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20 Essential Tips Every Ubuntu User Should Know

Will Kraft — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:30:00 -0600

So you've read our Complete Beginner's Guide to Linux and have decided to adopt an open-source operating system--congratulations! But diving right into a new OS is daunting, even if it is as polished and stable as Ubuntu. That's OK though, because we're here to help. We've compiled a list of the 20 most important skills that every Ubuntu user should have. These tips, ranging from basic GUI manipulation to advanced system recovery, are essential to your Windows-free computing experience. Whether you've just installed Ubuntu for the first time or have been a Linux acolyte for years, you'll want to read our refresher. And if you have any tips you can't live without, we'd love to hear about them in the comments section!

Turn Your Audio Up to 11

The sound dialog menu has been a staple in every version of Ubuntu (and GNOME in general) for many years, but in 9.10 it has received a significant overhaul and no longer resembles a traditional mixer. Previously, the maximum volume of a system was determined by hardware and other factors and could not be easily exceeded on a system-wide level. This was sometimes a problem, since the maximum volume of a system could be well below what the hardware could actually deliver. In 9.10, the volume slider has been modified to boost audio up to roughly 150%, so it is now possible to compensate for any discrepancy. However, you should be careful with this feature—you could potentially damage your speakers if you exceed their limits. (Generally, the volume is too loud if there is distortion.)

Ubuntu 9.10 also features a new ability to choose between several different sound themes for various system events. This feature was present in older versions, but is greatly refined in 9.10.

Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

Ubuntu offers extensive keyboard shortcut functionality, including support for some of the keys on multimedia keyboards. These are often detected and appropriately bound out of the box, so there is no need to assign them manually. Keyboard shortcuts are managed through the appropriately named entry in the Preferences sub-menu. To create a new keyboard shortcut combination, scroll down to the desired action in the list and click on the existing combination. When the current entry switches to “new shortcut...” press the new key combination you want to use for that action. To cancel the change, left-click on “new shortcut...”.

Control Your System Remotely with Nautilus

Ubuntu features a powerful file manager called Nautilus that is closely integrated into GNOME. This tool allows you to work with local files in an intuitive interface, but it also has remote-connection capabilities comparable to what can be found in an FTP client. In addition to regular FTP access, it provides a graphical interface for SSH-based remote access to other Linux/Unix systems and support for browsing shared folders on Windows systems on the network.

This functionality is accessed through the “Connect to Server” option in Ubuntu's Places menu. The dialog box allows you to select a protocol, location, user name, (and password, if necessary) and port number. Once you have established a connection, the remote server will be accessible through a folder and can be used and unmounted like any type of storage media.

Customize Your UI with Desktop Compositing

If you have a video card (or even an onboard video chipset) you can turn on various desktop effects with a utility called Compiz Fusion. (We covered Compiz Fusion in depth in a previous article.) Although it is possible to fine-tune the performance of these desktop effects with Compiz-Config Settings Manager (CCSM), Ubuntu also features a built-in interface with several preset functions. This is located on a tab called Visual effects in the Appearance dialog (reached through the Preferences sub-menu under System). There are three preset options: none, normal (a moderate level of effects), and Extra (massive levels of eye candy). If you use CCSM instead, none of the presets will be selected.

Boot and Install Ubuntu from a USB Stick

Most people have several old low-capacity USB sticks lying around that they no longer use in favor of higher-capacity sticks that have become increasingly affordable. An ideal use for an older stick with a capacity of 1 GB or less is as a boot medium for a Linux distro. (At least 700 MB capacity is required.) If your BIOS supports USB booting, it is possible to create an installation stick for Ubuntu instead of a more traditional CD. USB sticks have the advantage of being reusable with later versions, so you won't eventually end up with a big pile of obsolete installation discs. USB sticks can also be used to store data files from the live session, using extra space that has been set aside for that purpose. (Files created during a normal liveCD session are usually destroyed at shutdown because a temporary ramdisk is used to store them.) External hard drives may be used to boot from as well, but USB sticks are much more practical for the purpose.

To create your own USB stick, open the USB Startup disk Creator in the administration sub-menu. You will need to provide an Ubuntu ISO or CD as a source medium, so make sure you have that on hand before you begin. The Disk Creator tool will not accept other distros (and you can't fool it by renaming any other ISO image to “ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso” or something to that effect), so you will still have to use UNetbootin to create USB sticks for non-Ubuntu distros.

Sweep Away Old Files

Although Linux systems do not routinely accumulate obsolete files, it still happens on installations that have been upgraded a few times. Sometimes, old software packages may be left behind during the Ubuntu upgrade process (although the upgrade utility has a stage where obsolete packages are removed) and Ubuntu has a utility called Computer Janitor that allows you to deal with them. This tool keeps a tally of all old and/or deprecated packages on your system and makes recommendations for removal. This tool is located in the Administration sub-menu.

Find the Right Hardware Drivers

Unlike many other distros, Ubuntu has a special utility called Hardware Drivers (sometimes called Restricted Drivers). This utility will search your system for any hardware that needs proprietary drivers to function under Linux and will make these drivers available for download if possible. The Hardware Drivers manager can handle various types of hardware, including Nvidia video cards/chipsets, Broadcom wireless, and more. The Hardware Drivers tool is located in the Administration sub-menu.

To activate a driver, highlight its entry in the list and click the Activate button. If there is more than one driver available for a device, you should choose the recommended version. The Hardware Drivers manager will then acquire and enable the driver for you. In most instances, a reboot is necessary before a driver becomes fully active.

Get NTFS Compatibility

The NTFS-Config tool auto-detects NTFS-based partitions and sets a new mount point for them in /media. To enable support for a device, check the box next to it when it is detected. Once mount points for all devices have been set, you are able to enable or disable write support on internal and external NTFS devices with one click. To enable NTFFS write support on your system, install ntfs-config: “sudo apt-get install ntfs-config”. From that point on, you can access it through the Administration sub-menu.

Manually Run Programs

Many times, you will need to run a program and it may not be in the Applications menu. Normally, you would have to open a terminal and launch the program from there, but there is an easier way. By pressing ALT and F2, you can initiate a Run dialog that allows you to launch a program (with any necessary switches/options) without having to bind it to a terminal.

By default, programs launched with this method run with your own account's permission levels, but it is possible to launch programs that need superuser permissions by running “gksu $program”. Gksu is a frontend for Sudo that allows temporary privilege escalation. You can also view a full list of programs (hidden by default) and populate the run dialog with them by clicking on the list entry. Both native and Wine programs will appear in the list.

Gksu has its own benefits as well. Although it defaults to root, running gksu by itself will produce a dialog that shows a list of ALL users and services. You may then launch a program from any account.

Handy Window Tricks

Ubuntu offers many options for working with open windows. Some require compositing to be enabled while others will still work on non-accelerated systems:

• To shade a window, (i.e. hide all but the title bar) ensure that compositing effects are enabled and move your pointer to the title bar. To hide a window, scroll up with your mouse wheel. To show the window again, scroll down.

