Thank you for the advice, blackaeronaut. I already knew how I'd go about the upgrade (having done similar tasks before), but the insight into Win7
compatibility was good to have. If anything, though, it convinced me to delay getting Win7 even more. Confused?
Let's just say that every compatibility issue you've brought up is more than a minor hurdle to me. I use Daemon Tools (which I've never had a
problem with- never- in ~7 years of use) and Magic Disk both on a near-daily basis. Losing those programs would be a
major blow.
Second, you mentioned that some programs aren't compatible because they're "old as dirt". I'm an avid retro-gamer. I play the original
X-COM every few months, just beat Kings' Quest 6 for the first time, have been meaning to finally beat Simon the Sorcerer, and play Doom nearly every week.
I still have my original install disk for Rebel Assault. Old games are one of my favorite things to collect and play. XP can play anything (except
MechWarrior 4 and the Journeyman Project) I want to play. Vista... well, I still can't get X-COM to work in any decent form, and Alpha Centauri won't
even start. I hold no hopes of Win7 being better- if anything, it'll be much worse.
I haven't gone to 64-bit for much the same reason. Most 16-bit programs are literally incapable of running there, and I have a ton of those.
Win7 doesn't have anything to offer me to make up for this, either. Vista's looks? I have my XP set up to look like that already. Faster than Vista?
XP already is. DirectX 10? They might as well call it DirectX 9.1- it doesn't do anything really noticeable that I can see. Libraries? I have my own
storage scheme I use- it does everything I need it to, confuses everybody else, and forces me to know what I have where, which I see as a bonus, since it makes
me think. One of the things I made a point of doing with the recent wipe was updating my "Utilities and System" folder- my equivalent to your
"Archives". Better search functions? I barely use what XP has, and usually kill the search-indexing processes to save memory. Touch-screen
support? Don't make me laugh. The new toolbar? I don't even use the XP one- I still use the Classic toolbar, which Win7 doesn't have.
Compatibility with Vista-only games? Maybe this will convince me eventually, but at the moment, the only game I know of on the list is Halo 2, which I
don't like.
Given all that, why would I go to the effort of nuking the fresh XP install I just finished setting up, only to find that it won't do what I want, and be
forced to nuke it again and reinstall XP? When Win7 comes out, I'll add more RAM to my laptop, Mephistopheles (named because it came with Vista and
doesn't have XP drivers available for its snazzier features (like the DVD remote and touch-panel volume control, making its continued XP-free existence a
devil's bargain for me), and upgrade it to Win7. Until then, it's not worth my time.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
compatibility was good to have. If anything, though, it convinced me to delay getting Win7 even more. Confused?
Let's just say that every compatibility issue you've brought up is more than a minor hurdle to me. I use Daemon Tools (which I've never had a
problem with- never- in ~7 years of use) and Magic Disk both on a near-daily basis. Losing those programs would be a
major blow.
Second, you mentioned that some programs aren't compatible because they're "old as dirt". I'm an avid retro-gamer. I play the original
X-COM every few months, just beat Kings' Quest 6 for the first time, have been meaning to finally beat Simon the Sorcerer, and play Doom nearly every week.
I still have my original install disk for Rebel Assault. Old games are one of my favorite things to collect and play. XP can play anything (except
MechWarrior 4 and the Journeyman Project) I want to play. Vista... well, I still can't get X-COM to work in any decent form, and Alpha Centauri won't
even start. I hold no hopes of Win7 being better- if anything, it'll be much worse.
I haven't gone to 64-bit for much the same reason. Most 16-bit programs are literally incapable of running there, and I have a ton of those.
Win7 doesn't have anything to offer me to make up for this, either. Vista's looks? I have my XP set up to look like that already. Faster than Vista?
XP already is. DirectX 10? They might as well call it DirectX 9.1- it doesn't do anything really noticeable that I can see. Libraries? I have my own
storage scheme I use- it does everything I need it to, confuses everybody else, and forces me to know what I have where, which I see as a bonus, since it makes
me think. One of the things I made a point of doing with the recent wipe was updating my "Utilities and System" folder- my equivalent to your
"Archives". Better search functions? I barely use what XP has, and usually kill the search-indexing processes to save memory. Touch-screen
support? Don't make me laugh. The new toolbar? I don't even use the XP one- I still use the Classic toolbar, which Win7 doesn't have.
Compatibility with Vista-only games? Maybe this will convince me eventually, but at the moment, the only game I know of on the list is Halo 2, which I
don't like.
Given all that, why would I go to the effort of nuking the fresh XP install I just finished setting up, only to find that it won't do what I want, and be
forced to nuke it again and reinstall XP? When Win7 comes out, I'll add more RAM to my laptop, Mephistopheles (named because it came with Vista and
doesn't have XP drivers available for its snazzier features (like the DVD remote and touch-panel volume control, making its continued XP-free existence a
devil's bargain for me), and upgrade it to Win7. Until then, it's not worth my time.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.