Windows 7 rules all, period.

[Asher]

Please don't jump my ass. I'm trying to understand. I might be misunderstanding like Ben.
Longhorn. Was it made available for sale? I'm under the impression that it was not.
Vista was marketed. What I'm saying, I don't know about Ben, is that between Longhorn and Vista, certain tweaks were made that bettered it.
Is that essentially correct? Again, I'm asking for my education. Go easy on me.

Longhorn is Vista.

Longhorn is the internal codename for the project that was publicly known as Vista.

Windows XP was known as Whistler during development, similarly.

Windows 7 was originally known as Blackcomb, and then Vienna and is publicly known as Windows 7.

Note: Blackcomb, Whistler, and Longhorn are all landmarks in B.C., which is probably why Ben is pretending to be familiar with them.

[SlowwHand]

Now, see? I didn't have a clue about Whistler. Never heard of it. OK, thanks.

[Joseph]

Civ 2, test of time will not run on Win 7.

I Pick up an 2.6 dule core HP computer last week with Win 7. It is nice. However this computer has an Intel G31/33 video card and it is no good. It will not run Cities XL, City life 2008, All of the Age of Empire 3, Tropico 3, Sim city 3, World in conflict. I have not yet tried to load Call of duty 4, Spore etc.

It will run Civ 3 and 4.

[Ben Kenobi]

MS did develop this and it's called Windows XP Mode.

Windows XP mode is about as similar to Windows 3.1 as Dos is to windows 3.1 It's about as useful as a pig's ass for running certain games.

I don't know of any games that would run natively under windows XP that wouldn't run under Vista.

Oh, as for your advice, I have managed to find workarounds for both, but none that are supported by MS. Even for HOMM2 Gold, which is probably the most difficult game that I have found to run on Vista. It's just advanced enough not to run under DOS box well, and too old to work well in XP mode.

Civ2 has actually been pretty robust. I can run it normally on Vista, which was a selling point for me. Maybe it sounds silly to you, but why buy MS if you aren't using it to play games?

[SlowwHand]

EDIT to Joseph
Why the hell would you run Civ 3? You're wasting perfectly good coasters.

[VincentDOnofrio]

Why the hell would you run Civ 3? You're wasting perfectly good coasters.

Word. Notice that no one actually tries to get CivIII working for windows 7?

[Asher]

Windows XP mode is about as similar to Windows 3.1 as Dos is to windows 3.1 It's about as useful as a pig's ass for running certain games.

Oh, for ****s sakes.

Windows 3.1 is a DOS shell. It IS DOS with a coat of paint.

But the point was Windows XP mode runs Civ2, which was your complaint. It would be a complete waste of time to develop a Windows 3.1 emulator on Windows 7. Only a complete and utter moron would suggest such a thing. I'm shocked you've never mentioned it earlier.

I don't know of any games that would run natively under windows XP that wouldn't run under Vista.

There were many. Why do you think MS released about 20 "Application Compatibility Updates" for Vista? The main reason people stayed AWAY from Vista is it broke a lot of existing applications and drivers.

Oh, as for your advice, I have managed to find workarounds for both, but none that are supported by MS. Even for HOMM2 Gold, which is probably the most difficult game that I have found to run on Vista. It's just advanced enough not to run under DOS box well, and too old to work well in XP mode.

That's just bull****. HOMM2 works perfectly fine in Windows XP, I've played it many times in XP. Why are you such a pathological liar?

Civ2 has actually been pretty robust. I can run it normally on Vista, which was a selling point for me. Maybe it sounds silly to you, but why buy MS if you aren't using it to play games?

Yeah, why use Windows if not for gaming?

If you want to play old, archaic games then you should use an old, archaic OS. Either figure out how to install a VM like any smart person would do, or stick with your old OS if you're playing old games. Either way, whining about a game from 1996 that's system requirements was a 33MHz 486 not running on an OS released in 2009 is patently stupid.

