What do I not need on Windows 7 Ultimate?

August 28, 2009 9:52 AM

I'm moving from XP to Windows 7 Ultimate. What, that I used to have on XP, do I not need installed any more?

I know that defragmentation software isn't needed, but what about Unlocker? What about disk backup software? Anything else?

posted by mr_silver to computers & internet (5 comments total)

Windows 7 Ultimate contains full image backup software, so you might be able to forgo that. http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/01/18/windows-7-windows-backup-overview has a good walkthrough of the software
posted by mge at 9:55 AM on August 28

Are you moving now, or when Windows 7 is released (scheduled for October)?

If you're moving on or shortly after release, then nobody really knows yet. The safe thing is to soldier on for a few more weeks or months on XP until everyone finds the crazy broken stuff on 7 and solves it.

If you're moving now, then you'll be a test user, and nobody knows yet -- you get to help answer your own question.

Windows has been offering inadequate integrated backup services since 3.1. Nobody ever uses them, and I've seen no reason to believe that integrated backup will suddenly stop sucking in 7. Likewise any other initial claim about what will suddenly be easier or unnecessary in 7. (Remember all the things that were going to be solved in Vista?)

Dive in if you think testing is fun! Wait if you want your computer to work and XP isn't breaking it. But the answer to your question, either way, is that nobody knows yet.
posted by gum at 12:30 PM on August 28

I dunno, I've been running the beta and release candidate for months now and I have a pretty good idea what's coming. I certainly don't expect major changes between the RC and production. That said, upgrading from the release candidate to the production version requires a reinstall, so at this point I would hold off until the release.

Anyway, stuff I have stopped using when I moved up from XP: Launchy, UltraMon, and a couple of taskmar manager / task switcher apps. 7 will tell you what app has a file locked, but it won't allow you to attempt to force an unlock.
posted by indyz at 12:40 PM on August 28

I went from XP to 7 beta in January, from 7 beta to 7 RC when it became available, and from 7 RC to 7 RTM when it became available to my employer through Software Assurance. The only piece of software I used on XP that I don't on 7 is a personal firewall. I just use the built-in firewall now. Haven't had a problem with it yet.

Never used Unlocker so I can't comment on that.

The built-in backup software will start asking you to set up a schedule after you've been up and running a couple weeks it seems. I haven't restored anything but the backup program itself seems decently capable.

I will say this: I play PC games as a hobby, and honestly I can't see any improvement whatsoever in stability/reliability from the beta or the RC. Some games work great all the time (L4D) , some games I can't get working at all (S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2). Some games are a real p.i.t.a. to get working but once you finally figure out the exact combination of tweaks and compatibility modes, they work fine (DiRT). YMMV of course. I was pretty disappointed, as I was hoping the RTM would be golden. I feel like there's gonna be some major gnashing of teeth from the gamer crowd who jump on 7 an expect everything to just work.

If you have any specific questions feel free to MeFi Mail me and I'll answer as best I can.
posted by Liver at 1:54 PM on August 28

One thing I've noticed in my RTM (the production version that will go on sale in October, released early to OEMs and developers) copy is that burning ISO images to CD/DVD is now supported natively from within the OS. Simply right-click a file with the .ISO extension and one of the context options is "Burn to <>>".

So if you've used third-party software of some sort to burn ISO images in the past, you won't need it with Win7.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 2:56 PM on August 28