Will You Turn in Your Windows Vista for Microsoft's Windows 7?

The date is October 22, 2009. The event, Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system will be available on store shelves and begin to be pre-installed on the all new personal computers (PC). Will you be among those anxious to trade in your Windows Vista operating system for the new Windows 7 operating system? A release to manufacturing version of Windows 7 has already been released by Microsoft to some of their larger clients and if you look closely you can find it on some warez web sites. Designed to be less intrusive then Windows Vista, so that you can get some things done without the annoyances of the system tray and User Account Control, the pre-release version of Windows 7 I have been testing is definitely an improvement over Windows Vista, however, it also is not blemish free.

Windows 7 is not as much a resource hog as Windows Vista is. It has been streamlined somewhat so I was able to get it to operate on an older laptop I had to reinstall Windows XP operating system on because it was too resource challenged to operate Vista. The taskbar uses icons only, no more text labels. This eliminates a lot of wasted screen real estate. The new Jump List, right click accessible context sensitive menu of options along with the quick access desktop nub located on the right side edge of the taskbar are welcome enhancements that improve usability. The system tray has been renamed the notification area. No more annoying message balloons or system tray applets to clutter up the system tray area. Also gone are all of the messages that Vista bombarded you with. Windows 7 conveniently queues system alerts in the new Action Center for you to check when and if you want to.

Windows 7 User Account Control alerts you only when a program changes setting and you have the option to select if you want to initiate the screen dimming effect which is currently mandatory with Vista. Windows 7 uses a Library system to collect and store your saved files. An enhancement over the existing My Documents folder. Libraries gives you virtual folders for documents, photos, videos, and music that combine the contents of the folder you specify into one unified view. I am not completely sold on this feature because I have grown accustom to the My Documents folder regiment through years of use, but for those who store files willy-nilly all around their hard drive this option could prove helpful.

I was not impressed with Windows 7's Home Group which allow you to share files between home bound PCs across a network. You are not given the option to select your own password and all PCs must have Windows 7 installed. The core of Windows 7 appear to be very similar to that of Vista, therefore, compatibility between programs after upgrading may not be a problem. I have not experienced any to date. With Windows 7 core being similar to that of Vista, there is concern how Windows Update will work. Again no experience yet but it has never been a pleasant experience for me since its inception. Also be aware that you cannot upgrade from Windows XP directly to Windows 7. A fresh install is mandatory.

I am still feeling my way around Windows 7 operating system. For the most part I prefer it over Windows Vista, but then again, anything is better than Vista. I traditionally like to wait for a few versions of Windows operating system to morph before installing it because there are always bugs to be ironed out. I do not at this time highly recommend that anyone run out and get Windows 7 operating system right away, however, even in its infant stages, it appears to be a much better operating system then Windows Vista.

Resource: Personal Experience

Tags: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Microsoft, Upgrade to Windows 7