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[maxxsid]

Hello,
Is there any good reason (other than curiosity) to upgrade HTPC to Windows 7?
XP is stable, has a smaller footprint, drivers work, everything functions as supposed to.
Can anyone give me a good reason to upgrade to 7? WASAPI?

TIA!
--max

[glynor]

I love it on my HTPC.  There are a few things that make Windows 7 better for HTPC use for me:

1. I think the new taskbar and the Vista-style Start Menu is much more space efficient, and I find it quicker and easier to find and launch applications.  (I really, really like the new taskbar.)

2. Aero Snap, Peek, and Shake (and all the new window management tools on Windows 7) are very useful on a HTPC.

3. Say it with me.... Resolution Independent Font Scaling.

4. If you game on your HTPC at all, we are finally getting to the point where many games are making use of DirectX 10 quality improvements.  I expect DX11 adoption to be far superior to that of DX10 due to the loss of the Vista stigma and better end-user uptake of Windows 7.

5. Memory.  If you go with Win7, definitely go with the x64 version.  The ability to have more than 3.5GB of RAM (in real-world practice) is very nice, especially with the price of RAM now (though act quick if you need DDR2, it is starting to skyrocket).

6. The Magnifier utility is vastly improved.

7. The Control Panel is vastly improved (even over Vista).

8. Driver problems have largely been sorted out.  Windows 7 uses the same driver model as Vista.  If it works for Vista then it will almost certainly work on Windows 7 (and anything that isn't working for Vista now, is never going to be updated).

9. Most of the performance problems of Vista have really, honestly been addressed.  While Windows 7 isn't quite the unbelievable speed champ it was in the first Beta, it is still essentially on par with Windows XP.  The only performance delta I even notice at all anymore is a very slight network file copy performance slowdown (though this is still better even than a fully patched and up-to-date Vista).  However, I'm extremely sensitive to this (I'm a big network storage user, with very large files), and Windows 7 is perfectly fine.  This is the single largest issue I always have had with Vista (and still do on my Work PC).

10.  This is a bit silly, and something I always frowned about in Vista reviews and whatnot, but.... It really does look slicker.  The transparent "glass" effects are just nice, and not over the top at all.  The Slideshow Wallpaper is awesome!  I love pointing it at a hand-picked selection of my own best pictures.  A great way to display your own nice pictures to visitors and family!

The one HTPC-centric thing that I'm not in-love with is the new sound model.  I'm undecided currently.  Supposedly the playback path is much "cleaner" and it certainly has more features.  I'm just not sure I like the new application independent volume control.  It may really be that I just haven't learned to use it yet though.  I'm still playing with it.  If it works like I think it should, then it would be way better than XP.  So far I haven't gotten it there yet though...

[maxxsid]

Thanks Glynor for your detailed (as always : ) reply.
You did convince me to upgrade my Desktop but not HTPC. I am trying to make my HTPC a "blackbox" - so I don't really care about the UI improvements. I don't have any icons on the desktop, I hide the task bar, etc. I am using MC in Theater View mode on HTPC 99% of the time. Memory? I just went from 1Gb to 2Gb and just because I had an extra stick. 2Gb is plenty for me (at least now). I do not game.
I guess I better stick with XP for now.
I just installed W7 (virtual) on my desktop. Looks slick. Not too flashy which is good. (I hate Office 2007 for its flashiness and shininess and stupid ribbon bars - I was forced to upgrade at work).
Thanks again!
--max

[JimH]

Max,
It's hard to say exactly why, but Win7 is a significant improvement over XP.

Jim

[Doof]

This is going to sound really silly as well, but I really love 7's Homegroup feature. It really makes file/printer sharing in a non-domain environment an absolute breeze.

Honestly, if you're going to upgrade one machine at home, you might as well get yourself the 3 license family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium. It's only $150 to upgrade 3 machines.

[hit_ny]

Whats the minimum hardware reqmts to run win 7, acceptably ?

5. Memory.  If you go with Win7, definitely go with the x64 version.

You said in an earlier thread that MC had very little to gain with x64, so why would you recommend it here ?

[glynor]

You said in an earlier thread that MC had very little to gain with x64, so why would you recommend it here ?

MC has little to gain, but that is not universally true.  Most importantly:

1. It will allow you to upgrade past 3.5GB of RAM in the future.  Otherwise you'll have to reinstall at some point down the road.
2. It works just fine, so if you have the hardware, why not?
3. In some cases with some applications, you will actually see a substantial speed boost.  Some applications do perform much better with access to high amounts of RAM.

[glynor]

Whats the minimum hardware reqmts to run win 7, acceptably ?

Really, if you can run XP well, then it'll run Windows 7 fine.  It would also help to have an at least DirectX 10 class GPU in the system, but a DX9 card is all that is required.  Official requirements are here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/system-requirements

But, I'd use that as a guide.  If you have XP and it feels smooth, then your Windows 7 experience will be similar (or maybe even improved a small bit).  If you have XP and it feels like it is barely hanging on (and you're sure it isn't spyware or other malware messing it up), then you probably don't want to push it any further.

Anything that can already run Vista well will feel teh snappiez.

[marko]

You said in an earlier thread that MC had very little to gain with x64, so why would you recommend it here ?

Because the x64 version can utilise more than 3.5 Gb of RAM. (Glynor's up late/early this morning )


I stayed with XP after fighting with Vista for seven or eight months. I am now running Windows 7 full-time and hope the Post Office don't go on strike before the end of the month so that Amazon can send my DVD to me without any fuss.

[aside]
The post Office union gets a tad boring and predictable threatening strike action every year just before Christmas. The government will end up taking their monopoly away from them and we'll all end up worse off in the long run  
[/aside]

I would not go back to XP now, and I've only been running Seven for what, a couple of months since the technet isos were released?
It doesn't quite reach the intoxicating 'WOW' factor I experienced when going from Win98se to XP, but it's not too far behind. There's no massive speed increase or anything like that, but everything 'just works'. Even the Creative X-Fi drivers work, which was a nice surprise.

Software-wise, I've not had much trouble at all so far. Nothing I run has required compatibility mode as yet. Directory Opus doesn't work fully, but there's a release just around the corner that will be officially supported on Windows Seven, and Genie Backup Pro squeals about a missing mail client on x64 systems meaning scheduled backups won't run unless you're there to click on the OK button. I believe there's a fix for that coming, but it will be version nine rather than an updated version 8. Whether they charge for the priviledge remains to be seen.

-marko

[hit_ny]

1. It will allow you to upgrade past 3.5GB of RAM in the future.  Otherwise you'll have to reinstall at some point down the road.
2. It works just fine, so if you have the hardware, why not?
3. In some cases with some applications, you will actually see a substantial speed boost.  Some applications do perform much better with access to high amounts of RAM.

Why the need for so much memory on a workstation as opposed to a server ?

I trust you can get win7 to run fine within a GB (maybe less) , that leaves 2.5 GB for apps.

Just cause you can

The government will end up taking their monopoly away from them and we'll all end up worse off in the long run 

Absolutely right on this one