If you are a windows-only user, there is stuff to be excited about in Windows 7. If you are an OS X or Linux user, you'll have seen it all already (and done better).

Yeah, unless you want to do any gaming and run certain mainstream or business programs. I also have to disagree with the premise of your statement because it's based entirely on individual preference. I personally am not a huge fan of the OSX layout, so I could say the exact opposite based on my own opinion. In addition, Mac and Linux have never done better in one critical area- Business Networking. Not only are many business applications Microsoft-Only, MS Active Directory is the industry standard and in my opinion can't be beat by either when it comes to features and useability.

options would be good if they didnt charge the hell out of ultimate.. $200 over what ive already paid for home premium seems a lil too expensive..  i like the xp approach.. home, professional. Thts simple and reliable. This new hiearchy of vista and 7 is nothing but hogwash.

It is true that the enterprise IT is pretty much only Windows, or MS. They have invested a lot in solving the problems enterprise IT departments have, and it shows. Linux and OS X really are years behind in that game, but the future is uncertain. There are certain business critical applications that are only available for Windows, and even though web applications are growing in number and coverage, some things can't be done that way. Also, as you noted the AD is the industry standard and though there are serious alternatives for it, it will remain so. So, any vendor wanting to enter the enterprise market pretty much has to work with AD, and while at least OS X has made some strides along that way, it still isn't all what it should be.

As for gaming, the situation is even more pronounced. At least with nearly all enterprise apps you can run Windows in a virtual box and it will work reasonably well, current games will suffer and many will be nearly unplayable.

Are you joking, or did you just not read my response to username2324?? If you look at the retail prices, the difference between Home Premium and Ultimate is $60. If you're talking about the upgrade price of $200 to upgrade to Ultimate, this is to upgrade from any other version, including XP Home or Pro to Vista Ultimate, that's a completely different story. You should buy a PC that already has the version you want installed on it, end of story.

Here is the posted retail pricing from MS's website (NOTE, OEM is easily purchased and much cheaper):

Features	Home Basic	Home Premium	Business	Ultimate
Suggested Retail Price (MSRP)	$199.95	$259.95	$299.95	$319.95

The difference between Home Premium and Ultimate is $60 at retail, between the most basic version (basic) and ultimate is $120. If you go with OEM, the prices are actually very reasonable and you can get Ultimate OEM off the internet for less than $200 (I feel like a damned broken record).

Timmah! said: arsenicazure said: Valkyria00 said: Username2324 said: I would have agreed if they had ditched the dumb Semi-Basic, Basic, Premium, Semi Ultimate, Ultimate, and Professional version scheme. Even though Apple releases a new updated OS every year for $100, atleast every version is the same.   You could always you know......choose the one you want.=P I dont know how the hell options are a problem. OT: Sounds good. I was too late to get into a Win7 beta.=/ I have to settle for a Win7 visual style for now.=P options would be good if they didnt charge the hell out of ultimate.. $200 over what ive already paid for home premium seems a lil too expensive..  i like the xp approach.. home, professional. Thts simple and reliable. This new hiearchy of vista and 7 is nothing but hogwash.   Are you joking, or did you just not read my response to username2324?? If you look at the retail prices, the difference between Home Premium and Ultimate is $60. If you're talking about the upgrade price of $200 to upgrade to Ultimate, this is to upgrade from any other version, including XP Home or Pro to Vista Ultimate, that's a completely different story. You should buy a PC that already has the version you want installed on it, end of story. Here is the posted retail pricing from MS's website (NOTE, OEM is easily purchased and much cheaper): Features Home Basic Home Premium Business Ultimate Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) $199.95 $259.95 $299.95 $319.95 The difference between Home Premium and Ultimate is $60 at retail, between the most basic version (basic) and ultimate is $120. If you go with OEM, the prices are actually very reasonable and you can get Ultimate OEM off the internet for less than $200 (I feel like a damned broken record).

anytime upgrade on my vista home lappy states I NEED TO spend $200 to get vista ultimate.. thats really stupid, end of story.

