<quote><p><i>Windows 7, SP0, is actually pretty darned good - especially compared to that steaming pile of mediocrity (Vista) they put out last time. It's faster, the UI is cleaner and more useful (most of the time), it's very compatible with a wide variety of hardware. Even hardware that Windows 7 cautioned me probably wouldn't work...works.</i></p><p>I actually prefer vista. With vista, you can turn off the crappy new UI and go back to the classic interface. Windows 7 doesn't let you do turn off the crappy new UI. This fact alone is going to delay Windows 7 deployment for years.</p><p>The other very annoying change is the way MS messed up the domain logon screen. They make the user login as "domainname\username" or "username@domainname" instead of having separate boxes for the username & domainname. This causes enormous user confusion.</p><p><i>This is probably the first usable 64-bit Windows version for the desktop.</i></p><p>Bollocks. 64-bit XP has been out for years. Works great.</p></quote>
64-Bit XP is based on server 2003 code which is why driver support is lacking at best. While it is stable, it seemed a bit slower than 32-bit XP with some functions i use regularly.
I have some hardware that didn't play nice with 64-Bit XP (my sound card for instance) because the drivers were thrown together in a "good enough" fashion that required software from Nvidia and Realtek be installed to have full functional surround sound. Once both drivers were installed, I couldn't adjust the volume for channels individually without breaking sound all together, not a huge issue once it's known but a pain to figure out and get working initially.