[TeknoJuce]

... So even though its still pretty much Vista with a bunch of tweaks all over the place I would just like to say XBMC still runs flawless in the latest Windows 7 6801 PDC build, can't say the same for other apps I tried, IE8 doesnt work with out puking and having to go to last page recovery even if you just started it for the first time
EDIT: I believe its a SuperBar enabled issue as another friend reported that its functioning fine and he has yet to add the superbar :O could be why its not enabled by default WIN!

Some pix 4 fun!

http://cid-54ce46589efc4437.skydrive.liv...x/Windows7

btw at the bottom that is know as the Superbar! the far right rectangle box beside the clock with seperation is "show desktop" also, its not ment to be in the pdc beta and doesnt have all the features basically you get application icon subset codes to control the apps through the icon and the windows are supposed to come to the front when you hover over the miniwindows and then go back to where they came from kinda like updated alt tab.. featured at the pdc in XX33, but the code is there for it to be enabled with h4><
other wise you get the normal vista taskbar but with glass effects and a crazy glowing orb.

another strange things is that Win7 comes with portrait mode and apperently with-out even trying XBMC supports that messed up wonky backassed rez right out of the download box, any takers for portrait skin-mods j/k
(2 long picture above in the link with non/smooshed graphics )
...and yes I know most graphic-cards have options in their drivers to rotate the screen, now a days but still neat that its native. as 15.4 screen suck for reading long docs as its kinda neat holding ur laptop like a massive book heh.

Please no bashing bite your tounge if you must, blah I don't care for stupid banter.
or saying kde4.1 as most all of these ideas were presented well before kde4 releases, I've seen at many win7 pre dev meAtNGreets.

also for all we know none of this crap will be in the final.

EnJoY!

[rwparris2]

good to know, I plan on updating my computer once 7 gold comes out so now I don't have to worry about xbmc (not that I won't be dual/triple booting anyways)

[TeknoJuce]

Haha, yeah I wish there was better hardware minipulation for graphics in vmwin, as no matter how many OS I install I never want to restart to switch to one of them so pretty much a waste of space unfortunatly I can't push myself to remove them from my packratted heart of "I might just need it someday", but hopefully with hyperV, some better usb support and slowly hardware/software (dx-ogl) graphics technology coming to the table the future looks better for vm, mise well use those 16GB of ram & Proc^n core's for something!

http://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/w...d_d3d.html
http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-1287

I did a native install btw for Win7 but its been reported that it installs in VM with np.

[dpassent]

boot from vhd will be KILLER option for Win7. No more messing with partitions for dual/triple boots

[rernst]

good to know, I plan on updating my computer once 7 gold comes out so now I don't have to worry about xbmc (not that I won't be dual/triple booting anyways)

Doesn't 7 gold come out after patch level 3? Isn't it then when most of it works?

I have read the 'leaked' announcements and have yet to find a single reason why on earth I would want to dish out more money for this OS. I made the mistake of buying Vista and tossed it, even after applying all the latest patches.

Did you find anything that you felt was compelling?

[roeroe]

... So even though its still pretty much Vista with a bunch of tweaks all over the place I would just like to say XBMC still runs flawless in the latest Windows 7 6801 PDC build, can't say the same for other apps I tried, IE8 doesnt work with out puking and having to go to last page recovery even if you just started it for the first time
EDIT: I believe its a SuperBar enabled issue as another friend reported that its functioning fine and he has yet to add the superbar :O could be why its not enabled by default WIN!

Some pix 4 fun!

http://cid-54ce46589efc4437.skydrive.liv...x/Windows7

btw at the bottom that is know as the Superbar! the far right rectangle box beside the clock with seperation is "show desktop" also, its not ment to be in the pdc beta and doesnt have all the features basically you get application icon subset codes to control the apps through the icon and the windows are supposed to come to the front when you hover over the miniwindows and then go back to where they came from kinda like updated alt tab.. featured at the pdc in XX33, but the code is there for it to be enabled with h4><
other wise you get the normal vista taskbar but with glass effects and a crazy glowing orb.

another strange things is that Win7 comes with portrait mode and apperently with-out even trying XBMC supports that messed up wonky backassed rez right out of the download box, any takers for portrait skin-mods j/k
(2 long picture above in the link with non/smooshed graphics )
...and yes I know most graphic-cards have options in their drivers to rotate the screen, now a days but still neat that its native. as 15.4 screen suck for reading long docs as its kinda neat holding ur laptop like a massive book heh.

Please no bashing bite your tounge if you must, blah I don't care for stupid banter.
or saying kde4.1 as most all of these ideas were presented well before kde4 releases, I've seen at many win7 pre dev meAtNGreets.

also for all we know none of this crap will be in the final.

EnJoY!

What the point of running some fancy OS when your aim is to use XBMC? :confused2:
waste of time and money.. Windows XP/Linux and XBMC is a perfect combo
and if you want it faster stripped down XP or Linux.

[rwparris2]

What the point of running some fancy OS when your aim is to use XBMC? :confused2:
waste of time and money.. Windows XP/Linux and XBMC is a perfect combo
and if you want it faster stripped down XP or Linux.

XP is going to stop being sold, and believe it or not, some people don't want to mess with linux for a variety of reasons.
Also, some people use xbmc on a multipurpose machines, as in they don't only run XBMC. Games will eventually require vista/win 7, and a lot of people like their htpc to be a gaming machine as well.

