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Windows 7 - better than XP?
I love the improvements to the features on Windows 7. I love the new 'ribbon' interface on WordPad and Paint.
WordPad looks a lot more like Word 2007+ although it still has the same features as old versions of WordPad, such as only being able to save to in RTF (Rich Text Format) and being ble to insert 'objects'. Unlike in the full office you only get the ability to re-size images and not being able to make great improvements.
Paint has been completly changed with the 'ribbon' and some great new features that make the program more like an image editor and less like a basic drawing program. You get some new brushes and bit and bobs that make it better to use. I still would use Paint.NET for doing some basic image effects but Paint is still kept simple and you would not expect any more features added to it in later versions of Windows.
I like the new way that I have the task bar as there is more room for having lots of programs open with just an icon and not text next to each item. All programs windows are grouped into one but unlike on the feature introduced on Windows XP it groups them together no matter how many windows are open (such as in Windows XP there had to be 4 open to 'group' together.
The graphics are Windows Aero and look the same as on Windows Vista. I have Windows 7 Starter running on my new Acer Aspire One Netbook with 1 GB ram but I don't get the full graphics that I could get. I will be upgrading my memory to 4GB to see if the graphics work.
The Windows Sidebar gadgets have followed onto the operating system and they are now used on the desktop. You can add them by right clicking on the desktop and dragging them, you can move them around and it looks great and it is very useful.
The Control Panel has been changed slightly and I find it harder to find things. Lots of the things that I expect to be there have hidden and that has made me confused. I am still trying to work out how to change the desktop background and I hope that I can do it on the Starter version. If this feature is not included I am sure to upgrade to Home although I think that this feature should be included in every operating system, not mattering on what version it is.
The computer seems to be quicker than my Vista laptop and seems quicker even though the Vista PC has more memory. It seems much more stable to and lots of things that annoyed me in Vista have been fixed.
I really like Windows 7 and anyone on Vista should upgrade because it is faster, more stable and has just a better feel. If you have got Windows XP and you do not use your computer much for tasks apart from Office, Email, Web Browsing, etc. then you might not want to upgrade. Before buying Windows 7 please check your system by using the Windows 7 Upgrade adviser and make sure that you can run 7. It will tell you hardware and software problems and give you recommendations so that you can make sure that you have a great system.
People moving up from another version of Windows using the upgrade disk will find that all of your programs should work and your documents, pictures, music, etc. should be copied across including your settings. It is highly recommended that you backup all of your important files before you make the upgrade, you should do this in-case the setup crashes and your hard drive dies. I shall be making another blog post telling you how to backup your files with the advantages and disadvantages.
WordPad looks a lot more like Word 2007+ although it still has the same features as old versions of WordPad, such as only being able to save to in RTF (Rich Text Format) and being ble to insert 'objects'. Unlike in the full office you only get the ability to re-size images and not being able to make great improvements.
Paint has been completly changed with the 'ribbon' and some great new features that make the program more like an image editor and less like a basic drawing program. You get some new brushes and bit and bobs that make it better to use. I still would use Paint.NET for doing some basic image effects but Paint is still kept simple and you would not expect any more features added to it in later versions of Windows.
I like the new way that I have the task bar as there is more room for having lots of programs open with just an icon and not text next to each item. All programs windows are grouped into one but unlike on the feature introduced on Windows XP it groups them together no matter how many windows are open (such as in Windows XP there had to be 4 open to 'group' together.
The graphics are Windows Aero and look the same as on Windows Vista. I have Windows 7 Starter running on my new Acer Aspire One Netbook with 1 GB ram but I don't get the full graphics that I could get. I will be upgrading my memory to 4GB to see if the graphics work.
The Windows Sidebar gadgets have followed onto the operating system and they are now used on the desktop. You can add them by right clicking on the desktop and dragging them, you can move them around and it looks great and it is very useful.
The Control Panel has been changed slightly and I find it harder to find things. Lots of the things that I expect to be there have hidden and that has made me confused. I am still trying to work out how to change the desktop background and I hope that I can do it on the Starter version. If this feature is not included I am sure to upgrade to Home although I think that this feature should be included in every operating system, not mattering on what version it is.
The computer seems to be quicker than my Vista laptop and seems quicker even though the Vista PC has more memory. It seems much more stable to and lots of things that annoyed me in Vista have been fixed.
