Win 7 compatibility

Lindsay · 2009-05-06, 06:47 AM

Just installed Win 7 RC over my Vista and it seems fine with GBPVR so far. Tested on comp and TV via PCH100.

liteswap · 2009-05-07, 08:20 AM

Mine's still on XP - but I'd consider going to Vista/Win7 if there was a performance or other advantage, especially since mine's a dedicated PVR not a general use box, so I don't have to put up with the way they've gone and moved all the furniture around and turned it into a Tonka toy. Sorry, that turned into a rant Smile

.

So is there a performance or other advantage?

HtV · 2009-05-07, 08:55 AM

It is said that Win7 performs a lot better than Vista, it uses less memory and seems to run faster/better on the same hardware. So it might be wise to wait for Win7 a little more, or try the release candidate that is out now. I think you can use it for free for about a year.

Hans

Lindsay · 2009-05-07, 09:45 AM

I really don't think you would see any performance advantage so stick with XP. Doesn't really matter in a dedicated PVR what OS you use if it works OK. Your software doesn't mind if the OS is ugly!!

johnsonx42 · 2009-05-07, 04:28 PM

The big advantage of using Vista/Win 7 over XP would be the hardware accelerated EVR renderer. EVR is available on XP if you install .net 3.5, but my understanding is it isn't hardware accelerated. Unfortunately for me, I can't use EVR because I need an AspectRatioMode with a negative number, and only the VMR9 renderers support that.

When I did have my GB-PVR box running on Vista, I also found it managed memory better; it didn't get into spasms of disk activity when selecting some menu option that hadn't been used in a day like it does with XP. I run an external task (Zinc) to access online streaming sites (netflix, hulu, etc.), and on XP it acts like it has to re-invent the wheel every time I launch it... on Vista similar operations were much quicker.

I ended up downgrading to XP because I was having a lot of crashes and other problems, but those ultimately turned out to be due to a bad mainboard. I've been thinking of going back to Vista or even Win 7 RC (which I am running on my regular desktop pc that I'm posting this from), but it hasn't been really urgent (especially since I can't use EVR anyway).

Another PVR related advantage with Windows 7 would be the much better Audio/Video codecs included out of the box. I don't know if GB-PVR can use them yet though. Lindsay?

Regarding Win 7 vs Vista on the same hardware, I have to agree it is noticeably faster. I just upgraded my somewhat old desktop PC (2.2Ghz A64 single core, 2GB RAM, VIA AGP mobo, Radeon X1950Pro) from Vista to Win7, and I immediately noticed improved performance. In particular, my web browser and e-mail client open much more quickly than before, and overall the system just seems more responsive... I find myself wondering "now what does it think it's doing?" far less often.

liteswap · 2009-05-08, 07:56 AM

Thanks nfor the thoughts. I've got the box working reasonably happily under XP (until I go and change something Smile

) so it makes sense not to fix somethig that isn't fundamentally broken.

By the by, I've downloaded and fired up the Windows Release Candidate, which is available free until Junt 2010, and it does seem pretty quick. But then, any new OS seems quick until you start loading apps and otehr stuff....