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I have to completely disagree with the OP on this one. The taskbar finally has a look that matches the glass windows. After using 7, I can say that the taskbar looks out of place with the glass windows. There are countless subtle tweaks to Aero that make 7 look much more complete. Even the Control Panel looks better.

I respect your opinion, however, I think Windows 7 is a lot better visually than Vista in every way. Its more refined, more snapier, more transparent, more customisable (themes), easier to use (taskbar, aero peek, live previews, jumplists etc) and more consistant. I use Windows 7 as my main OS and when I go back to Vista it seems old now, the same feeling I got when using Vista and then using XP (which, visually, is dreadful!!!). I just love everything about Windows 7, and thats my opinion.

I have to completely disagree with the OP on this one. The taskbar finally has a look that matches the glass windows. After using 7, I can say that the taskbar looks out of place with the glass windows. There are countless subtle tweaks to Aero that make 7 look much more complete. Even the Control Panel looks better.

If I remember correctly... the taskbar was translucent when no windows were maximized, but as soon as you would maximized a window the taskbar, sidebar and title bar would all change to a non translucent black...to mimic a widescreen border so your focus would be on the window content instead. Correct me if I?m wrong. But I thought that was genius and worked very well.

perfomance > looks

Why not have both? I think MS can do it!!!!!! - Besides It's going to cost you $200+ - you deserve both!

hahaha, I hated Vista, now I hate 7 (guess thats me only and i don't blame you all). Don't get me wrong but when you tweak and disable unnecessary services from XP, you can end up with very very few services (which is cool for a gamer like me). Check out my processes....

after tweaking Vista, i could NOT disable as many services as i did with XP. To get the same job done quickly as xp, Vista almost doubled my time, 7 has added more. When it comes to that taskbar of 7 and themes, its cool but i'm afraid my girlfriend won't come everyday to see these "fancy dresses" either. Its great if MS allows removing/reinstalling unnecessary files/services (like W98 Setup remember?). There are so many GBs, Even Apple realized something and Snow Leo is near 5 GB! (And they are known to be cool kewl dudes in OSX world). Installation time can go down further if we're allowed to remove things (like XPLite)

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Edited by JunkMail
Vista.. uses.. XP.. as its core.

Actually, it's server 2003 as the core, not XP, if memory serves.

One thing I'm not happy about is the return of "My [insert thing here]" that's really not necessary, don't see what was wrong with Just "Document" "Picture", etc. It's really the same thing anyway, Oh well though.

I think Windows 7 looks better than vista. Glass looks better, I like the way the taskbar looks, I just see it as an improvement. It's nice to see a better bootup screen than what Vista had (heh, if any). The new flashing colour is just a really snappy touch.

Performance will always seem to be the focus over appearance, but appearance will have a factor of keeping people on the OS. I remember when I first saw XP, I thought it was ugly as hell, but of course who'd expect that it would be 5, 6 years until we'd see the next OS when XP came out, yet it came out pretty popular despite the tinkertoy look. Vista, on the other hand, came out as much better improvement, graphic wise (and I think performance wise, but yeah yeah not everyone agree with this).

The only place that I've seen them is if you go there by Windows Explorer. User > (Your login name) > X

X, marks the spot on where you'll see the My 'X' Stuff. It's no big deal but just slightly irksome, and that's only because they used to appear as shortcut in vista (if you allow hidden and system files to appear), which you cannot access, of course.

excuse me, but what the fuzzle are you talkin bout?

take a pic of vista, take a pic of Win 7. Do you see the difference? i do, see that toolbar? its NEW. take a pic of XP and vista, you see a bigger difference? well except the extremely horrible blue toolbar, not really, You actually have to use these things for like 2 or more minutes to notice those things... i guess if you managed to post here, and sign up, you probably would be able to figure it out on your own

P.S, no need to be RUDE to people who don't agree with your opinion.

themes are added in THE END, same as with vista, god, is this gonna happen EVERY release?

I respect your opinion, however, I think Windows 7 is a lot better visually than Vista in every way. Its more refined, more snapier, more transparent, more customisable (themes), easier to use (taskbar, aero peek, live previews, jumplists etc) and more consistant. I use Windows 7 as my main OS and when I go back to Vista it seems old now, the same feeling I got when using Vista and then using XP (which, visually, is dreadful!!!). I just love everything about Windows 7, and thats my opinion.