• Sometimes, it is necessary to keep a window on top of the others even when it loses focus. To do this, right-click on the title bar and select the “Always On Top” checkbox. To restore normal behavior, clear the checkbox by clicking on it again.

• Since Ubuntu and most other distros have support for multiple desktops, (also called workspaces) it is convenient to allocate open programs between them to keep things from getting too crowded on your monitor. To move a program to a different desktop, right-click on the title bar and select either “Move to Workspace Left/Right” or “Move to Another Workspace”. Furthermore, it is possible to drag windows from one desktop to another using the mouse if certain compositing effects are enabled.

Import Documents from Windows

When you are setting up a dual-boot system with Ubuntu, it is possible to import your documents and settings (web browser favorites, etc.) During installation, Ubiquity (the Ubuntu installer) will detect any Windows partitions that exist on the system and will present you with an opportunity to migrate your settings to Ubuntu. By expanding the list, you are able to pick and choose which parts of the system to import (selecting the main checkbox will import all of them).

Encrypt Your Home Directory

Home directory encryption is a feature that was introduced in Ubuntu 9.04. During installation you have the option of checking a box in the setup utility that will cause your home directory to be encrypted automatically. This will help prevent your files from being compromised. Encryption/decryption is automatically handled behind the scenes, so you don't need to worry about securing your files manually. On the first boot after setting up an encrypted home directory, you will be prompted to learn the master password for your home directory. (To view it again, run the “encryptfs-unwrap-passphrase” command.) This master encryption password is automatically generated by Ubuntu and is NOT your login password. You will need this master password to recover your files if you are not able to boot normally, so store a hard copy of it in a safe place.

Dual Boot with Wubi

Although preparing a traditional dual-boot system is easier and safer than ever, Ubuntu has a completely zero-risk way of doing it, thanks to a tool called Wubi. Unlike a conventional tool that repartitions your system and replaces the bootloader (arguably the most dangerous parts of dual-booting), Wubu creates a virtual file-system that piggybacks on top of Windows. Wubi then reconfigures Windows' own bootloader to be able to boot into a normal Ubuntu environment. Unlike a LiveCD, a Wubi installation is fully functional apart from a few features such as hibernation. Furthermore, a Wubi installation can be completely uninstalled from within Windows like any other program, whereas a conventional dual-boot configuration cannot.

Modify Software Sources

Most software for Ubuntu is made available through online repositories. The available repositories are managed through a file in /etc/apt called sources.list. While it is possible to edit this file manually, (many experienced users prefer this method) newer users may be more comfortable with Ubuntu's Software Sources tool (located in the Administration sub-menu). This front end splits the various repositories listed in sources.list into categories to make them easier to identify and manage. The tool allows you to check/uncheck boxes for the official Ubuntu repositories and easily add GPG keys used for repository authentication.

Smooth Out Fonts

Ubuntu supports font anti-aliasing similar to Microsoft's ClearType. This feature (found as a tab on the appearance tool in the Preferences sub-menu) smoothes out screen fonts in Ubuntu, making them easier to read. There are several presets to choose from, each producing a different effect:

• None/Monochrome: Quite unsightly. There is no conceivable reason to use this, but it does allow you to disable anti-aliasing altogether.

• Best shapes: This focuses on presenting characters most accurately and with a moderate amount of anti-aliasing.

• Best contrast: This attempts to provide the best character contrast with less anti-aliasing. This generally looks similar to Best Shapes except at very large font sizes.

• Sub-Pixel Smoothing: This heavily anti-aliased mode is specifically designed for use with LCD displays. It produces the smoothest-looking type but tends to make fonts appear bolder than they would otherwise.

Install Packages Yourself

Ubuntu uses automated package management to handle most software installation and maintenance, so it is very seldom necessary to download and install packages yourself. If you ever have to do this, there is a front end that makes the process much easier than it would be otherwise. Once you have the package (deb) that you want to install, double-click on it from within Nautilus to bring up the Gdebi package installation tool. This tool will install the package for you and will also resolve dependencies.

Once a package has been installed, it can be further managed or removed with the regular package management system.

Restart the GUI

Although the GUI (Xorg) in Linux is quite resilient, there are still instances where it may crash (however, a crash will not bring the whole system down). In most cases if there is a problem, the GUI should restart by itself, but if all else fails it is possible to start it manually (assuming that your system is still configured correctly). To restart the GUI properly and return to the Ubuntu login screen, log into your account (if you have not already done so) and run “sudo gdm”.

Set Up Recovery Mode

Ubuntu's recovery mode (accessible through the GRUB menu) has several tools that are designed to help you recover from various problems. Each tool is presented in a list with a brief description of what it does. You can fix broken packages, get a root command prompt, attempt to repair a broken GUI system, etc.

Dual-boot systems will always show the GRUB menu to let you choose your operating system for that session, but single-boot systems will just load Ubuntu automatically. If the GRUB menu is not displayed on startup, press ESC quickly (and repeatedly, if necessary) immediately after power-on to force the GRUB list to display.

The Ubuntu GRUB menu also has the memtest86+ utility for RAM testing. If you often get random crashes or kernel panics, faulty memory may be the cause of the problem.

Turn on a Firewall

Even though Ubuntu does not need anti-virus and anti-malware utilities, a firewall is still beneficial because it allows you to fine-tune your network settings and limit which programs may communicate freely with the Internet. Linux has a firewall management tool called iptables, but it can be rather difficult to work with it directly. Fortunately, there is a tool called Firewall Builder that is capable of configuring iptables based on parameters you specify. The tool is far too complex to cover in a simple tip such as this, but it allows you to set firewall rules and manage device and service behavior. It is best used by network administrators who know what they are doing.

To install Firewall Builder, run “sudo apt-get install fwbuilder”.

Use Remote Desktop

Ubuntu offers extensive remote desktop functionality out of the box. Using the Vinagre tool, you can access other Linux boxes on your network through VNC. (Windows support is planned through RDP in future releases.) To launch Vinagre, run the Remote Desktop Viewer utility located in the Internet sub-menu of Applications. To configure how Vinagre can interact with your system, modify the Remote Desktop Preferences located in the Preferences sub-menu.

Play Windows Games in Ubuntu

Although the various Linux distributions have a wide variety of software available, you may have a few Windows programs that you may not be willing or able to part with. Although many people dual-boot or use virtual machines to get around this problem, there is yet another potential option that many people new to Linux may not have considered--- Wine. Wine stands out from the other options because it does not require a separate Windows license. Check out our Wine guide here!

Is Apple Trying to Convert Wannabe Windows 7 Pirates?

Ryan Whitwam — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:17:45 -0600

It’s suspicious ad placement any way you slice it. If you do a Google search for “download Windows 7” you’ll probably see an ad for switching to Mac. If you search for “buy Windows 7”, you get no such thing. The ad will show up in the “Sponsored Links” section at the top or the right side. If the search is repeated, several different versions of the ad will appear.

