Using RC1 feels a lot more gesture-based as there are fewer and fewer clicks to navigate. Full-screening and application switching, while not instantaneous, can be done with only a single mouse click and no use of the keyboard. No use of any buttons on the keyboard or anything complex. In the same general 'area' of the frontend, veiwing any window/application, and its contents, is very simple and requires no clicking of the mouse - only simple motions with a second's pause.
Progress indicators for file downloads and other similar operations are now shown as a progressing bar in an icon on the taskbar. Seeing as how I download files regularly and perform bulk file operations on my machine, being able to get an overview of the entire picture of operations by simply looking at the bottom of my screen is rather nice. Granted, it doesn't give me information galore, but it does what any analog meter does - gives me a quick, general idea.
If you have certain applications on the start menu, RC1 automatically expands sub-options native to that program. I've noted this on IE-64 and Word/Office. Nice touches.
Looks: Visually, RC1 looks extremely similar to Vista. However, if you observe the two running side-by-side, you'll note that the gloss/shine effect of Vista has been removed in favor of a more subtle, clean glass apperance. I've noticed that people comment that it's "disctracting'". I offer you my deepest sympathy as you seem to be living in life's slow lane (forget the middle lane or the passing lane). Many of us deal with far more complex and dynamic things while driving and playing games or other activities. Most of us don't have issues sorting out one moving car from another or focusing on a target while explosions are going on and people are trying to gun us down. If you're sooo insistent on using an interface style that's from the late 1990's / early 2000's, use the matching hardware. Don't buy a 3.6GHz i7 to run an interface that's from days gone by. I have a 486-based system solely for the use of running Windows 3.1. I have a Pentium II for Windows 98 and I have a Pentium 4 for XP.
"Just another patch that costs": Which revision of Windows is this? Siete, Shichi, Seven, 7. One, two, thre, four, five, six, seven. Which revision is Apple's Mac on? OSX as in Diez, juu, ten, 10. Last time I checked, 10 meant more than 7. Seems to me that MS doesn't have to make changes to their OS as often as Apple. Besides, I'm only paying for substantial upgrades, not questionable ten-point-this to ten-point-that.
Costs: Yeah, I don't like how this is going to cost me more money to upgrade, but at least I know it's for a philanthropic company. Hell, Google(Apple Philanthropy) gets me only results about how Microsoft is tops on the philanthropy. That, and considering that the money is what most people make in a few hours of work. Why complain? I'd be more willing to dish out money on Apple's products if they turned around and tried to make a difference in the world around them.
Stability: I hear many claims of "instability". Last time I checked the date against multiple sources, the year was 2009. Last time I saw more than one BSOD in a month was back in 1998. I've had drivers fail on me and programs crash in the middle of running Vista and RC1. The system picks up the dropped pieces, gets it back in order, and keeps on trucking along. I *have* indeed seen BSOD's in Vista, but only because I overclocked my machine more than 1.5x it's factory specs. I have nothing againt classicalists and people who like to reminisce, but please be knowledgeable enough to keep your past and present events distinct and seperate.
Ease-of-Use: Some people say that they have to go all over the place to make changes to stuff. Okay, so I'm not entirely pleased about the whole display options/preferences/personalize thing. Do I have to take a cross-country drive to make the change? No. Am I and should I be making changes to that stuff often? No. It's a one-shot item that's been revised. Now if I had to run up to the nearest military post/base and get clearance to click the Start button, I'd see reason to complain.
Performance: After confering with several friends and other users, there is generally a substantial increase in performance for computers across the board. On my system, I'm noting a slightly increased load time and all indicators point to my display drivers. Laptops are booting faster and loading games faster with better performance in-game. I'm referring to my friend's E1500-series laptop. I've noticed a very substantial increase in the performance of my 1.8GHz 1.5GB tablet PC. RC1 scales very nicely. As for the resource usage, I've gone to the liberty of charting the resource usage of my system in Vista and RC1 while using different applications and at idle. I've noticed that in general, RC1 uses fewer system resources than Vista on my primary machine. I suspect it may have to do with the abundance of resources available that the OS doesn't have to worry about throttling back. On my tablet, it uses substantially fewer resources and seems to throttle back nicely.
Conclusion: While not an entire overhaul of the system like the 98 -> XP -> Vista upgrade lines, RC1 is shaping up to offer numerous changes which should make the overall computing experience easier and smother for many people. Many of the changes focus on the functionality of the system such as the revised taskbar and scalable User Access Control (UAC). While the overall experience hasn't been changed, enough of the system has changed that the release of Windows 7 warrants a price tag. Considering that XP was doing fine at the time of release and that Windows 7 is substantially better than Vista, I think that Microsoft should have not released Vista and just stayed with Windows 7.
I think my 360 just got replaced as my primary entertainment system. I shall now spend several hours a day surfing fourms and threads to read the not-so-well constructed comments people make. Your ethos is quite lacking. The more primative and "fanboyish" comments are, the more crediblity they lose.
Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 impressions, insights, and expectations
May 16th 2009 11:48AM (Engadget)Using RC1 feels a lot more gesture-based as there are fewer and fewer clicks to navigate. Full-screening and application switching, while not instantaneous, can be done with only a single mouse click and no use of the keyboard. No use of any buttons on the keyboard or anything complex. In the same general 'area' of the frontend, veiwing any window/application, and its contents, is very simple and requires no clicking of the mouse - only simple motions with a second's pause.
Progress indicators for file downloads and other similar operations are now shown as a progressing bar in an icon on the taskbar. Seeing as how I download files regularly and perform bulk file operations on my machine, being able to get an overview of the entire picture of operations by simply looking at the bottom of my screen is rather nice. Granted, it doesn't give me information galore, but it does what any analog meter does - gives me a quick, general idea.
If you have certain applications on the start menu, RC1 automatically expands sub-options native to that program. I've noted this on IE-64 and Word/Office. Nice touches.
Looks: Visually, RC1 looks extremely similar to Vista. However, if you observe the two running side-by-side, you'll note that the gloss/shine effect of Vista has been removed in favor of a more subtle, clean glass apperance. I've noticed that people comment that it's "disctracting'". I offer you my deepest sympathy as you seem to be living in life's slow lane (forget the middle lane or the passing lane). Many of us deal with far more complex and dynamic things while driving and playing games or other activities. Most of us don't have issues sorting out one moving car from another or focusing on a target while explosions are going on and people are trying to gun us down. If you're sooo insistent on using an interface style that's from the late 1990's / early 2000's, use the matching hardware. Don't buy a 3.6GHz i7 to run an interface that's from days gone by. I have a 486-based system solely for the use of running Windows 3.1. I have a Pentium II for Windows 98 and I have a Pentium 4 for XP.
"Just another patch that costs": Which revision of Windows is this? Siete, Shichi, Seven, 7. One, two, thre, four, five, six, seven. Which revision is Apple's Mac on? OSX as in Diez, juu, ten, 10. Last time I checked, 10 meant more than 7. Seems to me that MS doesn't have to make changes to their OS as often as Apple. Besides, I'm only paying for substantial upgrades, not questionable ten-point-this to ten-point-that.
Costs: Yeah, I don't like how this is going to cost me more money to upgrade, but at least I know it's for a philanthropic company. Hell, Google(Apple Philanthropy) gets me only results about how Microsoft is tops on the philanthropy. That, and considering that the money is what most people make in a few hours of work. Why complain? I'd be more willing to dish out money on Apple's products if they turned around and tried to make a difference in the world around them.
Stability: I hear many claims of "instability". Last time I checked the date against multiple sources, the year was 2009. Last time I saw more than one BSOD in a month was back in 1998. I've had drivers fail on me and programs crash in the middle of running Vista and RC1. The system picks up the dropped pieces, gets it back in order, and keeps on trucking along. I *have* indeed seen BSOD's in Vista, but only because I overclocked my machine more than 1.5x it's factory specs. I have nothing againt classicalists and people who like to reminisce, but please be knowledgeable enough to keep your past and present events distinct and seperate.
Ease-of-Use: Some people say that they have to go all over the place to make changes to stuff. Okay, so I'm not entirely pleased about the whole display options/preferences/personalize thing. Do I have to take a cross-country drive to make the change? No. Am I and should I be making changes to that stuff often? No. It's a one-shot item that's been revised. Now if I had to run up to the nearest military post/base and get clearance to click the Start button, I'd see reason to complain.
Performance: After confering with several friends and other users, there is generally a substantial increase in performance for computers across the board. On my system, I'm noting a slightly increased load time and all indicators point to my display drivers. Laptops are booting faster and loading games faster with better performance in-game. I'm referring to my friend's E1500-series laptop. I've noticed a very substantial increase in the performance of my 1.8GHz 1.5GB tablet PC. RC1 scales very nicely. As for the resource usage, I've gone to the liberty of charting the resource usage of my system in Vista and RC1 while using different applications and at idle. I've noticed that in general, RC1 uses fewer system resources than Vista on my primary machine. I suspect it may have to do with the abundance of resources available that the OS doesn't have to worry about throttling back. On my tablet, it uses substantially fewer resources and seems to throttle back nicely.
Conclusion: While not an entire overhaul of the system like the 98 -> XP -> Vista upgrade lines, RC1 is shaping up to offer numerous changes which should make the overall computing experience easier and smother for many people. Many of the changes focus on the functionality of the system such as the revised taskbar and scalable User Access Control (UAC). While the overall experience hasn't been changed, enough of the system has changed that the release of Windows 7 warrants a price tag. Considering that XP was doing fine at the time of release and that Windows 7 is substantially better than Vista, I think that Microsoft should have not released Vista and just stayed with Windows 7.
New MGS4 trailer debuting at E3, Sony and Konami keynotes
Jul 5th 2007 2:25PM (Joystiq)I think its funny to see people attempt to argue.
Nuke detectors could eventually reside in your cellphone
May 4th 2007 10:00PM (Engadget)