Is Windows 7 The Best Windows Ever?
From technology enthusiasts to the average Joe running Windows, everyone was looking at Microsoft for the past 2 years, their hopes gathered around a simple name: Windows 7. There are many reasons why this version of Windows was sought after, not the least being the public relations nightmare brought by Vista.
But did Microsoft come through with a stable computing platform, with decent hardware requirements and a hardened security model? The definite answer is yes. I’ve been running Windows 7 on my laptop for over a month, installed all the applications I’d normally use – iTunes, Office, Firefox, Mozy – and they all worked fine, without any compatibility settings or whatnot.
While my computer is far from being state of the art, it is able to run Firefox, iTunes, Word and Photoshop at the same time, with decent speed. On just 1GB of DDR2 RAM and a 2,2Ghz AMD Turion 62 single core processor. The visual effects are fluid on a two year old ATi X200M graphics chipset with just 64MB of RAM. What they did under the hood, optimizing the code to run faster, is simply amazing. Running Vista on this laptop was like swimming with cement boots, even with the visual effects turned off.
A very important aspect for Windows users, security, has also been addressed in many ways, and while most of the technologies were present in Vista, they have been improved in Windows 7. The UAC (User Access Control) dialogs are less frequent and not so annoying, executables are scanned for digital signatures of their vendor, you are notified about files downloaded from the internet as well as an improved firewall and notification center. DEP (Data Execution Prevention) is enabled by default, we still have the KPP (Kernel Patch Protection) and a significantly improved Autorun. Also, the privilege level of your account is not root, which would grant you unlimited access to system resources, but a member of the Administrators group. To affect changes that may affect system integrity and security you have to accept an UAC prompt. In addition to this, all start-up items that access critical system areas are also required to be manually approved via an UAC prompt. Checks and flags are implemented all around, to the point that you would have to ignore multiple security warnings in order to get infected. These are all significant changes from Windows XP. All around, you can see that the engineers have dedicated a significant amount of time to securing the operating system.
From such an important aspect as security,we go on to examine the improvements in the user interface department. The taskbar, part Mac OS X dock, part Start menu is an elegant and comprehensive UI element. The functionality offered is simply amazing; We have quick access to commonly used applications, an amazing way to find the window you’re looking for with Quick Look, a streamlined notification area which is clean yet retains usability and instant search from the Start menu. I’m sorry to disappoint the Linux and Mac OS fans, but Windows 7, as it is today, has the most advanced and usable UI.
With Windows 7 Microsoft has changed the game. I for one was saving money for a MacBook, which from a Windows XP viewpoint is an incredible upgrade. But compared to Windows 7, not so much. We have performance, stability, a not too shabby security model, an incredible selection of hardware and software. If lastly, we consider the price – free until June next year – we have an incredibly attractive offer. The ball is at Apple and the pitch is going down at WWDC. Unless something amazing comes out, it’s going to be a homerun for Windows 7.
As always, I’d love to hear what you think about this topic. You can check out How To Install Windows 7 on a Virtual Machine with VirtualBox and Test Windows 7 RC on a Virtual Machine written by Guy McDowell.
"I’m sorry to disappoint the Linux and Mac OS fans, but Windows 7, as it is today, has the most advanced and usable UI."
Wow the author lost all credibility when he made this statement which shows he has little to no experience with either Ubuntu or Mac OSX. A new taskbar makes Windows the best OS ever ? Thats like stating that a Porche emblem placed on a Ford Feista makes it the fastest car ever.
Linux better than Windows? Hardly. After using KDE 4.2.2 for weeks on end, I can see why Windows is in the lead. Bugs, bugs, and more bugs. Your average consumer doesn't want the CLI — too cryptic and hard to learn.
People have been having problems with Windows products for decades, but that's ok I guess, because it's Microsoft and that is acceptable. Microsoft a multi-billion dollar company with more resources than god himself and most of the time they still can't produce a decent product, yet Linux an open source product with very little funding yet they still are able to produce an amazing OS with more features and customization options than Microsoft could dream of, but then of course people like you come along and state the old linux is too hard excuse.
