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Windows 7

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Cats 13 Oct 2009
Since I have an open.ac.uk address I can get a very cheap copy of Windows 7, but I have to choose if I want the 64- or 32-bit version.

Now I want the 64-bit version, but I don't know if the 'embeded XP' will be 64-bit or if it can be 32-bit.

Guess I could setup my 32-bit XP inside VirtualBox, but that has a few drawbacks.
interdit 13 Oct 2009
In reply to Cats:

well, i've just had a very quick look at this for you.

'embedded xp' is not actually an integral part of windows 7.

it is a free downloadable option available on W7 professional and ultimate versions.

you have to download windows 'virtual pc' followed by 'windows XP mode'

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx


sounds like the XP mode virtualisation is 32 bit even on 64 bit W7

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/922-63-windows-mode
Geoffrey Michaels 13 Oct 2009
In reply to Cats:

I've heard that W7 is pretty good in comparison with Vista which I have currently.

Since sound refuses to work on my Ubuntu I might have to get W7.
 The Lemming 13 Oct 2009
In reply to Donald M:

I pre-bought my copy in June for £50 and can't wait till it pops through my letterbox after the 22nd this month.

Yipee
 Dominion 13 Oct 2009
In reply to Donald M:

Your sound problem with ubuntu studio may well be a PulseAudio problem.

Do you have the same problem with a "normal" ubuntu 9.04 Live CD?
Geoffrey Michaels 13 Oct 2009
In reply to Dominion:

Haven't tried Studio yet but have sort of given up with all the hassle it's given me on the normal version. Thanks for all your help though!
 EddInaBox 13 Oct 2009
In reply to Donald M:

I was on the verge of ditching Ubuntu on my Toshiba laptop, among other things the sound didn't work, (although I found a half arsed workaround) back light brightness didn't work, shut-down when the battery was low didn't work. I gave it one last chance and replaced Jaunty Jackalope (9.04) with an early alpha version of Karmic Koala (9.10), pretty much everything has been fixed for me, it's all pretty stable, the current version is a beta release and the full release is due at the end of this month.
Will Phillips 13 Oct 2009
I pre ordered windows 7 pro when it was on offer months back on the ms pre order scheme all in it cost me £78 I was told all windows 7 versions are shipped with both the 32 and 64bit versions so the end user can choose eiter or. Mine arrives here on the 22nd Oct.
In reply to Will Phillips:

Posties permitting of course....
Cats 14 Oct 2009
In reply to Will Phillips:

If you get a Windows 7 CD then you get both 32- and 64- bit versions, but the academic licence is a download and you have to decide which one you want.
 davis.pete 14 Oct 2009
In reply to Cats: You can pay an extra £9 for the academic license and they send you a CD as well. Will this CD also have the choice of both versions?
 dsh 14 Oct 2009
In reply to davis.pete:

I had to choose between 32 and 64. I chose 32 but wish I had gone for 64. It is good though.
 bigbobbyking 14 Oct 2009
In reply to Cats:

What are the pros and cons of 32 and 64? I'm guessing 64bit is more reasource intensive? Why is it better?
 The Lemming 14 Oct 2009
In reply to bigbobbyking:
> (In reply to Cats)
>
> What are the pros and cons of 32 and 64? I'm guessing 64bit is more reasource intensive? Why is it better?


From what I've read 64bit OS's arn't twice as fast as 32 bit OS's but they are faster. They also need more RAM to do their magic number crunching stuff and they can access astronomical amounts of RAM to do thier calculations.

I'm guessing that in a few years software writers will make full use of this new amount of RAM along with all the cores thrown onto a Processor. However even my first PC of 6 years ago had a 64Bit processor but I never used those capabilities.

Linux dudes can look down on us Windoz peeps in the full knowledge that they've had 64bit OS's for ages.
 Jaffacake 14 Oct 2009
In reply to Donald M:

I've been running the proper version of windows 7 for about 6 weeks now (msdnaa is awesome) and it's a massive improvement on vista, although it's been a while since I've used vista (I switched as soon as the 7 beta came out and found that much better than I'd found vista.