The theory goes that if someone wants to download Windows illegally, they might consult Google. Maybe if they don't consider Windows worth paying for, maybe they would pay for a Mac. Could it be that Apple is targeting Windows pirates? It’s not like software pirates have a reputation for buying things. Do people that intend to pirate Windows even search for “download Windows 7” anyway? Are they just after people who don’t know any better? If you have any possible explanation for this, let us know in the comments.

How to Build Your Own Custom Linux Distro

Will Kraft — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0600

Although most Linux users rely on pre-built Linux distros and customize their software configuration after installation, there is nothing quite like having a Linux distro that was custom-designed to your specifications. This allows you to get whatever you want out of the box, but in the past it was difficult to create such a distro since it involved compiling the entire operating system from source. (something firmly in the realm of advanced-to-expert-level users)

In more recent years, it has become possible to create your own Linux distro through various easy-to-use online interfaces. The most well-known distro customization tool is Slax (which we recently discussed) but Novell has a tool called SuSE Studio in closed beta which allows you to assemble your own custom SuSE-based distro from pre-compiled packages. Right now, SuSE Studio is still invite-only since Novell gives you storage space on their servers and bandwidth to both store and download your creations.

Read on to learn how we built our own Maximum PC-themed Linux distro!

Planning the System

Before you can create a distro, you must first plan what you are going to use it for. Our intention was to create a customized yet well-rounded desktop distro based on openSuSE 11. However, you also have the option of creating a desktop or server variant of OpenSuSE or SuSE Enterprise Linux for 32 or 64-bit x86 architecture. If you plan to redistribute your creation, you will need to use OpenSuSE as a base since SuSE Enterprise Linux is not free for download whereas OpenSuSE is. Redistribution also requires the removal of all SuSE-related artwork and branding as per the Novell requirements.

Many distros are meant to be one-size-fits-all and can be a little bit bloated since they must appeal to a wide audience. Since you know what you need better than anyone else, building your own distro gives you unparalleled opportunities to maximize efficiency. Ideally, Linux distros should be as small and compact as possible while still being feature-complete, so try to plan ahead and come up with an inventory of the exact software you are going to need. It often helps to get out some paper or a spreadsheet to make a list: break down the required software ecosystem for your distro into categories like development, Internet, multimedia, graphics, office, etc. and then populate each category with the programs you think you will need.

When you go hiking, it pays to travel light since it is seldom worth it to carry a bunch of equipment you don't need over long distances. The same rule applies to distro planning. You should avoid including software that introduces redundant functionality; you don't need more than one desktop environment, raster editor, or office suite on your system. For instance, don't install both Openoffice.org and Koffice or both GNOME and KDE in the same distro.

The only exception to the rule is with GUI vs. CLI utilities; you should make sure you have a CLI alternative for important utilities if applicable. For instance, you might choose a robust tool like Kate or Gedit as your primary text editor, but you should also include a CLI-friendly tool like Vim or Nano to fall back on during the times you may not have GUI functionality. Alternatively, you could also get away with just using Vim as your all-purpose text editor in both a GUI and CLI setting if you are so inclined. While it is possible to mix and match programs from both GNOME and KDE in SuSe Studio, this will inevitably create bloat because of the extra dependencies that will also have to be installed to make everything work.

Building the Distro

Now that planning is out of the way, we can get to the really fun part. The first step to building a custom distro with SuSE Studio is creating the base configuration. This includes choosing the core operating system, (various OpenSuSE or SuSE Enterprise Linux templates are available in preset desktop, server, and minimalistic configurations) the primary desktop environment, the primary system architecture, (x86 or x86-64) and the name of the distro. The core operating system doesn't include very much, just a kernel, desktop environment, and a few basic utilities. For our demonstration, we chose to create a 64-bit variant of OpenSuSE 11 that utilizes the GNOME desktop environment. We chose to call our creation “Maximum PC Linux.”

Once the distro's base configuration has been created, you will be taken to the start page, which is the gateway to the rest of the tools you will need to create your distro. The next step is to configure your distro's software ecosystem. Although choosing a base configuration will already have added a bunch of software to your distro, you are still able to add any other individual programs you may want to use. This is where the list you should have made before starting this part of the process will come in handy.

SuSE Studio automatically ties in the default repositories for your distro, so you will have full access to the same packages you would normally be able to work with through the package manager in conventional SuSe Enterprise Linux or OpenSuSE. You can also add additional repositories if the default ones do not have what you are looking for; SuSE studio will integrate them and make their packages available to you if the repository is valid. You also have the option of loading individual RPM files, useful for those rare times when you have no choice but to spoon-feed packages into the operating system.

The package list in SuSE Studio is divided into several categories that will probably correspond to the categories on your preparation list: multimedia, graphics, office, etc. By browsing each category, you will be able to add additional programs to the project. Remember that while most software dependencies are handled automatically, this is not the case for system services; if you want sound to work you will need to add a sound engine like ALSA or PulseAudio. Likewise, you will also need to add any necessary codec packages for the various media frameworks (like Gstreamer or Xine) that most media players rely on.

Of course, you (or your other users) could always install these packages after installation, but a primary incentive of using a custom distro is to have most services work out of the box. Unfortunately, US patent law and the DMCA prohibited us from including MP3 codecs or a DVD decrypter with Maximum PC Linux, even though we really wanted to. To get these types of media working, you will need to add the necessary plugins yourself. (you will need the Fluendo MP3 decoder for Gstreamer and the libdvdcss2 plugin; Fluendo can be acquired as an RPM here.

Depending on the size of the installation media you are planning to use, be sure to keep an eye on the package count to prevent the distro footprint from getting too big. SuSE Studio estimates the current size of the distro for your convenience but keep in mind that the final image is slightly larger than the value provided during the software selection process because dependencies are not factored into the estimate. Therefore, if you want your distro to fit on a 700 MB CD, you should generally not exceed more than 610 MB of additional software packages although the actual safety margin will vary depending on what you install.

After all the additional software you wanted has been added to the mix, you can customize the appearance and behavior of your distro by switching to the Configuration tab:

General Settings

General Settings allow you to set the default configuration of your location, time zone, firewall, and network settings. For Maximum PC Linux, we chose to have NetworkManager handle the network configuration since it allows far greater flexibility (such as the ability to choose between wired and wireless connections) than standard DHCP. If you go this route, be sure to include the NetworkManager package and the appropriate frontend for NetworkManager that would allow it to interface with your desktop environment. We also configured the firewall to allow inbound SSH through port 22. If you do not need or want remote access functionality, be sure to disable it when you build your custom distro.

Personalization

The Personalize tab allows you to choose a logo and wallpaper for your distro. The wallpaper image is especially prominent, since it is also shown during the boot process and is a great way to brand your custom distro to make it truly yours. The default settings are rather limited and are identical to what can be found in generic OpenSuSE. We took this opportunity to customize Maximum PC Linux with one of the official Maximum PC wallpaper images. The logo functionality allows you to use the SuSE iguana symbol, a generic Tux image, a custom image, or no logo at all.

