Windows 7: Should you Upgrade?
September 15, 2009 at 12:09:38 AM, by Blair Mathis
With Windows 7 making its public debut in just a few short days, this article is for those of you wondering if it's worth the cost of upgrading from Vista. You might have heard some people say that it's Vista with a little more eyecandy, but after running Windows 7 through the gammut for a couple weeks, we can officially say that there's more to it than that.
Should You Switch to Windows 7? Pros, Cons, and an Informed Analysis With Windows 7 making its public debut in just a few short days, this article is for those of you wondering if it's worth the cost of upgrading from Vista. You might have heard some people say that it's Vista with a little more eyecandy, but after running Windows 7 through the gammut for a couple weeks, we can officially say that there's more to it than that. Below are all the features, updates, tricks, tips, and other niceties that have been added to Windows 7 that make it, in our opinion, far superior to Vista. With everything good comes things bad, however, and you want to know about what problems to expect before you drop the change for this bad boy. Knowing that, below you'll also find some cons that you should be aware of, and a final conclusion about who should upgrade and if it's worth its pricetag. If you want some benchmarking stats, skip to the end.
PROS
We'll start with the goods first. Below are all the things we've noticed over Vista and very much like, including new features, minor fixes, and everything in between.
1. Wordpad is Finally Updated
When was the last time you opened Wordpad? Yeah, that's what we thought. Wordpad in Windows 7 is many times the rich-text editor of its yester-edition. It has been completely changed into quite a capable word processor, with ribbons and coloring scheme that looks very similar to Word 2007.
2. Popup Preview
When you hover the mouse over a taskbar app that is active, yet minimized, you can view a real-time preview of the application. If you let the mouse hover for a few seconds, a fullscreen-sized preview will appear over the rest of the windows.
3. Recent Activity Jumplists
Right-clicking on an app in the taskbar, even if it isn't active, will reveal a list of all recent activity performed with that specific app. Right-clicking on the app name within the jumplist will reveal another list that allows you to view properties, run as admin, and other more advanced options.
4. Corrected Recycle Bin Menu
How many times did you accidentally delete the Recycle Bin icon instead of emptying it by clicking delete instead of empty, both of which were listed? Microsoft corrected this minor inconvenience by removing the delete option from the Bin menu.
5. Drag to Resize
Resizing windows has never been as simple as it is in Windows 7. To maximize a window, drag it to the top of the screen. To resize it to half the screen, drag it to the right or left side of the desktop.
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6. Rotate Your Desktop Wallpaper
If you're like many computer users, you grow weary of seeing the same wallpaper all the time. Instead of manually changing the wallpaper or downloading an app to do it for you, Windows 7 can be configured to automatically rotate your wallpapers.
7. Open music faster
Many people avoided using Media Player as their primary music player because it took so long to open an song. Microsoft seems to have figured out that we don't need an entire media player open just to listen to a song, so they added a smaller minimalist player that opens quickly when you open a song.
8. The New Taskbar
The taskbars you're used to are no longer existent in Windows 7 (unless you change the settings). In its place is a new taskbar that is visually similar to the KDE bar. It has pinned applications arranged in buttons, and each applications glows when it is active. Minimizes apps are minimized to the applications button, and appear in groups when you hover.
9. Quick Desktop View
Lets say that you want to see your desktop quickly to get the name of a file, check and see if you saved something, or some other reason. One way to do that is to minimize your windows. With Windows 7, all you have to do is move your mouse to the bottom right corner of the screen. All the windows will turn transparent until you move it again. 
10. Shake to Minimize
The transparent corner trick is nice, but maybe you want to minimize all the open windows except the one you're using. Instead of manually clicking them all, just grab the menu bar on your active window and shake that app all around. Every other open app that it comes into contact with will minimize. (Note: we've found this feature to be a buggy on occasion if you're shaking a small window on top of a maximized window.)
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11. Improved Search Feature
The search bar makes locating files on your computer easier than ever. With Vista, you would search and get a list that was separated into apps and files; if you wanted anything more specific, you had to add filters. In Windows 7, search results are split up into specific types and locations. See the screenshot for an example.
12. Device Stage
Device Stage basically adds everything you could need to manage a device into one easy to use page. You can click links for support and downloads, you can perform tasks that are specific to that device, and even see photos of the device when its plugged in. In addition, manufacturers can create their own Device Stage so that it specifically caters to their customers. Very nice.
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13. HomeGroup Sharing
As sad as it is to say, DVD and CD technology is quickly becoming obsolete. Digital media is the way of the future, and most people find it preferable to have digital movies and music over hard disc movie and music. With the increase in cheap desktops, such as the Eee PC and cheap Inspirons, many people are connecting a media computer to their TV. HomeGroup makes it simple to share those media files between all the computers in the house, giving the less-than-tech-savvy users the ability to set up a wireless streaming home media system.
14. Windows XP Mode
I've had some trouble getting certain games (cough, cough Call of Duty) to install, but that isn't a problem because Win 7 comes with an XP mode. You can install and run a program as if you're using XP, which is very convenient when it comes to those games you want to play.
15. Recent Activity Itemized Per Program
You know how in Vista you can click view recent activity in a list, where you'll see music that's been played, files that have been edited, etc? Well in Win 7, each app that can alter and play files has its own dedicated recent activity list, where you can view recent activity performed with that specific app. Example? There is a small arrow next to the menu listing for Word. When you click it, you can see a list of the most recently opened files.
