Windows 7 official pricing released; select pre-orders start tomorrow (6/26/09 - 7/11/09)

[sportage]

Just ordered two copies.
Highly suggest system builders order now, as many as you need (limit 3).
Seems like a no brainer to me @ $49.
And I'll never buy a pre-made pc. I do my own.
So outright purchase is my only option.
THe $49 price brings back bad memories.
Windows ME came out @ $49 also.
Windows ME... Oh the horror...

 

[iCyborg]

I don't really have reasons to move from Vista right away, and I didn't plan to, but I just preordered anyway, it does sound like a great deal...

 

[skriefal]

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY

So I'm assuming that my core i7 supports intel VT as I can see up to 8 threads when I run LinX or Prime 95

You're describing the effects of HT (hyperthreading), not VT. But yes, the i7 should also support VT.

 

[JETninja]

Between a Son and I we bought 4 copies on Home Premium. The RC is running great on my old desktop, look forward to replacing Vista & XP on 3 laptops....plan to build another PC late this year, prob pick up a OEM copy then....

 

[1ManArmY]

Originally posted by: skriefal

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY

So I'm assuming that my core i7 supports intel VT as I can see up to 8 threads when I run LinX or Prime 95

You're describing the effects of HT (hyperthreading), not VT. But yes, the i7 should also support VT.

whups my bad

 

[1ManArmY]

So is the windows XP mode only for documents or will it run old games that are incompatible with Vista? I'm looking at getting the Windows 7 Professional. Does anyone know what they did with dream scene or animated desktops? What version of windows 7 will that be included in or did they do away with that?

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY
So is the windows XP mode only for documents or will it run old games that are incompatible with Vista?

Be sure to check if your CPU supports Intel or AMD virtualization extensions. MOST Intel CPUs on people's desktops do NOT support Intel VT and Windows XP Mode won't be available in W7.

 

[1ManArmY]

I meant to say XP virtual, will it run games or just documents

 

[KeypoX]

Originally posted by: CrookedRain

Originally posted by: KeypoX
my question is why would any one buy this before 7/11?

Because they don't charge you until it ships. You can even cancel your order anytime before then.

well that is a good reason indeed lol

anyone know what the install limit is on this? 2 was vista upgrade i think. I had retail soo i dunno. I mean reinstall after mobo/computer upgrade.

 

[skriefal]

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY
So is the windows XP mode only for documents or will it run old games that are incompatible with Vista? I'm looking at getting the Windows 7 Professional. Does anyone know what they did with dream scene or animated desktops? What version of windows 7 will that be included in or did they do away with that?

Don't expect much from gaming support under XP Mode. It's still emulating an ancient S3 Trio 64 video card. You'll get better performance from the freeware Virtualbox VM software.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: skriefal
Don't expect much from gaming support under XP Mode. It's still emulating an ancient S3 Trio 64 video card. You'll get better performance from the freeware Virtualbox VM software.

I just loaded Tom Clancy Vegas 2 (a fairly recent action game) onto both the W7 partition and the XP Mode partition on an Intel E6300 with 4 GB of RAM. A NVidia GeForce 8600GT card was installed. I gave XP two GB of memory, which is a minimum for Vegas 2.

The loading and playing of Vegas 2 went fine on the Win7 partition.

Under XP (reported as XP SP3), the game install reported that the video card didn't meet the requirements. I finished the install and the updates anyway, but when I went to play, the game reported there was no CDROM containing the game disk. Note that the DVD drive is working fine...the game installed in XP from DVD. So there's disk copy protection issues, too.

Yeah, XP's Device Manager says it's an S3 32/64 Trio video card and a SoundBlaster 16 sound card. If your game will run with those and uses no CD/DVD copy protection, then things will be fine.

Oh, and I tried installing XP Mode on a non-VT Intel E5200. It installed, but refused to run. XP Mode runs fine on a VT-enabled Intel E6300, as described above.

 

[1ManArmY]

Does anyone know what Microsoft did with dream scene or animated desktops? It was a feature in Vista Ultimate just wondering if it will be present in Windows 7 and if so which version?

