Vista 64 and Windows 7

[Elliot]

The last ten days I have experimented with Vista 64 and Windows 7. I will stop using the Windows XP. These programs are definitely better. AutoCAD 2009 MEP now works a lot better. 3D Max and SolidWORKS do work much better. Rendering time is 1/3 of what use to be with the Dual Opterons 285 and XP.

 

Good Luck

Elliot

[danb4026]

How would one get Windows 7? The beta is no longer available. I don't want to wait!

[Elliot]

I have a friend that had one but didn't want to put on his computer and he gave me his un-used copy.

 

I works very good but I have noticed a few small glitches. It is fast. The Apple OS may be better.... but for being an MS Operating System it is not too bad.

 

Elliot

[danb4026]

Is there a 32 bit and 64 bit version?

[Elliot]

Daniel

 

I understand they have both versions available. I have the 64 bits and it works very good. It is very similar to Vista 64 bits. Windows 7 seems to be faster, but Vista seems to be more stable. I have not had any problems with drivers. The only problem was the Linksys 1 gb Lan card. Linksys does not make the drivers for this card. Realtek makes the chip they use on the Linksys card. If you get the Realtek drivers they will make the card work.

 

On Vista 64 the mouse (Intellimouse 4) didn't want to scroll up and down. It is a documented issue with Vista. On Windows 7 the mouse works fine.

 

I am in the middle of one my mechanical projects using AutoCAD - Revit 2009 MEP. On windows XP this version of AutoCAD didn't want to work very well. Now the 2009 ACAD/Revit MEP combo is working just fine. My project is on 3D and on the other workstations it was not smooth. The old workstation was Two Opterons 285 on a Supermicro MB with 6 gb of RAM. I have another Dual Opteron workstation with similar chips but on a Tyan mb. I put the Vista 64 on the Tyan motherboard and even on that one the AutoCAD is working smooth.

 

Just in case I did the I-7 computer with dual boot with XP and Vista. Later on today I am going to get rid of the Windows XP. After so many years of refusing to change now I am sold on the Vista 64 bits. 3D Max on the I-7 with the gamer video card (Radeon 4870 X2) with 2gb of ram works extremely good as compared to the other computers.

 

The minute the new I-7 Xeons become available to the general public I will do another workstation. This time I am looking at the ATI FireGL V8650 or the 8700 video cards. I don't know the difference among these cards very well. I read on a forum all kind of good reviews about these cards. AJLynn also recommends these cards. If they are better than my gamer card (Radeon 4870 X2), they must be something else.

 

I know everybody is advising on careful investment on these computers. When you have a large project with timing issues, you need the best tool available in order meet the dead lines. It is nice to work on a computer that is not flickering, freezing, or so many other things the Windows XP was doing.

 

A fringe benefit is that that both OS have made my audio cards work very well. While I am working I have the sound going on in the background. When I am on these large projects I usually have 6 or 7 programs open at the same time. My computer fluid dynamic (CFD) program is also very demanding and it is now working fine while I have all the other programs on the screen.

 

If you can not get Windows 7 just get the Vista 64.... it is very similar...... just don't use an Intellimouse 4. I heard that Microsoft is advising some downloading that has to be made to Win 7. The program is still in beta. If this Beta is that good I wonder about the real stuff. Perhaps they will manage to be as good as Apple.

 

Good Luck

Elliot

 

 

PD:

 

All my CS4 Suite works fine as well as the Nikon software. Photoshop is definitely faster on the new Workstation with Vista 64.

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Not sure I agree, though mosty of my Vista use has been for general computing, and not the use of autodesk products.

 

I used Vista for almost a year before finally rolling my laptop back to XP. Even with all the patches they were releasing, and all of the fancy graphics disabled, it still couldn't match the speed of XP.

 

Now I was hearing great things about 7. It is fast and stable. It is all that Vista should have been. ...but accordingly to the Windows Weekly podcast, 7 is becoming slower with every release. According to them, IT departments of their corporate customers are complaining because some of the legacy Window items were removed from 7. Now Microsoft is adding them backin with every beta release of 7, and as a result, 7 is slowly feeling slower. Back towards the levels of Vista. Unfortunate to say the least.