arsenicazure said: Timmah! said: arsenicazure said: Valkyria00 said: Username2324 said: I would have agreed if they had ditched the dumb Semi-Basic, Basic, Premium, Semi Ultimate, Ultimate, and Professional version scheme. Even though Apple releases a new updated OS every year for $100, atleast every version is the same.   You could always you know......choose the one you want.=P I dont know how the hell options are a problem. OT: Sounds good. I was too late to get into a Win7 beta.=/ I have to settle for a Win7 visual style for now.=P options would be good if they didnt charge the hell out of ultimate.. $200 over what ive already paid for home premium seems a lil too expensive..  i like the xp approach.. home, professional. Thts simple and reliable. This new hiearchy of vista and 7 is nothing but hogwash.   Are you joking, or did you just not read my response to username2324?? If you look at the retail prices, the difference between Home Premium and Ultimate is $60. If you're talking about the upgrade price of $200 to upgrade to Ultimate, this is to upgrade from any other version, including XP Home or Pro to Vista Ultimate, that's a completely different story. You should buy a PC that already has the version you want installed on it, end of story. Here is the posted retail pricing from MS's website (NOTE, OEM is easily purchased and much cheaper): Features Home Basic Home Premium Business Ultimate Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) $199.95 $259.95 $299.95 $319.95 The difference between Home Premium and Ultimate is $60 at retail, between the most basic version (basic) and ultimate is $120. If you go with OEM, the prices are actually very reasonable and you can get Ultimate OEM off the internet for less than $200 (I feel like a damned broken record).   anytime upgrade on my vista home lappy states I NEED TO spend $200 to get vista ultimate.. thats really stupid, end of story.

Ummmm... unless you absolutely NEED to connect to a business network (windows domain) and need keep your multimedia functionality at the same time you don't even have any reason to upgrade to ultimate because Home Premium has all the features you need.  The only people who really have use for Ultimate are generally enthusiasts, so they will buy a PC with Ultimate already on it, or get the OEM version when they build their own PC. You're REALLY grasping at straws here. You obviously have absolutely no clue of the features of any versions, so why are you wasting my time?? I do this for a living, and there's almost never a reason to upgrade to ultimate in the first place for the vast majority of users. Because the upgrade license is all-encompasing and allows also for upgrades from XP, the $200 price tag for the Ultimate upgrade is not at all unreasonable.

Arguing with non-techy people about tech issues is kind of like a arguing with a six year old about sex.

I started this thread to discuss the features, speed, and usability of Windows 7, not to start a freaking pissing match about pricing.

EDIT: Sorry for getting so annoyed about this, people, I haven't had lunch yet today and I get kind of cranky when my blood sugar drops .

Timmah! said: arsenicazure said: Timmah! said: arsenicazure said: Valkyria00 said: Username2324 said: I would have agreed if they had ditched the dumb Semi-Basic, Basic, Premium, Semi Ultimate, Ultimate, and Professional version scheme. Even though Apple releases a new updated OS every year for $100, atleast every version is the same.   You could always you know......choose the one you want.=P I dont know how the hell options are a problem. OT: Sounds good. I was too late to get into a Win7 beta.=/ I have to settle for a Win7 visual style for now.=P options would be good if they didnt charge the hell out of ultimate.. $200 over what ive already paid for home premium seems a lil too expensive..  i like the xp approach.. home, professional. Thts simple and reliable. This new hiearchy of vista and 7 is nothing but hogwash.   Are you joking, or did you just not read my response to username2324?? If you look at the retail prices, the difference between Home Premium and Ultimate is $60. If you're talking about the upgrade price of $200 to upgrade to Ultimate, this is to upgrade from any other version, including XP Home or Pro to Vista Ultimate, that's a completely different story. You should buy a PC that already has the version you want installed on it, end of story. Here is the posted retail pricing from MS's website (NOTE, OEM is easily purchased and much cheaper): Features Home Basic Home Premium Business Ultimate Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) $199.95 $259.95 $299.95 $319.95 The difference between Home Premium and Ultimate is $60 at retail, between the most basic version (basic) and ultimate is $120. If you go with OEM, the prices are actually very reasonable and you can get Ultimate OEM off the internet for less than $200 (I feel like a damned broken record).   anytime upgrade on my vista home lappy states I NEED TO spend $200 to get vista ultimate.. thats really stupid, end of story.   Ummmm... unless you absolutely NEED to connect to a business network (windows domain) and need keep your multimedia functionality at the same time you don't even have any reason to upgrade to ultimate because Home Premium has all the features you need.  The only people who really have use for Ultimate are generally enthusiasts, so they will buy a PC with Ultimate already on it, or get the OEM version when they build their own PC. You're REALLY grasping at straws here. You obviously have absolutely no clue of the features of any versions, so why are you wasting my time?? I do this for a living, and there's almost never a reason to upgrade to ultimate in the first place for the vast majority of users. Because the upgrade license is all-encompasing and allows also for upgrades from XP, the $200 price tag for the Ultimate upgrade is not at all unreasonable.

