So far so good with the Windows 7 upgrade. Honestly, I can’t believe it! I’ve been working with Microsoft products since Windows 3.1 days and, so far, this has been the smoothest, easiest installation and/or upgrade I’ve done. In the past, it was highly recommended to never take a Windows service pack update or use their ‘latest and greatest’ operation system (OS) until at least six months to a year have passed so all the bugs and kinks could be identified and fixed (or at least a workaround had been discovered). Well, maybe Microsoft finally ‘gets it’ and had learned/realized that its user community is actually smarter than they originally thought. (Yes, believe it or not, in the past, Microsoft ‘customer service’ would treat its user community, to include techs and engineers, as less than knowledgeable and dismissive, to say the least).
Ok, that’s enough about the past, let’s look at the present….Windows 7. What follows is a brief overview of Windows 7 from my perspective. (I plan on updating this review in the coming months, these are my initial reactions and thoughts.)
GUI/User Interface
While I’ve never been one to like the "Bubbly" look that Windows started using in XP and later continued in Vista (I believe in Vista it is actually called "Aero"), I am actually liking what they have in 7. Maybe it’s because 7 isn’t the memory or resource hog Vista is, but I’m actually able to enjoy the new nuances of the Aero themes. With Vista, whenever I tried to use an Aero theme or layout, my laptop would screech to a halt. One would think that 2GB RAM should be sufficient for an OS theme; well apparently Vista didn’t get the message or just plain disagrees with that line of thinking.
Performance
What can I say, the difference in performance between Vista and 7 are night and day. Absolutely amazing! I feel like I have a new laptop. I am finally able to multi-task (you know, that thing we all have to do on a daily basis in order to survive these days). Prior to the upgrade, it would take at least 5 mins to boot and log in and it would be about 10-15 mins total time (including boot and login time) before Outlook and IE we be usable (they’d be open, but I couldn’t select them for use). Post upgrade, it takes about 5 mins to boot, login, and have Outlook and IE be usable. A HUGE improvement.
Summary
Simply amazing! That’s about all I say manage to say about Windows 7. Even though it’s only been a short period of time since the upgrade, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the money and time I spent upgrading to Windows 7 has been time well spent and very much so worth every penny.
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