Windows 7

Spoilers Below.  You Have Been Warned.

Not really, I just felt like using that warning again.

I have a lot of pride in my computer skills.  My first computer used a BIOS written by Phoenix Technologies, and by default booted into DOS.  It came with maybe a megabyte of RAM, and before we retired that old machine, had upgraded the hard drive to 300 MB.  That’s megabytes, not gigabytes.

I’ve used Windows since Windows 3.1, a highly-regarded operating system that led to Microsoft’s eventual domination of the computer OS market.  I’ve used every version released since then, with the exceptions of NT and Windows 2000; basically, I didn’t own those systems.

My first modern computer ran Windows Me.  If you’ll give me a moment to suppress those memories…

Before I left for college, I got a brand-new Dell Inspiron 9100 that ran Windows XP.  What a difference an OS makes.  XP was fast, stable, configurable, and shot full of security holes.  I don’t love or hate XP; I understand why Microsoft stuck with it as a platform for so long, but I was also excited when they finally moved on to Vista.

To coin a phrase, “let me be clear”: Vista’s state the day I installed Windows 7 was a marked improvement over its pre-SP1 version.  For the year or so I used Vista on my work laptop, it never blue-screened or freaked out.  There were the odd hiccups, but I never suffered a file loss or crash.  I do realize people had issues with Vista, and I understand their anger.  It was buggy as hell and not terribly backwards compatible with XP software.

Microsoft has made a believer out of me with Windows 7.

I switched to the Mac platform in the fall of 2006, fed up with XP’s bugs and security issues, and the various incompatibilities I would encounter.  The first time I set up my MacBook and got to poke around the OS was an eye-opening experience.  I finally felt that way about a Microsoft OS when I finished installing and updating Windows 7.

I don’t know enough about the inner workings of the Windows OS, so I will keep jargon to a minimum.  Instead, I’m going to focus on the user experience, which is what 99% of consumers care about.

For those who are interested in the software and hardware information, I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit on a Dell Latitude D630 with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor (a T7250, to be precise) @ 2.0GHz with 2GB of RAM and an Intel 965 Integrated Graphics system.  The hard drive is 7200 RPM and 320GB with a free-fall sensor.

Installing Windows 7 took forever.  I won’t lie.  I was upgrading from 32-bit Windows Vista Business to a 64-bit system, so the installer had to wipe and reformat the drive before it could install Windows 7.  Once it was done, it took less than five minutes to get my user account and wireless connection configured.  During the installation, the Windows 7 installer looked for and was able to find compatible drivers for most of my computer’s hardware, with the exception of the touchpad.  That’s right, my WiFi card just worked (that’s a little Apple joke).

Since I had to do a custom installation (going from a 32-bit to 64-bit OS requires a reformat of the hard drive), I was presented with a file folder called “Windows.old”, which I promptly deleted.  It took about fifteen minutes to delete, but considering its size, I’ll forgive Windows.  Depending on how many programs you have to install, your updating process is relative.  There were a slew of Windows 7 updates available immediately, but that’s to be expected; anyone who has done a clean install of Mac OS X Leopard from the original installation disc (v10.5.0, basically) knows what I’m talking about.

The only major compatibility problems I’ve run into in the last two days were McAfee Enterprise and Cisco’s VPN client.  The VPN client simply would not install in a 64-bit OS, but TAMU has a 64-bit compatible client for download.  The other problem is an antivirus program.  Until TAMU provides a compatible copy, I will have to make do with AVG or a similar freeware program.  Considering its age and unique program structure, LaTeX installed and worked without a hitch.

Let’s talk about eye candy for a second.  There is no denying that this is Microsoft’s prettiest OS.  But the eye candy has a function.  The taskbar has been completely redesigned, now featuring a hybrid of open programs and the old Quick Launch toolbar.  It’s like the Mac OS X Dock.  Hover the mouse pointer over a program’s icon and a preview window will pop up.  Hover the mouse over that preview and all other windows will go transparent, showing the desired window.  Move the mouse to the lower right-hand corner of the taskbar and all the windows will go transparent to show the desktop, and if you click the button there, all open windows will be minimized.

Now, back to the functionality.  Right-clicking programs in your taskbar will bring up a “Jump List”; a list of tasks specific to that program.  As a blogger from ZDNet put it, “[y]ou can think of Jump Lists like little application-specific Start menus”.  For iTunes (Apple’s multimedia program owns Microsoft’s, but Redmond is learning), you can go to the iTunes Store, start shuffling your library, go to the currently playing song, or start the “Genius” feature, which puts similar songs, genres, or artists together for a unique listening experience.  Internet Explorer 8 (which ships in both 32 and 64-bit flavors on the 64-bit Windows 7 editions) can show your most recently visited websites.  Google Chrome (my Windows browser of choice) currently has no Jump List, but hopefully developers will catch on.

Libraries are the new method of browsing the files and folders on your hard drive.  Windows 7 ships with several default libraries: Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos; a library groups similar files from all over your hard drive into one easy-to-locate place, if you so choose.  Networking is fairly painless; connecting to the WPA2-Enterprise TAMULink network was as easy as connecting to my WPA2 home network.  In fact, the only real problems I’ve had with with networking was when TAMU’s WiFi network was down!  In comparison, Mac OS X v10.6.1 has given me nothing but grief with my wireless connection.

Start-up time is definitely slower than Mac OS X, but I wasn’t expecting any improvement on that front; besides, my Windows 7 machine is a business-oriented model, not a graphics or gaming-intensive powerhouse.  Shut down, however, was surprisingly fast.  My Dell’s battery is on the fritz, so I have been relying on the AC adapter and not been able to use the sleep mode for the last few days, but it wakes and sleeps in about 1 second.  No joke.

I know this sounds like a lot of praise with little griping, and I’ll be honest, there hasn’t been much to gripe about.  It was the OS that alerted me to my battery problem, not the POST (power-on self-test) or the BIOS.  When my old Dell’s battery failed, I had to look up what a blinking amber battery light meant.  Some elements of the GUI (graphical user interface) are inconsistent and you’ll still want to have an anti-malware program to back up Windows Defender, but hopefully Microsoft will evolve the Windows platform to something as secure as the Unix-based Mac OS X.

In terms of which version to choose, you can’t go wrong with the Ultimate edition.  There are no lame “Ultimate extras” this time around, and it functions well in the home and business arenas.  Most users will be well-served by the Home Premium edition; the Home Basic or Starter editions are garbage.  If you can afford to upgrade, however, go with the Ultimate edition.

To conclude, Microsoft has created one hell of an operating system, and a platform that will be able to compete with Apple.  And that’s what is most important: competition breeds creativity.  Apple had nearly fallen out of the public eye in the 1990s, but stormed onto the scene in the 21st century with a modernized, user-friendly, fast, and powerful platform, while Microsoft appeared to slap a fresh coat of paint onto NT/2000 and call it XP.

Microsoft has returned Apple’s serve and responded with one hell of a shot.  Ball’s in your court, Apple.

~ by jonfucius on November 3, 2009.