Windows 7 — Do you really need it?
October 22nd, 2009, 7:02 am · 28 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
Microsoft’s latest version of Windows — Windows 7 – launches today.
But after 2007′s ill-fated upgrade from Windows XP to Vista, consumers have reason to be wary. That bloated new operating system was released before it was really ready. Should consumers bother with Windows 7?
Since my focus shifted to TV services this year, I’m leaving it up to the rest of the tech world to offer consumers advice. The answer: Yes. Windows 7 is so much better than Windows Vista. But should you upgrade today? Only if you cannot stand Windows Vista. You’ll upgrade eventually, anyway.
Do you want to read more? Ed Schwartz, who answers readers’ computer problems in the Stump the PC Club column has been playing with Windows 7 for months. Here is his experience, plus some technical details and reviews from around the web:
Ed’s Windows 7 highlights:
Flawless installation, did not require downloading any additional software drivers except for my Epson color printer.- The new “Jump Lists” (pictured on right) are slick and convenient. This feature displays recent Web sites, documents, music or other files and sometimes commands when you right click the icon in the task bar.
- Networking and sharing more intuitive.
- User accounts is configurable.
- Library feature makes accessing frequent files/folders a breeze.
- Start Menu now keeps the sub menus inside the Start menu, no more of the maddening pause.
- Search is much improved over Vista. You can click Start and enter “indexing options” to modify where Windows 7 searches – great feature!
- You can use “Saved Searches.”
- You can click Start and enter Word into the search box — no need to hit Enter, it’s “search as you type” at its best.
- Items can be pinned to Taskbar — right-clicking brings up recent files if applicable.
- It’s more responsive than Vista.
- I’ve been using it exclusively for a month and really enjoy the “User Experience” — I don’t even think about it unless I’m exploring features.
- Downside? There will be confusion. Trying to get an upgrade question (Do I need a clean install or simple upgrade when moving from Vista to Windows 7?) answered when I called up Microsoft’s support line left me confused after a half hour of listening to a response. My answer: Do a clean install and avoid the upgrade version.
Get Windows 7: If you want to upgrade, check Windows Upgrade Advisor to see if your PC is compatible. The upgrade is $120 to $220 depending on which version: Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. The full version is $200 to $320. Prices and version information is HERE. If you purchased a new PC recently, it may qualify for a free upgrade. Check with your manufacturer.
Students pay the least to upgrade to Windows 7: Just $29. Check this page for details.
This being Day One of Windows 7, Microsoft has posted some special deals online available today. Some deals include:
- Best Buy Bundle: HP Laptop, Desktop PC with monitor, Netbook, wireless router and setup by Geek Squad for $1,199.
- Dell: Save more than $100 on a Dell Studio XPS13
- Gateway: All-in-one Acer Gateway ZX6800 23″ for $899
Reviews from around the web:
C/Net: “Windows 7 is … where Microsoft needed to go.”
- Pros: Microsoft fixed what was wrong with Vista.
- Cons: Sometimes performs slower than Windows XP.
- Review
PC World: “Waiting a bit before making the leap makes sense; waiting forever does not”
- Pros: “It’s the unassuming, thoroughly practical upgrade you’ve been waiting for — flaws and all.”
- Cons: Faster than Vista but not by much. “If your PC’s specs qualify it to run Vista, get Windows 7; if they aren’t, avoid it.”
- Review
PC Mag: “Microsoft may just have a winner.”
- Pros: Microsoft has certainly addressed many of the complaints surrounding Vista, such as the lack of backward compatibility, the lengthy start-up and install times, the broad disk and memory footprint, and the inability to remove IE.
- Cons: Windows 7′s system registry slows down systems over time.
- Review, Windows 7 coverage page
More good info on Windows 7:
- Does your software/hardware work with Windows 7? Check the Windows 7 compatibility site.
- What’s the difference between Windows 7 and your current version of Windows? Check Microsoft’s comparison chart.
- Should You Give Up XP for Windows 7? (PC World)
- Migrate to Windows 7 slowly (Washington Post)
Earlier Windows 7 coverage on Gadgetress:
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Vista was released in January of 2007. 2 and a half years ago. NOT last year.
Fixed!
We are running XP at work, because Vista was garbage. Don’t know anything about 7, but we’ll stick to XP.
I’ve had Windows 7 on my iMac for over a month and not impressed… I couldn’t use software compatible with W7. Apple is the way to go….
try running it on a pc
Yeah! The Vista Victims are saved!
I’ve used Vista for the last 2 years. I don’t hate it, but there have been way too many limitations of Vista that prevents me from saying anything good about it. As a specific example, just last year, a recent model Epson photo printer STILL did not have Vista support. It only support XP or MacOS. The printer’s spec sheets simply said “Vista drivers coming in the future”. OK whatever. A topnotch color printer is released in late 2008 and it still did not support Vista? Very disappointing. My brother has a nice desktop pro Mac which he uses for desktop publishing jobs, and he seems to be able to do everything on it, from video editing to simple stuff like synching iPhones easily. I might be among the millions who are now considering a switch to Mac OS X Leopard (or whatever the newest Mac version).
Windows 7 is supposed to be the cure all of the Vista problems. It has a little of XP. I have seen several demonstrations with 7 & it looks far better than Vista. Make it Work has been testing it for quite a while & they think it’s great & when we need to move from XP we won’t hesitate to do so.