Startup

The Startup tab allows you to choose the default runlevel of your distro. The default level is set to graphical login; you should leave this alone unless you know what you are doing and don't want the GUI to start automatically at boot. You should know that the runlevel settings in this section correspond with the general Linux runlevels, some of which do not feature a GUI and/or disallow networking. The Startup section also allows you to define a EULA for your distro. Since the LiveCD installation utility built into the distro will complain (but will still work) if there is no EULA, it is advisable to use something generic if you do not have your own special licensing terms.

Server

The Server tab allows you to configure specific services (like MySQL) that would normally run in a server-type environment. If you choose to build a desktop distro, you will typically not need to enable any services.

Desktop

The Desktop tab allows you to further configure runtime options like automated login and automated startup programs. Since a typical SuSe Studio desktop distro is automatically set up to be a LiveCD, it helps to enable automated login since security is not as important in that situation. If you choose to install the distro, you will be able to set up a more secure environment at that time.

Storage and Memory

The Storage and Memory tab allows you to declare virtual memory allocation if your distro is going to be a VMware or Xen image. If you plan to create a conventional ISO image, you do not need to make any changes in this section.

Scripts

The scripts section allows you to create and run a shell script at the end of the SuSE Studio build process or at the distro's boot time. Most SuSE Studio projects will work properly without additional scripting, so you should generally leave this feature alone unless you know what you are doing.

Putting Everything Together

Once you have configured your distro to be the way you want it, SuSE studio must assemble everything before it will work. This is not a compile process (like Gentoo and similar distros would be) but is instead a very elegant assembly and configuration process where all individual packages you have chosen are brought together and configured to work with each other. You have the option of creating an ISO image for an installation CD, Vmware/Virtualbox hard disk image, (which you can then plug into a new virtual machine) Xen image, or a generic disk image you can clone onto a USB stick or hard drive.

To start this process, switch to the build tab, choose the format you want your distro to be created in, set the version, and then click the Build button. After that, all you have to do is relax and wait as SuSE Studio does all the hard work behind the scenes and creates your custom distro for you based on your specifications. Depending on the size and complexity of your distro, the build process can take awhile; creating a 700 MB build of Maximum PC Linux took about 24 minutes on average.

The versioning feature is very important since it can take several adjustments (each requiring a separate build) to get everything working properly. To facilitate easy debugging, SuSE Studio has an incredibly useful tool called TestDrive, which is essentially an Adobe Flash-based virtualization tool. Using TestDrive, you can run your distro in an hour-long test session without having to download it. However, truly comprehensive testing and debugging often requires you to download and run the distro on a virtual machine or a real test system.

Once the build is finished, you can download your distro. SuSE Studio will save your builds for about a week, after which they may be deleted to free up space for other users. (however, you can always re-build them later if you have to)

SuSE Studio generally worked well for us, (all programs we chose worked properly) but there were some minor problems. On the first build, we did not expect to have to manually add packages like ALSA to get sound support, so it took more debugging than we initally anticipated to get everything working. Although using SuSE Studio is far easier than manually configuring a distro from scratch, it is still not something you are able to breeze through in five minutes without careful planning and a fairly good knowledge of Linux systems.

Also, the builds that SuSE Studio produces have problems with auto-mounting media; after plugging in a USB flash drive, nothing would happen so we had to mount those devices manually through the console. (after which they worked perfectly) We tried installing udev and any other package we could find that dealt with USB devices, but no solution presented itself. Since we concluded that this problem is caused by the HAL (hardware abstraction layer) not properly recognizing new media, we feel that this (and other essential stuff like sound support) is something that should be automatically set up in the base configuration instead of being something that users should be expected to figure out for themselves.

How To: Use Your Windows 7 Upgrade Disk On a Fresh PC

Justin Kerr — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:30:00 -0500

Anyone who tried to install their upgrade version of Windows 7 to a fresh drive was treated to a cruel wake up call. Not when they installed the OS, not even after they installed all their applications, but when the time came to activate. The deal with upgrade media is simple, an existing, and activated copy of Windows must exist on the hard drive prior to installation, or be prepared to start over. To make matters worse, the activation warning doesn't even give you a phone number to call and appeal you're case. The good news is you’re not dead in the water, that is, as long as you're comfortable making a few simple registry edits.

This guide will give you tips on all the upgrading scenarios, and even teach you how to use your upgrade DVD to perform a clean install on a fresh system with no prior OS. We show you how to turn the tables on the dreaded activation error code 0xC004F061: "The Software Licensing Service determined that this specified product key can only be used for upgrade, not for clean installations."

First, lets quickly review what you can do with the upgrade disk, and how you should approach each upgrade scenario.

Vista Specific Upgrades

Scenario 1

You’re doing an in-place upgrade from the same edition of Vista to the same edition of Windows 7. For example, Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate, etc.

Next Steps

Just pop in your upgrade DVD while in Vista and follow the prompts, this one is drop dead simple! Activation should go off without a hitch.

Scenario 2

You're upgrading your copy of Windows Vista to a different edition of Windows 7. For example, Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Home Premium, or Vista Business to Windows 7 Ultimate.

Next Steps

You will need to boot from the CD and perform a clean install. Do not format your drive using any program other than the Windows installer, or you will be forced to perform the registry hack listed below in order to activate.

If you install Windows 7 to the same drive that Vista is currently located on without formatting, the contents will be moved to Windows.old that you can sift through or delete later.

Clean Install / Fresh Install

Scenario 3

You’re doing a clean install of Windows 7, and Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Windows 2000 is currently installed.

Next Steps

Do not format your drive using anything other than the Windows installer. Simply boot from the CD and either format the drive when given the option, or install to the same drive which will create a Windows.old folder with your previous data.

Scenario 4

You have a freshly built system with a totally blank or formatted hard drive.

Next Steps

You could install a previous version of Windows, activate it, then go ahead and install Windows 7 using one of the scenarios listed above which some call “The Double Install Method”, or you could follow the steps on the next page to trick the activation service into thinking it found a previous version.

Installing to a Fresh Drive

Step 1 - Access & Edit the Registry

A true geek has never been intimidated by the registry, but lets face it, it's a mess in there. To access the registry you will first need to open up the start menu and type "regedit" into the search field, followed by enter. To find the proverbial needle in this haystack, you will need to navigate through the tabs listed on the left in the following order:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/ . If you don't like doing it the hard way just click Edit then Find and type MediaBootInstall into the search field, and press enter.

Once found, double click MediaBootInstall and change the "1" to a "0". Once you have finished this, simply click Ok and close out the Registry Editor.

Step 2 - Re-Arm The Activation

Before we try to activate our copy of Windows, we need to reset or "Re-Arm" the activation sequence. To do this, simply open up the start menu and type cmd but instead of just pressing enter, you need to press "Ctrl" + "Shift" + "Enter" to run it as an administrator. You can also accomplish this by clicking the start menu, typing cmd into the search box, then right clicking the command prompt application and selecting Run as administrator.

Once the command prompt appears type slmgr /rearm and press enter. Next simply type Exit and hit enter again, after which it will ask you to restart your machine.

