Purely because we haven’t mentioned it and probably should – er, as above. Should you buy it? Hmmm. It’s pretty good – a far more pleasant desktop environment than Vista, and noticeably nippier in certain areas. But, long story short, it ain’t gonna make a blind bit of difference to your everyday videogaming, unless you’re into running framerate counters at all times and watching ferociously for an occasional 1-3 frames per second difference. If you’re buying a new PC though, make sure it comes with 7 rather than Vista. Oh, and do install the 64 bit version – very few compatibility problems (really old games are the most likely thorns in the ointment) and it means you can use more than 3Gb of RAM.
Of course, knowing our audience, anyone who’s genuinely interested in Win7 has probably been running A Version for months anyway….
Related Stories:
$120 for an upgrade? I rather think not. Oh well — I’m probably going to put together a new PC at some point next year, so I might as well wait. It looks shiny though, and has DX11*. I want it now!
* I don’t even have a video card that supports DX10 properly (first generation of cards with DX10 “support”, i.e.it’ll run in DX10 mode, but you won’t want it to), so I don’t know why that matters.
I’m still waiting on my copy to arrive.
Like hell am I going to download many zillions of bytes over this shitty ADSL connection.
Still, £39 is better than £120 for new. I’m just slightly annoyed how Dad already has his copy, even if it’s only the Home three-computer version, instead of Professional, which I ordered.
And the greatest thing is? I’m not even at University anymore, but my email still works. Win-win!
Those of you reading who have an “.ac.uk” or similar email address
Windows 7 Professional for £30:
http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-uk/default.aspx
Like the last ‘Ultimate steal’ this (I think) is a limited offer. But they have them twice a year or so it seems.
Normally I’d wait until SP1 for a Windows upgrade, but I am tempted by this.
My pre-ordered copies came through yesterday. ~£180 for 2x Home Premium, 1x Pro.
Been running the RC for a few months on a laptop and a desktop. Minor issues notwithstanding, I’ve never had the pleasure of using a version of Windows this agreeable before. 2000 came close, but god does it look long in the tooth now. Great stability – I’ve had it running a game whilst rendering in Daz3D and lots of little things open such as Firefox, Pidgin, Thunderbird and Paint.NET. Takes it all in its stride.
First time in my life I’m happy with an MS OS. o.O
Using Ubuntu on my other PCs though!
I don’t know man, MS-DOS 3.3 was EXCELLENT! 4.0 and later sucked though, so I switched to DR-DOS 6, which I used to first play Quake on! :p
I’ll stick with my Ubuntu thanks, games run just fine through Wine :)
One nice thing about being a computer science student is I get the Professional version for free!
So what’s the deal with 32- vs. 64-bit? Wouldn’t you need a 64-bit processor to take advantage of a 64-bit OS?
All modern processors are 64-bit from the Athlon 64 (clue is in the name) and pentium 4 onwards, 64-bit processors can run 32-bit instructions just fine (no performance hit at all).
That a Computer Science student didn’t know this blatant fact says a lot!
Looks like they don’t hand out free copies based on merit!
In his defence, computer science doesn’t really have anything to do with knowing consumer hardware.
Hey! ;_; I’ll have you all know that my grades are very good.
I may not know which processors are 64- or 32-bit by name, but I certainly understand the difference between the two.
New version of Ubuntu is out in 6 days. WTF is ‘Windows’? :)
Serious question: Why doesn’t RPS cover Linux gaming? ‘PC gaming’ does not necessarily equal ‘Windows gaming’.
It really, really does though.
Windows holding a 90% market share against linux’s 1%.
I like Linux, I really do, even learning to code (starting with python then I’ll go from there) so that I can contribute to it (more in the audio side of things).
Still linux is more for serious use, it’s an amazing under the hood OS, if something needs an OS that no normal user will ever see/touch – Linux is the answer, be that a fridge or a server bank.
But, windows is the only real choice for a gaming system.
Well, yeah. Except that on my Ubuntu laptop I can play World of Goo, WoW, EVE, WAR, Fallout 3, all of Telltale’s games, Quake Live, every flash game ever made, and I could go on. And with more hardware vendors creating native Linux drivers every year, pretty soon there will be zero barrier for games developers who want to port to Linux.
You’re discounting the millions of people who use Linux as their default desktop every single day. That was the stated goal of Ubuntu, which has been around for 5 years now.
