I finally got round to installing Windows 7 RC early this morning. Things started off nicely with a smooth install taking just a bare 15 minutes, my initial euphoria was very short lived however...from there on it was downhill all the way. To say I do not like this OS would be a major understatement, I am absolutely underwhelmed and seriously unimpressed....I hate it!!
It seems to me that, in an effort to appease the Vista knockers, M$ have lurched off in the opposite direction. Sure, W7 is very responsive, smooth and quick but at what cost? IMO, M$ have sacrificed a large slice of functionality in order to appease the speed demons.
I dunno, maybe I look for different things in an operating system than most...everyone else seems to be raving about W7. Perhaps they are all right and I am completely wrong, it wouldn't be the first time and definitely not the last.....after all, I did and sill do love my Vista...now how contrary is that!!!!
My immediate reaction was to wipe the drive and rid myself of the abomination but after further consideration I decided to give it a couple of days and see what everyone else is saying....maybe some kind soul will be kind enough to reveal W7's hidden secrets or provide some sound reasoning as to how and why W7 is such an improvement perhaps.
cheers all.....JIM (Vista lover from way back).
Jim,
What exactly is causing the 'going down hill'? What functionality are you missing?
Hey Dave - Well, one of the first things I wanted to do was check and see if Defender was still included. I searched all over the place and couldn't find it. On the way I found the changes made to the GUIs render them far less helpful and intuitive. I finally found Defender but it took some hunting down. I thought the revamped GUIs were awful, I just hate the new Control Panel. I miss the Quick Launch toolbar too....it's something I use quite a lot (yes, I do know I can 'pin' items to the taskbar) . I received absolutely zero notifications or warnings that no anti virus was installed....I knew there wasn't one, of course, and hurried on to download and install AntiVir, but I hate to think what some of my 'clients' would do (or more to the point, fail to do) under those circumstances.
I guess I am used to an OS including all the apps one needs for basic functions; decent photo/image viewer, email client, word processor, those sorts of things. Even Linux comes complete with the basic necessities and, if you need extras, includes quick links to many, many programs. I am probably a bit of a rarity, I mostly prefer the native programs, especially the email client. I do not like webmail and am not a Thunderbird fan....I guess it's a matter of horses for courses.
Of course, I may have just been feeling like it this morning and things may look rosier tomorrow.....it all started off badly when I got frustrated at having to hunt around for any mention of Defender.....the fact that it was actually there only made matters worse in the end. I'm trying to keep an open mind but at this stage I am definitely not a fan....I guess you could tell
Okay, so now it's your turn. Tell me the good things. What new features have been added to help compensate for all that has been taken away? What is it I should be enjoying and reveling in?
cheers mate.......JIM
I've downloaded 7, but haven't done anything with it yet.
The hype leads one to believe that 7 will save Microsoft. But that's been promised since Windows 98.
The little bit I've seen and used, I like the stability, the new taskbar / dock, and the snappier response times. Again, I haven't used it much, so YMMV.
I'd be interested in hearing of your experiences though...
--zig
Okay, tomorrow morning has been and went and come and gone and I have revisited Windows 7 and had a mother's look around it. I have to admit that my original appraisal was a knee jerk reaction and consequently somewhat overstated. A combination of frustration and getting out of the wrong side of the bed, possibly! Some real reservations remain however.
Comparing W7 to Vista is a no brainer for me.....I am lucky enough to be running Vista on a nice machine with good specs; up-to-date Intel mobo, Intel E6850 core (2) duo CPU and 3gb DDR2 RAM. So, the speed difference is purely marginal on my machine. I realise now, that is a purely selfish point of view and there will be many with older machines who would have had problems with Vista but will relish W7. Not that M$ had that in mind with W7, rather it was the burgeoning mini notebook market which provided the incentive.
I realise too that liking or hating the changes to the taskbar and GUIs in general is purely subjective...some are going to like 'em and some ain't. The fact that I fall into the latter category should not really detract from the OS itself.
Apart from doing away with the need for improved hardware though I can see no real advantages W7 has over the current (updated) Vista. Most 'experts' agree that W7 is a cut down, slimmer version of Vista so, taking that as a given, why then is W7 so wonderful and Vista a piece of cr*p? Here is a typical comment:
[i:1ju5anzv]In a backhanded compliment, experts say Microsoft
Question here. These Windows 7 RC downloads, they are for a limited time? I do believe M$ does expect to make money from this new o/s, (right?), Mindblower!
"For the needy, not the greedy"
That's correct.
The R/C will expire on June 1, 2010. Beginning 4/1/10, it will shut down every two hours.
Still, that's a year for free. Not too shabby.
Jim,
I will say that Win7 is more of an update/revamp than a revolutionary new OS, but I will add that this is a good thing. Fixing, modifying, and improving is 'steps' is what prevents issues such as those experienced by some who made the early jump from XP to Vista. It also (generally) provides a much more consistent user experience.