It’s worth mentioning that this tip will allow you to reset the 30-day activation period for new installs. On Vista it worked 3 times before refusing to add any more time, but the RTM of Windows 7 hasn’t been out long enough for us to re-test the feature. I expect it would be much the same and it allows you to make sure your system is 100% stable before using up an activation.

Step 3 - Activate Windows

The final step is to simply bring up the start menu, type "Activate Windows", then follow the prompts to success. This is a known working solution to perform a fresh install using upgrade media, but let me warn you now, it may eventually get patched out. With this in mind, it’s probably best to make sure activating is the first thing you do before you hit up Windows Update if you're trying this on SP1 or SP2.

Conclusion

Its unfortunate that Microsoft didn’t choose to enforce the honor system method when it comes to upgrading, but I suppose you can’t begrudge them their attempts to stem piracy. As for why Microsoft was so tight lipped about the exact upgrade requirements, we’ll probably never know, but it was likely just an attempt to avoid further controversy.

All things considered however, its rather underhanded to allow users to install without a product key, fine tune their systems, then not allow them to activate, with no phone number to call and petition your case. This happened to me simply because the installer failed the first time, and was then faced with a fresh disk when it came time for round 2.

How do you think the upgrade process was handled? Let us know in the comments below.

Additional Resources

If you’re looking for help on how to install Windows 7 as a Dual boot, check our step by step tutorial.

And if you didn’t find the answer to your upgrade question here, that’s probably because it was covered in our past guide.

Windows 7 Review: XP vs Vista vs 7 in 80+ Benchmarks

Will Smith — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:00:00 -0500

Finally, Microsoft releases a successor worthy of Windows XP

For the Windows faithful, it’s been a tough eight years. With the launch of Windows XP in 2001, we thought we were poised on a brink of a new world of NT-based goodness—but two years and uncountable exploits later, the future of Windows was grim. Facing a never-ending torrent of new ‘sploits, worms, and trojans, Microsoft fired back with the single greatest operating system update of all time—Service Pack 2. In the single fell swoop of SP2, Windows XP went from Swiss cheese to secure, and once again we were poised to enter the promised land with… (wait for it)… Vista.

Of course, we all know how Vista turned out. Haunted by poor performance in everything from games to disk access to networking, Vista is widely considered to be Microsoft’s biggest failure. Nonetheless, Vista laid the groundwork for a host of new technologies, all absolutely vital to pushing Windows into the 21st century. Vista’s new, modern driver architecture was designed to move core functionality from the kernel (where any instability can bring down the whole system) to user space—an absolutely necessary development. Likewise, Vista’s proper enforcement of permissions for both users and applications enhanced security, even though UAC remains very annoying. And once vendors fixed their driver flaws and Microsoft squashed some underlying bugs, Vista morphed into an entirely workable operating system, even if we still wouldn’t describe it as “good.”

So, as 2009 draws to a close, we find ourselves testing another new Microsoft OS: Windows 7. Building on the now-mature technologies introduced with Vista, but with a renewed focus on performance and ease-of-use, Windows 7 seems poised to succeed where Vista couldn’t. We’ve finally received a final build of Win7, and have run it through the wringer in both the Lab and in the real-world. Here’s what we found.

New Features

While support for new hardware and improved security are perfectly valid reasons to upgrade your OS, the sexiest benefits of an operating system upgrade are all the new features. Indeed, from a completely revamped user interface to brand-new features designed to make organizing and sharing your files easier, Windows 7 delivers much more than some new wallpaper and a different color Taskbar. (Though there are lots of new wallpapers.)

User Interface Enhancements

The most obvious changes from previous versions of Windows to Windows 7 can be found in a redesigned user interface. Sure, much of the interface remains the same, but Microsoft has completely overhauled key elements, starting with the Taskbar.

The New Taskbar

After 14 years of nothing more than cosmetic changes, Microsoft’s redesign of the Taskbar combines the pure window organizing power of the classic Taskbar with the application-launching, multi-purpose convenience of Mac OS X’s Dock. In addition to showing the applications that you currently have open, the new Windows 7 Taskbar also hosts shortcuts to your most commonly used applications. Click a shortcut when the app is running, and it brings the most recently used window to the foreground. Click the same shortcut when the app is closed, and it will launch the app.

But that’s not all. Drag a file onto a shortcut in the Taskbar, and Windows will open the file using that app. Hover your mouse over a running application’s icon, and it expands to show live thumbnail previews of all of that app’s windows, floating just above the Taskbar. Mouse over a thumbnail, and Windows will bring that particular window to the foreground. You can even close individual windows from the thumbnail previews.

For anyone who regularly finds himself with more than 10 windows open, the new Taskbar is a dream come true.

Jump Lists

Another core enhancement to the OS comes in the form of Jump Lists. In short, Jump Lists put frequently used files in a convenient menu that’s a simple click away from the shortcut icon on the Taskbar or on the Start Menu. Apps that support Jump Lists will display the list when you right click on the shortcut, or when you left-click and drag the mouse up away from the Taskbar. Additionally, some apps will automatically populate their Jump List with files you recently opened.

New Shortcuts

Along with the redesigned UI elements comes a whole new world of user-interface shortcuts. There are really too many to get into here, but the best of the new shortcuts allow you to maximize a window by dragging it to the top of the screen, minimize it by dragging it to the bottom, maximize to half your screen by dragging it to either edge, or (our favorite) minimizing all other windows by shaking the one you want to focus on. Furthermore, enhancements to alt+tab let you immediately find lost windows, and you can use the Windows key and numbers 1 through 0 to launch the first ten shortcuts on your Taskbar. And when those apps are already open, you can cycle through multiple windows by pressing the app’s keyboard shortcut again.

Explorer Enhancements

Windows Explorer also receives some much-needed love. The changes since Vista are relatively minor, but they serve to make the left-column of Explorer the quickest way to navigate to any folder on your hard drive, network, or even in the cloud. Furthermore, you can arrange the different categories in any way you want, quickly add special folders to the Favorites section, and even hide sections you don’t use.

The other main place to access the file browser is the shortcut bar on the right column of the Start Menu. In Windows 7, there are more folders that you can choose to display there, including Downloads and Recorded TV. However, you still can’t place any folder you choose in one of those precious slots.

We Hope You Like the Ribbon

The controversial Ribbon, which replaced traditional menus and shortcut bars in Office 2007, is prominently featured in Windows 7. In the applets that ship with the OS, you’ll see the Ribbon featured prominently.

Libraries

The other major new Explorer feature is Libraries. Libraries are simply data buckets (for lack of a better term) that can store content that’s similar in nature, but located in different places on the same computer, across a network, or in the cloud. Libraries are handy for organizing and collecting files in one place, because they appear to be normal folders to most applications.

For example, suppose your music is stored in the Music folder on your profile, but your wife’s music is stored in the Music folder in her profile. If you want to stream both collections of music using some sort of streaming software, you can either point it to both folder, or you could create a Library that includes both folders and then point your streaming application to that Library. Libraries become especially useful when you integrate them with your commonly used folders, network shares, and cloud services.