RPS is supposed to be all about supporting the indie, the mods, the games people hack together in their basement for no money. You’d think they’d be more supportive of open software. Instead we have 4 reviewers who all run Windows. Just the tiniest bit of variety would be nice.
I love Ubuntu – maybe it’ll be a viable substitute for me one day.
I love Debian, you’re my server beau, Debian!
But Windows == PC Gaming, sorry.
Also – slashdot is thatta way. /snark.
“pretty soon there will be zero barrier for games developers who want to port to Linux.”
You’re forgetting about Direct X, which is an Microsoft thing.
Unless everyone suddenly moves over to openGL, Linux is stuck with running 90% of games through wine, and hoping it works well.
“Well, yeah. Except that on my Ubuntu laptop I can play World of Goo, WoW, EVE, WAR, Fallout 3, all of Telltale’s games, Quake Live, every flash game ever made, and I could go on…”
So I guess this site is covering Linux gaming too.
I am linux user, but I have XP for gamming. If you want to download all the new demos and stuff, It take too much time to fight wine to be able to install these stuff. And If these stuff has DRM or is poorly coded, is a lost battle from the start. After all the pain, I have found that having a XP computer is not the horror. It suck. Windows is pure SHIT as a OS. But for gamming is much better than having any Linux.
K: How about this — when RPS publishes an article about an indie game, they indicate whether there’s also a Linux version for download? They could put little Windows, Mac and Linux icons at the top of each post, so we don’t have to read all about some new game, then go to download it and discover it’s Windows only.
Maybe it’s too much to ask that a PC gaming site acknowledge all PC gamers. Maybe it’s only worth catering to the majority. It just seems a bit ridiculous to have a whole post dedicated to Microsoft’s latest operating system.
Xander: It’s more that trebling the amount of work to do a small heads-up post will just make us not cover any of ‘em.
KG
I think Xander’s overstating things, but it WOULD be nice to know when a game that’s mentioned is available under Linux. I can understand Kieron’s point about not wanting to make things more trouble and, in so doing, end up covering less. Still, when it’s no trouble to know if it runs on other OS’s (as in, when the source that made you aware of the game mentions it) it’d be cool if you passed it along.
The point is though all them games listed, they are windows games that happen to run on linux. Either because the designer was nice enough to provide that or through wine.
Almost all games are for windows, that is a fact.
It’s also true that most linux users are anything but casual computer users – and they should understand it’s often not as simple as “this works on Linux” – What might work on ubuntu may not work on another distro, what works on one guys linux machine might not work on onothers (depending on what hardware they run and the drivers involved) – a game might work but might require a fair bit of work and fiddling to get it to do so.
Anyone using linux as a gaming platform is aware of these problems and should know that if they want answers they need to find them themselves anyway.
This is a gaming blog, about the games, about the content of the games, not about the platform they run on.
Yes it defaults to windows, because the majority of the gaming world defaults to windows.
I’d love for a day where a game just ran, on any OS, or hell a day when games didn’t NEED an OS at all, they ran on their own (ironically probably linux based) OS.
That’s the day where we buy games on a little memory-stick like module, that contains all the drivers, instructions and code needed to run it that just boots from within any OS we happen to be running.
Got to love MSDNAA, I’ve had Windows 7 professional for free from august thanks to my university and MSDNAA :)
We all have, sure you’re not confusing your edition with the Release Candidate?
Windows XP user, reporting in.
By ‘user’ I mean I play videogames in it.
And really, that’s truly the only thing I ever need Windows for nowadays.
If only game developers did the right thing, Windows would truly become just a sad memory for many of us.
Microsoft, thank you, but you can keep your MSDNAA-provided 7 to yourselves.
Price was never the reason I left you.
QFT
I dual-boot Kubuntu with XP, and that covers all my gaming and non-gaming needs. Coincidentally, there’s a bug with that Dragon Age Journeys game that won’t let me sign into EA servers when using windows on either my work machine or home machine. However, when I boot into linux it works fine.
So, when you buy a new computer, remember that you don’t have to buy a pre-built package. Piece it together yourself, save some money, and install any OS you want.
MSDNAA is indeed awesome :D
@Freudian Slip, nope, we got the full professional version when it went RTM. My dept has seen fit to give me 4 copies of pro version for free :)
Yeah i got the Pro version for free on my Computer Networking course too, two copies infact. I heard you can get more (you’re using the MS E-Academy?) but didn’t figure out how. £170 per copy saved though, awesome.