Windows is a general purpose OS that supports tens of millions of applications. While MS is actually very REMARKABLE in preserving backwards-compatibility, it CANNOT be guaranteed or promised especially. The innards of Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 from Windows 7 could not be any more different. It's a miracle most apps work as they do. As time goes on, older apps will stop working on newer OSes because there are benefits from breaking away from technology from 1993/1994 and using modern technology and methods in its place. It's NOT unexpected, STOP whining when it happens. If you want to run old games, USE AN OLD COMPUTER or at least an OLD INSTALL OF ONE.

[Fve Crathva]

http://www.pcuser.com.au/pcuser/hs2.nsf/lookup+1/266C3915FC60DD09CA256D41000F71E8

SP

[Ben Kenobi]

There were many. Why do you think MS released about 20 "Application Compatibility Updates" for Vista? The main reason people stayed AWAY from Vista is it broke a lot of existing applications and drivers.

I was an early adopter of Vista, and yeah it was tricky to work, but everything eventually did work.

That's just bull****. HOMM2 works perfectly fine in Windows XP, I've played it many times in XP. Why are you such a pathological liar?

Yeah, but it doesn't work in the 'compatability mode' inside Vista. I've tried.

If you want to play old, archaic games then you should use an old, archaic OS. Either figure out how to install a VM like any smart person would do, or stick with your old OS if you're playing old games. Either way, whining about a game from 1996 that's system requirements was a 33MHz 486 not running on an OS released in 2009 is patently stupid.

Again, if a free app has been released that lets you play these games, I can't see why windows won't do the same.

Windows is a general purpose OS that supports tens of millions of applications. While MS is actually very REMARKABLE in preserving backwards-compatibility, it CANNOT be guaranteed or promised especially.

Windows has been crap for backwards compability.

The innards of Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 from Windows 7 could not be any more different. It's a miracle most apps work as they do. As time goes on, older apps will stop working on newer OSes because there are benefits from breaking away from technology from 1993/1994 and using modern technology and methods in its place. It's NOT unexpected, STOP whining when it happens. If you want to run old games, USE AN OLD COMPUTER or at least an OLD INSTALL OF ONE.

I know there are benefits. All I ask for is the ability to work within the older systems running ontop of the newer OS.

[loinburger]

Why would Microsoft invest time and money into a free program for people to play 15+ year old games? What possible business sense does that make?

[SlowwHand]

That new Mac commercial is pretty cool.

"Trust me."

[Asher]

I was an early adopter of Vista, and yeah it was tricky to work, but everything eventually did work.

Do you see your problem here? No, of course you don't. Lots of incompatibilites get patched up OVER TIME. Windows 7 JUST CAME OUT. What do you expect.

Yeah, but it doesn't work in the 'compatability mode' inside Vista. I've tried.

Argh. So ****ing stupid.

'compatibility mode' is NOT 'Windows XP mode'. 'Windows XP mode' is LITERALLY a copy of Windows XP running INSIDE Windows 7. ANYTHING that works on Windows XP WILL work in Windows XP mode, because it is Windows XP.

Again, if a free app has been released that lets you play these games, I can't see why windows won't do the same.

If there's a free app that does what you want, why would MS spend time and money making it?

There's already an OS out there to do what you want. It's called Windows 3.1.

Windows has been crap for backwards compability.

You clearly don't know the first thing about the history of PCs. The fact that you can run the majority of programs written for an OS that is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE GROUND UP from what it was written in is an accomplishment, one that NO OTHER OS has ever done. So quit your *****ing.

I know there are benefits. All I ask for is the ability to work within the older systems running ontop of the newer OS.

THAT ABILITY ****ING EXISTS. IT IS AVAILABLE AS A FREE DOWNLOAD FROM MICROSOFT.

IT IS CALLED 'VIRTUAL PC'.

****ing hell, Ben.

[Asher]

For the mentally retarded and Google-challenged:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/

[SlowwHand]

If I click that link, it will take me to a virtual pc download? Is that what you're saying?

[Asher]