I am receiving a copy today that I bought at the discounted price during the various promotions that went on earlier in the year. I am looking forward to wiping Vista off my machine and loading Windows 7. I have a dual boot config with Windows XP so we’ll see how that goes! I am convinced that Apple is NOT the way to go, however. You don’t get enough bang for your buck!
No thanks, I will stick with Linux.
Windows 7, it is reported, doesn’t come with a mail application. If you are used to using Windows Mail or Outlook Express, you’re out of luck. Other applications have also been moved to the dust bin.
I have two computers; one with Windows XP and one with Vista. I’ll hold on to what I have for now.
Just use Thunderbird Mail from the makers of the Firefox browser.
you can download windows mail from MS for free. Takes a couple of mins.
We have been using Win7 RTM since the end of June and the beta before that date. Some of the improvements that really make it usable are:
The new interface task bar is more useful. If you are like me, I’ll have up to thirty-something windows open. Win7 helps improve navigating through those windows using the new feature peek function. This is a departure from the Vista, XP and 9x shells.
Better memory management. Vista’s window memory manager devotes the same amount of RAM to every window opened. No matter how many windows are open, it acts like every one window is visible and in full screen mode, even if they are minimized or in the background. This used an excess amount of resources, especially if there are many windows open. Windows 7′s window memory manager doesn’t do that, only the visible windows use video resources now. This will allow users to run Win 7 on only 1gig of RAM as compared to vista where you needed at least 2 gig.
I prefer Microsoft comes out with Window XP SP4 rather than Window 7
as I do not need the fancy user interface and the higher cost for all
the new softwares and hardwares
costs are coming down and and SP4 for XP ain’t gonna happen now
The cost for Window 7 is just the start, next, users have to buy the
new Window 7 version for all the software they are currently use
and they do not know about that
Next, they might have to add more memory, more disk space
and the new Window 7 is not faster than the old Window XP
for the same hardware configuration as it takes more memory
and more disk space to run
its nice i’ve had the full version of windows 7 ultimate the evaluation version i like its faster on my computer than xp much faster, then again i have a much faster computer i built than my older computer still i think much better than xp office version, i’ll be able to use evaluation version until spring when it expires its worth it
its worth it paul also the uprade from vista to windows 7 is alot cheaper than buying the full version it’d be cheaper for me to go buy an old vista program on ebay than upgrade it than to spend $319.00 but o what the heck i’d spend the money
i’d pay the $319.00 for the upgrade to the full version of 7 ultimate. its a much different configuration than old xp and much better than vista i can get 80 fps on my computer and will get much more christmas
Where are the lawyers? All of us poor Vista victims should file a Class-Action Lawsuit against Microsoft for free upgrades to Windows 7. It’s the least Bill Gates can do.
I’m sticking with XP until my computers die. I’m tired of bloated Microsoft programs. If Google’s operating system (coming out next year?) is as quick as it’s web browser, that may be an alternative.
Just go to Ubuntu.
No, I don’t need it.
I’m running Ubuntu 9.10 beta at the moment and I’m completely happy with it. For the rare case when I have to run a Windows program I use an old XP license under Virtualbox. Works perfectly.
I’ve used XP, Vista Ultimate and now Windows 7 Ultimate. I had no problems with any of them…you just got to read the instruction manual. If you configure Vista right it runs great…it just had too many features that most people couldn’t figure out how to use. They had to dumb down Vista to the eighth grade level by taking out some features. Windows 7 is great I’ll just go over to the MS download page and bring back some of the features I liked in Vista….their all free…tho most people won’t be able to figure that out.
As for the Leopard, Ubuntu and Linux freaks….please continue to use it. We Windows lovers don’t care….you only use the Internet and nothing else. 90% of the programs I use don’t work on those OS’. Nobody cares….you’re less than 6% of the total users unless you’ve bought a $3K Apple that runs a single core CPU and a couple of gigs of memory. Those of use who use i5 with 6 gigs of RAM clap with one hand for you.
Picked up a Toshiba laptop with 7 on it on Oct 22. This thing rocks. Windows 7 is much better, easier to use. Bye-bye Vista!
I’d much rather use a far better and reliable UNIX based OS such as Mac OS X or maybe Linux. I do use Vista at work. Our sysadmin was not all too happy with Vista since he upgraded the PCs at work. I’m sure Windows 7 will be better than Vista. How can it be worse? But Microsoft’s quality has been lacking and on the decline in recent years, and so I have lost all confidence in MS. I have not bought a Mac since the mid-90s, but it might be time to consider going back to Mac as a personal computer. (At work we are still forced to use Vista, we have no choice in the matter).
My friends who are hardcore PC users and gamers won’t bother to pay for Windows 7. They’re not gonna pay a dime. The “PC culture” is that they feel all software should be free. Two of them are just waiting for a Win7 crack or a torrent, and then they will pirate it for free. The PC piracy environment is insidious and rampant. Sad but true, but that’s how the PC mentality is. I’m a Mac user, and I don’t mind paying for quality software. Kinda like iTunes and iPhones. Yes we pay to use iTunes music and iPhone service. But they just work so seamlessly.
I agree with the guy who said MS should give us Win7 for free, or at least for very very cheap. It’s the least they can do to make up for and apologize for Windows Vista. Expecting us to pay $129 to upgrade and fix Vista is insulting.
I have windows 7 ultimate evaluation version i’ll be willing to pay the $319.00 for the full version i’ve been using ultimate 64 bit i like it evaluation version has everything and the download for it was free the version lasts until spring