I think I’ll follow my normal philosophy of needing it when my games do.
Not that I’m planning on upgrading for a few years, but how old are the “really old games” in question?
Windows? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.
NO.
Games = Windows.
Got it from MDSNAA too. I’m installing it tomorrow because my laptop has Vista and I can’t take it anymore, but I’ll be keeping XP in my regular (and gaming) computer.
I just hope I can still play X-Com in Windows 7.
Why is it ridiculous? You don't pay per post do you ? :P
I use Windows 7 Pro 64-bit (OEM = $150) on my work/gaming PC and Kubuntu on 2 desktops and one netbook. I’m playing with Karmic Koala RC right now, actually – KDE 4.3 is sweet and the Netbook Edition Preview is fantastic (can’t wait till January). I need 64-bit because I use 12 gigs of RAM. There’s a 3-gig RAMdisk for temp files and small apps and my work involves large 2D & 3D files (which can stay in RAM, thus loading & saving pretty much instantaneously).
For me, Vista or W7 x64 is a work necessity because XP-64 is terrible and some of the programs I use just don’t work reliably (or at all) in Linux (to say nothing of BSD and others). Couple that with the hassle of using WINE (and the fact that my most frequently-played games are in Steam) and I have no aversion whatsoever to using W7.
But why W7 instead of Vista? Because it’s better. Not $150 better, all things considered, but I had been using the RC for a long time and had the money available to snag a license, so I figured I might as well. In terms of outright usability, it’s smoother than NT/XP ever was (Vista was never great, but I needed stable x64 Windows). The interface is cogently designed and I’ve had no driver issues whatsoever. My programs and games have loaded fine and run stably from the outset. What more could I ask for?
tbqh I’ve been considering buying a full-retail copy of W7 to run virtually under Linux, but I’m waiting for A. more monies, B. a stable version of Kubuntu (I hate GNOME), and C. a new Intel SSD (related to A, that one).
The only game that has really complained about Windows 64-bit was naturally King’s Bounty: The Legend, because it said 32-bit only on the box. And, after running the Release Candidate for several months, I’m happy to say that it works better on 7 than it ever did on Vista. On Vista, it would be subject to spontaneous and maddening crashes, but on 7 it would only get the occasional split-second jitter.
The fact that it runs about as fast as XP (and starts up faster) makes it worth the price over Vista. Although, if you’re happy about XP, there’s really not a whole lot that will make it worth purchasing except for a better UI. There’s something nice about slamming a window into the top of your screen to make it maximize.
DOWN WITH MINORITIES.
Apt summary which I agree with. Ain’t gonna bother upgrading but will make sure I get it if/when I get a new PC.
I want Win7 only for the sake of having something new, but I wouldnt pay any more than 30 bucks.
Whenever I see praise for W7 (which I’ve tried), I notice similarities and patterns such that I cannot help but wonder how many of the anonymous heroes, pundits, glitterwhores &c are employees or mercenaries of Microsoft that attented a seminar on propaganda and were told to go out and about on the Internet proclaiming how like much like XP it is (it’s not), and how much it’s better than Vista (it ain’t).
It seems to me that Microsoft hasn’t done anything of note in operating system design since Windows 2000. Who are these people portraying average users raving about the bliss that upgrading from Vista or W7, or whatever, gives them? In the real world many, many people cannot even distinguish between Windows and UNIX as long as you provide them compatible applications.
Are we really expected to believe that granny was freely compelled by some utterly insignificant and invisible change in Windows Se7en to comment on a blog and tell everyone how much like XP it is (it ain’t) and how much better, faster, leaner than Vista it is (it’s not)?
So which is it? That it is not similar to XP, or that its completely different? You seem to be arguing both.
All the early comments have been coming from early adopters, mainly those using the beta or release candidate edition. While I'm sure that there are some elderly folk in amongst them, I don't think we're talking about the kind of person who couldn't tell Windows from Linux. Your conspiracy of a astroturf campaign on the part of Microsoft notwithstanding, I don't think anyone has asked us to believe what you are claiming.
I've also not heard anyone suggesting that W7 is an innovation. Indeed, the phrase I've heard most regularly is 'Vista done right,' hell, the Guardian even ran its review with the headline, "Windows 7 review: like Vista, but good."
So, does any of you nice fella's know of a decent place to buy W7 on the cheap if your not a student?