preordering Windows 7

Matt22

Does anyone know where (online Irish sites or in Dublin shops) where I can pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium (32bit)? I can't find it anywhere.

Dorsanty

Not an Irish site but amazon.co.uk is taking pre-orders and will ship to Ireland

Matt22

I'm well aware of that but I would much rather preorder from an Irish site (as they would probably take laser and as I don't own a credit card) or a shop in Dublin as I can get it on the release day.

CreepingDeath

Can you not download the Windows 7 RC (release candidate) and when it expires in March, "activate" it online ?

At the very least, you can play around with Windows 7 for free until March.
I downloaded the 2.5Gb ISO image and created a Windows VMWare image of it. Runs fine.

Matt22

I'm actually on a pirated and activated Windows 7 Ultimate E, but I would still like to buy Home Premium as I'd rather have the actual thing.

mehmeh12

Will a pirated windows OS still be able to download windows updates?

Matt22

Yeah it can but I'd still like a retail copy so I can install it and activate it with a legit key.

mehmeh12

But whats the difference between a retail copy and pirated copy, bar the price?

Matt22

Well for one it cuts the hassle in trying to find a working patch...and even then through some updates, Microsoft can easily blacklist the key so you'd have popups saying the copy of Windows isn't genuine (which has already happened once to me so far).

Secondly, the version I'm on has been discontinued before it even shipped. I'm using the E version that comes without a browser.

Lastly I would just rather have a legit copy for my own peace of mind.

As far as the actual differences, nothing. But its up to you and your conscience to decide if you want to buy it when its released or download and keep using a leaked copy.

mehmeh12

At the moment i'm on windows vista ultimate- a legit version so i've been royally screwed with the introduction of yet another new windows OS.

I don't know if i'll bother getting a upgrade to windows 7- the price, the way microsoft treat their customers like ****..the next time i get a new computer i think i'll go mac.

Matt22

Well the price is really cheap this time around (70 quid sterling for Home Premium at Amazon) and if you want to test it out you can still download and use the publicly available (and free) Release Candidate.

I highly recommend it.

mehmeh12

Dont you have to do a clean reinstall of the entire OS? ugh hate that.

Is the security center is windows 7 different/better than vista? is security any better overall?

Matt22

You would, but its a lot quicker than the installs of XP or Vista. Its very painless and it couldn't be easier.

Also if you install a good antivirus/firewall combo you'll be fine. For what its worth, I would recommend Nod32 Antivirus and Comodo Firewall.

mehmeh12

Comodo firewall yes i agree. Have it myself and i think it keeps my laptop fully stealthed .

Nod 32? hymm...if i'm not mistaken this av have very poor self defense capacity.. granted its scans are very fast with superb detection rates...i'm using avast free at the moment..i might get the paid avira version in the future..if only kasperksy av was compatible with comodo..bliss

Matt22

As it happens, you are mistaken. Version 4 has fantastic proactive detection and prevention. Version 3 sucked, I'll give you that but 4 is pure awesome. It even caught the Confiker worm



Granted, you can't tell that is Nod32, but if you remember what a Nod32 alert popup looks like you'll know that picture is Nod32. And ever since then I use Nod32 all the time and recommend it to everyone. Besides, on a newly installed OS your machine will be clean from the off, so Comodo and Nod32 will be more than sufficient protection.

mehmeh12

I'll admit that i do use the nod 32 on demand scan from their website if i think my current av has missed something..but to be honest nod 32 is so light on resources that sometimes i can't help but feel that its not there. This light cpu usage might be good yes but to be honest i want something a bit more intrusive...not that i'd put norton or mccaffee on my computer but i want to really know if my computer is infected with something...

Matt22

Trust me, it will tell you if it finds something. It continuously and quietly scans files in the background and if it finds something it will deal with it and tell you it has.

mehmeh12

But will it find everything? I..ahem..download a lot of big files from certain well know websites..sometimes i think the malware writers are getting faster at pumping out viruses than as virus definitions can be made..

Thank god i back up everything

Matt22

So do I and I can confidently tell you it will detect anything and everything you throw at it.

nobeastsofierce

PC Worlds are doing Windows 7 preorders

Sephiroth_dude

Will windows 7 be ram hungry like vista?

Matt22

Ive just had a look at their locations and they are a bit out of the way from where I am. I was hoping they would be in the Dun Laoghaire/O Connell street areas. Somewhere easy to get to from Bray by Bus for instance.

Also, if you have 2GB Ram you''ll be fine. Its not Ram hungry but other software you may install could be and 2GB is the minimum you would want.

nobeastsofierce

Matt22 wrote: »

Ive just had a look at their locations and they are a bit out of the way from where I am. I was hoping they would be in the Dun Laoghaire/O Connell street areas. Somewhere easy to get to from Bray by Bus for instance.

Also, if you have 2GB Ram you''ll be fine. Its not Ram hungry but other software you may install could be and 2GB is the minimum you would want.

I think theres one in the Jervis Street Centre, haven't been there in a while now, so open to correction on that though

extra-ordinary_

http://www.pcworld.ie/

Matt22

Anyway, back to topic. Has anyone noticed anywhere in Dublin (shops or online) selling pre-orders yet?