I noticed that the Windows 7 beta candidate has recently hit the bit torrent network. Would be interested to know if anyone has successfully run EQ2 on Windows 7?
I am not running the Win7 beta so can not answer your question. I do have one concern that I hope officials here can address.
A January 2009 PC World (magaznine) article discusses Win7's supposed memory-management improvements over Vista. It states that...
1)...in Vista memory allocation per window goes up as windows are added, to the point where computers might eventually shot down as the run out of memory.
2)...in Win7 new windows will be allocated the same amount of memory so as not to strain system resources as quickly.
What will this mean for EQ2? I run the game in a full-screen window. (Full-screen mode consistantly locks my computer after a variable period of play.) I generally have Firefox running in another window, and possibly briefly launch additional programs (though this is rare). The games runs at 1280x1024 in Very High Quality mode. FPS is not where I'd like it, but suffices for my type of play (solo and small-full groups, no raids). The computer houses 4gb of physical ram. I do not suffer from dreaded Out_of_Memory crashes.
Is Win7's new memory allocation better or worse for EQ2, especially when run in conjunction with other programs? How will Win7 determine how much memory each window gets (in accordance to statement-2)? Seems to me that if each window gets the same amount of memory, then, say, Firefox memory allocation will have to go up as EQ2's does, which might mean we run out of memory that much faster (?). Or does Win7 limit each window's memory allocation to a fixed (but equal) amount? Wouldn't that too be bad for EQ2?
Admittedly I've no expertise in this area. This change might be great for the game. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I will pipe in and lay my fears to rest.
-Roybob
Well one issue I'm running into with Windows 7 Beta is the EQ2 Launcher wants to download the entire game everytime I load. I'm tryint to resolve the issue. But running the game from Everquest2.exe - I get a 10-15 fps boost over my Vista OS.
Solved the downloading issue - Seems if you pin the shortcut from the directory directly on to the new taskbar - it thinks that the game needs to be downloaded. But if you create the shortcut to the desktop then move it to the taskbar, it scans correctly and loads without downloading the entire game over and over.
Good stuff Grindal. So looks like there won't be any issues running EQ2 on Windows 7 then. Although it might be too early to celebrate I guess! I'm thinking of beta testing it myself when it becomes publicly available. Cheers,
Nif.
The improved memory management should be nice. It's good to hear that you're actually getting better performance with the new Windows.
<---- Holds breath....I really hope that this will be the next Windows "XP". I haven't even gotten close to installing Windows Vista because the fac tthat you need an amazing system just to run the game at the same FPS due to higher system requirements seems insane to me. Plus, not to mention all of the hardware issues that Vista has etc. From everything that I am reading about Windows 7, it is going to be good. Lets just hope that all the rumors will be proven true, so far so good from what everyones posting on here. Keep the information coming!
Well I've been a System Administrator for fairly large state wide network for the last 10 years, and I have to say, if Windows 7 continues it's current path, it will be MS's best OS they've ever released.
It's speedy, installed on my home system in 16mins, loads twice as fast as Vista and faster then XP, minor driver issues so far (should to improve with it's beta cycle). Fantasic responsiveness, Files delete, move and copy much much faster then Vista could even dream. It actually took longer to copy files with a program I swear by (Teracopy) then it did using Windows 7 native copy and paste.
Every test I've through at it, it seems to continue to impress me.
I'm waiting for the x64 version
Pitt Hammerfist wrote:
“I’m thrilled to announce the availability of the Windows 7 beta, which is on track to deliver simplicity and reliability,” Ballmer said. “Windows 7 and Windows Live are part of an incredible pipeline of consumer technology that is making it easier than ever for people to communicate, share and get more done.”
The beta version of Windows 7, Microsoft’s next-generation PC operating system, can be downloaded today by MSDN, TechBeta and TechNet customers. Consumers who want to test-drive the beta will be able to download it beginning Jan. 9 at http://www.microsoft.com/windows7.
64 bit is available on TechNet Plus retail as of today.
Being a software engineer so far it appears to be somewhat better but nothing uber. Nothing that should have already been done with Vista. MS hopefully will regain some respect out of the programming community again if all goes well.. the whole .net thing just killed it for me.
As far as eq2 goes it runs fine.
clean install of both W7 X64 and W7 X32 on two boxes with removable drives (they had the original beta build 7000 load on them)
Box 1 - I7-965 Extreme w/ 6 GB DDR3 memory, Nvidia 295
Box 2 - Intel wolfdale 8400 w/ 6 GB memory Nvidia 280
Both boxes run eq2 fine under 32 bit and 64 bit versions. Still need to download and run DXWEBSETUP.exe for the runtime modules. Will be stress testing the boxes this weekend in raid conditions to see how they react. Have been able to load 3 accounts up on a single box (I7) and as long as I set the graphics level down to the lowest settings it is usable as a multi-box run, the wolfdale maxes out at 2 accounts.
If you run into difficulty any of the reported workarounds that where used for Vista will also function correctly on the W7. W7 is based off the Vista core. On older hardware, the Vista drivers might work for you, I was able to get a old Promise raid driver from XP loaded on the W7 X32 box, never was able to get it to function on the X64 install.
Have tried the installs of the game both ways - with the default directory and with it installed on a seperate directory outside of the normal ..\Program files directory. Same as with Vista, it appears that the game is happier outside of the normal installation in the ..\Program files directory.
All of the testing that I have been doing is done on both the Beta release of W7 from Technet and the latest RC build 7100. My next experiment is to see if I can do a upgrade in place from Vista Ultimate SP2 to Windows 7 build 7100 and see how it works and how stable it is.
I just got both RC last night and will be upgrading this weekend and testing. Thanks for the infor Wingrider.
Upgrade in place.
/rofl make sure you uninstall your internet security package such as trend micro or bitdefender before you attempt to upgrade a Vista install, can do some really strange things.
Another application that caused issues with the in place upgrade that casued problems was the latest Directv code drop for viewing recorded shows on your DVR on your PC, this should also be installed.
Couple of other things - run disk cleanup prior to the upgrade, delete any old restore points, empty the trash bin and most importantly backup, backup, backup - and backup again.