Haha, you guys think journalism exists anymore. Our news is simply corporate interests fed to us through the actors they hired to read a teleprompt. Journalism died a long time ago, if it ever even existed. All news has a bias and is orienting towards buying or producing something.
That's not how I read the review at all. I've been using Windows 7 for two months and my opinion of it differs from yours, I used to run XP simply because Vista was so slow. I also run macintosh (two Ibook G3's, (yes G3!) and I love the way that the mac ages so elegantly with the latest (beta!) Safari running perfectly on the 800 mhz Ibook G3, an equivalent would be a PII or PIII 450 Mhz. Yet the mac is great for what you want done on a mac, for everything else (i.e. 3d stereoscopic gaming on a HD projector) you had to use XP until now.
Windows 7 is miles ahead of Vista in terms of speed (bootup and shut down at XP speeds, but in terms of speeds it far surpasses XP, we can now truly unleas the power of 64 bit CPU's and DDR3 ram (XP 64 was very immature and unstable, Vista 64 was, wel, Vistaawful).
I am amazed at how great Windows 7 really is (it is not a better vista at all). What does surprise me is how much like the Mac dock the new superbar is though, it's like they copied it 1 to 1. Then again Apple has been getting too arrogant and walking besides their own shoes lately.
Wonder how much M$ paid to have this piece of junk published?
The Win 7 RC is ultimate and was installed over Vista Basic on a Celeron 540 with 2 megs of memory. All the programs were there and ran just fine. Oh yeah, the Vista explorer used to mysteriously freeze. Didn't happen with Win 7. It's a Buena Vista!
Why must every single article about Windows 7 have such a huge number of Mac and Linux proponents responding? As mentioned, the title of the piece is solely about Windows releases. I have an XP laptop which is getting on in age, but have refused to purchase a new PC with all the negative things that have been reported with Vista. I have been looking forward to 7, with hopes that it might be a 'decent' Windows release that will work for me. Why can't the Mac and Linux proponents shut the fuck up, and allow PC users to try and get a decent feel for what Windows 7 has to offer?
Because we don't want you to waste time and money. Why wait while you can have it right away?
Think … If we all think, we might have even had a better windows – Instead of cashing money for Microsoft. Just think, if XP would have been the best windows ever, would you be thinking about Win 7. It is good that you did not buy Vista, otherwise, you would be paying money to downgrade to XP and paying money to upgrade to Win 7.
That said, I can't help but respond to the flame war out of reflex. I have a bachelors degree in computer science. I have used Linux extensively in college, and although it is getting much better, it is not for the faint of heart. If the flamers really want to bash PC's why not direct your attention to the vast number of blogs/articles that detail the trainwrecks descibed by various 'PC users' and their pitiful attempts to try out Linux. If you want to spend the rest of your computing life wandering around the internet forums to fix problems that should have worked right out of the box, switch to Linux. (Power users and Engineers that depend on Linux for doing 'WORK' that can't possibly be done on a PC please disregard. The 'flamers' don't seem to be able to embrace the typical level of computer savvy of the American public. If it involves the command prompt, most of the people in America are going to get on the phone to their more 'techy' relative.)
For the Mac war I don't really have much ammunition. I have never even sat down in front of a Mac. Maybe if they didn't cost twice as much as a PC I would have. Maybe if I wasn't so tired of the 'social networking' + 'cool' wars I would. Take your overpriced proprietary imac, ipod, iphone, icrap, overbearing plutarchy and move to Britian. Maybe you should buy a Bentley, you obviously have more money than sense.