Ok i just checked the upgrade website again, and they stopped the whole digital licence feature.. instead they mail the DVD to you. so Yea i guess thats bout right since i expect m$ to charge slightly more than what you can find online... I just dont see the sense of "anytime upgrade" though if you can buy an OEM disc for a cheaper price, nearly 40% cheaper if u hunt online.

To the OP: Windows 7 I have installed on my older hp laptop and its defntly faster than vista but not faster than xp, maybe around the same speed.. im going to wait for RC1 till i make a judgement call on that though.. the xp mode is excitin.

you dont have to be a tech geek to realise that MS are trying to milk the maximum amount of money they can with multiple versions.

arsenicazure said: Timmah! said: arsenicazure said: Timmah! said: arsenicazure said: Valkyria00 said: Username2324 said: I would have agreed if they had ditched the dumb Semi-Basic, Basic, Premium, Semi Ultimate, Ultimate, and Professional version scheme. Even though Apple releases a new updated OS every year for $100, atleast every version is the same.   You could always you know......choose the one you want.=P I dont know how the hell options are a problem. OT: Sounds good. I was too late to get into a Win7 beta.=/ I have to settle for a Win7 visual style for now.=P options would be good if they didnt charge the hell out of ultimate.. $200 over what ive already paid for home premium seems a lil too expensive..  i like the xp approach.. home, professional. Thts simple and reliable. This new hiearchy of vista and 7 is nothing but hogwash.   Are you joking, or did you just not read my response to username2324?? If you look at the retail prices, the difference between Home Premium and Ultimate is $60. If you're talking about the upgrade price of $200 to upgrade to Ultimate, this is to upgrade from any other version, including XP Home or Pro to Vista Ultimate, that's a completely different story. You should buy a PC that already has the version you want installed on it, end of story. Here is the posted retail pricing from MS's website (NOTE, OEM is easily purchased and much cheaper): Features Home Basic Home Premium Business Ultimate Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) $199.95 $259.95 $299.95 $319.95 The difference between Home Premium and Ultimate is $60 at retail, between the most basic version (basic) and ultimate is $120. If you go with OEM, the prices are actually very reasonable and you can get Ultimate OEM off the internet for less than $200 (I feel like a damned broken record).   anytime upgrade on my vista home lappy states I NEED TO spend $200 to get vista ultimate.. thats really stupid, end of story.   Ummmm... unless you absolutely NEED to connect to a business network (windows domain) and need keep your multimedia functionality at the same time you don't even have any reason to upgrade to ultimate because Home Premium has all the features you need.  The only people who really have use for Ultimate are generally enthusiasts, so they will buy a PC with Ultimate already on it, or get the OEM version when they build their own PC. You're REALLY grasping at straws here. You obviously have absolutely no clue of the features of any versions, so why are you wasting my time?? I do this for a living, and there's almost never a reason to upgrade to ultimate in the first place for the vast majority of users. Because the upgrade license is all-encompasing and allows also for upgrades from XP, the $200 price tag for the Ultimate upgrade is not at all unreasonable.   Ok i just checked the upgrade website again, and they stopped the whole digital licence feature.. instead they mail the DVD to you. so Yea i guess thats bout right since i expect m$ to charge slightly more than what you can find online... I just dont see the sense of "anytime upgrade" though if you can buy an OEM disc for a cheaper price, nearly 40% cheaper if u hunt online. To the OP: Windows 7 I have installed on my older hp laptop and its defntly faster than vista but not faster than xp, maybe around the same speed.. im going to wait for RC1 till i make a judgement call on that though.. the xp mode is excitin. you dont have to be a tech geek to realise that MS are trying to milk the maximum amount of money they can with multiple versions.

Most businesses have the philosophy to try and make as much money as possible, I've never understood how this is somehow different for MS than other companies. MS charges a lot for some versions of windows, Apple charges a lot for their hardware. It's six of one, a half dozen of the other.

I'm very impressed that an a new OS with more features still runs just as fast on somewhat old hardware as XP. Very impressive IMO.