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[Siebenstein]

Maybe it's different at my uni, or perhaps the FAQ is just poorly written, but we're told:

Q: Does the license (or "key") permanently unlock the software?
A: No - the key allows you to install the software once. If you need to re-install the software, you will need to contact the PA (Program Administrator) at your school. Your PA's contact email information can be found in the support page. To view this information, please click on the Support button above.

Kind of a pain if I could just talk to Microsoft instead and have it reset like a regular key, but oh well it was cheap anyway.

Schroeder: I've been using XP/XP64 since they came out and I've just upgraded to 7. So far I've got no complaints, besides the fact I don't know where anything is, but then the help menu is very good. There are lots of helpful little UI tweaks. It does nag you a bit, but it's easy to turn off.

I contacted MSDNAA support with a similar question, and your key should unlock the software more than once on the same PC. The FAQ answered said the same thing though, I'm going to try tomorrow.

[ShittyWok]

I contacted MSDNAA support with a similar question, and your key should unlock the software more than once on the same PC. The FAQ answered said the same thing though, I'm going to try tomorrow.

That's what I was led to believe as well: you can reinstall as much as you want while you're still a student; when you fail to fulfill the MSDNAA requirements you lose the right to install the system using said license key. The way I believe it works is you can still use and update a system you installed while being a student, but any reinstalls are illegal.

[Sublex]

Hey Sublex, what version of Windows 7 are you running?

Ultimate.

And if anyone hasn't already, the new Windows shortcuts are really, really nice.

[Siebenstein]

The MSDNAA-key works more than once.

[Sublex]

Windows 7 works great on my eee pc 1005HA netbook.

Although I can't seem to get the Fn keys to work--anyone able to help?

Hey! I got it working!

And I feel like kind of an idiot, because the "Solve PC issues" Windows 7 thing, which I had been ignoring for the past few weeks gave me the link for the driver.

Man, Windows 7 is great.

[SaltinesRR]

I'm thinking about buying this when I get my computer up an running.  Should I just download it from the site or buy it in stores?

[Man With Beard]

So far so good with Windows 7; I've installed it on 3 PC's and all of them are working well. I was running the beta on my laptop so I knew what I was getting into--a nice coat of paint on Vista--and I'm pretty pleased with it.

I upgraded my desktop, instead of doing a clean install, mostly because I don't really have the time or inclination to reinstall all my programs. The install took a long time but it seems to be working just fine, significantly smoother than before.

[Toores Vaev]

It's quite nice that Win7 automatically turns off some of the Aero settings when in "power saver" mode, which means my battery actually lasts longer. And the whole DirectX 11 has made games run better. I find it pretty sweet. I'm still trying to get used to the new taskbar, I think it's a bit of fuck up. But then again, some parts of it are better than before. I quite like this new 7.

[Cowtppr]

So, I'm running a Mac, so I decided to install Windows 7 on it since I can get it for so cheap.  So I downloaded Parallels, a virtual machine sort of program. Then I downloaded the Windows 7 installer, but it comes as an .exe file.  Parallels needs an .iso or a CD-ROM.  Is there any way I can work around this that anyone knows of?

[Remington]

I'm still trying to get used to the new taskbar, I think it's a bit of fuck up.

The new taskbar is actually my favorite new feature.  I like it better than the OS X dock, even.

[Bakudai]

So, I'm running a Mac, so I decided to install Windows 7 on it since I can get it for so cheap.  So I downloaded Parallels, a virtual machine sort of program. Then I downloaded the Windows 7 installer, but it comes as an .exe file.  Parallels needs an .iso or a CD-ROM.  Is there any way I can work around this that anyone knows of?

http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65733/X15-65733.iso ?

or try http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/22/how-to-make-a-dvd-of-that-student-only-windows-7/

or http://lifehacker.com/5391688/iso-downloads-and-fixes-for-windows-7-student-download

[Nedroid]

I bought 7 the other day and hit a couple of snags after installing it but I think those are all fixed now.  I really like the slickened interface, and the taskbar has already grown on me despite my complete inability to wrap my head around it at first (still not really sure what a jumplist is for).

