I keep getting lots of email from Microsoft about Windows 7, since I am not a tech I think that means a new windows system. I would like to keep my Vista, will I have to change? It does not have the same mail as I have???

Thanks

maggie

hi maggie,
If your happy with vista as we are (very stable) there is No need to go to win 7 ....we have upgraded half of our machines to win 7RC1 and the others are using vista 64 ..Best of both worlds


Take Care

patchman-

Yes I am happy with it, I have had it for a little over two years now. As long as Microsoft keeps the updates, I will keep it. Do you like the windows 7? My big problem would be mail, so I will stay away from it as long as possible. My other machine has XP home, now that one I may put it on and see what it looks like, but not my Vista.

Thanks so much for your help

maggie

Hi, Maggie!

Windows 7 is the newest Microsoft operating system that will be released on October 22, 2009. Most computer manufacturers are offering free upgrades to their customers who recently purchased Windows Vista machines but, if you are happy with Vista, you are under no obligation to upgrade to Windows 7.

I just had a new computer built, and it came with the 64-bit version of Vista Home Premium with a free upgrade to the 64-bit version of Windows 7. I'm still familiarizing myself with Vista after over 6 years of using WinXP and, even though I did order my free upgrade from Microsoft, I haven't yet decided whether to stick with Vista or upgrade to Windows 7.

Susan

If you like your Vista, there is no need to upgrade to Windows 7. An upgrade would cost you something around $119 anyway unless, like Susie, you purchased one recently.

I have been using the new Windows 7 RC for about 5 months now and absolutely love it. And this is from someone who was prepared to hate it, thinking it would be too much like Vista (which I dislike). It is stable, intuitive, non-intrusive (unlike Vista) and has played games from Shivers I to The Hobbit to Crysis and Bioshock with no problems.

The e-mail is the same. The Windows 7 version of Outlook Express is called Windows Live Mail and I like it better than any other e-mail client I've ever used. All I did was download it and start using it after I set up my POP3 account settings. There are many great new additions to Paint and the upgrades to WordPad are just excellent.

Another thing I like about Windows 7 is that it is so nimble and quick. I've found every Vista machine I've worked on to be ponderous and aggravating to put it mildly. I'm sure it's different from a user's point of view though. I say stick with what YOU like.

Hi, Draclvr!

If Windows 7 will run "Shivers" without any problems, I'm sold ! That just happens to be one of my all-time favorites and I haven't replayed it for years.

Have you tried "Harvest of Souls" or any of the Gabriel Knight and Tex Murphy games on Windows 7 because if they will run without a lot of tweaking, that pretty well seals the deal!

Susan

I have Harvest of Souls, but don't have the others. I'll load it up and see what happens.

EDIT: Well, it installed (as usual, not running the check on your computer specs) and I played about 1/2 hour. It's not running as smoothly as Shivers 1, but I imagine with a little tweaking, it would. Really, the only thing I had trouble with was the panning being too fast. I lowered the pan speed as far as it would go, but it was still a bit too fast.

My video card is a GeForce GTX 260 and I'm running a Core 2 Duo @ 3.0 Ghtz in a computer I built last spring. The OS is Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit.

Draclvr -- have you had any problems with downloading Big Fish or Steam games with Windows 7? (I've read some complaints online).

Also -- do you happen to have Ceville? I've read that the videos won't run under Win 7.

Um, I guess we're making a lot of work for you, aren't we?

Hey, Becky, I just retired. I have time!

I have downloaded (and played) about a dozen Big Fish games with no problems whatsoever. The only game I'm playing right now that uses Steam is Left 4 Dead. It plays perfectly on the same system that had problems when I played it on XP. I have 4 hard drives in this computer - one has XP Pro which had some stuttering issues with Left 4 Dead and the drive with Windows 7 has no issues at all.

So, I haven't downloaded any games from Steam, but a game that uses Steam works perfectly.

Don't have Ceville...

Don't know if that helps!

Becky, I have Windows 7 with Ceville loaded on it. The videos do have issues, but I find I am able to watch them if I press Alt Tab. Then I just press Alt Tab again when the videos are finished, to get back to the game itself. It's not perfect, but it works for now. It's the same deal with Undercover: Operation Wintersun.

In fact, every game I have runs perfectly under Win 7 now (including the GKs), except for Runaway, which has some serious video stuttering issues. If anyone has any suggestions for that, I am all ears.

I'd be curious to know if Ceville has the same issues running in Vista???

There are other issues with Shivers 2 on XP/Vista/7. If you are really interested in getting the game going again, take a look at the new installer on Squirt the Cat. There are a few other installers there for Win 95 era games on modern Windows, mostly for Sierra games.