Uhm...your right vista is old, no doubt it would feel that way. But seriously, it's Vista 1.5 at most...but there are some things that looked better in vista...so I figure, why not keep the things that were good in vista if the overall look of the OS is Vista? isn't all that different anyways.

If you have decent hardware, disabling services makes no significant difference to performance
I've decent hardware already (vista capable before i bought it), its just my old habit to tweak system, isn't that yours too? I've another old system with P4 and Geforce 6800 and if I install XP, I can watch 1080p movies without any problem but thats not going to happen with Vista or 7 :D (even if i put decent hardware with this 6800 card)

One thing I agree, 7 is anytime better then Vista (just won't be better then my XP) :p

Uhm...your right vista is old, no doubt it would feel that way. But seriously, it's Vista 1.5 at most...but there are some things that looked better in vista...so I figure, why not keep the things that were good in vista if the overall look of the OS is Vista? isn't all that different anyways.

Who make you the decider of what looks good or not? I think Win7 looks better than Vista.

oops I meant "Vista looks better THAN Win7"

-Fade in into the login screen - not in win7 it just abruptly pop-ups after boot screen ? not very elegant.

Fading isn't always better. When you right click on your desktop would you want your menu to fade in or just appear. When ever I go to fix someones computer that has windows Vista I always turn off the animation and the fade effects of aero and ask the customer what they think. They are always amazed because their computer seems a lot faster. Thats because before when the window would kill a few milliseconds fading in and now it just appears.

Windows 7 is what happens when MS listens to its customers and responds to their feedback - the UI is tweaked and features that have been requested are implemented. I bet 'Maximised Transparency' was a big request. The taskbar, which at first looks confusing, it a lot more easier to use than previous versions of Windows and its the first 'major' overhaul of it since Windows 95! People who upgrade from XP to 7 are going to see the most change, those who are on Vista will see the subtle changes that make Windows 7 more refined and more of a pleasure to use.

Fading isn't always better. When you right click on your desktop would you want your menu to fade in or just appear. When ever I go to fix someones computer that has windows Vista I always turn off the animation and the fade effects of aero and ask the customer what they think. They are always amazed because their computer seems a lot faster. Thats because before when the window would kill a few milliseconds fading in and now it just appears.

I don't think we are talking about the same thing here - I'm referring to the fade effect while your comp boots.

Windows 7 is what happens when MS listens to its customers and responds to their feedback - the UI is tweaked and features that have been requested are implemented. I bet 'Maximised Transparency' was a big request. The taskbar, which at first looks confusing, it a lot more easier to use than previous versions of Windows and its the first 'major' overhaul of it since Windows 95! People who upgrade from XP to 7 are going to see the most change, those who are on Vista will see the subtle changes that make Windows 7 more refined and more of a pleasure to use.

Well said, but the people (avarage joe) who are on XP and stayed away from Vista, looking at Win7 - why would they switch? - They will think Vista 1.5 at most and stay with their trusted and familliar XP... now if MS would offer something that did not remind average joe's of vista, like new UI, theme or whatever, than I believe people will jump ship.

I don't think we are talking about the same thing here - I'm referring to the fade effect while you comp boots.

You're talking about to the login screen, right? I think from login screen to desktop it fades. Not sure about boot screen to login screen though, I believe you're right.

The fade is nice, but in all honesty, I plan on using my computer, not watching it boot so it's not really much of an issue for me.

Still being honest here, as much as I like 7, I still like the look of Vista's taskbar. I was messing with 7 the other night, and I'm not sure whether I simply didn't try hard enough or what, but it doesn't seem to be possible to get that same dark shade as Vista's. Looks more grayish or something if I remember correctly. Will have to go home and fool with it again to be sure, but if I had any complaint, it'd be that.

The other thing that doesn't feel right to me is the start button. I just... don't like it. Vista's start button fit in perfectly, but with 7, it just feels like they threw it there and didn't bother looking at it again. I dunno though...