I'm on 32-bit, my processor is 64-bit but I was advised of having compatibility issues with 64 bit so just stuck with 32.
Cats 14 Oct 2009
In reply to Jaffacake:

That's why I want a 32-bit XP for compatibility! BTW found the MS web page ambiguous. Guess I'll find out when I try...
 The Lemming 15 Oct 2009
In reply to Cats:

If you install the 64bit Windows 7 and then find that it does have issues can you re-install the 32 bit version?

Or would you have to buy a new licence?
 Mr.Ric 15 Oct 2009
If you've got a 64bit processor no reason not to get 64bit windows, the driver problems were years ago.
 Dominion 15 Oct 2009
In reply to Mr.Ric:

> If you've got a 64bit processor no reason not to get 64bit windows, the driver problems were years ago.

Well, more that if you have old peripherals that are discontinued, then they won't have 64-bit drivers for them. 64-bit windows depends on manufacturers writing 64-bit drivers.

If you have all recent stuff, then it shouldn't be an issue.

And, for what it's worth, last time I looked, everybody's favourite "free for personal use" firewall - ZoneAlarm - didn't work on 64-bit Windows (Vista).

Although it looks as though they've fixed that for Vista and W7, but not XP 64-bit.

http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-gb/system-requirements-zonealarm-produ...

Cats 17 Oct 2009
In reply to Dominion:
<snip>

They seem to have now:
Microsoft® Windows® 7:

Please note: ZoneAlarm is “Windows 7 Ready” – compatible with Windows 7 when it is released. Once Windows 7 is officially released by Microsoft, customers with valid ZoneAlarm subscriptions will receive a free compatibility update. For those who wish to run ZoneAlarm on pre-released versions of Windows 7, note that the Antivirus and Hard Drive Encryption components of ZoneAlarm are not officially supported.

32-bit / 64-bit , 2 GB RAM
2 GHz or faster processor
250MB of available hard-disk space
Cats 17 Oct 2009
In reply to The Lemming:
> (In reply to Cats)
>
> If you install the 64bit Windows 7 and then find that it does have issues can you re-install the 32 bit version?
>
> Or would you have to buy a new licence?

Suspect I would have to get a 32-bit CD from somewhere (probably another OU person) and could then re-install with the original key.

KevinD 17 Oct 2009
In reply to Cats:

> Suspect I would have to get a 32-bit CD from somewhere (probably another OU person) and could then re-install with the original key.

i believe the cd contains both variants.
 Dominion 17 Oct 2009
In reply to dissonance:

> i believe the cd contains both variants.

With Vista, the DVD has all varieties of either the 64-bit, or 32-bit on it, but not both.

The Licence number determines which version you can install and activate You can install any version, the key is specific to the version you bought, though.

No idea if W7 is the same, though.

||-)
 The Lemming 17 Oct 2009
In reply to Dominion:
> (In reply to dissonance)
>
> [...]
>
> With Vista, the DVD has all varieties of either the 64-bit, or 32-bit on it, but not both.
>
> The Licence number determines which version you can install and activate You can install any version, the key is specific to the version you bought, though.
>
> No idea if W7 is the same, though.
>
> ||-)


I have been assured by an e-mail from Argos that the Windows 7 DVD will have both 32 and 64 bit operating systems on it. However I'm not holding my breath too much on that score and will just have to wait and see. But what ever happens I'm choosing the 64bit version.
KevinD 17 Oct 2009
In reply to Dominion:

looking at the various sites to refresh my memory, none are distinguishing between 32 and 64 bit on order (with amazon saying both are included).
so suspect they decided to keep it easier this time and just make both available. Which would make sense after Vista's 600000 different variants went down so well.
KevinD 19 Oct 2009
In reply to dissonance:

and since pc world messed up and sent me my copy early i can say for certain it contains both 32 and 64 bit version.
now to get round to installing it.
Clauso 19 Oct 2009
In reply to Cats:

The binary abortion that was Windows Vista has driven me into the arms of Linux. I'm running openSUSE 11.1 at home and so far so good; I'm very pleased with it. Fast, reliable and free. I had to overcome a couple of issues with hardware detection, but there's plenty of help available on t'interweb for that sort of thing. At present, I really don't see why I should fork out good money for the next offering from Redmond. I'm delighted to say that I've defenestrated Windows.
Cats 20 Oct 2009
In reply to Clauso:

Well that got your feelings about Vista off your chest and I'm glad you are happier now, but changing to Linux isn't an option for me.

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