I think for me the best improvements are the little things.  When I want to unplug my external HD, I can click on the icon in the taskbar and up pops "Eject External HD," instead of going through three windows that all say the same thing.  And my computer can sleep now!  Sleep mode never worked properly with Vista, even when the computer was brand-new out of the box.

And of course the best new feature is the included Windows Pizza Drive; you run the program, load your toppings, and a personal pan pizza is ejected from your CD-ROM drive.  Friends, there is a future and we are in it.

[Remington]

The jumplists are useful in programs that incorporate them, but they're not good for much else.  For example, Steam's jumplist contains a section of the menu to set my online/offline status, open my friends list, games list, community tab, etc.  It also lists my most recently played games.  It's also nice for Windows Explorer, showing all my most recently or commonly used folders.  If the program doesn't incorporate anything specifically for jump lists, they're pretty useless, though.

And my computer can sleep now!  Sleep mode never worked properly with Vista, even when the computer was brand-new out of the box.

Hey, me too (except with XP).  I built this computer in spring 2008 and I could never get it to go to sleep properly, but now it works great and I'm totally used to using Win-Right-Right-Enter to put my computer to sleep instead of my old Win-Up-Enter-Right-Enter shutdown combo.

[raknade]

I'm led to believe to you can do a clean install, which is what I want to do, from an Upgrade DVD. Is there any reason I should buy the full version instead? Home Premium from Vista is where I'm going.

[Cowtppr]

So, I'm running a Mac, so I decided to install Windows 7 on it since I can get it for so cheap.  So I downloaded Parallels, a virtual machine sort of program. Then I downloaded the Windows 7 installer, but it comes as an .exe file.  Parallels needs an .iso or a CD-ROM.  Is there any way I can work around this that anyone knows of?

http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65733/X15-65733.iso ?

or try http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/22/how-to-make-a-dvd-of-that-student-only-windows-7/

or http://lifehacker.com/5391688/iso-downloads-and-fixes-for-windows-7-student-download

Thanks Bak, it looks like that iso download did the trick.  But now my activation key won't work.  Even though I bought Home Premium, and downloaded Home Premium, my activation key is apparently invalid.  I have been having way more headaches with this install than I should.  Now, I realize that my situation is definitely in the minority, but I can't be the only Mac user out there who wanted to set up two operating systems, you'd think they'd make it a little simpler.  Ah well, I'll call tech support after class today and see how far that gets me.

[Wesley]

So a while ago I was giving Windows 7 Beta and RC a whirl, and liked it.  There was one thing, however, that I couldn't figure out how to do that I could in Vista.  I could take folders (for example, My Computer and my user folder) and drag them to sides of the screen to create new toolbars docked on different sides of the screen.  This is what it looks like on Vista.

For the life of me I couldn't do this in Windows 7.  Am I missing something completely, or did they add this feature in the release version, or can this not be done at all?

[Toores Vaev]

Hmm, sometimes when on battery, the mobility center just loses the square where you can adjust screen brightness, which sucks a lot when it is stuck on maximum brightness and I have a whole day ahead of me. Fortunately restarting helped, but I didn't like it at all. Maybe my display adapter or whatever just needs a new driver, but it's annoying as hell.
Other than that, 7 is definitely better for a laptop.

[Remington]

Wesley, it looks like that was part of the much-loathed Vista sidebar that was removed.  The gadgets float on the desktop now instead of docking on the sidebar, so I don't know if there's a way to do what you have shown there.

[Wesley]

This isn't part of the sidebar, which I do as well remove after every install.  Drag a folder, like My Computer, to the top or side of the screen, and you could create a new toolbar on the desktop that displays the contents of that folder.  I have xp, vista, and windows 7 machines around me now, and 7 is the only one that doesn't do that.  I'll try to play around more.

[Remington]

Huh, holy shit.  I've never done that in XP and didn't even know it could be done.  You learn something new every day, I suppose.

EDIT: I did a little research and it seems that feature's been removed, though I can't seem to find a reason why.