusiasts in the computer field in the past and have mostly retired now - but still appreciate the equipment they have. My dad has 228 thousand miles on the van we have and he still drives it. Again, I've seen and know people (although I don't consider them friends for reasons you'll see after this) who just replace everything as soon as a minor issue comes in but those are the same people that would string me up to a tree and hang me for being gay 30 years ago. Most consumers are intelligent enough to find their way around electronics on their own and use things for as long as they can, and when it comes time to replace them they consider and sometimes buy used items.
See, I have a phone purchased this year - it's an Android smartphone. To be honest, I don't really like it. But, I need a phone to get around in life because people expect you to be reachable at all times (as much as I dislike that). But I also do my best to conserve resources and all that by purchasing used items like the laptop I'm typing on right now (Thinkpad I bought used).
A note on the thing you mentioned about services that I removed on accident to trim the paragraphs down so it wouldn't be a massive wall of text on accident but I don't feel like putting back:
I understand what you mean by paying for services and all that. I hate Office 365 because they expect you to continually pay for a product. Sure, it gets updated - but what do you really need from Office 365 1.75645325345435435 that Office 365 1.35645463454354 didn't have? That's why Libreoffice or if you can get it for free, an older version of MS Office suffice. They can open and edit documents just as well as Office 365 can and you don't have to shell out $70 every year and bend over to Microsoft just because it's shiny and new.
I like using things that popular culture has deemed obsolete because I found they work in a preferable manner to what's the newest thing to use. For example, for music I use this bigass Sony boombox - Dual Cassette decks, AM/FM Radio, CD. I use it instead of spotify because I don't want to pay to remove ads from that service, and if I have ads on it then why not just use FM radio? So, I use FM radio. CDs are also really cheap nowadays, you can get albums for $2 if you look in the right places - and just because CDs are "obsolete" doesn't mean they automatically disintegrate - they still are a great way of listening to music. I also have terrible internet so even if none of the gripes I have about online music streaming existed it'd still be laggy as hell.
I use a Lenovo Thinkpad T530 for everything when I'm away from my desktop, not some tiny tablet that has a keyboard that's painful to type on and will shatter if you look at wrong. People say that it's really thick and heavy, but you know what? Even if it is thick and heavy - it works great for me. It's 4.5 years old and it's still way overkill for my needs.
But - Windows 10 isn't like those other examples. It works fine and the ads are really easy to disable (I have a "half start menu" because I always remove the tiles) and I prefer using it to 7 because it uses less resources. I do miss the aero glass look of 7 but I also used XP for a long time so it's not like it's something I can't live without. Microsoft's talking about turning Windows into a subscription based service like Office 365 - which pisses me off, but that's a problem that we'll have to deal with when that happens. I bet you it'll be a PR disaster for microsoft, because if I know something about consumers, they don't like shelling out money - that's why they always have those cheapass Acer or HP laptops (No matter how the math works out when talking about how they fail and all that in the end).
Also, just because you appreciate old technology for what it is doesn't mean you have to shun new technology, if you did that you'd become something like a technological version of Amish. Windows XP is old, and Windows 7 is old also. I don't care what anybody says in response to me saying it was old. I got my first Windows 7 laptop in 2009 - that was nearly 8 years ago! The laptop doesn't even exist anymore due to unrelated issues, that's how long it's been. Sometimes it's time to move on - if you don't like the main option (Win10) then you can always look into alternatives like Linux or MacOS.
There really isn't much of a difference between Windows 7 and Windows 10's interface. Also, if you know how to use Windows 7 you can use Windows 10.
You can also upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 for free if you fresh install and use the 7 key.
Edit: Added a response to popeye's new post.
Here's the thing though... 7 and 10's interfaces are not fundamentally different. You make it out to be that 10's new interface is just so difficult to use (and therefore you shouldn't use it / pay for it. I'll also point out that 10 is still technically free... 7 product keys still work to activate it.) when for 95% of the time, there is absolutely no difference between 7 and 10. It has a new visual style and certain admin tasks have been moved to modern apps instead of the old classic applets. But srsly, how often are you changing the time or adding new users?
I'm not going to say all of the changes in 10 are amazing and you should be 100% happy... but at the same time, let's not romanticize 7. Let's not forget, it made plenty of dumb design changes from XP/Vista. Can't remember them? Yeah, we got used to it. That's how it usually works.
Well, they may only be my opinions but the design changes I didn't like were always combining the text next to the icons when programs are open (I can't remember what that's called) and I also preferred the not flat taskbar of Vista, but Vista had its fair share of problems even with that being said so basically - TL;DR: You're right in saying to not romanticize 7, all operating systems have something that people dislike and there will always be some controversy, no matter how small. I might be biased though because I think Vista was perfectly fine and it was manufacturers' fault for shoehorning Vista onto single core systems with 1GB or less of RAM. Wasn't there a thing with XP that people disliked for it being more resource intensive than 2000 and 98SE?
Yes. Lots of people felt XP was more bloated than 2000 / 9x and in truth, it was bigger... but it was also more powerful and it was during a time when the hardware wasn't quite ready for the likes of XP (similar to what happened to Vista).
There were a lot of XP haters back in the day. I used to be one of them, but honestly, as I look back at it, the reasons I hated XP were largely stupid ones. Honestly, I wound up just blaming every little problem on XP when the real problem was either my lack of knowledge at the time or some shitty third party app that I was using. Pretty much what people are doing with Windows 10 now.
Can you provide those product keys, because I am thinking of upgrading my laptop to 10, just to see.
or do you mean Windows 7 product keys?
However if you just plan to test drive Win10, get the eval from
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcen ... enterprise
Fill out the form, with N/A in the company box and you can get a 90 day eval for free. Enterprise is likely to suit your need, I don't think you care about delaying new releases for 10 years(LTSB).
On the other hand, LTSB also doesn't include the funky Win10 apps, so maybe it'd suit you.
No.
Use your own Windows 7 key.
What do you mean by 'funky Win10 apps'? Does LTSB lack the UWP apps such as Mail, Calendar, etc.?
It has no store, no mail, and several "apps" are replaced with the classic win32 counterpart. The exception is "modern" settings. No forced updates, and with some config you can shut off telemetry.
It also does not include Candy Crush.
I would say, if you can obtain a copy it would be the perfect "conspiracy theorist" edition of 10.
This is a truly professional OS that is secure, lacking much of what would make it insecure. Definitely not like 10S, limiting you to only one hackable source and bottlenecking your capabilities with a bribe.