[bearsfolks]

I have never had a dual OS--the situation never arose in the past--why would I want to have the option of also using Vista on my XP computers?

However, when I got my 10v, I decided to also load the Windows 7 OS, particularly after reading the postings in these forums. I managed to do this with a little difficulty with the USB thumb drive! Anyway, I now have XP, with all my programs, and I have Windows 7.

My question (and it is not a sarcastic or facetious one) is "Now what?" I cannot access any of my programs (that are all in XP) from Windows 7. So what do I do with it? How do I evaluate it, in terms of how fast it is, or how much better it is than XP, when I cannot seem to do anything with it?

I'm asking for help. What do you all do when you have a dual system, with your primary one being XP, and your additional one is Win 7?

[fdalbor]

Originally Posted by bearsfolks

I have never had a dual OS--the situation never arose in the past--why would I want to have the option of also using Vista on my XP computers?

However, when I got my 10v, I decided to also load the Windows 7 OS, particularly after reading the postings in these forums. I managed to do this with a little difficulty with the USB thumb drive! Anyway, I now have XP, with all my programs, and I have Windows 7.

My question (and it is not a sarcastic or facetious one) is "Now what?" I cannot access any of my programs (that are all in XP) from Windows 7. So what do I do with it? How do I evaluate it, in terms of how fast it is, or how much better it is than XP, when I cannot seem to do anything with it?

I'm asking for help. What do you all do when you have a dual system, with your primary one being XP, and your additional one is Win 7?

I think most people duel boot when one OS has advantages over the other. Or at least they think it does. I use XP & Ubuntu 9.04. XP is better for some things (video, flash playback etc.) While I find 9.04 has better WIFI and I get a better connection to the internet. Plus you can just about forget about virus problems and I like to download a good bit. I love having both and if you can; why not. fdalbor

[anguish]

There are a variety of reasons for dual-booting. For some, it's development. For others, it's to learn a new OS. For some, it's there for when they need it.

In my case, OS X was for me to learn, and Windows 7 was to be for general use and when I needed to do stuff for work. Now, OS X is my primary OS on my 10v, and Windows 7 is there for when I need it.

[bearsfolks]

Originally Posted by anguish

In my case, OS X was for me to learn, and Windows 7 was to be for general use and when I needed to do stuff for work. Now, OS X is my primary OS on my 10v, and Windows 7 is there for when I need it.

Just to make sure I understand, when you transitioned from having Win 7 as your primary OS to OS X as primary, did you have to take all your applications that you were using for work in Win 7 and load them again onto OS X?

Also, think back to when you started to learn OS X. Can you help me understand how you did that when all your applications were in Win 7? I guess my difficulty lies in understanding how you evaluate an OS when all/most of the applications you use are not (initially) accessible to that OS.

[seajay96]

Yes, I believe you are correct that you will have to re-install your applications into Win7 or any other OS that you install. I don't do much with Windows, so I'm not positive, but with a WinXP/Win7 dual boot, you might be able to access some of those programs by navigating in the explorer to the original install folder on the XP partition and clicking on the shortcut/executable.

I use WinXP and Ubuntu UNR on my Netbook and Mac OSX on my iMac. By using free software like Open Office and universal file formats like .pdf and .mp3, I can move easily between the 3 OS's. I'm also starting to use WINE on Ubuntu to bring in some Windows software

BTW, I use multiple OS's because I prefer the security of Linux but recognize the utility of a commercial OS like Mac OSX. The main reason I keep anything besides Linux is the natural integration of my iMac and my iPhone. If I could get a fully implemented Linux version of iTunes, I would drop Windows and Mac OSX in a heart beat.

[WolfKeeper]

With Windows and applications, many have to install registry entries and/or register DLLs for them to properly function, so you can't just traverse partitions and reuse applications installed under one Windows in another.

If you search around the Internet, there are a bunch of "portable" applications that people have built (some freeware, some not) that will allow you to execute them "in place", so multiple Windows installs could use the same software without the hit on disk space that multiple installs would incur.

I was going to install Windows Server 2008 on my 10v and dual-boot with Windows 7, but found that the driver support is lacking. 2008 uses Vista drivers, so the XP drivers didn't work. Interestingly enough, I got it running under VirtualBox and the performance is more than adequate for testing purposes. Instead I plan to repartition and dual-boot Windows 7 and SL once the installation kinks are ironed out for the latest OS X.

[jej.514]

I dual boot so I have the fun & freedom to experiment with Linux, but W7 is my main OS. After doing some research, I used Macrium Reflect to make an image of my Vista install (for easy return to that if W7 was a no-go) and dove in to W7 (and haven't looked back since.)

In my case, I wanted to give W7 a full go, so I installed all my apps and got it all set up from the start.

I've since installed it on all my machines, and bought four copies of W7 for the $50 pre-order price when it was available.

Free software is a decent way to try, but there is no replacement for taking the time to get used to the OS and setting it up as you would use it.

Jeff

[Impreza.STi]

Originally Posted by bearsfolks

My question (and it is not a sarcastic or facetious one) is "Now what?" I cannot access any of my programs (that are all in XP) from Windows 7. So what do I do with it? How do I evaluate it, in terms of how fast it is, or how much better it is than XP, when I cannot seem to do anything with it?

Of cause you can't access all your apps in XP from 7. You're now having two different OS, and there is no software link between them except the booting menu from which you can select one to work with. You always have to install all your favourite apps after a new OS is installed on your PC.

I use dual-OS for safety and performance reasons. Well...since my pre-loaded XP on mini 10 runs quite slow, it's good to install 7 to speed up all the stuff...