Is it worth moving from XP to Windows 7? (performance and responsiveness).

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Reaper1242

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I'm mostly looking for experiences of people who moved from XP to 7 on the same machines. Although, anything helpful is appreciated.
I'm finally considering the move to Windows 7. I think it's mainly because I could use a change in scenery.
I've been putting it off because I've always been happy and comfortable with XP. "If it ain't broke...". And I hate clean installs.
I'd have no problems as far as the system requirements.

I am seeing some conflicting opinions regarding performance and responsiveness. I'm not too worried about the visual aspects. Mostly it seems that XP is still the better performer of the 2. From what I'm reading, systems on the lower end don't do as well on Windows 7.
But there really are a massive amount of differing opinions.
 
Post your pc specs, including the graphics card.
 
Always forget to post the specs.

CPU: Intel E6800 dual-core 3.33GHz
Memory: 4meg (3.25 usable under 32bit)
GPU: NVidia Geforce 210 1024mb
 
Reaper1242 said:
Always forget to post the specs.

CPU: Intel E6800 dual-core 3.33GHz
Memory: 4meg (3.25 usable under 32bit)
GPU: NVidia Geforce 210 1024mb
Click to expand...

Hey budd, I really think you should consider upgrading your ram, maybe to atleast 2 Gb ... :P
Just kidding, but back on topic, I really prefer 7 over xp anyday of the week...
 
:)

Yea, I can honestly say it's looking like I might just do it. Pretty sure it'll run nice and smooth.
 
There's only one advantage of Windows XP over Windows 7, and that's Operating System Repair.

If you ever need to replace your motherboard on Windows 7, you'll have to replace it with the same
or very similar motherboard. If the HDD controller is different, Windows 7 Repair will fail/BSOD.

With XP you won't have this problem.

Having said that, overall, Windows 7 is the better choice.
 
Not overly worried about that but it's something to keep in mind.
 
How about trying the Win 8 consumer preview... I don't know if this is a 'production machine'. But it is fun to play with new stuff :)
 
Reaper1242 said:
I'm mostly looking for experiences of people who moved from XP to 7 on the same machines. Although, anything helpful is appreciated.
I'm finally considering the move to Windows 7. I think it's mainly because I could use a change in scenery.
I've been putting it off because I've always been happy and comfortable with XP. "If it ain't broke...". And I hate clean installs.
I'd have no problems as far as the system requirements.

I am seeing some conflicting opinions regarding performance and responsiveness. I'm not too worried about the visual aspects. Mostly it seems that XP is still the better performer of the 2. From what I'm reading, systems on the lower end don't do as well on Windows 7.
But there really are a massive amount of differing opinions.
Click to expand...

Yup, you'll soon find XP antiquated after using win 7 for a month
Things like
Code: 
win+< or win + >
to snap windows to a side of the screen
Way less driver issues.

As for the SSD, I put in a 120GB OZC and wow, everything is just faster(not games, those rely on your graphics), though it is not a necessity.
 
Don't buy Windows 7 now, wait untill Windows 8. Only a few months now.

It's a pretty awesome OS, and has legacy support for 7 so drivers and things are a non-issue.... and it is even faster than 7.
 
eddief1 said:
How about trying the Win 8 consumer preview... I don't know if this is a 'production machine'. But it is fun to play with new stuff :)
Click to expand...

I'm a pretty early adopter on everything but my OS. I like to wait it out and give it some time to establish itself and let everyone else work the bugs out. And I have to be honest, not really liking Windows 8 all that much. Maybe it'll grow on me in 2/3 years :)

hereticangel said:
you can get a ssd , then it will be insanely fast :P

but yes windows 7 will be better.
Click to expand...

I'd love an SSD. Just don't love the prices. But I might just move my OS over to one.

kolaval said:
Yup, you'll soon find XP antiquated after using win 7 for a month
Things like
Code: 
win+< or win + >
to snap windows to a side of the screen
Way less driver issues.

As for the SSD, I put in a 120GB OZC and wow, everything is just faster(not games, those rely on your graphics), though it is not a necessity.
Click to expand...

I've messed with it on other people's systems but haven't used it enough to have that feel for it yet. Definitely bored with good old XP now.

agentrfr said:
Don't buy Windows 7 now, wait untill Windows 8. Only a few months now.

It's a pretty awesome OS, and has legacy support for 7 so drivers and things are a non-issue.... and it is even faster than 7.
Click to expand...

There's just something about Windows 8 that's bothering me. But hey, could very well change. Maybe I'm getting too old for all of this "change" you young whipper snappers are into these days lol.

I've done a bit more research now, seen some good benchmark comparisons between the systems and I've decided. I'm going back to Windows ME. Hahahaha. Nah, Windows 7 it is. Just got to do all the prep now.
All the help has been much appreciated.
 
agentrfr said:
Don't buy Windows 7 now, wait untill Windows 8. Only a few months now.

It's a pretty awesome OS, and has legacy support for 7 so drivers and things are a non-issue.... and it is even faster than 7.
Click to expand...
I agree with this
I am running 7 and XP on different machines not a lot of difference i hardly notice when i switch machines
 
Garyvdh said:
Yes. upgrade to Win 7 64 bit.
Click to expand...

Definitely going to switch to 64 bit now. Once and for all.

FNfal said:
I agree with this
I am running 7 and XP on different machines not a lot of difference i hardly notice when i switch machines
Click to expand...

I'm starting to think that the "horror" stories about 7 being slower are on older systems.
 
I think it is worth the upgrade, Microsoft is going to end support for windows xp in 2012-2013.

Windows 7 is fast for me, I had a notebook (before it died) with Windows XP, upgraded to Windows 7 and it was faster. If you still have 512mb of ram on your computer then do not upgrade to windows 7, rather stay with xp or get another 512mb ram stick.

Its going to be hard for me to leave windows 7 for windows 8, windows 7 is just too good.
 
ngadao08 said:
I think it is worth the upgrade, Microsoft is going to end support for windows xp in 2012-2013.

Windows 7 is fast for me, I had a notebook (before it died) with Windows XP, upgraded to Windows 7 and it was faster. If you still have 512mb of ram on your computer then do not upgrade to windows 7, rather stay with xp or get another 512mb ram stick.

Its going to be hard for me to leave windows 7 for windows 8, windows 7 is just too good.
Click to expand...

It's actually good that I'm doing this. Because I have plenty hard drive space I tend to just leave programs installed (I know, bad habit). So now I can do some good old spring cleaning. Always good to start fresh. I just need to go through what I want to reinstall.
Most of my data is sitting on other partitions or my external so don't need to move much.

I'm running 4 gig of ram so I'll be good there.

I'm going to be building a whole new system in the next year so I'll decide then which OS to start with. For this one, I'll just stick with 7.
 
Thanks to everyone with this. Did the upgrade this morning. All went smooth and because I did some prep beforehand I had very little setup to do when I reinstalled my software.
No idea why it took me this long. It's like being in another world.
 
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