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    • Nope. That lack of surround sound capability (analog) won't fly with me. Sure, I use headphones most of the time, but still.
    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it by Steven Parker If you have been reading Neowin for any length of time, you may remember that I reviewed the Sound Blaster Audigy FX Pro back in April. I found it to be an excellent budget sound card, even though it lacked support for formats such as DTS over the included SPDIF port. Anyway, Creative reached out to me again asking if I was interested in reviewing the Sound Blaster AE-X. It is a card mainly targeted at headphone wearers, which I'll get into a bit later. Before we get underway, here is a disclaimer: Creative Labs provided a free sample without any review pre-approval. Here are the full specs of it: Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Dimensions: 179 x 126 x 18 mm Weight: 263g / 9.28 oz Platform: PCI-e DAC: ESS ES9039Q2M Connectivity Options Side: Rear: 1 x HD Audio Front Panel Connector, 1 x ⅛“ Headphone port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Left) port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Right) port, 1 x Coaxial SPDIF-out port, 1 x ⅛“ Mic in/Line-in port, 1 x TOSLINK SPDIF-in port Surround: No DNR / SNR: THD+N: 0.0001% Dynamic Range 130 dB Recording Resolution: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Direct Mode: Line Out (Stereo): PCM up to 32-bit  384 kHz Coaxial SPDIF Out: PCM up to 24-bit 192.0 kHz Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 384kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 Output Impedance: 1Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 8–600Ω, IEM: 0.5Vrms, Low: 1.5Vrms, Mid: 3Vrms, High: 6Vrms, Maximum output power: 350mW @ 32Ω (High), Maximum output voltage: 6Vrms (High) Front Panel Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128 Output Impedance: 10Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 32–300Ω, Maximum output power: 40mW @ 32Ω, Maximum output voltage: 1.9Vrms ASIO: ASIO 2.3 Total Harmonic Distortion: THD+N: 0.0006% Dynamic Range: 114 dB Scout Mode: Yes EMI shielding: No (but it passed all the FCC emission tests) Operating temperature: 0–45°C Input Power: 12V⎓0.5A Warranty: 1 Year (MSRP) Price: $179.99 / £169.99 The Sound Blaster AE-X was announced at the end of May, and it becomes clear that it is mainly for headphone wearers. I should also note that the card does not support DDL/DTS encoding technology, but it is said to support decoding through the coaxial SPDIF port. I was able to test this working with the classic Windows Sound properties, but I could not get a DTS (decode) signal through my Logitech Z906, it defaulted to 3D sound whenever I played DTS content through Plex or Emby. In addition, this card only supports two channels (stereo) over the speakers. The surround support is limited to the Headphone Amp, so before I get underway, what we have here is a card mostly intended for headphone use, especially with its SPDIF In (Toslink) port where you could connect another device like a console. So what about the highlights of this card? The AE-X is powered by the ESS SABRE DAC (ES9039Q2M), which is capable of a 130 dB dynamic range. In addition, it supports 32-bit/384 kHz playback for deeper detail and clarity. The headphone amplifier delivers up to 350 mW @ 32Ω, which admittedly far surpasses standard onboard audio, offering support for studio-grade headphones. DSD256 and ASIO 2.3 are also supported. What doesn't it have? No support for What-U-Hear, Super X-Fi, or the SmartComms Kit No EMI shielding, but it passed all the FCC emission tests (from the FAQ) I also want to make it clear that I am no audiophile. For me, it's purely subjective and it should just "work" out of the box. First impressions As I said in the introduction, I was a bit sad to see that the AE-X only supports stereo output, meaning it would not be on par with my ALC1220 over my speakers, as I mentioned it seems like this card is marketed toward headphone users. Since I am not an avid gamer that would rule me out as a potential customer, but I can still test its capabilities! The card arrived in a nice-looking box, as shown above. It's quite a bit larger than the Audify FX Pro that I reviewed back in April, and at first I thought the covering meant that it was EMI shielded, but it isn't as mentioned above in the highlights section. What's in the box: 1 x Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe card 1 x 3.5 mm CTIA TRRS to Dual TRS Headset Splitter Cable 1 x Quick Start Guide Aside from the Quick Start Guide, which someone at my age (I guess) needs a magnifying glass to read thanks to the tiny fonts, Creative Labs also has the manual online, which first requires you to prove that you're human in order to access it (so I can't direct link it). Anyway, the box is mostly made up of cardboard, and the only plastic in it is the anti-static bag for the card itself. Design Top Bottom The card itself looks pretty cool and actually wouldn't look out of place in an all-white build. There's only one connector, and for some reason it is awkwardly placed on the side (front-facing) that is for the front panel audio connector, which will let you use the headphones through the front PC audio