Windows 7 Review

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.

markbot · 10-25-2009, 11:34 AM

Windows Security Essentials is the free spyware and virus program from MSFT. It is free. They are discontinuing OneCare. I didn't think OneCare was very good. It was also annoying to use...such as not being able to shutoff disk defrag for my laptop, which has a SSD....thus doesn't need defrag.

Nate the great · 10-25-2009, 11:38 AM

Tell me, does it have the "Windows Classic" interface?

markbot · 10-25-2009, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Tell me, does it have the "Windows Classic" interface?

Built into the OS, I think it has the XP interface....but not an interface before XP's.

wodin · 10-25-2009, 11:46 AM

I've been running the Release Candidate on my netbook for months, and am thoroughly impressed with it. I have three computers that need upgrading, and I spent all day doing it. I was able to do my main computer in a couple of hours as it was a straight upgrade. I should have wiped it and re-loaded as It had the 32 bit version of Vista and I need the 64 bit version, but there is just too much stuff on it and it would take DAYS to reload everything. Maybe I'll save that for later.

The netbook was a different story, It had the RC, and there is not direct upgrade. It's wipe and install only. I have an external drive for backing up data, so that was only time consuming but not actually hard.

Aside from the UI and speed/resources improvements that you mentioned, what impressed me was the "HomeGroup" feature. With just a couple of clicks, all of the computers on my network are linked; and all the data and shared resources on any of them are instantly available on all of them. Setting all that up on Vista's "Networking" tool was a real pain.

Bottom line: Microsoft hit a homer on Windows 7.

wodin · 10-25-2009, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Tell me, does it have the "Windows Classic" interface?

Yes, but the UI is so good that I've determined to wean myself from the Classic menu and actually learn to use this thing.

markbot · 10-25-2009, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wodin

I've been running the Release Candidate on my netbook for months, and am thoroughly impressed with it. I have three computers that need upgrading, and I spent all day doing it. I was able to do my main computer in a couple of hours as it was a straight upgrade. I should have wiped it and re-loaded as It had the 32 bit version of Vista and I need the 64 bit version, but there is just too much stuff on it and it would take DAYS to reload everything. Maybe I'll save that for later.

The netbook was a different story, It had the RC, and there is not direct upgrade. It's wipe and install only. I have an external drive for backing up data, so that was only time consuming but not actually hard.

Aside from the UI and speed/resources improvements that you mentioned, what impressed me was the "HomeGroup" feature. With just a couple of clicks, all of the computers on my network are linked; and all the data and shared resources on any of them are instantly available on all of them. Setting all that up on Vista's "Networking" tool was a real pain.

Bottom line: Microsoft hit a homer on Windows 7.

Yes, Homegroup is also a massive improvement over XP and Vista home networking. Now just about anyone can figure it out in a few mins....previously it was a long arduous task and often wouldn't work.

Peverel · 10-25-2009, 01:05 PM

I have to add my positive thoughts to the list. I, too, have been running the RC for the last few months on an HP Pavillion dv6 laptop. It is quick, easy to use (and I haven't gone for the classic UI) and seems very well rounded. I develop on it in eclipse and Visual Studio 2005 and 2008. My developmenmt covers Blackberry, Android devices and Windows (Client apps and Services). I have yet to make it crash. All round I am pretty pleased and have found the transition very easy.

bbusybookworm · 10-25-2009, 02:48 PM

I've been running the Windows 7 Beta and later the RC since it first became available.

I Just Installed the Full version yesterday on one of my machines, and took quiet a bit of pleasure in getting rid of the Dual boot with XP

as while I'd not really used it more then a couple of times since installing W7 I did have it there as a backup in case of any major bugs cropping up in the Beta.

As I mentioned in the earlier thread, I've loved using W7, enjoying the new UI and added feature, using the Final release is bring few surprises, mainly a few final tweaks, etc which while not major smooth things out.

