Windows 7 Update For Epilog Laser Customers

Well, for better or for worse, it's here.

Windows 7 has hit the street and we have some initial information for those who are wondering where they set in Bill Gates' new world.

First for those with Epilog Laser Systems, the official statement from headquarters can be found here-
http://www.epiloglaser.com/news_windows_7.htm

For some general information, I'll add a few tidbits that I've gathered over the past few days.

The most important fact that I've recently learned is that you can only expect to upgrade to Win7 from Vista. There is no easy path to upgrade an XP computer or certainly anything older. Personally this is disappointing to me. I know that I should have never assumed that we could upgrade from XP but I admit that this inability has caused me to change several plans that I had in place.

The next thing I want to discuss is the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems. Win7, like Vista, is available in both 32 and 64 bit options. Upgrading 32 bit to 32 bit should be pretty smooth as should 64 to 64 upgrades. If you want to upgrade a 32 bit Vista computer to 64 bit Win7, it appears that will be difficult.

A good comment came to me recently from a friend-
Many of the computers that have been sold in the last couple of years have 64-bit chip sets in them. While this would lead you to believe that your computer is 64-bit compatible, it really only means that the chip set can handle 64-bit processing. It doesn’t mean that the rest of your computer is 64-bit compatible. For most people, the easiest way to move from 32-bit computing to 64-bit computing is going to be with the purchase of a new computer.
Additionally, you need to be aware that your hard drive, network, display, printer, scanner, camera, audio, and other hardware devices may not have compatible drivers and that you will have to find these drivers (if they exist) online to make these devices work again.

It's important to know that Epilog only has 64 bit drivers for the Mini/Helix/EXT models.

Bottom line is that we've had several folks using beta versions of Win7 for some time and we expect that, in proper configurations, you'll have no trouble printing to your Epilog Laser from the new Windows 7 operating system. And, many early reviews for this OS have been quite positive. Much of the annoyances from Vista are gone but the useful features were kept. Plus Win7 is said to be faster in many staple applications. Faster booting, faster back from hibernation, just better performance. If you are considering an upgrade, I'd not stand in your way.