Windows 7 is the successor to Windows vista and Microsoft may have finally done what it was supposed to do years ago. From the get go, the new GUI(graphical user interface) looks much better but similar to Vista's.
October 22, Windows 7 comes out so if your waiting to get a computer, you should wait so you can get a much better OS. The taskbar has a much cleaner look and programs are no longer minimized to the bottom as tabs. They are little icons as you can see above and when you mouse over it, it will show a small transparent window of all opened windows in that application. I have been using 7 for about a couple of months(free beta release) and everything worked right out the box. Drivers(files needed for certain hardware to work) seem to be centralized and install by them self without too much user interaction.
For example, on my Dell Inspiron 1525 when I first installed vista, I had to do a cumbersome job of finding the drivers for the web cam and other devices for it work properly over the web. While that may not be a huge feat for the computer savvy, it is still annoying nonetheless.
How does it perform?
The clunky, all in your face UAC(User Account Control), and other annoyances of vista are still here, but does not pop up too often. The speed of windows starting until it is logged on and onto a usable desktop is indeed faster or feels like so on 7. I was surprised because usually Vista takes a lot of time to start up because of so many resources starting up with the computer. I didn't actually measure or benchmark this and plus I rather not get too technical as it really doesn't matter anyway as my focus is not to bombard you with irrelevant jargon that most people can't comprehend. There may be some tech savvy readers reading and that's good and all but this is still the blog for the layman.
What's new about it and what makes it better?
Again to reiterate what I said earlier, if it's one thing I liked right off the bat with 7 is the new GUI. There are customizable themes with their own wallpapers and window colors and appearance. On earlier versions of Windows, I had to download this program called "Winwall" just to periodically change my wallpapers. With Windows 7 I don't have to do this anymore as it has it's own built in wallpaper changer. On the Mac it had this years ago and I was always surprised as to why windows didn't implement this feature.
Another cool feature I like is the Libraries feature. It allows you to have one folder like for example your Music folder, organize all your music files even if they are on different parts of the laptop. This is handy because sometimes I have music on my desktop(used to), root of the Hard drive, in another user profile and as such it makes it annoying to locate all the folder and files and drag them to the music folder. You can also add to the library folders on an external hard drive.
Okay that's nice but what if I like Vista?
Well nothing is wrong with liking vista if that's what you prefer. Vista did fix a couple of bugs from when it first came out with it's subsequent service packs though. If you ever feel like upgrading though they have several options.
There was a $50 upgrade fee but I believe that's been done now.
- Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade): $119.99
- Windows 7 Professional (Upgrade): $199.99
- Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade): $219.99 And the estimated prices for the full Windows 7 package are:
- Windows 7 Home Premium (Full): $199.99
- Windows 7 Professional (Full): $299.99
- Windows 7 Ultimate (Full): $319.99
That seems like a much better price as I remember off head Home premium for Vista used to cost $250+. If your content with Vista or XP, you might still find a good reason to use Windows 7.
Cons
I haven't really noticed anything horribly wrong with 7 yet but one thing I think they should have is a have Windows Live mail and it's other similar programs installed already. I love using Windows live mail and checking my email as soon as I get them but why couldn't they have it installed from the get go? Another thing I don't like is their version of sharing files with this thing called homegroup. It makes things a bit more complicated as if they weren't already. You have to now join the homegroup which requires a homegroup password and the worst thing about it is only Windows 7 computers are supported. While this may not be a problem for future consumers who might only have Windows 7 computers, what about existing XP and Vista users? I wouldn't want to sit there and have to upgrade my old computer if I like the OS but rather keep it just in case. Other than that, Windows 7 has more pro's than con's to me and I hope you found this a good deal of information.
What do you think about changing OS's?
Windows 7 Early Review 
