Quote - Once you go beyond 4Gb your statement is very true, but that's not what this topic is about. It's about Poser and 4 gigs of RAM.

That's true. I use 6 GB RAM and thus I noticed the difference, I forgot that the OP is limited to 4 GB.

Quote -
 Are you saying you know better than the OS developers what services are needed?

This is not the point. The developers created an OS for everyone in mind, from the basic home user up to users who need it as a server station etc. I'm just a home user and I don't need a quarter of the services which are starting automatically and stay in the RAM. Yes, I can switch all of them off (I did that in XP too but it were less), but the strange thing was it did not reduce the RAM while doing nothing and I was wondering about that because in XP I noticed the difference. And why that stuff needs so much space on my HDD (I have only 200 GB) is beyond me. I understood what's in the RAM should enhance the performance and make it easier with the programs that are opened by the users.

Even though you're  right about the way Windows 7 is handling the RAM, I stick to my point that  it does not matter for people on a basic PC or laptop. The booting time is ten seconds longer, as most tests observed, the software apps are regoginzed better but they don't open faster. I did nothing faster with Poser 8 on Win 7 than on XP. Experts say it is because the advantage only shines with a quad core processor, I stated that a few times already. Most experts agree also that you have to switch off 'Search' because it slows down things -  makes no sense to me to do that because it's important for me to search. I also mentioned what I like about Win7: in my case no drivers needed, no plugins for music and audio files. So what's the big deal? I feel like a Poser user in a DAZ forum... :-)

wow, quite a heated discussion over my original post!!  i appreciate all points of view... honestly, at this point, i'm leaning to just leave Windows 7 on the machine, as, by now,  it already comes pre-installed in the laptop i want to buy (the version is Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit)...

I mean, it has to be easier dealing with W7 than looking for all the drivers the laptop will need for XP... so, i will just try it with my Poser 6... if i notice that is too unusable, then i'll have to format and go back to XP, but i am trusting that Microsoft took the hint and made W7 a little lighter than Vista... as a matter of fact, i read that Windows 7 can even be used on netbooks, something Vista cannot do, so, i'll give it a try.

Thanks to everyone once again for all the valuable info!

Quote -
. And why that stuff needs so much space on my HDD (I have only 200 GB) is beyond me. I understood what's in the RAM should enhance the performance and make it easier with the programs that are opened by the users.

Well for one thing, Windows will make a page file equal to the amount of RAM in your system (plus 300 MB) and that subtracts from available HDD space. It will also create a hibernation/sleep file equal to your system RAM, where it stores whatever is in your RAM on the HDD when you put your PC to sleep.
Lowering your page file size and eliminating the hibernation file will regain a lot of HDD space, if it's a problem, but if you remove your hibernation file (actually called "hybrid sleep"), you won't be able to put your PC into sleep/hibernation mode.

So if you have 6 GB of system RAM, that's almost 12.5 GB of HDD space right there, and it could be more if you have an OEM with a preinstall that set your page file size higher.

I never put the PC to sleep if you mean the energy saving option. I thought the hibernation is used for notebooks only (for low leveled battery power?). But Windows does the page filing for these modes anyway, even though I did turn the sleeping mode off and I'm not on a Notebook? If I understand you correctly the only thing I have to do is to change the page file size in Win7? Where is the option hidden? I will give it a try on my other HDD.

You can use hibernation on a desktop. The contents of RAM are saved out to disk before the PC turns off. It's then loaded back in on power up rather than a normal boot - i.e. you can continue with things where you left off in the same way as standby (saved to RAM).

Leave the pagefile alone - system managed is all you need.

Quote - I never put the PC to sleep if you mean the energy saving option. I thought the hibernation is used for notebooks only (for low leveled battery power?). But Windows does the page filing for these modes anyway, even though I did turn the sleeping mode off and I'm not on a Notebook? If I understand you correctly the only thing I have to do is to change the page file size in Win7? Where is the option hidden? I will give it a try on my other HDD.

Have a look at this page and try it if you want:
www.windows7hacker.com/index.php/2009/05/what-is-hiberfilsys-and-how-to-delete-in-windows-7-free-up-hard-drive-space/

NOTE that I'm not recommending it or anything like that, although it's probably safe. I haven't tried it because I do like to put my PCs into hibernation, and removing the hiberfil.sys file will remove your ability to do that.

As Magic_Man posted above, it's better not to mess with your page file size, but that's under the advanced options in  My Computer>Properties.
You can also type F1 to get to the Windows Help and put "page file" in the search, then click on the "Change the size of virtual memory" link. Unless you really know what you're doing, that's not a particularly good idea.

one more question on the same topic... since i'm going to have a machine capable of 64-bit processing, i am thinking of upgrading from Poser 6 to Poser Pro (finally, been using Poser 6 for ages now)...

smart move? dumb move?

Quote - one more question on the same topic... since i'm going to have a machine capable of 64-bit processing, i am thinking of upgrading from Poser 6 to Poser Pro (finally, been using Poser 6 for ages now)...

smart move? dumb move?

Why not Poser 8? 

OK I admit I'm one of the people without any major problems with P8, and I've always figured that you might as well go rfor the newest ersion when you ARE upgrading. So along the same route I'd recommend W7 in the computer is in any way up to it, and it sounds like it is :)

I havent tried W7 myself, I'm a happpy (!) Vista user, although I have XP on my netbook. Oh and I put both my desktop and my netbook into hibernation mode every time I shut t down. I HATE when Windows makes me do a "real" reboot - I do it whenever an update demands it of course, but I like not having to open the zillions of little programs I have running - and for that matter, shutting down some things that windows insists on starting on my behalf (yes (I've already weeded out a lot in the startup thingie, but still...)

Hibernation is nice. Yes it takes up some space, but the gain is bigger than the loss of space, at least to me it is :)

BTW My netbook has 1 gb of ram and is fully able to run Poser 7. It won't run Poser 8 but I think that is an install issue - and since P7 works from an external harddisk, I never bothered with Poser 8 on that one - it is just for testing things out anyway :)

Quote - one more question on the same topic... since i'm going to have a machine capable of 64-bit processing, i am thinking of upgrading from Poser 6 to Poser Pro (finally, been using Poser 6 for ages now)...

smart move? dumb move?

Wait until Poser Pro 2010 is released, you will (most likely) gain the most, assuming it will be released, which can not be stated for sure. If you want to upgrade now, I would recommend going to P8, instead of Poser 7 Pro. Unless there are features you need in Poser Pro, like export to higher end apps. If not, then P8 will give you the most for less money. Even though Poser 7 Pro is 64bit in rendering (not the rest of the application), it's not as fast in rendering as P8 is.

Oh, i see... i figured i was going to be gaining a lot by switching from P6 to PPro, but apparently such is not the case? I really don't export to any other software, except for Vue 6 infinite, which already has no issues with P6... so i'm guessing that i'm going to stick to my good old Poser 6 until something worth upgrading comes about (I still don't know about P8  :/)

thanks again for the feedback!

Keep in mind, PoserPro introduced gamma correction which corrects for how images are viewed on your monitor from linear rendering.  You will notice that your previous images will render differently.  The PoserPro 2010 version may build on this principal or possibly incorporate a better IDL rendering along side it.

i see... and about the firely engine using raytracing... is that pretty much the same in Poser 6 as it's in Poser Pro? no changes there? no faster rendering or anything?