EDIT:  No need to worry or wait for Sony to support this series for Windows 7, I’ve made a tutorial on how to do just that… S170 Win7 Install

According to this page, Sony may support Installation of Win7 on the S170 ( and the S series probably)
S170 Support Page

I’ve tried installing it a couple of times and the OS runs very well, but just limited by not being able to use the FN key for brightness and volume change.  If that is what Sony will provide support for, I’ll be very happy, just like any other S series owner. 

What do you guys think, does this message from Sony sound like there’s hope?

Hello spartanman. 

I’m not a Series S owner, so I can only offer you my gut feeling on things.  I won’t ask you the annoying “are you sure you did this?” questions.

Considering that the S170 came out about the same time as the TR3, I think you have an excellent chance of getting it all to work properly.  It appears to be (right click-“Properties”) “Compatibility” related.  Don’t rule out running Hotkeys programs “as admin” either.  Be sure that “User Account Control” is turned off.

Regarding Sony’s support of Windows 7 on these older models, I would be very surprised if they make any effort to update drivers for Windows 7.  I give it a 0.01% chance.  I hope I’m wrong, but I see very little chance.

Good luck and best regards.

S22S

Thanks for the msg S22S. 

At first sight of that web page, I was surprised even the mention of the S series possible support for Win7.  I don’t remember a similar message during the release of Vista.

You may be correct about the “right click -properties, compatibility” method.  I’ve tried Win7 many times actually and each time with different results no matter the order of system program install.  Now that I’m back to XP with everything in order, I’ll have to conjure up more patience and sweat before I try Win7 install again.  Next time I do, I’ll keep your suggestions in mind.

I wish S series owners are as active and risk takers as the TR owners.  It would be nice to get a bit of feedback and share ideas.

I’ve actually taken the leap of faith, once again.
The Fn keys problem still persists, even after trying compatibility trick.  Nothing shows up on the screen…I’m a little lost for ideas.

Everything else works just fine, even the sound card which will keep me happy for now.  I think I will stick with Win7 for a bit but I wish I could get the Fn keys to work!!