Now, what do I like about Windows 7?
[list:28m07mgz]
[*:28m07mgz]New Taskbar[/*:28m07mgz]
[*:28m07mgz]Display of running programs on taskbar to save screen real estate[/*:28m07mgz]
[*:28m07mgz]Removal of the Sidebar so items sit directly on the desktop[/*:28m07mgz]
[*:28m07mgz]tweaking of UAC so those who argued that UAC was too intrusive can find a happy medium[/*:28m07mgz]
[*:28m07mgz]Improved troubleshooting of problems[/*:28m07mgz]
[*:28m07mgz]Device Stage - I think this has some great potential down the road[/*:28m07mgz]
[/list:u:28m07mgz]
Hey Dave - Yes, I do agree with all those points of improvement. It just gets up my nose when 'experts' are continuing to bag Vista and extoll the virtues of W7 while, in the same breath, admitting they are very similar.
What you are saying is 100% correct. Vista was too big a step in one hit...it was also the victim of some unfortunate timing and lack of support from software publishers and hardware manufacturers.
To a large extent W7's warm reception has piggy backed off Vista...I can't help but wonder if there was never a Vista and XP continued until now, would W7 still be greeted with such enthusiasm.
cheers mate.....JIM
[quote="ozbloke":cu038q8l]To a large extent W7's warm reception has piggy backed off Vista...I can't help but wonder if there was never a Vista and XP continued until now, would W7 still be greeted with such enthusiasm.
[/quote:cu038q8l]
Wouldn't that make it Windows 6 then?
[quote="ozbloke":1pgxv1p4]Okay, tomorrow morning has been and went and come and gone and I have revisited Windows 7 and had a mother's look around it. I have to admit that my original appraisal was a knee jerk reaction and consequently somewhat overstated. A combination of frustration and getting out of the wrong side of the bed, possibly! Some real reservations remain however.
Comparing W7 to Vista is a no brainer for me.....I am lucky enough to be running Vista on a nice machine with good specs; up-to-date Intel mobo, Intel E6850 core (2) duo CPU and 3gb DDR2 RAM. So, the speed difference is purely marginal on my machine. I realise now, that is a purely selfish point of view and there will be many with older machines who would have had problems with Vista but will relish W7. Not that M$ had that in mind with W7, rather it was the burgeoning mini notebook market which provided the incentive.
I realise too that liking or hating the changes to the taskbar and GUIs in general is purely subjective...some are going to like 'em and some ain't. The fact that I fall into the latter category should not really detract from the OS itself.
<snip>
cheers now.....JIM[/quote:1pgxv1p4]
I think you're right on the money about the netbook incentive. See the following article from a news letter in my inbox from this morning:
http://windowssecrets.com/2009/06/04/03 ... ok-designs
(btw, I was actually so annoyed when I discovered the WS paid newsletter was full of ads, I canceled it. I missed Fred Langa, however, and went back. Now that Ian "Gizmo" Richards is also an editor/contributor, it's less objectionable.)
Ron
Hey Ron - Yep, I got that issue of WS myself and read through the article with interest. I was a long time subscriber to Gizmo's news letter (paid version) and inherited the WS subscription when Gizmo joined them and stopped compiling his own letters. I have generally been very disappointed with WS, not only because of all the ads, I also find a lot of the content to be passe and mundane...so much so that when it came time to pay my subs I opted out and now just get the free version. Boy, I wish Gizmo had continued on his own!
cheers...JIM
heh, i ended up on WS cuz I was a paid subscriber of langalist. I keep renewing it, but I read it less and less. And since work pays the subscription fees, i'm not out too much.
Windows Secret just isn't what I'm looking for anymore. I can't put my finger on why it bothers me so much. ~shrug~
I'll add my voice to the WS woes, I also only keep it for the Langa column. Have subscribed to WS for many years but it get harder to justify the money!! Sure wish Langa would go back on his own!!!
I agree that MS is a bit overrated.
It's made to look good to sell good and MS have got alot of help from many MVP's around the world that having own blogs and forums to feed the readers with only the good side of the coin. The same is repeated now when they released the new version of the Office suite.
I mean what is really new in Windows 7?
If it was made in a completely new architecture and on a completely new base that could open up new collaborations with other technical solutions for end users with clients, then we could have something to be impressed of and not like this that in simple terms only is another bigger update which we have to pay alot of bucks for.
Just take a look what's been going on since Vista in how Windows operating system are installed in our computers. We all have quite old technical standardisations in our drives and in Bios which only provide us with 4 single slots for primary partitions in MBR.
1. MS still wants to be install their OS on primary partitions only.
2. MS now wants to install 2 primary partitions which take advantage from 50% of what you have to install other additional OS side by side.
So, was Windows 7 that practical to use after all, in my eyes it looks more like greed.
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