16. View Available Networks
A gripe I had in Vista was the difficulty in viewing the available networks; you'd have to double-click and a pop up window would appear, where you then had to select a network and choose the CONNECT button. That's no longer the case in Windows 7, however: single-left-click on the Wi-Fi meter in the taskbar and a nice available networks popup will appear, where you can do all the connecting and switching you need.
17. Triple-Mode Magnifier
There is a triple-mode magnifier that come with Windows 7, one of which is the normal dock at the top of the screen that shows everything zoomed in. Another mode is full desktop zoom, which zooms the entire desktop, and moving the mouse will make it scroll. The third mode is a small square zoom lens which is stuck to the mouse; when you move the mouse, everything under it is nicely magnified. Overall, it is much easier to use than squinting at the dock on the top of the screen.
CONS
Here's where we mention the less than great stuff. I'm a bit surprised to note that after running this system through the ringer, I'm yet to find more than one bug, which is listed below. I'm sure if you tear through the system enough, you'll find a few annoyances, but overall things are running much more smoothly out of the box than Vista did.
1. BitLocker Won't Relock
They'll eventually get a bug fix out, but if you're looking to purchase Windows 7 Ultimate with the intention of using the very nice BitLocker encryption feature, be aware that, at the time of this article, you can't relock an unlocked drive without rebooting. Some people have had luck running a command line lock script, but to do so you need full admin rights--simply right-clicking on the command prompt and choosing 'run as' won't work.
2. Freezes More Than it Should
I've been using Windows 7 daily for two weeks on a Dell Latitude D620 with a T2300 Duo Core processor and a gig of RAM. Said laptop dualbooted Ubuntu and Vista for a couple years and ran without issues. Vista didn't freeze except when I'd do something less than smart, and it, in general, ran quite nicely. Windows 7 hasn't been running so nicely.
In my experience so far, using this computer five+ hours a day, it freezes at least a half-dozen times. I am a power user constantly opening and closing browser tabs, switching between AIM and media player, downloading and watching videos... at times, it seems that Windows 7 grabs its hair and screams in frustration (assuming, of course, there's little digital hairs in there).
This issue will probably be ironed out with SP1, and it most definitely isn't a show stopper; the majority of the time, things run fast and smooth. You should be aware of the problem, however, and know that when it does happen, you're going to have to kick your feet back and wait for all the tasks to catch up (which has taken as long as four minutes in my experience, but usually only a few seconds).
CONCLUSION
So, you might ask, is it worth upgrading?
Maybe. I'd say that if you've got Vista running nicely on your computer and its configured the way you want, don't waste your time buying, backing up, installing, updating, and configuring a new OS; the upgraded features aren't really worth it.
If you're wanting the fresh and the best, you like the way it looks, you want to be up-to-date, or any other reason, then my answer is: sure, why not? Except for the occasional hiccup when you start throwing endless processes at it, the system runs nicely. The only bug I've found is one that most users won't even care about (and only on BitLocker). The eye-candy is very nice.
If you're a productivity hound, if you like to be able to work as fast and efficiently as possible, then yes, I recommend that you upgrade. My primary OS has been Ubuntu for the specific reason that I can configure it to work as efficiently as possible, and I must say, I'm really liking the new Windows 7 taskbar and similar features. I can toggle and resize windows in just a few seconds, flip through open apps, view desktop, and scroll through open applications very fast and efficiently. I love the new taskbar and the way it aggregrates open windows into the buttons; you can now have dozens of apps and docs open without seeing a chaotic mess of buttons in the taskbar.
So there you have it. The cool new features. The real-world use. The issues. Go forth and make an informed decision. Page:1/1
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Comments
Gaurav at 23:02, November 03, 2009
i've recently purchased a lenovo ideapad Y550 laptop. microsoft is charging around USD 23 for an upgrade. they are charging it as a shipment and handling cost. aaah whatever!!!...should i go for an upgrade order??? i have vista home premium installed right now! please suggest me if i should go for an upgrade????
Roy F. Dvorak at 18:14, October 07, 2009
You said nothing about running MS Excel or PowerPoint or other MS applications. Will Windows 7 still give you the message "Excel has stopped working" or "Microsoft Internet explorer has stopped working"? They are MicroSlop (sic) applications running on a MicroSlow (sic) operating system. This should not happen !!!
Bring Down the Monopoly at 11:14, September 25, 2009
Just one more step closer to the Mac OS that Microsoft wished it could be. When will the World see the light. No doubt there will be 10,000 hit fixes issued in a weeks time. Thanks for this article, just one more reason to never use a Microsoft OS. Viva Ubuntu. V9.0 rocks.
ashok pai at 05:17, September 15, 2009
good one. info, what real world users (not fanboys) need to know. windows 7 does not have any radical changes over xp. xp-2p2 was a game changer, and its been quiet and stable since then. i'd say xp has a couple of years left for sure. dont upgrade just because microsoft has felt pangs of dollar hunger.
jow dick at 05:17, September 15, 2009
gaaa its sick im using it now!!!
jow dick at 05:17, September 15, 2009
gaaa its sick im using it now!!!