While this License I got through the MS Student Offer, I've got 4 other ones which I pre ordered when they first when they first went on sale, as I'm planning to upgrade all the machines that my immediate family uses to W7 as it will simplify usage and support issues for them and me tremendously.

One of them is My dad, and He's one of the people who is going to get the main benefit out of this. He uses a Sony T Series Ultra portable, which Came with Vista, which is unfortunate as It only had a Gig of Ram and has a 1.2 ULV Core Solo Processor.

As you can probably imagine, It ran Dog Slow. With the Maximum RAM capped at 1.5GB, there was little that could be done to get it to perform at a reasonable pace. The Windows 7 RC was a boon, as It allowed me to upgrade the OS on that Device to get better performance then I ever had on it without having to Pay to test it.

So He's right now happily using the RC, and I'll be upgrading it to the Full Version over the Holidays, as we'll both have enough time then to back everything up and do a nice proper Clean Install, which will probably give even better performance as I had to do an upgrade when going to the RC as there was not enough time.

So W7 definitely been good at getting decent performance from comparatively modest systems.

The only complaint I have is that the upgrade process is not as simple as it should be, and requires at least a little bit of technical skill and understanding. This is where MS could learn something from Apple, who usually makes Upgrades easy and simple to do, in turn getting a larger number of users to upgrade to the new OS, in turn making their own support processes simpler.

GeoffC · 10-27-2009, 01:34 PM

I like it - except that it gave me an NTDLR missing error the morning after download 25 odd updates.
Only one other issue and that is my Canon scanner is not supported and Canon have no intention of making it so....

Backup's a little 'flaky'...

dreams · 10-27-2009, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

I like it - except that it gave me an NTDLR missing error the morning after download 25 odd updates.
Only one other issue and that is my Canon scanner is not supported and Canon have no intention of making it so....

Backup's a little 'flaky'...

I'll have to remember that as the only thing my dad (and my sis-in-law's dad) use is the Canon scanner for old photos / slides.

GeoffC · 10-27-2009, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreams

I'll have to remember that as the only thing my dad (and my sis-in-law's dad) use is the Canon scanner for old photos / slides.

ah . in the last few minutes i've discovered a solution . downloading software for a different Canon scanner .. !!!!

dreams · 10-27-2009, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

ah . in the last few minutes i've discovered a solution . downloading software for a different Canon scanner .. !!!!

Oh good! We won't worry when we do the switch over next year... We've done the find-another-one-that-works thing before.

daffy4u · 10-27-2009, 06:40 PM

Just received my upgrades from Amazon. I'm upgrading to Professional on all 3 machines so that I can have XP mode for some older hardware.

I'm also going to upgrade to 64-bit on one maybe 2 computers and stick with 32-bit on my netbook.

That's what I'll be doing Saturday or Sunday.

bbusybookworm · 10-27-2009, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Just received my upgrades from Amazon. I'm upgrading to Professional on all 3 machines so that I can have XP mode for some older hardware.

Can I ask how old the Older machines are.

I was planning on using XP mode on a three year old machine, but it apparently doesn't support Virtualisation on the Chip whice I believe is a prerequisite for using XP Mode.

Thats a bit of a pain, as XP mode was one of the reason I went for Pro and not Home premium on that machine.

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.

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10-25-2009, 11:34 AM	#2
markbot Guru Posts: 612 Karma: 7511929 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: New York, NY Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2	Windows Security Essentials is the free spyware and virus program from MSFT. It is free. They are discontinuing OneCare. I didn't think OneCare was very good. It was also annoying to use...such as not being able to shutoff disk defrag for my laptop, which has a SSD....thus doesn't need defrag.

10-25-2009, 11:38 AM	#3
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	Tell me, does it have the "Windows Classic" interface?