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY
Does anyone know what Microsoft did with dream scene or animated desktops? It was a feature in Vista Ultimate just wondering if it will be present in Windows 7 and if so which version?

They removed it from Win7, but you can get it working again, if you follow this.

 

[ViRaLRuSh]

Originally posted by: iCyborg
I don't really have reasons to move from Vista right away, and I didn't plan to, but I just preordered anyway, it does sound like a great deal...

I was doing the same...won't install it right away, but the price was right.

 

[Raduque]

So..... what's the OEM prices on this thing?

 

[JessicaD]

Mshan,

For a list of what Windows 7 Home inlcudes compared to Pro please go here: http://tinyurl.com/mkpb53

Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team

 

[mshan]

Hi Jessica:

Any official word on what the upgrade from XP to Windows 7 is going to require?

- previously activated XP install on computer being upgraded to Windows 7? (if so, will this process invalidate current XP key?)
- if doing a clean upgrade, will Windows 7 just require you to put full Windows XP cd into optical drive to verify previous operating system?
- other?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated by all!

 

[postmortemIA]

wow, great job microsoft, pre-order available, yet almost nobody knows for sure whether for upgrade you have to have existing installation or you can do the clean install.

 

[Crow550]

Trying to decide....

7 Pre or Pro?

XP mode in 7 pro is the only advantage to me for older games that didn't run right in Vista....

Why else would $50 more for 7 Pro be worth it? Or should I save $50 and get 7 Pre?

 

[alm4rr]

consensus says xp-comp mode isnt any good for gaming
diff is for ram limit (see other thread)

 

[KeypoX]

so i can't go business to home premium? Are you kiding? I think i have a xp pro license too, could i use that to goto home premium?

Also upgrade is like retail in that you can change motherboard as many times as you like?

Edit: it seems xp can goto any version of 7. But my business can only goto pro, which is really a bitch. I dunno if im gonna buy it yet.

 

[dawks]

For those wondering about gaming in XP Mode, note the XP Mode is essentially a built in version of Virtual PC 2007, with WinXP preinstalled. If you'd like an idea of how it runs, try installing Virtual PC 2007 SP1 on your XP or Vista box, load Windows XP into a virtual machine, and try it that way. This is not a 3D gaming tool (you might be able to get away with Starcraft or old dos type games). Gaming in virtual machines is still very early, and probably won't go to far unless the video cards start offering some sort of more direct access like the processors are doing with Intel-VT and such.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: dawks
For those wondering about gaming in XP Mode, note the XP Mode is essentially a built in version of Virtual PC 2007, with WinXP preinstalled. If you'd like an idea of how it runs, try installing Virtual PC 2007 SP1 on your XP or Vista box, load Windows XP into a virtual machine, and try it that way. This is not a 3D gaming tool (you might be able to get away with Starcraft or old dos type games). Gaming in virtual machines is still very early, and probably won't go to far unless the video cards start offering some sort of more direct access like the processors are doing with Intel-VT and such.

Give virtual box a try. It supports Direct3d in a window using the host OS video card. Also just added OpenGL support for linux which some are using to play windows games inside linux.
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Changelog

 

[Pneumothorax]

So what I'm hearing here is "Save the $50" get the Home Premium?

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: dawks
For those wondering about gaming in XP Mode, note the XP Mode is essentially a built in version of Virtual PC 2007, with WinXP preinstalled. If you'd like an idea of how it runs, try installing Virtual PC 2007 SP1 on your XP or Vista box, load Windows XP into a virtual machine, and try it that way. This is not a 3D gaming tool (you might be able to get away with Starcraft or old dos type games). Gaming in virtual machines is still very early, and probably won't go to far unless the video cards start offering some sort of more direct access like the processors are doing with Intel-VT and such.

Give virtual box a try. It supports Direct3d in a window using the host OS video card. Also just added OpenGL support for linux which some are using to play windows games inside linux.
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Changelog

I'm not especially tech savvy, but it sounds like:
1. there's a very good chance none of my XP games will run properly (and as quickly) on Windows 7 Professional.

2. The Home version of Windows 7 will not run any XP programs.

Can I upgrade from XP Pro to Windows 7 Home Premium?