DirectX 11

The latest version of DirectX is more iterative than revolutionary, at least as far as gaming is concerned. However, it does bring some exciting new technology to Windows in the form of the general-purpose GPU computing API known as DirectX Compute.

Gaming

There are three important things to know about DirectX 11 if you’re a gamer. First, DirectX 11 is coming to Vista and Windows 7, but not XP. Second, DirectX 11 is backwards-compatible with DirectX 10-capable videocards, so games that require the new API will still run on older GPUs, although those older GPUs aren’t necessarily going to perform well. Third and finally, the feature likely to have the largest impact the soonest in DirectX 11 is hardware tessellation. Tessellation lets the GPU automatically fill in detail on certain types of meshes by procedurally generating more complex (and better looking) triangles to fill in the gaps in the source art. The upshot is simple: Objects that are curved will look better when you render them on a PC equipped with a DirectX 11-capable GPU. There are other DirectX 11 improvements that will enhance performance on DirectX 11 GPUs, but we don’t anticipate a visual leap on par with the jump from DirectX 9 to DirectX 10.

Compute Shaders: CPU-Like Functionality

General-purpose GPU computing (GP-GPU) allows developers—specifically, those outside of the gaming arena--to take advantage of the performance potential of today’s modern, massively parallel GPUs. Tasks like rendering frames of animated movies, converting RAW photos to TIFFs, encoding H.264 video, and scrubbing video can all be accelerated using GP-GPU technology.

Until recently, in order to take advantage of the computing power of your videocard, you needed to use apps that were specifically coded for the brand of GPU you owned. DirectX Compute (along with the competing OpenCL) aims to change that by providing a common interface for harnessing the power of whatever processors are in your system, be they from AMD, Intel, or Nvidia.

It remains to be seen which GP-GPU API developers will embrace, but the future for the technology is bright.

The HomeGroup

Since home networks first became commonplace, we’ve heard promises about Microsoft making the home networking experience better, easier, faster and safer. These are admirable goals, but connecting to a network share has been essentially unchanged since the days of Windows NT 4. Enter Windows 7. Now, instead of haplessly navigating a maze of permissions, share settings, and firewall boondoggles, if you want to share your files or printer with other networked PCs, you simply join a HomeGroup. And it’s as easy as typing in a password. Once you’ve created your HomeGroup, sharing files is as easy as right-clicking on a folder or file, clicking Share With, and selecting the option you want. You can exclude individual files or folders the same way.

The only complaint we have with HomeGroups concerns compatibility: Neither earlier versions of Windows nor Windows Home Server machines can join HomeGroups today.

Touch

While Tablet PCs have been around for the better part of a decade now, Windows 7 is the first edition of the mainstream Windows OS to actively support touch. We haven’t had the opportunity to test it, because the hardware support is limited right now, but the OS will work with common touch and multi-touch gestures on machines equipped with the appropriate hardware and software.

What Isn’t In Windows 7

For the first time that we can remember, Microsoft has removed functionality from Windows. In Windows 7, previously core applets like Windows Movie Maker, Windows Photo Gallery, and Windows Mail are no longer part of the core OS. Instead, they’re part of a separate, optional download called Windows Live Essentials. We weren’t huge fans of these apps when they were part of the OS, and we don’t miss them now that they’re gone.

Improvements from Windows Vista and XP

In addition to shiny new features, many legacy features from Vista and XP have been tweaked, touched up, or otherwise improved upon.

Searching Is Fundamental

Vista was the first Windows version to have deep search features built right in. Does anyone use them? Not enough people do, and so our best advice we can give to the new Windows 7 user is to embrace search. As in Vista, you can use search to launch apps without removing your hands from the keyboard, to find specific settings in the control panel, and to parse through your email, document folders, and even shared folders on your network. Getting started with search is easy—just mash the Windows key on your keyboard and type your query. The Windows 7 search is speedier than Vista’s was at launch, and finally allows searching of network shares, assuming they’re part of either your HomeGroup or indexed on the server side.

Better UAC

User Account Control was one of the most maligned new features to appear in Vista, and for good reason. We have all been extremely annoyed by UAC’s incessant prompts for permission to do anything that requires administrator access. Worse yet, sometimes Vista will prompt multiple times for the same action. All that said, UAC has produced Microsoft’s desired effect: In situations where malware has infected Vista PCs, UAC helps contain those infections to a limited portion of the hard drive, typically a single user profile.

In Windows 7, Microsoft exposes multiple levels of UAC notification control, and has greatly toned down the number of notifications you’ll typically see. Whether you want granular control over the actions of each and every application you install, or simply opt not be bothered, you can choose the setting that’s right for you.

UI Speed

Many of the behind-the-scenes improvements to Windows 7 were designed to do one thing: improve the responsiveness of the user interface. Whether it’s the result of core kernel improvements that boost the performance of multi-threaded apps on multi-core CPUs, or improvements in the way frequently used applications are cached in memory, the new OS feels snappier in almost every way. Apps seem to load faster, and dialog boxes appear and disappear faster. In general, we found ourselves spending less time waiting for the PC than we do in XP, Vista, or OS X. While we attempted to measure some quantitative benchmarks on app load times and other UI speed tests, we found it very difficult to measure reliably. However, when surveying dozens of users about their Windows 7 experiences, one response was almost universal: Windows 7 feels faster.

Wallpapers

It seems a little goofy to talk about, but Windows 7 includes more awesome desktop wallpapers than any version of Windows we’ve ever tested. The included window dressing ranges from the standard plain-vanilla Windows logo background to awesome, inspired, and downright creepy images created by artists from around the globe. Windows 7 also includes a utility that automatically swaps your wallpaper at fixed intervals. Still missing, however, is a way to run different backgrounds on multiple monitor rigs.

Audio

We also have to give a nod to the polish that Microsoft gave to the audio control panel. Windows 7 handles multiple audio outputs much better than previous iterations of the OS, allowing you to designate your headphone output to communications software, while using your speakers for everything else. The OS will even detect when you’re using voice chat software, and automatically mute or lower the volume on other sound sources. We had some problems with games that included voice chat functionality triggering this feature, but it was relatively easy to fix.

Like Vista, Windows 7 lacks the APIs required to support older DirectSound 3D games. With most modern titles supporting OpenAL (which does work on Windows 7), the omission of 3D hardware sound support is more forgivable this go ’round than it was with Vista.

But it’s still not something we’re happy about.

Versions, Activation and 64-bit

Like Windows Vista, there are many versions of Windows 7 available. However, unless you’re an IT guy at a big company, you really only need to be concerned with four different editions: Starter, Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate. Yes, Microsoft has simplified the different versions of Windows that are available, but choosing the best OS for your needs still isn’t effortless.

The easiest way to look at the Windows 7 product family is to recognize that each version is superset of the version beneath it. For example, Home Premium includes all the features of Starter, but adds the Aero interface and Media Center. Professional, meanwhile includes all the features of Home Premium (and thus Starter), but a few features oriented toward business users.