(I would apolgize to 'working' people who are forced to use Mac products here, but I don't know any. Maybe marketshare has something to do with that.) Since I have managed to get on a roll, and probably ended up on a hitlist somewhere, I will continue even further off topic of the actual article. Linux and Mac are fine. I might even consider Linux at some point in the future. Maybe a virtual machine which I can play around with. I would still rank Mac's with the average college student studying 'any degree that doesn't require anything higher than business math', and spending more time on facebook, myspace, youtube, and twitter than 'any' PC application more difficult to pull off than a web browser. All in, all done, any actual 'usefull' opinions of how Windows 7 is going to turn out? Is it Vista with a facelift, or actually something a bit more substantial. Worth the move from XP? My apologies about the ranting, but it seems that the Linux and Mac fans can't help but turn a review of Windows 7 into a flame war about which OS to choose.
It certainly looks good but Windows XP is the best so far.
same here, i've got osx running on a $100 mac cube made in 2001…
I just recently try Windows 7 and yes, it is the best Windows out there.
Honestly, I skip Vista because my first impression on it is really bad
I can say honestly that Windows 7 does not give the same impression at all
It simply looks and feels better.
Yes, windows defender is annoying, but not as it is in Vista
I still like Ubuntu better thought. No argue here. Only a matter of taste
umm, my office runs on osx and i can tell you that we have five power users here. we run so efficiently that i doubt a team of seven pc users could beat our productivity. we made the switch eight years ago and wouldn't you know that we cut our it cost by like 40%?
how would it cut your cost by 40% when mac computers are more expensive than PCs and the licenses for office on mac is more expensive as well? it's an illusion.
i think the illusion is your understanding of simple math and common sense.
my company has saved over $820 per month over the last eight years (nine years in September); that more than makes up for the increase in unit costs for the computers. take into account that many of the enterprise level software we use are cheaper on the osx platform, we don't have to worry about running virus programs and countless other issues that are built into apple computers; we're way ahead. consider that things rarely go wrong and i don't have people with twittling their thumbs doing nothing while a pc tech support guy either removes the ibm machine from our office or causes my employee to be down for an hour and a half. there's a cost for that my friend and i pay for it.
as far as costs are concerned; we priced out a dell server two years ago that cost over $1200 more than a similarly equipped apple machine. i agree that apple costs more in most situations but you have to appreciate that you get what you pay for. apple machines come ready and there's less work to do in future.
I am a Linux user. I have used Windows 7 RC for nearly three months myself. I am still a Linux user. Windows 7, while a VAST, improvement over both XP and Vista is still nowhere near as easy to use or allows as much customisation as my Kubuntu 9.04 installation. In order to get functionality such as an expose feature on Windows 7, where a movement of the mouse to a section of the screen allows you to see all current windows open in a neat tiled interface you can select from requires you to install additional software. Customising the look of Windows 7 is limited to colour and desktop background image. And STILL no multiple desktops which for me is a feature I now cannot live without since moving to Linux.
Don't feel sorry for Linux users, we are the guys revelling in a hugely more usable and profoundly more advanced operating system while the rest of the world hangs on Microsoft's every word.
I appreciate Justins opinion. As a life time PC user, I was forced to use a Mac out of desperation when my Dell broke down after just 4 years. When I tried using Vista, nothing worked period. It was worse than a paperweight because it was too large. During the Vista fiasco, I recall MS insisting only 50% of the people using it were having problems an that only 500MB of RAM was needed to run it. When I got it, It took me no time to realize the OS was lousy and all my friends were looking at me for solutions. You're talking to a guy who was hard core microsoft all the way and never thought about a Mac.
Hmmmmm….. I wonder why Adobe Photoshop runs faster on Windows 7 installed on my Mac than Mac OS Photoshop version?
Come on guys, as long as you have the choice of OS just try out yourself what's best for you, and be contended with that, when you keep on comparing you will always have your own favorites, which doesn't necessarily mean the facts. Keep what you prefer and stick with it till you feel the other one is better!