jack. Since the front panel Headphone Amp has fewer capabilities than the rear headphone port, I decided not to use it. Rear of card PCI-e interface The rear of the card is completely open and is normally where you would find the front panel connector. The PCIe interface side is completely covered, which initially made me think it was EMI shielded. I/O panel Side (front-facing) with Front panel connector On the outer rear bracket side we have the TOSLINK SPDIF in, Coaxial SPDIF out, RCA line out (Right), RCA line out (Left), Headphone out, and Mic/Line in ports. On the front facing portion of the card itself is the F-panel connector. Usage Test System Our test system consists of the following: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER (BIOS F12) Corsair RM1000x (2024) Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut (33x33x0,2mm) 2x 32GB Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 6000MT/s CL36-38-38-80 T-Force Z540 2TB (PCIe Gen5) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition (NVIDIA) Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Windows 11 25H2 Pro I installed the card into the Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER which includes the RealTek ALC1220 onboard audio. For our subjective listening tests, I used the Coaxial SPDIF port to my Logitech Z906 speakers. For headphone tests I used the OneOdio Studio Max 2 Wireless DJ Headphones that I reviewed last month. After installing the audio driver, I installed Creative Nexus, which is a relatively new app designed for the latest Sound Blaster cards. Then I discovered the AE-X needed both a driver update from 1.00.15.0001 to 1.01.09.000 and a firmware update from 1.00.06.0000 to 1.00.06.0002, then I was set to go. It should be noted that the card did not work without the driver (not Plug and Play). As you can see above, you can manage the firmware, driver, and inputs via Advanced Settings on the Device tab. By default Nexus enabled "Direct Mode". Upon clicking on Acoustic Engine, the Equalizer can be enabled and set to four different presets, which are: Gaming Music Movies Footsteps Enhancer There's also a dedicated Scout Mode for gamers. I mainly used Tidal and Spotify in the past week to listen to some of my Liked Songs (which now total over 700) in Shuffle mode; there were no pops or interference that I could hear. I also found a 5.1 Surround Music playlist on Tidal that sounded really great over Studio Max 2 headphones. When I reviewed the Audigy FX Pro, I went out and purchased a Logitech Z906 set second-hand for €100 specifically to use with the card, but in this instance all I could get on the AE-X was the 3D output of surround sound through Coaxial SPDIF and although it still sounded great, it isn't quite as good as DTS Interactive via my onboard Realtek ALC1220. Conclusion So what have I learned? The AE-X lacks multi-channel support for 5.1/7.1 setups and drops support for modern surround technologies like Dolby or DTS, functioning strictly as a stereo output device. So to really benefit, you will need Studio-grade headphones to "hear" the benefits of this card. With that being said, I can imagine it will appeal to gamers who are switching between console and PC. By utilizing the SPDIF in port, you could just plug your headphones into the AE-X (front or rear port) and then switch between PC and Console without having to move the headphones to a different port. As I said in the Sound Blaster Audigy review, the EQ in the Creative Nexus app offers safe presets, which allows a user to further tweak the lows, mids, and highs for a personal listening experience. Of course it all depends on the headphones you hook up to it. Speaking of headphones, I kind of wish I had higher-quality Studio-grade headphones to really test this card with; I'm not usually wearing headphones in my day to day duties. The only time I will wear them is if I want to listen to music very late at night and I don't want to disturb my neighbors, so my rating (verdict) is based on this fact. Someone with a PC/Console setup and wears headphone religiously to game, and consume media will benefit much more than I from the high-quality Headphone Amps that are included in the AE-X. Once again, I do feel like Creative could have gone the extra mile to support the S/PDIF port a bit more. Why include it if you're not supporting the main popular digital formats? It seems like the decision was more of a legacy-based one, offering uncompressed 2-channel PCM audio, for users with high-fidelity audio systems and external DACs. Maybe I will be lucky enough to review a card that truly includes all these features in the future. I am sure readers with far more knowledge on audio systems than me will correct me in the comments below. I'll just say I am happy to learn what I don't know! Where to buy The Sound Blaster AE-X is available to purchase now in preorder for $179.99 on the U.S. Creative website, or for £169.99 on the Creative UK website and will start shipping to customers from June 25.
    • $80 or 90%, anything else would be financial suicide one way or another.
    • Or... just use Bitwarden. Free, and has on-prem option as well. Works both on desktop and mobile, wherever you are. The age of local password files is over.
    • Thanks
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