Windows 7
PC users have had a rough three years since the release of Microsoft’s Vista operating system. The new OS had three huge problems. It was invasive asking users to verify standard operations to the point of frustration. It required users to search for new drivers for all their attached gear, as Vista did not play nice with others. And finally, it chewed up resources and many users computers did not have the speed, memory, or storage capacity to allow them to upgrade without significant investments in new hardware.
Three years later Microsoft has dropped the Vista designation and gone back to calling their OS Windows and this version is lucky number 7. So is it an improvement over the dreaded Vista and will it tempt those users still using XP to finally upgrade?
Cruising around a few of my favourite blogs the general consensus seems to be that Windows 7 is an improvement but there is no killer new features and some of the weirdness still exists.
One of the things that stopped many PC users from upgrading from XP to Vista seemed to be that Microsoft had a variety of versions of Vista some that cost more than others and each version had its own set of features that may or may not appear on other versions. The New Windows 7 is no different. There is a Starter version that is stripped of all the best features and seems designed to fit onto the small hard drives found in those tiny netbooks. The Home Basic version too is a stripped down version that to my eye should be ignored unless you are severely restricted by your budget. The Home Premium version has all the features home users will expect. The professional version is aimed at small to medium sized businesses. The Enterprise and Ultimate versions are aimed at large corporate clients and the enthusiast who must have all the toys. There is a limited time Family Pack offered that allows you to load Windows 7 onto three family computers.
This is unlike Apple’s OS-X Snow Leopard, which has two versions; one a complete version with all the bells and whistles that can be loaded on home or business machines and a family pack that lets you load the OS-X onto three machines owned by your family.
If you expect Windows 7 to wow you visually you will be disappointed as when it loads, as it actually looks worse than Vista as the default desktop image is the Microsoft logo. Thankfully there are a bunch of other desktop options you can replace it with and many are quite nice.
Improvements have been made to the taskbar and there are fewer annoying text boxes popping up. The size of the Microsoft programs has always been blotted and ridiculous and this is the first version that has actually gone down in size slightly. That is a plus.
Disappointingly compatibility is still a problem. You will spend a few hours running around the net looking for new drivers to get all your peripherals working. Windows 7 does have a program to assist you getting older versions of your software to work but it’s a bit shaky and I had no luck using it.
What I will say is that if you are still using XP Windows 7 is just as stable and definitely worth upgrading to. If you have Vista and have worked out the kinks, I would wait to upgrade to Windows 7, as there is not much new here in terms of new features.
If you are in the market for a new computer I’d suggest you compare Windows 7 with Apple’s OS-X and the free PC alternative Linux. I made the switch to Mac a few years ago and won’t go back… but that’s just me.
Three years later Microsoft has dropped the Vista designation and gone back to calling their OS Windows and this version is lucky number 7. So is it an improvement over the dreaded Vista and will it tempt those users still using XP to finally upgrade?
Cruising around a few of my favourite blogs the general consensus seems to be that Windows 7 is an improvement but there is no killer new features and some of the weirdness still exists.
One of the things that stopped many PC users from upgrading from XP to Vista seemed to be that Microsoft had a variety of versions of Vista some that cost more than others and each version had its own set of features that may or may not appear on other versions. The New Windows 7 is no different. There is a Starter version that is stripped of all the best features and seems designed to fit onto the small hard drives found in those tiny netbooks. The Home Basic version too is a stripped down version that to my eye should be ignored unless you are severely restricted by your budget. The Home Premium version has all the features home users will expect. The professional version is aimed at small to medium sized businesses. The Enterprise and Ultimate versions are aimed at large corporate clients and the enthusiast who must have all the toys. There is a limited time Family Pack offered that allows you to load Windows 7 onto three family computers.
This is unlike Apple’s OS-X Snow Leopard, which has two versions; one a complete version with all the bells and whistles that can be loaded on home or business machines and a family pack that lets you load the OS-X onto three machines owned by your family.
If you expect Windows 7 to wow you visually you will be disappointed as when it loads, as it actually looks worse than Vista as the default desktop image is the Microsoft logo. Thankfully there are a bunch of other desktop options you can replace it with and many are quite nice.
Improvements have been made to the taskbar and there are fewer annoying text boxes popping up. The size of the Microsoft programs has always been blotted and ridiculous and this is the first version that has actually gone down in size slightly. That is a plus.
Disappointingly compatibility is still a problem. You will spend a few hours running around the net looking for new drivers to get all your peripherals working. Windows 7 does have a program to assist you getting older versions of your software to work but it’s a bit shaky and I had no luck using it.
What I will say is that if you are still using XP Windows 7 is just as stable and definitely worth upgrading to. If you have Vista and have worked out the kinks, I would wait to upgrade to Windows 7, as there is not much new here in terms of new features.
If you are in the market for a new computer I’d suggest you compare Windows 7 with Apple’s OS-X and the free PC alternative Linux. I made the switch to Mac a few years ago and won’t go back… but that’s just me.
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