I noticed the startup time increase myself. I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but the Beta didn't recognize my other hard drive for some reason, and now this one does. Also seems slower in general than the Beta, although it's about the same, maybe a little faster (startup is faster for sure) than XP, so I would imagine Vista users would still see a speed increase.

Also this weird stuff where, coming out of sleep mode, my computer gives me this coming-out-of-a-coma kinda thing where I can move my cursor around, but the active program won't react at all. I float over the close window button, it won't glow. It's weird, like the computer still recognizes input from my mouse and probably my keyboard, but the program won't. It goes away after about 10-15 seconds, and hasn't given me any big problems yet, but I just don't get it. XP never gave me that, with SP1, 2, or 3. The W7 Beta didn't give me that. Also, it seems to happen or not happen randomly when just the screen goes to sleep, too.

http://www.mndaily.com/blogs/tech-corner/2...-windows-7-year

Interesting. First the beta, and now this. I don't usually pay attention to what a new operating system goes through before release, but it seems Microsoft really wants to get this one right. Looks like they payed attention to the complaints about Vista.

So basically, I'm trying to use my Dualshock 3 controller on my PC. I plug it in, and it recognizes it as a standard HID-compliant game controller. I go to find drivers for the thing, and try to install them. My machine tells me that a newer driver is already installed. But it doesn't recognize any input, so I have to install these drivers.

I tell it to uninstall the current drivers, re-plug the controller, and wait for the new hardware wizard to pop up. It doesn't. I go back to the device manager, and look at the driver details for the controller, and it tells me that no drivers are required.

So basically, it won't let me install these drivers.  Well, it's a Windows 7 machine, I figure it's just an incompatibility issue. Everyone else who tested the drivers was using XP SP3 anyway.

So I boot up XP and immediately run into the same issue. Why? What is this crap, and how do I get around it?

I got my Dell in October '06, and it works just fine. I've added 2 gigs of RAM and another Hard Drive, but the originals are still in there, and still working. The only thing I've changed is the graphics card, upgraded from a GeForce 7300LE to an 8800GT (the original worked properly, I just wanted a better gaming experience) and the power supply (only because the 8800 required a better one; like the card, the original worked properly) last Summer. The only thing that's crapped out on me is a Dell monitor, and that was a used one from '04 that my friend gave me (I didn't get one with the computer).

Well, I've done a test with Oblivion, at the same settings as I use on XP.

With the copy I run on XP, I always have one, specific, enduring problem: whenever I engage more than 2 enemies in combat, I would experience a drop in framerate. From about 60 (staring at inanimate objects) to 40 (staring at 1 non-hostile NPC) to 30 (staring at multiple non-hostile NPCs) to 20 (engaging 1 or 2 enemies) to 12 (engaging 2-4 enemies) to 8 (engaging 5 or more enemies).

I just got ambushed by 3 zombies and 3 wraiths in a catacombs. Then I went to the Imperial City Prison area and assaulted a guard. I was then confronted by 7 guards. In neither of these instances did the framerate drop below 25 during the fighting.

I do have a single mod installed on the XP version that I don't have here, a texture mod. However, I don't think it's a factor, because the framerate is the same in both versions UNTIL I engage an enemy or enemies. At that point, and that point only, the XP version slows down more than the W7 version. Regardless, I'll try to get the mod installed on this one tomorrow, and see what happens.

I've only ever found WMP to be a bother with my old system, when trying to play a DVD in fullscreen, which would cause the video to slowly but surely lag behind the audio (possibly because I was using the monitor's max resolution of 2048x1536, rather than the native resolution; I'm not sure if that even works like that). But even that was easily rectified by exiting fullscreen and resizing the video to fit the maximized player.

I also highly prefer the interface (especially 10 and 11) to VLC and WinAMP (the latter of which I HAVE found to be a bother). The one that comes with 7 is a little more confusing to navigate, but I'm quickly becoming accustomed to it. I'm also happy that it can now play MP4 files.

Besides. Someone's gotta test this shit, and you obviously ain't gonna do it

Well, I'm using Windows 7, and I've got (really) early impressions.

The glass theme stuff is pretty neat.

Runs nice and fast, although I'm not sure if there's any difference between this and XP.

 In WMP, which I use as my default player (unless it's a filetype it can't play, in which case I switch to VLC) I opened a MIDI music file. Strange enough, the drum beat seemed to be missing. Muted. The rest played as normal, but there's a missing part of the track! Strange.

Firefox doesn't seem to like automatic downloads. I've had to click "try again" when dowloading VLC and AVG.

Haven't tried gaming yet. I'll install Steam and/or Oblivion in a bit.

Other than that, I'm still trying to get used to the interface. It'll probably be a few days before that happens. That's why this is "(really) early impressions".

Alright, this will hopefully be the last question I feel the need to ask you, Austin: Are there any options during the Windows 7 and XP install processes which you believe I should alter from the default selection?

Okay, so I've got another hard drive. For moving my data from the old one to the new one, my brother recommends using a drive cloning program.

1. Is this indeed the way to go?

2a. If yes, any recommendations in the way of which program to use?
2b. If no, what should I do?

I'll definitely upgrade, although I'll probably wait for Service Pack 1 before I go for it.

Actually, I hope to accumulate sufficient points between now and launch to get it from Live Search Club, and save a little money.