Now, with that said, there are really only a few core features that would demand you buy one version over another.
For example, the main difference between Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional is that Pro includes the virtualized XP compatibility mode, the ability to back up your computer to a network drive, a Remote Desktop Connection server, and the ability to connect to corporate networks. Ultimate, meanwhile, includes all the features of Home Premium and Professional, but adds support for Bit locker drive encryption and the freedom to switch the OS between different languages.

So which version should you buy? We recommend that most home users buy Home Premium, unless you either run a domain controller inside your home, or you want to be able to use Remote Desktop to log into your computer from another PC. Once you choose your OS, you can be secure in the knowledge that each successively more advanced version includes all the features included in simpler versions.

Software activation continues to be a hassle for people who purchase Windows 7. We didn’t complain when Microsoft launched Windows XP, but we have grown increasingly irked the unnecessary hassles it creates. For example, upgrading a hard drive or videocard frequently requires a call to Microsoft’s phone activation line. While we recognize that Microsoft must protect its OS against piracy, we’re not fans of any anti-piracy technology that inconveniences paying customers more than the pirates that it’s designed to thwart.

Our final thought on Windows 7 SKUs concerns the eternal debate between 32-bit and 64-bit support. The debate is essentially moot, as all retail versions of Windows 7 include both 32-bit and 64-bit discs. What’s more, your activation key for Windows 7 is good for either a 32-bit install or a 64-bit install, so you can try out whichever version you’d like, without worrying that you’re locking yourself into a version of Windows that you may not want. That said, we’ll be running 64-bit Windows 7 on our machines, and expect most enthusiasts to do the same.

Performance

To assess Windows 7 performance, we spent more than 30 hours testing Windows 7 Professional x64 in a battery of benchmarks designed to measure application performance, network performance, disk performance, and finally, gaming. Our test rig was equipped with a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9770 Extreme processor, 4GB of DDR2 memory, a 1TB Barracuda 7200.12 drive, and an ATI Radeon 4890 videocard. To test gaming performance with both the ATI and Nvidia’s drivers, we used a manufacturer-overclocked GeForce GTX 285.

Applications

As you can see in our application benchmark chart, we saw wildly varying performance of different applications in Windows 7 x64, Windows XP x86 with Service Pack 3, and Windows Vista x64 with Service Pack 2. A few things really stood out, though. First, it seems that the hard drive performance problems that plagued early editions of Vista are solved once and for all in Windows 7. In our tests, Windows 7 was a few percent slower than XP SP3, but faster than Vista SP2.

APPLICATION BENCHMARKS

	Windows XP (x86)	Windows Vista (x64)	Windows 7 (x64)	Percentage Difference: XP to Win 7	Percentage Difference: Vista to Win 7
ProShow Producer (sec)	826	1166	848	-2.66%	+27.27%
Mainconcept Reference (sec)	1649	1657	1653	-0.24%	0.24%
Premiere (sec)	831	739	840	-1.08%	-13.67%
Photoshop (sec)	141	127	140	+0.71%	-10.24%
PC Mark 2005
CPU	9116	9076	8568	-6.01%	-5.60%
Memory	6459	6371	6463	+0.06%	+1.44%
HDD	8029	6782	7537	-6.13%	+11.13%
PC Mark Vantage
HDD	WNR	4657	4728	N/A	+1.52%

Best scores in bold. Our test rig uses a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9770 Extreme CPU, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 HD, and an ATI 4890 videocard.

Most of our application benchmarks measure either multi-threaded CPU performance (Main Concept, ProShow), hard drive performance (PC Mark Vantage), or a real-world mixture of the two (Photoshop, Premiere). In all of our application benchmarks, Windows 7’s performance was within a stone’s throw of XP.

It’s also worth noting that in several of our tests Vista was actually a big winner, thanks to performance enhancements that hit in Vista Service Pack 2.

Network

One of the main problems with Windows Vista prior to Service Pack 1 was poor network performance. Well, we’re happy to say that the days of waiting for files to copy across a network are done. Check the benchmarks and see for yourself—Windows 7 is stupid-fast at transferring files across a network.

NETWORK BENCHMARKS

	Windows XP (x86)	Windows Vista (x64)	Windows 7 (x64)	Percentage Difference: XP to Win 7	Percentage Difference: Vista to Win 7
File Transfer (small files) (sec)
Download	46.9	56.3	21.8	+53.52%	+61.28%
Upload	20.5	16.5	16.9	+17.56%	-2.42%
File Transfer (large file) (sec)
Download	46.2	4.3	4.1	+91.13%	+4.65%
Upload	4.9	4.6	3.9	+20.41%	+15.22%

Best scores in bold. Our test rig uses a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9770 Extreme CPU, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 HD, and an ATI 4890 videocard.

Games

To test gaming performance, we ran a mix of DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 benchmarks on both ATI and Nvidia hardware. It’s important to remember when checking these scores, you shouldn’t be comparing ATI to Nvidia and vice versa. Instead, you should compare ATI’s and Nvidia’s respective scores on the different platforms to see who has the best drivers for Windows 7.

GAMING BENCHMARKS - ATI

	Windows XP (x86)	Windows Vista (x64)	Windows 7 (x64)	Percentage Difference: XP to Win 7	Percentage Difference: Vista to Win 7
DX 10 Benchmarks
Far Cry 2 HQ (fps)	WNR	52.9	53.1	N/A	+0.38%
Far Cry 2 LQ (fps)	WNR	57.8	58.4	N/A	+1.04%
Crysis - Very High - no AA (fps)	WNR	31.4	31.4	N/A	+0.00%
Crysis - Very High - 4xAA (fps)	WNR	27.5	27.6	N/A	+0.36%
DX 9 Benchmarks
Far Cry 2 HQ (fps)	42	41.6	45.5	+8.33%	+9.38%
Far Cry 2 LQ (fps)	46.5	46	41.2	-11.40%	-10.43%
Crysis - High - no AA (fps)	47.7	44.4	41.6	-12.79%	-6.31%
Crysis - High - 4xAA (fps)	40	36.1	36	-10.00%	-0.28%
Call of Duty 4 (fps)	92.9	95.2	97.8	+5.27%	+2.73%

Best scores in bold. Our test rig uses a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9770 Extreme CPU, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 HD, and an ATI 4890 videocard.

In DirectX 10 benchmarks, both ATI and Nvidia chalked up almost identical scores in Vista and Windows 7. That’s to be expected, given that both companies are using a universal driver in Vista and Windows 7. That is, the driver in Windows 7 and Windows Vista are essentially the same.

However, everything changes when you get to DirectX 9 benchmarks. Depending on the benchmark, Windows 7 ranged from about 10% faster to about 10% slower than Windows Vista. What you gain in one benchmark, you lose in another. And, over the entire range of our DirectX 9 tests, everything ended up even.

