Well, folks, I got sucked into the Windows 7 craze and, when it was required to update the kid's 14-year-old Dell, I not only opted for another Dell, but an over-built Dell 9000 (with 8G of RAM), including Windows 7.
$2200 and nearly two months later, my Dell 9000 Intel i7-920-equipped finally arrived at my doorstep. (Included in that price was a complete and official version of Windows 7 Home Premium, as I did not want to deal with any of Dell's pre-loaded bloatware - which I had to purchase for an additional $200, plus the additional SATA HDD).
After installing a new HDD, the fresh box of Windows 7 only required about 22 minutes to load - along with all requisite drivers. So far, so good - very Mac-like!
Here's the rub:
>Forget video editing; after $300 of additional software (Adobe Premier Elements, Dazzle, Microsoft Live etc.), all apps are unusable, in that they either quit unexpectedly or won't work with anything 64-bit.
>Want to create multiple users between yourself and others? You can, but forget about quick user switching; it takes quite a while to switch from one user to another...so what's the point?
>I'll never know whether or not that expensive quad-core i7-920 is all that fast, as I've never been able to really put it to work at anything other then web browsing or on-line gaming.
>I'm sure that given any single program, this machine is probably fast - but starting and/or shutting down multiple applications takes several minutes of HDD churning before I can even use them; so what's the point of a fancy microprocessor?
>With regard to Windows 7: Lots of improvements here, with the quick installation, automatic installation of all drivers, and so far no blue screens of death. (Oh wait. My 2006 Mac Pro has done that all along... /rant off) And yeah, I really like the new tricks of wiggling and dragging windows here and there. But instead of Exposé, I get this half-throttled 'peek' that merely tells me where the OUTLINE of open windows are, without a way to choose any of them. Lack of a true Exposé is nearly a deal-killer for me.
>While I can get dozens of programs for anything from photos, videos, and audio, they all seem to have the same 'flavor' - which is not very good. No doubt with a Mac, the amount of software may be limited, but it's all useable stuff, which is key - if one doesn't use it, it shouldn't even be on one's HDD in the first place IMHO.
Moral of the Story
My intent here is not to bash Microsoft; I made the decision to purchase what I purchased and I'll stand by my decision; I think both Microsoft and Dell have a good product here, although not necessarily "insanely great". In addition, the kids are delighted, with a good gaming machine as well as a great way to get their homework done. It's just that I believe I could've accomplished this with half of the funds by opting for the cheapest Dell - that's all, as we've always had both a Mac as well as a PC in our home.
If this can aid anyone here with a purchasing decision, be my guest. Comments welcome!
$2200 and nearly two months later, my Dell 9000 Intel i7-920-equipped finally arrived at my doorstep. (Included in that price was a complete and official version of Windows 7 Home Premium, as I did not want to deal with any of Dell's pre-loaded bloatware - which I had to purchase for an additional $200, plus the additional SATA HDD).
After installing a new HDD, the fresh box of Windows 7 only required about 22 minutes to load - along with all requisite drivers. So far, so good - very Mac-like!
Here's the rub:
>Forget video editing; after $300 of additional software (Adobe Premier Elements, Dazzle, Microsoft Live etc.), all apps are unusable, in that they either quit unexpectedly or won't work with anything 64-bit.
>Want to create multiple users between yourself and others? You can, but forget about quick user switching; it takes quite a while to switch from one user to another...so what's the point?
>I'll never know whether or not that expensive quad-core i7-920 is all that fast, as I've never been able to really put it to work at anything other then web browsing or on-line gaming.
>I'm sure that given any single program, this machine is probably fast - but starting and/or shutting down multiple applications takes several minutes of HDD churning before I can even use them; so what's the point of a fancy microprocessor?
>With regard to Windows 7: Lots of improvements here, with the quick installation, automatic installation of all drivers, and so far no blue screens of death. (Oh wait. My 2006 Mac Pro has done that all along... /rant off) And yeah, I really like the new tricks of wiggling and dragging windows here and there. But instead of Exposé, I get this half-throttled 'peek' that merely tells me where the OUTLINE of open windows are, without a way to choose any of them. Lack of a true Exposé is nearly a deal-killer for me.
>While I can get dozens of programs for anything from photos, videos, and audio, they all seem to have the same 'flavor' - which is not very good. No doubt with a Mac, the amount of software may be limited, but it's all useable stuff, which is key - if one doesn't use it, it shouldn't even be on one's HDD in the first place IMHO.
Moral of the Story
My intent here is not to bash Microsoft; I made the decision to purchase what I purchased and I'll stand by my decision; I think both Microsoft and Dell have a good product here, although not necessarily "insanely great". In addition, the kids are delighted, with a good gaming machine as well as a great way to get their homework done. It's just that I believe I could've accomplished this with half of the funds by opting for the cheapest Dell - that's all, as we've always had both a Mac as well as a PC in our home.
If this can aid anyone here with a purchasing decision, be my guest. Comments welcome!
It reminds me of why I hate Office 2007's interface on my XP machine...
