Well, w/ only about 2 days 'til Windows 7 is 'Official' I feel like sharing some thoughts; maybe nothing earth-shattering, new or unique but, I feel like babbling a wee bit, anyway. And, by the way, this is in no particular order.I write in 4 tech forums, 2 focusing on Windows 7. I have contact & conversations w/ (my) clients, colleagues and general End Users/consumers. I've lived through a few Operating Systems and beta tested Vista & Windows 7 for Microsoft. I read a lot of IT news and comments (both negative & positive). Certainly what is in 'forums' very much reflects the realities people are encountering & trying to address and understand.I feel this is an exciting "Milestone", moment, time for both IT Pros & End Users. Personally, after 98, I really liked XP and things went quite nicely w/ it, for me. I can say the same about Vista. Knowing Vista from the inside out before it was released I appreciated it as a positive progression and I, myself, never had any real problems w/ it. Others, apparently, either ran into difficulties or were sucked into hearsay & negative hype. Various fault has been found or thrown @ Vista but, really what started it was, in my mind, not Vista. When people discovered things lacked compatability Vista was blamed... I blamed 3rd Party vendors & manufacturers. The compatability issues became less as time went by but, peoples' skewed attitude did not.Also, many, definately those clinging to XP, like babies to soothers, don't get why Windows 7 is here (now). XP is nearly 10 yrs old and its mainstream support is done. Life-cycle for OSs is 3-5 yrs. Vista came later than it should have & that largely makes Windows 7 seem like a surprise, timewise, to some folks. OR that it Windows 7 only has been built cus people don't/didn't like Vista and that is just not the case. It is true Windows 7 has addressed much of why people have been bashing Vista. Point is, because IT moves forward, hopefully progressing in positive ways, responding to needs & demands & evolving "standards" does not mean what came before was bad or suddenly becomes bad. However in this case we do have something good; a few things new or different which, would be no surprise. Better than previous gets very subjective and almost meaningless cus (1) that was then, this is now & (2) cus, backward comparisions aside, what is now is damn good. Windows 7 is impressive. Right now, aided by MS making betas publically available, 2 things have resulted. People got to 'taste' Windows 7 & get excited about it or we have garnered a bunch of confusion about migrating to Windows 7. Likely once the dust settles the IT landscape will be a better, nicer place to play. It truly makes it tough for both IT Pros & End Users when opinion is misguided and makes itself the enemy. As an IT consultant I am looking forward to having fun getting Users set up w/ Windows 7. Whether they are (finally) moving away from XP or leaving Vista (either cus 7 is so cool or just cus they think or have heard Vista is so horrid) I am expecting that bringing Windows 7 to people will go well and smoothly so I can find it rewarding sharing enthusiasm. It, also, sounds like the 3rd Parties are on the ball better this time which, absolutely will help, a lot!Again, I'll apologize for not answering as much or helping as much as I may have liked in forums... it is, sometimes, such a struggle to offer more when my own Windows 7, both x86 & x64 have been basically trouble-free.I anticipate hearing (more) good about Windows 7, after Oct. 22 and not having people 'fight it' as they did w/ Vista... I pray this is how it goes w/ Windows 7.Thanks for listening.Regards,DrewDrew - MS Partner / MS Beta Tester / Pres. Computer Issues

Bump Bump Bump Exciting that win7 is finally released! Am holding my launch party tomorrow (why do it thurs. night???) and glad that I can show off an OS that is faster than Vista and can finally rival or surpass XP (the moment we've all been waiting for...). For example one of my party PCs, my "primary home or business PC" (quote from MS about w7 RC installation) 4 year old PC decked out to show off game performance in XP and win7 (it isn't the best game PC in the world but it's what my budget allows), actually does better with my game (NFS Undercover) in win7 than XP. In XP I have to turn off the smoke effects to keep the framerate up, yet win7 does fine with the smoke effects. Once again exciting that MS has finally made an OS that rivals and surpasses XP with its performance...Hello! Please reply back, promptly if possible with the results to solutions to your problem!- JoelbXJoelbX's favorite threads | Skydrive | Cool 'gadget' programs: Download or Visit websitesStuff for win7 launch party hosts