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I've used just about everything under the sun for the thirty years I've been programming for a living, from Radio Shack Model I's through Osborne luggables and Mac+->OSX with some sojourns into Windows. The biggest programming headaches I have ever had were writing font utilities for Windows XP and Vista for several reasons – their anemic font API, their dog's breakfast registry, their paranoid and ineffective UAC model and their inability to create really top-notch developer tools that didn't come bundled with a straitjacket. Lots of this is due to the inherent difficulty of writing software that needs to make an OS work outside of its design parameters but it's made worse by the fuzziness of Windows' design parameters, avalanche of APIs and the hit-or-miss documentation Microsoft does so well.
Windows crashes much more often then my ubuntu os. In fact ubuntu has NEVER crashed.
For the last time, macs have 2 button mice standard, in fact they are 4 button mice. Also, macs are not twice as much as PCs! Please get your heads out of the 90's! As far as which one is better? That depends on the user…period!
I think the best thing you could do is to buy that macbook. Why ? Simple: you can still install windows on it, and if windows would let you down you haven't lost a thing, cuz' you still got macos
why do I think windows will let you down ? because it is from microsoft, and you cannot put your trust in it.. ok, so you tested windows7 a month or more.. well, talk to me after a year, that is if you haven't already reinstalled it by then! You will see, windows will let you down, sooner or later. It's a fact! It's still on top of Vista, you know…
I went mac, and i cannot go back! It's like a dream, a paradise.. it's like a drug! You get more addicted on every startup. You will soon wake up eager to start your mac, even just for watching it! It's crazy, I'm tellin' ya.. when Bogdan told me how mac can change your life, I thought to myself "what the heck, it's a *nix system! it cannot be better than a linux, and linux ain't better than windows xp or 7, so it cannot be better than my precious windows". Now when I have to start into windows (because of work & school), I'm disgusted and can't wait to shut that thing down and get back to mac! My god, i'm so addicted to it..
I WAS about to make an intelligent comment, then I saw the level of intelligence on this blog. Not just this article, but practically every one of them.
Anyway, let's just say, having tried it, I'd recommend windows 7 to everyone who still needs to use Windows. I myself don't see the need to, and am glad I won't have to pirate it or pay for it.
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No matter how many big or little modifications Microsoft may make to its OS it still remains at the end of the day the same basic architecture. The inherent design flaws are still there. Only a complete start-over will ever produce a better system, and that, as long as there is still a "buggy-whip" buyer will never happen. The same is true of Mac, although its architecture is more interesting and clever. However, as long as Mac still holds the hardware captive, it will always come in "second" in the only game that matters: profits. Linux is frankly the only logical, practical solution for the rest of the world: it is "OPEN," free, and makes good use of standard, inexpensive hardware.
I think that there is no doubt in mind, that Windows 7 is by far the most superior operating system from Microsoft ever.
The speed and agility of the system is impressive compared to Vista and it beats Windows XPs boring GUI every day.
you are the moron my friend … windows is not meant to be safe … dont you think it would be a logical step in the evolution of this OS to have a good anti-virus built-in ? im not talking about that w. defender crap-ware. i mean a serious anti-virus ! i mean windows is out there since the late '80 (1986 i think windows 1 came out) and there are millions of viruses and shit that can fuck -up your computer, and windows still doesent have a a-v buit in ….
they are planning on doing that. If I remember correctlly it is called "one care".
You know, Microsoft would love to put antivirus right into the OS. However, there is something that prevents them from doing so. It's called "antitrust." They got kicked in the nuts by Janet Reno and the U.S. government, who ruled that they had to break out many of the parts of their OS to operate as separate downloads, in order to avoid stifling competition. Now that precedent has been established, they have to be very careful about what they put in the OS in order to avoid more antitrust suits. If they built in an antivirus program, they'd get sued by Symantec, and Symantec would probably win.
Back when Vista was released, this was actually an issue. Symantec wanted Microsoft to open up the Windows security protocols so that instead of just using Windows Security Centre, Symantec could install its own security centre. Microsoft argued that this would render the OS less secure, since the release of code combined with the lack of oversight for third-party software might result in exploitable third-party programs, but they eventually capitulated.