Windows 7 - My Thoughts

Holy wow! First off, it's been a while since I have posted here. Guess I should be a little more diligent. Anyways, I have been running Windows 7 in one form or another for about 4 months now, and so far I am really loving it. It is definitely much more stable than Windows Vista and it has many of the same features and conveniences that many users have come to expect.

First and foremost, if you are used to using Windows Vista, then Windows 7 is going to be pretty familiar to you. The interface is laid out pretty much the same, with the big changes being in the taskbar on the desktop. While Windows XP and Vista both had little bars showing the name of open applications on the taskbar, Windows 7 simply has an icon. It is a little bit tricky, and to be honest I still don't really like it all that much. If you hover over the icon, the windows display in the Aero preview boxes, just like in Vista. I just find it really annoying that you don't have any text identifying what the application is. The other really annoying part about the Windows 7 taskbar is that there is no longer a Quick Launch bar. I use this feature extensively in both XP and Vista, but it isn't really there in Windows 7. You can, however, pin applications to the taskbar. Now you might be thinking that this isn't so bad, but it really is. All of the icons that you pin to the taskbar simply show up as icons, just like your opened applications do. And they are not separated from your open applications, so it's really difficult to tell what you have opened already and what is simply a quick launch icon. I have Outlook and my web browser pinned to the taskbar, and I hate having to hover over the icon and wait to see if a window pops up telling me that the application is already opened. It's annoying and frustrating.

As for the other features of Windows 7, you will find them to be very similar to Vista. In my opinion, this OS is a bug release of Vista, in the same fashion that Windows 98 was a bugfix release of Windows 95. It is basically the same operating system, but it runs more smoothly and has a lot more stability. Other than the taskbar and desktop, the interface is laid out in the same fashion as Vista. So if you are familiar with administering Windows Vista, Windows 7 should not be a problem. There are a few other simple features that I have found that add to the functionality, but for the most part it's the same OS, so don't expect too many new and fancy bells and whistles.

Having worked for over a decade in the enterprise, I can tell you that one of the big issues with new operating systems is application compatibility. It's not possible for big companies to simply replace all of their applications whenever Microsoft decides it needs to change everything. One good point about Windows 7 is that you don't have to worry too much about this. So far, all of the applications that I have needed to run in Windows 7 have worked with no problems. Windows 7 also features a Windows XP compatibility mode, which essentially configures a sandbox space for your application to run that emulates a Windows XP system. I have not used this feature as of yet (I have not needed to) but assuming it works as promised, there should be very little worry about whether your applications will run on this OS. Now the big sticking point here is "assuming it works as promised". I have not tried this feature yet, and I have heard very little feedback on it. In fact, I read an article about a week or two ago that stated Microsoft was adding finishing touches. Hopefully by the official launch on October 22nd, it will be fully developed and ready to launch.

If you have the ability to load Windows 7 on a computer, I would strongly suggest giving it a try. All in all, it is solid and stable and seems to run just fine on any system capable of running Vista. There are definitely some annoyances with this operating system , but it's overall stability and functionality outweigh those annoyances and make this a good choice for your next operating system. (read here about a whole new Windows Annoyance I discovered over the weekend)