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markbot · 10-25-2009, 11:28 AM

I installed Windows 7 two days ago. Here are my thoughts.

I was able to upgrade 2 of my computers from Vista for only $45 each because of a student discount easily available on the net. I only needed my school email address. I could have upgraded for a mere $29 each but I wanted the boot disks. If you consider how many times you use Windows and the importance, $29 is quite a pittance…even $119, which is $40 per year on average…or $3.33 per month.

Performance
It could be because I had to wipe my hard drive...but Windows 7 seems speedier than Vista. My low voltage, slim laptop PC is definitely faster now. Before, Aero slowed my PC. Now, it seems just fine. It is my understanding that Windows 7 uses less system resources.

Usability
The biggest improvement is the user interface. It looks better than Vista, but, more importantly, it is easier to navigate. They greatly improved the taskbar in multiple dimensions such as building the “show desktop” into the task bar, ability to pin programs, ability to preview programs from the task bar, and more.

It is easier to accomplish common tasks and the OS is less annoying. For example, when ejecting a USB drive it now only takes 2 clicks! Before I think it took 7 clicks or more; a major pain in the ass for something I do several times a day is gone from my life forever. It starts and shuts down faster. A big improvement is the DPI text scaling. I view my main desktop from my couch on a large LCD. I used to use DPI scaling so that all text and menus on the OS would be larger. It didn’t work that well before. Menus would get cut off. It looks much better now.

They also improved several applications like Windows Media Center. Oddly, I now have several programs from MSFT that do the same thing such as Windows Media Center, Zune software, and Windows Media Player.

Remaining Nags
1. I am confident that my computer will slow down over time because of new programs that I install and because of the Windows updates that come out. These updates, it is my feeling, slow down my computer. I hate this about Windows.
2. It is a pain to upgrade. Many people will have to completely wipe their hard drives before updating. The annoyance of having to backup all files and reinstall all programs and patches is quite significant. For 2 or 3 computers, plan for half a day of upgrading. Downloading the files from the net took maybe 45 to an hour. The Windows install itself took maybe 30 minutes per computer. Reinstalling programs, patches, and drivers is the biggest waste of time. This takes hours.
3. Because of anti-trust concerns, MSFT has shifted several programs to free downloads…instead of including them in the OS. These separate programs are quite important: email, movie maker, anti virus….and many other very important core programs.

10-25-2009, 11:28 AM	#1
markbot Guru Posts: 612 Karma: 7511929 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: New York, NY Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2	Windows 7 Review I installed Windows 7 two days ago. Here are my thoughts. I was able to upgrade 2 of my computers from Vista for only $45 each because of a student discount easily available on the net. I only needed my school email address. I could have upgraded for a mere $29 each but I wanted the boot disks. If you consider how many times you use Windows and the importance, $29 is quite a pittance…even $119, which is $40 per year on average…or $3.33 per month. Performance It could be because I had to wipe my hard drive...but Windows 7 seems speedier than Vista. My low voltage, slim laptop PC is definitely faster now. Before, Aero slowed my PC. Now, it seems just fine. It is my understanding that Windows 7 uses less system resources. Usability The biggest improvement is the user interface. It looks better than Vista, but, more importantly, it is easier to navigate. They greatly improved the taskbar in multiple dimensions such as building the “show desktop” into the task bar, ability to pin programs, ability to preview programs from the task bar, and more. It is easier to accomplish common tasks and the OS is less annoying. For example, when ejecting a USB drive it now only takes 2 clicks! Before I think it took 7 clicks or more; a major pain in the ass for something I do several times a day is gone from my life forever. It starts and shuts down faster. A big improvement is the DPI text scaling. I view my main desktop from my couch on a large LCD. I used to use DPI scaling so that all text and menus on the OS would be larger. It didn’t work that well before. Menus would get cut off. It looks much better now. They also improved several applications like Windows Media Center. Oddly, I now have several programs from MSFT that do the same thing such as Windows Media Center, Zune software, and Windows Media Player. Remaining Nags 1. I am confident that my computer will slow down over time because of new programs that I install and because of the Windows updates that come out. These updates, it is my feeling, slow down my computer. I hate this about Windows. 2. It is a pain to upgrade. Many people will have to completely wipe their hard drives before updating. The annoyance of having to backup all files and reinstall all programs and patches is quite significant. For 2 or 3 computers, plan for half a day of upgrading. Downloading the files from the net took maybe 45 to an hour. The Windows install itself took maybe 30 minutes per computer. Reinstalling programs, patches, and drivers is the biggest waste of time. This takes hours. 3. Because of anti-trust concerns, MSFT has shifted several programs to free downloads…instead of including them in the OS. These separate programs are quite important: email, movie maker, anti virus….and many other very important core programs.