 

I wish microsfost would release a final copy of 7 without the legacy stuff, and a copy of 7 with its legacy stuff. This way corporations could have their cake and consumers can have their cake. It would certainly be better than the current flavors.. Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate.

 

Now keep in mind... Microsoft made a public beta release, and then closed the doors. There is still beta testing gon gon, but it is only open to the customers in the private beta plan, not the general public. There was a rumor that Micorsoft was going to make another public drop, but I don't know for sure if that is true.

[Elliot]

Travis

 

I was out of 3D for a while (3 yrs)..... Are you the same Travis that used to live in Columbus.... If I am not mistaken you use to do renderings of hospitals....

 

I have read tons of material of people that say the same things you are saying...... My experience with Vista 64 (so far) it is very good. Remember that I mainly do consulting mechanical engineering and my main tool is AutoCAD / REVIT MEP. There is no doubt in my mind that these programs are working much better now, specially on the new workstation (I7-965). My 3D stuff is also working better, that is 3D Max, Revit and Solidworks.

 

Windows 7 does have some glitches that are very obvious...... One of them is the Power Control...... When it goes to hibernation it is more than just going to sleep..... I am having some issues with waking up the machine. The unit it is fast with the few applications that I have loaded. It is just a test machine.....

 

I am aware of the supposed public release thay are going to do on Win 7. On one of the sites they are saying that Microsoft is actually doing a recall. They want the beta testers to remove the OS entirely and just load the new Win 7 version. I have received a few emails from MS but no mention about the previous comments.

 

I noticed your location now says San Francisco..... Your computer name (Homeless) may be more applicable now..... I have a friend that live in San Francisco and he is always complaining about his 1 million dollars, 1,500 sqf apartment (with 2 kids and wife)...... Hi hi hi He moved there from NY.... he claims NY was less expensive....

 

We will see what is going to happen with these OS's..... in the meantime I am happy and I am getting rid of XP on half of the computers.

 

Elliot

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Travis

 

I was out of 3D for a while (3 yrs)..... Are you the same Travis that used to live in Columbus.... If I am not mistaken you use to do renderings of hospitals....

 

I have read tons of material of people that say the same things you are saying...... My experience with Vista 64 (so far) it is very good. Remember that I mainly do consulting mechanical engineering and my main tool is AutoCAD / REVIT MEP. There is no doubt in my mind that these programs are working much better now, specially on the new workstation (I7-965). My 3D stuff is also working better, that is 3D Max, Revit and Solidworks.

 

Windows 7 does have some glitches that are very obvious...... One of them is the Power Control...... When it goes to hibernation it is more than just going to sleep..... I am having some issues with waking up the machine. The unit it is fast with the few applications that I have loaded. It is just a test machine.....

 

I am aware of the supposed public release thay are going to do on Win 7. On one of the sites they are saying that Microsoft is actually doing a recall. They want the beta testers to remove the OS entirely and just load the new Win 7 version. I have received a few emails from MS but no mention about the previous comments.

 

I noticed your location now says San Francisco..... Your computer name (Homeless) may be more applicable now..... I have a friend that live in San Francisco and he is always complaining about his 1 million dollars, 1,500 sqf apartment (with 2 kids and wife)...... Hi hi hi He moved there from NY.... he claims NY was less expensive....

 

We will see what is going to happen with these OS's..... in the meantime I am happy and I am getting rid of XP on half of the computers.

 

Elliot

 

Yep. Same person. We spoke on the phone three or four years ago.

 

I can only speak to the experience I have, which was with Vista32 on a CoreDuo laptop with 256 video memory, and 2 gigs of ram. It is not the most robust machine in the world, but it did ship from Dell with the "Vista Ready" terminology applied to it.

 

Maybe if the machine was ore powerful, I would be fine. But the reports I have initially heard vendors is that 7 is that is runs fast on laptops weaker than mine. Which suggests the MS spent a lot of time optimizing code between Vista and 7, ....or maybe it is just fancy marketing ploy. This is one which time will tell.