10-25-2009, 11:46 AM	#5
wodin Illiterate Posts: 10,279 Karma: 37848716 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: The Sandwich Isles Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro	I've been running the Release Candidate on my netbook for months, and am thoroughly impressed with it. I have three computers that need upgrading, and I spent all day doing it. I was able to do my main computer in a couple of hours as it was a straight upgrade. I should have wiped it and re-loaded as It had the 32 bit version of Vista and I need the 64 bit version, but there is just too much stuff on it and it would take DAYS to reload everything. Maybe I'll save that for later. The netbook was a different story, It had the RC, and there is not direct upgrade. It's wipe and install only. I have an external drive for backing up data, so that was only time consuming but not actually hard. Aside from the UI and speed/resources improvements that you mentioned, what impressed me was the "HomeGroup" feature. With just a couple of clicks, all of the computers on my network are linked; and all the data and shared resources on any of them are instantly available on all of them. Setting all that up on Vista's "Networking" tool was a real pain. Bottom line: Microsoft hit a homer on Windows 7.

10-25-2009, 01:05 PM	#8
Peverel Still Easily Confused Posts: 889 Karma: 505319 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Hampshire/Berkshire/Surrey - yes I am that big Device: Kindle	I have to add my positive thoughts to the list. I, too, have been running the RC for the last few months on an HP Pavillion dv6 laptop. It is quick, easy to use (and I haven't gone for the classic UI) and seems very well rounded. I develop on it in eclipse and Visual Studio 2005 and 2008. My developmenmt covers Blackberry, Android devices and Windows (Client apps and Services). I have yet to make it crash. All round I am pretty pleased and have found the transition very easy.

10-25-2009, 02:48 PM	#9
bbusybookworm Tech Junkie Posts: 1,027 Karma: 10080 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Earth Device: iPad, MotoXStyle, OnePlusOne	I've been running the Windows 7 Beta and later the RC since it first became available. I Just Installed the Full version yesterday on one of my machines, and took quiet a bit of pleasure in getting rid of the Dual boot with XP as while I'd not really used it more then a couple of times since installing W7 I did have it there as a backup in case of any major bugs cropping up in the Beta. As I mentioned in the earlier thread, I've loved using W7, enjoying the new UI and added feature, using the Final release is bring few surprises, mainly a few final tweaks, etc which while not major smooth things out. While this License I got through the MS Student Offer, I've got 4 other ones which I pre ordered when they first when they first went on sale, as I'm planning to upgrade all the machines that my immediate family uses to W7 as it will simplify usage and support issues for them and me tremendously. One of them is My dad, and He's one of the people who is going to get the main benefit out of this. He uses a Sony T Series Ultra portable, which Came with Vista, which is unfortunate as It only had a Gig of Ram and has a 1.2 ULV Core Solo Processor. As you can probably imagine, It ran Dog Slow. With the Maximum RAM capped at 1.5GB, there was little that could be done to get it to perform at a reasonable pace. The Windows 7 RC was a boon, as It allowed me to upgrade the OS on that Device to get better performance then I ever had on it without having to Pay to test it. So He's right now happily using the RC, and I'll be upgrading it to the Full Version over the Holidays, as we'll both have enough time then to back everything up and do a nice proper Clean Install, which will probably give even better performance as I had to do an upgrade when going to the RC as there was not enough time. So W7 definitely been good at getting decent performance from comparatively modest systems. The only complaint I have is that the upgrade process is not as simple as it should be, and requires at least a little bit of technical skill and understanding. This is where MS could learn something from Apple, who usually makes Upgrades easy and simple to do, in turn getting a larger number of users to upgrade to the new OS, in turn making their own support processes simpler.

10-27-2009, 01:34 PM	#10
GeoffC Chocolate Grasshopper ... Posts: 27,599 Karma: 20821184 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW	I like it - except that it gave me an NTDLR missing error the morning after download 25 odd updates. Only one other issue and that is my Canon scanner is not supported and Canon have no intention of making it so.... Backup's a little 'flaky'...

10-27-2009, 06:40 PM	#14
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	Just received my upgrades from Amazon. I'm upgrading to Professional on all 3 machines so that I can have XP mode for some older hardware. I'm also going to upgrade to 64-bit on one maybe 2 computers and stick with 32-bit on my netbook. That's what I'll be doing Saturday or Sunday.

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