Hi, Draclvr and Collector!

Draclvr, thanks so much for taking the time to test "Harvest of Souls" on Windows 7. It doesn't surprise me that speed would be a problem when playing "old and golden goodies" on new machines regardless of the operating system but, if that's the only problem, I'll be happy. My video card is an Asus ATI HD4870, and I'm running an Intel Core i7 920 processor under 64-bit Vista Home Premium. I've ordered my free 64-bit Windows 7 upgrade from Microsoft, and it's scheduled to ship on November 5th. Venus posted that the GK games will also run under Windows 7, so I'm a happy camper!

Collector, thanks for posting the link to the installers. I'm going to check them out.

Susan

Me, too. Thanks, Collector. I knew about the site, but didn't think of it when I tried out Harvest of Souls. Shivers 1 played perfectly with no tweaks at all.

EDIT: Perfection for Harvest of Souls! But, curses, now I'm going to have to play the game again. Haven't played it for a few years, so this is going to be fun. Boy, talk about the best of both worlds - my old Shivers games AND Windows 7. Thanks again, Collector!

Please let us know if Shivers 2 plays OK all the way through to the end.

Hi, Draclvr!

That's great news about "Harvest of Souls". Did you need to make any adjustments, or did it run okay on its own?

I'm really looking forward to receiving my Windows 7 upgrade so I can drag some of my old favorites out of mothballs. I haven't replayed any of them since my old Win98 machine died last year.

Susan

I will probably get some playing time in this afternoon.

Susie, all I did was download that installer from squirtthecat, put the CD in the drive and run the installer. Oh, first I uninstalled the first install and ran CCleaner. THEN I ran the installer with the CD in the drive. After that, I didn't do anything but play for about 1/2 hour. LOVE the full-screen without having to change my monitor resolution.

Thanks Draclvr and Venus -- that helps a lot!

Hi, Draclvr!

I'll download the installer from squirtthecat first and then install the game. It's been so long since I played "Harvest of Souls", I'm really looking forward to it ... except for that blasted marble puzzle in the warehouse !

Maybe I'll even get to play the DVD version of "Overseer" because I couldn't get it to run and eventually gave up up trying.

Susan

You might almost consider Windows 7 "Vista SE". It has much the same interface and features, but is a lot faster. There have been a few changes to the interface, some really nice, others that are down right annoying such as doing away with the Quick Launch bar. I do like how you can rearrange the buttons on the Taskbar. I suspect that there will be few broken games that weren't already broken on Vista.


Keep in mind that the 16-bit games will not run on 64-bit Windows, so the Endroz installer for GK2 won't work, as it installs the Windows version of the game. You will need to run the DOS version in DOSBox. DOSBox does work very nicely on Windows 7. GK3 does work on my Vista 64, but I have not tried it on my Windows 7 64. I would be surprised if it didn't.

You may be interested in my own installers on the Sierra Help Pages. I have ones for the first two GK games. You can find them here Gabriel Knight Series DOSBox Installers. Just insert your CD and run the installer. It will copy all needed files to your hard drive and automatically set it up to run in DOSBox from a Windows shortcut.

Hi Collector, and welcome to GameBoomers!

That is a great page you have, Collector! Another one for my bookmarks. Thanks!

Hi, Collector!

I'd first like to add my "Welcome to GAMEBOOMERS" to those you've already received.

I don't believe I've ever heard of Windows 7 "VistaSE". I have already ordered my free Windows 7 upgrade from Microsoft, but is there some place I can read up on VistaSE?

I get the impression that anything that runs under Vista will also run under Windows 7. In fact, there have been reports where applications that will NOT run under Vista worked perfectly under Windows 7. I think I downloaded DOSbox a while back with the intention of playing an older game, but never got around to using it. Is there a newer version available, or will the one I already have work?

I love your website because I own several Sierra games, and those themes sure bring back some fond memories. I will also take your advice and download the installers.

Susan

Hi, thanks for the welcome and thanks for the comments on my site.

There is no real product called Vista SE. It was just a term that I was using to illustrate the point that Windows 7 is much like what Vista might have been, had the engineers had the say on when Vista was released instead of the marketeers. It was in reference Windows 98 SE (Second Edition) when MS released 98 too soon and had to fix a number of things and then re-released it as "Windows 98 SE"

You're welcome, Becky.

Welcome to Gameboomers, Collector! You do amazing work with the Sierra patches. All of my old Sierra games run like a dream now, thanks to you.