 

San Francisco isn't cheap by any means, but from the people I talk to the cost of renting is about half that of New York. One person in particular has a place half the size of mine, but she pays 2.5 time what I do in rent. Though she does live in Manhattan, and I live in Lower Haight. Those aren't exactly markets that compare easily.

Edited April 19, 2009 by Crazy Homeless Guy

[Elliot]

Travis

 

You have moved quite a way...... When I was young I lived in LA and I liked it then.... During those years I used to go a lot to San Francisco it was very nice. Our friend keeps saying to us that we have it made here in Atlanta where housing is so inexpensive.....

 

I think you hit it on the nail.... if you have a powerful computer with lots of ram, the way to go is Vista 64 or Win 7. I have 10 month old very expensive Sager Core2Duo laptop which I have never liked from the very beginning. My old Dell is faster.

 

The Sager has a 2.6 ghz chip with 4 gb of ram and that thing is way to slow. I have complained and complained to Sager. They finally sent to me a return authorization. I will be asking them to change a few things..... among them, probably the video card (Quadro 1700) and the OS from Win XP to Vista 64. I think I can add more memory to this unit. If I can not make it faster my daughter will have a new Laptop and I will get an Apple.

 

 

Perhaps it is too early to make a decision while Microsoft is experimenting. On the other hand I have stretched Windows XP for several years and I am committed not too wait anymore. My clients are making jokes about my slow computers..... Perhaps they are right...!!!

 

 

Elliot

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Perhaps it is too early to make a decision while Microsoft is experimenting. On the other hand I have stretched Windows XP for several years and I am committed not too wait anymore. My clients are making jokes about my slow computers..... Perhaps they are right...!!!

 

While we may not agree on what the best version of Windows OS there is right now, i am looking forward to the release candidate 2 build for May 5th. I think I am going to install it, and give it a go. Providing everything works as well as I have been hearing, then I will be happy. This rc2 build is valid for one year, and if Microsoft releases in October/November this year, then I won't run into a problem with the beta expiring before the official product is released.

 

...or I will be reinstalling XP a couple of weeks after installing 7. Or maybe it would just be smarter to dual boot.

 

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/04/partners-get-windows-7-rc-everyone-else-to-wait-till-may-5.ars

 

 

.

[Tommy L]

Im enjoying reading your discourse. I havent even used a machine with Vista on it yet, same with 7.

I have no problems with XP 64. I am assuming you guys are referring to XP 64 every time you mention Windows XP.....please correct me if that is not the case.

 

I read an interesting observation about Vista, that was "Well, they gave it a name. Big mistake. That just makes it Millenium Edition II".

 

I tend to agree with this. Seems like Vista was a cash cow between XP and 7.

 

But I am not well versed in Windows rhetoric, statistics or tech. Its refreshing to read what you guys wrote, because it seems it was written by users to user, not marketers or tech-heads.

 

I think windows XP 64 already does everything it needs to do. It....operates the system. Know what I mean? However, if its more stable,quicker and doesnt needs to much of a massage, Ill upgrade.

 

Thanks for sharing guys.

[BOXXLABS]

Now that Windows 7 is a fully baked "release candidate" status and not likely to change substantially before being launched to the public, we are starting some in-house testing and performance analysis under typical 3D and VFX workloads.

 

I will be sharing our experiences via regular updates on the blog - http://boxxlabs.blogspot.com/

 

Adam

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

RC1 is out, and is valid for the next year....

 

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Get_Your_Copy_of_Windows_7_RC1

[Ernest Burden III]

Is OpenGL back in W7? Cinema4D is OGL based and runs wonderfully on my nVidia cards under XP. Vista has issues with OGL. I have no Vista, therefor no OGL issues.

 

My laptop is a duocore w/2G also, runs XP and is very happy, very stable. Workstation is XP-64, also stable as could be. Flash doesn't work well in web browsers, but that's about it.