GAMING BENCHMARKS - NVIDIA

	Windows XP (x86)	Windows Vista (x64)	Windows 7 (x64)	Percentage Difference: XP to Win 7	Percentage Difference: Vista to Win 7
DX10 Benchmarks
Far Cry 2 HQ (fps)	WNR	62.7	62.8	N/A	+.016%
Far Cry 2 LQ (fps)	WNR	69.5	68.6	N/A	-1.29%
Crysis - Very High - no AA (fps)	WNR	30.1	30.1	N/A	+0.00%
Crysis - Very High - 4xAA (fps)	WNR	25.6	25.7	N/A	+0.39%
DX 9 Benchmarks
Far Cry 2 HQ (fps)	47.5	50.5	46	-3.16%	-8.91%
Far Cry 2 LQ (fps)	52	46	51.4	-1.15%	+11.74%
Crysis - High - no AA (fps)	50.7	49.5	49.5	-2.37%	+0.00%
Crysis - High - 4xAA (fps)	39.7	39.7	40	+0.76%	+0.76%
Call of Duty 4 (fps)	121.4	114.9	116.9	-3.71%	+1.74%

Best scores in bold. Our test rig uses a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9770 Extreme CPU, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 HD, and a Nvidia Geforce GTX 285 videocard.

For gamers, especially those currently using Windows XP, there’s a strong reason to upgrade to Windows 7. You may sacrifice a little performance in some games, but you’ll gain some in others, and you’ll have the ability to run DirectX 10 and 11 apps in their full glory, which will never be possible in Windows XP. We’re also confident that both ATI and Nvidia will continuously work to improve gaming performance in the future, as both companies have for every other new OS Microsoft has released.

The Verdict

Whether you’re coming from XP or Vista, Windows 7 offers a massive leap forward in usability, security, and support for new hardware and technology, especially for enthusiasts and power users. For anyone who regularly keeps many windows open at once time, the new Taskbar is worth the price of admission alone. For XP users, the security improvements are equally worthy of praise, while Vista users will be thrilled with the much improved, much less annoying UAC. Add in support for new hardware technologies, more new features, and the kernel improvements that should allow you to get more from your multi-core CPU, and Windows 7 becomes a tidy, compelling package to all Windows users.

Best of all, the new OS simply feels faster than Vista or even XP. As one editor said after a session testing the OS, it’s the best of both worlds—the user interface speed of XP and the features and security of Vista and more. That’s something to be lauded.

We’re happy with the changes Microsoft has made to Windows 7 as a product line. By making the more expensive SKUs supersets of the less capable versions, choosing the right version of Windows 7 is as simple as it was picking a version of XP (and exponentially easier than navigating the almost incomprehensible SKU structure for Vista). However, we still don’t see any benefit to Microsoft fielding more than two SKUs of Windows—without Aero, Starter edition is unnecessarily crippled, as it was with Vista. Who should buy Ultimate? In our eyes, no one should, unless you desperately need multiple language support in the UI. As with Vista, the extras in Ultimate don’t justify the added cost. For most of our users, we’ll simply recommend Windows 7 Professional if you need to connect to a domain or use XP mode, and Home Premium if you don’t.

As with Vista and XP before it, we remain unhappy with the activation process. As enthusiasts who frequently upgrade hardware and reinstall our operating systems, we’re tired of being punished with increasingly obnoxious reactivation processes. As paying customers, we shouldn’t have to get on the phone every time we need to reinstall Windows, whether our behavior triggers piracy flags or not. The music industry has already figured out that the best way to drive your paying customers to thievery is to treat them like thieves. Hopefully, Microsoft will get the memo between now and the launch of Windows 8.

Moral objections to product activation aside, Windows 7 is unquestionably the best version of Windows that Microsoft has ever released, and is the true successor to Windows XP. If you’re an enthusiast or power user, Windows 7 is well worth your money, whether for an upgrade today or on your next new machine.

We expect that this new OS will mark the beginning of the end for Windows XP, which is highest praise we can give the latest version of Windows.

Windows 7

Unquestionably the best version of Windows to date. Snappier UI and kick-ass new features.

Activation process continues to suck. Multiple product SKUs create unnecessary confusion.

Microsoft

Microsoft's Costly Search for Its Identity Takes a Wrong Turn

Bart Salisbury — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:46:52 -0500

Microsoft has apparently become the Rodney Dangerfield of the computing world: it can’t get no respect. No matter how hard it tries. According to Jason Notte of TheStreet.com, Microsoft last 18 months of advertising has amounted to zilch. Basically $470 million spent with little to nothing to show for it.

Microsoft’s various campaigns to reestablish it’s brand identity have included “I’m a PC,” “Laptop Hunter,” and “Kylie” (the cute four-year old girl who’s a photo-editing wizard). And we probably don’t need to bring up the Seinfeld debacle that seemed more about selling shoes than computers.

According to Microsoft’s vice president of consumer marketing, Brad Brooks, all this effort is about “going out and building brand loyalty and pride around the brand.” But it’s interesting that despite all its efforts, and all its money, Microsoft can’t seem to make any headway. Might it be the lack of a legitimate competitor for Microsoft? Coke has Pepsi, Ford has General Motors, even Apple has Microsoft. But when your product comes, pretty much by default, on 90% of the PCs in the market, brand loyalty is a tough sell. After all, what real choice is there?

Image Credit: Robert Scoble/Flickr

HP Drops Linux From Its U.K Netbook Lineup

Justin Kerr — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 11:57:58 -0600

It may only be a side note here in North America, but over in the U.K HP is shaking up its netbook lineup. Normally this isn’t something that would make headline news, but it underscores an interesting new trend. HP is dropping the Mini 2133, the only Linux netbook still in its fleet. Customers will still be able to purchase Microsoft versions of the Mini 1000’s and install Linux on their own, but will now be forced to pay the Microsoft tax.

Tech journalists and enthusiasts alike have been fascinated by Linux’s rise in popularity thanks to low cost PCs, but clearly the mainstream consumer still favors the familiar blue and green of Windows XP. Another unknown is what impact Windows 7 will have on Linux netbooks sales in the future. If the price of the starter edition is the same, or less than XP, we can’t help but wonder if the free OS will have what it takes to compete. Clearly Microsoft is taking the netbook threat seriously, but only time will tell who will win the war.

Will Linux survive in the netbook and low cost PC market? Let us know what you think.

Moving from XP to Windows 7? Upgrading's a Yes/No Proposition

Mark Edward Soper — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:21:29 -0600

The Register reports that there's good news and bad news for the many Windows XP users who took a pass on Windows Vista and decided to wait for Windows 7.

The good news? Windows XP users will be eligible for Windows 7 upgrade pricing.
The bad news? Windows XP users will need to do a clean install of Windows 7.

El Reg quotes a Microsoft rep thus:

I can confirm that customers will be able to purchase upgrade media and an upgrade license to move from Windows XP to Windows 7 - however, they will need to do a clean installation of Windows 7.

This requires the user to back up their data, install Windows 7, re-install the programs and restore their data. For PCs running Windows Vista customers have the option of an in-place upgrade of Windows 7 keeping their data and programs intact or to perform a clean install of Windows 7.

For those of you in the XP to Windows 7 camp, does the need to do a clean install bother you, or were you planning a clean install anyway? Hit Comment and tell us your thoughts.