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Windows 7

Posted 06-08-2009 at 11:24 AM by pereb

Yes, I realize this is a Linux site, but I just have to talk about Windows 7 here for a minute. Anyone else tried it? I’m sure a lot of you have. I’ve been playing around with the release client on my old spare machine, and even though it’s running on some old technology (Pentium 4 3.02 GHz, 1 GB ram – basically the minimum Microsoft recommends) I have to admit I’m pretty impressed with what I’ve seen so far.

As much as I generally am not a fan of Microsoft’s OS, dealing with it in some part of your life is unfortunately pretty much unavoidable. For me, it’s at the office. Luckily most of the computers run Windows XP at work; you know, that outdated technology they replaced with the far superior Vista? Riiiiight. (I’m no Mac fan, either, but this commercial cracked me up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuqZ8AqmLPY.) A few of the systems at work run Vista, and my laptop came preloaded with Vista before I wiped it, so I’ve had the “pleasure” of working with it.

But back on topic, it seems like Microsoft has actually done something somewhat right. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting it’s going to replace Linux on my main computer, especially since I use Wine (http://www.winehq.org/), but if I’m going to have to use Microsoft’s technology outside of my home, I’m fairly comfortable with this latest iteration of Windows. First of all, it already feels vastly more stable, especially for a release client. What’s going to happen when the training wheels come off Windows 7? Who knows? But so far, so good.

Secondly, it just feels more intuitive. Everything just makes more sense than Vista (and maybe even XP). I love the way you can pin not just applications, but documents to your start bar. There are also just the little things: it’s faster to shut down and start up than both Vista and XP (though not at first… prepare for a LOT of updates at first).

Finally, XP mode. Extensive backwards compatibility? What a novel idea! Plus, I really haven’t run into any driver issues, though I haven’t really tested all that much.

All this being said, am I going to rush out and drop hard earned cash on this OS? Probably not. Windows will never have the customizability of Linux, nor can it fix bugs and release updates with the speed and ease of Linux. Plus, Windows 7 is already receiving gripes for its lack of support for some common anti-virus software such as McAfee, when Windows needs anti-virus software more than any other OS out there.

Don’t mistake my positive reviews for a full-on endorsement of Microsoft’s new Windows 7. I’m just happy that when I’m required to use Windows, I might actually get to deal with something that works. Regardless, it just doesn’t replace the open-source goodness that is Linux.
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  1. Old Comment

    Trying it out also

    Finally got around to downloading and installing Win7 RC on a spare laptop. It didn't go to bad except for tracking down a few drivers (HP 6910p), figuring out what was missing. Still not nearly as easy as say a Mint install on the same hardware (I use a 6910p as work running Mint 5 on a MS domain - reason I still need to stay abreast of Microsoft). I really haven't used Vista to compare, we've stayed with XPPro at work.
    So far it hasn't been as annoying as Vista and seems a little snappier on a 1GB machine. More later.
    Posted 06-09-2009 at 02:07 PM by jcoleman jcoleman is offline
  2. Old Comment
    Since I wrote this I have definitely had some blue screen and connectivity problems. Not so happy with Win 7 after all. Ugh.
    Posted 05-20-2010 at 10:35 PM by pereb pereb is offline
 

  



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