 

I will probably resist W7 for a while, especially over the OpenGL situation--if it doesn't have it built-in like XP.

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Not sure about the OpenGL. I went to install it on my desktop last night, but received a few errors. That has been typical of that machine recently though, not sure why. I am going to upgrade the main hard drive in it tonight, and try again. The main hard drive in that computer is the oldest piece of computer equipment I own, which is surprising since I tend to go through drives fairly quickly. I don't really believe the drive is the main problem with that machine, but it has a 20gig IDE as the C drive, and Windows 7 need something like 13.9 gigs to install.

[BOXXLABS]

Is OpenGL back in W7? Cinema4D is OGL based and runs wonderfully on my nVidia cards under XP. Vista has issues with OGL. I have no Vista, therefor no OGL issues.

 

My laptop is a duocore w/2G also, runs XP and is very happy, very stable. Workstation is XP-64, also stable as could be. Flash doesn't work well in web browsers, but that's about it.

 

I will probably resist W7 for a while, especially over the OpenGL situation--if it doesn't have it built-in like XP.

 

 

Vista and W7 both have full support for OpenGL. Always have - always will....

 

 

**edit** Well to be fair, Vista originally was not going to, but did end up supporting OpenGL from the very first day it shipped.

[Ernest Burden III]

Vista originally was not going to, but did end up supporting OpenGL from the very first day it shipped.

 

Users of Cinema4D have reported OGL problem with Vista, Maxon says its working to fix it. I have no problems like that with XP.

 

As I recall, the issue was less whether Vista would include OpenGL, but at what system level, thereby affecting how fast it would be.

 

I just got a quote from my friendly BOXX sales rep and I note that you still offer XP64 as a choice vs. Vista64.

[BOXXLABS]

I just got a quote from my friendly BOXX sales rep and I note that you still offer XP64 as a choice vs. Vista64.

 

indeed, we do!

[Andrew1]

I so far like the windows 7, works great and multitasking is flawless,

photoshop cs4 opens in 2.5 sec from ram and 10 sec from a cold boot,

3ds max 2009 opens in 26 sec from cold boot and 11 secs from ram,

faster than Vista and much faster than xp x64.

It's a hard switch from xp for sure, but they are implementing win xp interface I guess, although I like the new look and some of the new features, I still would feel more freedom on a xp interface.

In regards to Vista, it works fine , but there are things that seem to be messed up, I noticed a couple of flaws when opening a file with in a folder while in appllication mode, sometimes it's hard to maneuver back and forth within the folders, simply have to hit back my computer and reselect the location of folders starting form primary c-drive and follow up to the target folder.

I think it's great for average home user, but annoying at times when you work at it...

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

It's a hard switch from xp for sure, but they are implementing win xp interface I guess, although I like the new look and some of the new features, I still would feel more freedom on a xp interface.

 

This annoyed me about Vista, XP, Office and now Photoshop. They aren't really new interfaces ass much as "skins" applied over the standard Windows2000/WindowsNT interface. At the root, it is still the same thing, they just applied fancy graphics and animation to it that suck additional resources. Every time my computer bogs down, Office and Photoshop temporarily loose parts of their skin, and I can see the title bars for the 2000/NT interface below.

 

But anyway, I have Windows7 up and running now. I am having problems with larger files being corrupt when I download them, but I have a feeling this is more to do with my hardware or BIOS configuration than it has to do with Windows 7. I say this because I had this corrupt file problem with XP also.

 

I have Aero dialed back to a tamer version right now, just checking to see if I can work with it. Tamer menaing, now tranparencyies, now dro shadows, no extra aniamtions. I am only trying to work with it because all of the softwares are adapting default skins that can't be disabled.

 

I need to upgrade my video car on that machine, so maybe that will help the interace. Well of course it will help with speed of the interface, but my complaint is less about speed, and more about the design and implementation of it. The machine it is on is about 3 years old, but mainly functions as a server, so having a nice video card in it is low priority. I think it currently had a Geforce6600 or somthing like that. I can't remmeber the exact numbers.