Besides, it is good to know xbmc is "future-proof" and will not require any additional work to run on newer machines.

[Jezz_X]

What the point of running some fancy OS when your aim is to use XBMC? :confused2:
waste of time and money.. Windows XP/Linux and XBMC is a perfect combo
and if you want it faster stripped down XP or Linux.

Its just fun trying it and seeing if it works. I'm sure TeknoJuce is not going to build a htpc out of a very early copy of windows 7

[Livin]

XP is going to stop being sold

Not for a LONG time.

Most people don't know but Microsoft just stopped selling licenses for Windows 3.1 -- YES 3.1!

WinXP is so pervasive in corporate America that it will be at least 5 yrs before MS stops selling it to them.

There is no compelling reason I can see (or most technical experts) to go away from XP right now or in the near future. But there are many reasons to stay with it.

[ArtVandelae]

Not for a LONG time.

Most people don't know but Microsoft just stopped selling licenses for Windows 3.1 -- YES 3.1!

WinXP is so pervasive in corporate America that it will be at least 5 yrs before MS stops selling it to them.

There is no compelling reason I can see (or most technical experts) to go away from XP right now or in the near future. But there are many reasons to stay with it.

It will be supported for businesses for a while but as far as the home market goes XP is already effectively discontinued. Dell and most of the other major OEMs don't offer XP as an option anymore and with more and more systems coming with 4GB+ of RAM a 64-bit OS is necessary and in every current case that means Vista x64 (there is a 64-bit XP but support from both MS and driver authors is fairly poor).

[Livin]

It will be supported for businesses for a while but as far as the home market goes XP is already effectively discontinued. Dell and most of the other major OEMs don't offer XP as an option anymore and with more and more systems coming with 4GB+ of RAM a 64-bit OS is necessary and in every current case that means Vista x64 (there is a 64-bit XP but support from both MS and driver authors is fairly poor).

Anyone can still buy a Dell computer with XP on it...
http://www.dell.com/content/products/fea...l=en&s=dhs

and, a 64bit OS does not require (nor is it "necessary") 4GB of ram. 32bit windows will not utilize more than 3GB but 64 bit will run just fine with less than 4GB

[delboyuk]

@TeknoJuce... did you have to do anything special to get XBMC running on Windows 7 ?

When i try, XBMC appears to install OK but fails to start with an error message - don't have the details with me at the moment but a Google search of the error code seemed to imply it may have something to do with Microsoft .net Framework !

An advice/suggestions appreciated. Del

[natethomas]

I've never understood the "compelling" argument. Nothing compels me to use XP. Nothing compels me to use Vista. In my mind, they are exactly the same thing with minor differences. For that matter, I don't understand people who buy a copy of Vista, have the appropriate amount of RAM, and then toss it.

I mean, it isn't like XP is some miracle program. The thing would crash on me at least once every two months. Particularly when I was looking at poorly authored media. Then I'd have to go through that whole hassle of starting the task manager, killing explorer, restarting explorer, and continuing on with my day.

I'm sure Vista has its problems too, even if I haven't run into them personally, but so what? All OS's suck. XP. Vista. Dos. Even everyone's precious Linux. I'm sorry, it is impossible to get 5.1 sound to consistently work in a Linux environment. Simply impossible. Also, half your Linux life is spent wasting time in a Terminal window.

For this reason, if a person is curious about how well XBMC works in Windows 7, I say kudos to him or her.

Finally, Livin, I believe Art Vandaley was saying that a 64 bit system is necessary to take advantage of 4gb. Not that 4gb are necessary to take advantage of a 64 bit system. Thus, because more systems are coming pre-loaded with 4+ gigs, Vista or 64-bit XP are your only options, and 64-bit XP has poor driver support.

[SlaveUnit]

I think maybe you shouldn't be using computers at all then? I mean "ALL OS' SUCK" and "Also, half your Linux life is spent wasting time in a Terminal window"? Thats kinda funny actually. Maybe its a user problem? The world isn't always a pretty point and click.

[natethomas]

I think maybe you shouldn't be using computers at all then? I mean "ALL OS' SUCK" and "Also, half your Linux life is spent wasting time in a Terminal window"? Thats kinda funny actually. Maybe its a user problem? The world isn't always a pretty point and click.

I am well aware that not everything is a pretty point and click; however, is it too much to ask to continually strive toward that goal? I'm pretty sure simplicity is one of the key points of the XBMC system and plan.

Also, I'm sticking with my previous comment. They (OSes) really do all suck. If you don't want to be in a system in which breaking happens, you have to use Apple or some similarly closed system, which means you can't use all the awesome programs out there. If you want to be able to use a wide variety of programs, you have to accept that a degree of "getting it to work" will be part of the plan. Of course, some may be better than others at getting things to work, but it still must be done.

With all that said, though, I don't want you to think I hate computers or anything. I really enjoy the effort of getting things to work and have since the days of DOS and Windows 3.1.

I just wish people would acknowledge that every operating system has its quirks, problems, and inconsistencies. Win95 wouldn't play DOS games well. XP required twice or three times the RAM of 98. Vista requires twice the RAM of XP. XP crashes when viewing large catalogs of poorly authored media. XP 64 has terrible driver support. Vista completely alters the control panel and hides all the under the hood tools.

Just because we've gotten used to these quirks doesn't make them good. It simply makes them less noticeable.