Windows 7 without the spin

I am NOT a Microsoft fanatic. In fact I have not been running windows at all for the last 3 years. I am an IT guy so I still use xp and vista every day though. People keep asking me if they should upgrade to Windows 7. Here are my results.

Over the last few weeks I have been testing windows 7 on several machines. We have run tests on the following:

A new Asus laptop with Intel core2duo and 4 gb of ram and a decent video card
Older Dell Dimension desktop with AMD Athlon 3800 x2 with 4 gb of ram and Nvidia 7950 video card.
Old home built Pentium 4 with 768mb of ram with a low end Nvidia 5200 video card.

Here is what we have found.

1. If you have the RAM your computer will run the same as it did with XP. RAM seems to be the key. On all machines the tests we ran were about even with XP and Windows 7. Vista with SP1 was slightly slower. If you have 1gb or more of ram you should be ok. Windows 7 will not even install with less than 512mb of RAM. The low end computer runs ok at 768 mb of ram.

2. Windows 7 seems "snappier" than Vista. When you click on things they seem to launch smoothly and run smooth.

3. One thing that REALLY surprizes me is what IS NOT there. When I load a windows XP machine the first thing I do is start uninstalling all the usual MS junk. Outlook express, Messenger things like that. Windows 7 they are not even installed. You have to get the "Live" package from Microsoft.com to get this.. That includes Windows Movie Maker. This is what REALLY surprised me. I am not sure why it's not included. There is a DVD Maker but it is VERY limited to what it can do. It almost looks as if Microst gave up trying to force everyone to use thier stuff and let them decide what they want to use. (maybe result of all the monopoly lawsuits?)

4. UAC or User Access Controls. Vista users know this as the annoying window that pops up 5 times anytime you try and do anything. Windows 7 is better but not quite what they have in Linux. I will explain for the comparison. With Ubuntu Linux. You only need to type in your password (windows equivilent is the ok button) when doing anything to the core install. If you are just installing something under your user account there is no need to elevate your privilages. Also if you need to elevate several times in a row. Ubuntu seems to know this and only asks you 1 time. If you don't do anything else for 10 minutes or so. It will ask you again but if you continue to modify it will not ask you again. Windows 7 is much better than Vista but I still see some issues with it. Like having to evelvate my privs to copy something to my Desktop?

5. Home network sharing seems pretty cool and easy to use. I have not really configured it and used it. From the looks of it. You simply tell it to share your documents and it does (with a randomly generated password) not sure how usefull this is going to be to the home user.

6. If you are at all familliar with Vista. You will be able to navigate around like a pro. For once Microsoft chose NOT to re-organize the entire interface. We thank Microsft for this!!

7. Although I WAS TRYING to break Windows 7. I was able to get on the internet and click around and get virus infected within 15 minutes of installing it. The UAC is still clunky and I can imagine my mom just clicking ok on every window that pops up. I have argued till I was blue with people that say "It's the users fault" yes it is!!! but the user is NEVER going to change so Microsoft should come up with something better. In Ubuntu a BIG window pops up that says new updates are available and shows you a list of everything it's going to update. This is a lot harder to ignore than microsft xp's little yellow shield in the corner that is flashing on every computer I am fixing.

8. You CANNOT upgrade from XP to Windows 7. You will have to do an entire reload of your system and HOPE that everything you have is compatible. From what I read the upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 is pretty painless.

My thoughts.

Microsoft's "End of life" on XP was April 24th 2009 and will stop security patches in 2014. If you have a lower end XP machine and Don't have to have the latest and greatest. STAY ON XP! If you have the RAM and the drive to upgrade. It's not a Bad operating system. If you are on Vista. I say upgrade. With Windows 7 out so fast after Vista. I do not see much down the road in new features for Vista. I may be wrong but it's a gut feeling. Most people think they have to have the latest and greatest computer and software. Take a look at what you do on yours. If your processor is not running at 80% (and not virus infected) at all times. Your computer is probably enough for you. Small upgrades are way cheaper than a new computer.

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