I really like Windows 7 and anyone on Vista should upgrade because it is faster, more stable and has just a better feel. If you have got Windows XP and you do not use your computer much for tasks apart from Office, Email, Web Browsing, etc. then you might not want to upgrade. Before buying Windows 7 please check your system by using the Windows 7 Upgrade adviser and make sure that you can run 7. It will tell you hardware and software problems and give you recommendations so that you can make sure that you have a great system.
People moving up from another version of Windows using the upgrade disk will find that all of your programs should work and your documents, pictures, music, etc. should be copied across including your settings. It is highly recommended that you backup all of your important files before you make the upgrade, you should do this in-case the setup crashes and your hard drive dies. I shall be making another blog post telling you how to backup your files with the advantages and disadvantages.
Comment
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Comment by Justen on December 30, 2009 at 9:17pm -
It's prettier than XP, I'll give it that much. I also like the new taskbar - so I grabbed a similar task manager for KDE 4 and stuck with Linux.
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Comment by WereBo on December 29, 2009 at 3:54am -
I've been using Win7-64Bit since it's release in October and I've found it to be slightly faster than XP-SP3 (32Bit). I've kept Win-XP as a 2nd dual-boot option, mainly because some of my older apps won't run on Win7, but I don't use them often enough to warrant upgrading them to a newer version - Ditto with some of my games.
The only thing that's annoyed me is the attitude from some 3rd-party hardware suppliers preferring to con folks into buying new equipment, rather than update their old drivers (HP take note! - My old but still working printer is unusable over my home network).
I'm still working on finding Win7 tweaks and tricks, but they're more for efficiency than speed, it's still faster than anything else I've used and a lot easier to navigate around. My only gripe is why on Earth did MS put the 'Show Desktop' button right over on the right-hand side of the System-Tray!!!
Other than that, MS got it right 1st time, this time - I never thought I'd ever say that about MS LOL
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Comment by Barry Bundrum on December 29, 2009 at 2:11am -
After only two weeks, I am still learning...but one thing is immediately apparent...Windows 7, 4 gigs of ram and a dual core has given me the fastest system I have ever owned.
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Comment by Kevin Peigan on December 29, 2009 at 12:07am -
well, i have to much money sunk into my system, (hardware/software) to make the change. I'm running vista home premium, and to tell you the truth, i've never come across the BSOD... I've installed windows 7 on new builds, its interesting... 90% of my work is in office environments which includes networking photocopiers...many do not yet support windows 7... I think I'll wait a year before fully promoting windows 7 to my clients...
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Comment by Neil Mann on December 28, 2009 at 12:53am -
Give this a try
http://www.instructables.com/id/Windows-7-Starter-Easy-way-to-chang...
Also, even if you put more memory in your machine, you will not be able to use Aero. Aero is not available with the starter edition of Win7
You can upgrade to Home Premium for only $80
http://store.microsoft.com/microsoft/Windows-Anytime-Upgrade-Window...
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Comment by Paul Druer on December 27, 2009 at 11:04pm -
i can't go back xp, a: i have to much ram (8gb) and the driver support for xp 64 bit is horrid and windows 7 pro 64 bit is just going insanly fast for me bootup is nuts fast and on my setup which cost me about 1000 dollors custom build its just perfect :D
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Comment by Daz on December 27, 2009 at 4:55pm -
Windows 7 definitely makes up for the fatal release of Vista but is only a small upgrade on XP.
Seems more aesthetic than anything and even though I prefer it over XP, I still hate the control panel and systems settings layout that 7 uses.
For that reason I'm staying with my fast XP build SP2.
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Comment by Jeremy North on December 27, 2009 at 12:43pm -
Windows 7 = Vista Final Release. I found that I couldn't run some of my favorite XP programs on either Vista or 7, even with a fresh installation and using the proper compatibility mode. Thats too bad.
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Comment by Jon :D on December 27, 2009 at 11:11am -
Tyler, weren't you a die hard Linux fan that had never had/used Windows? O-o
Vista was NOT better than XP. Used way too much RAM, crashed way to much, etc. In 64-bit environments, it may have been slightly better - compatibility wise. My friend still runs XP 64-bit, he's had no problems since he started running it in like 2006.
I still haven't switched over to 7. Don't feel the need to. Honestly, to me, it just looks better. But after many years of using XP with the classic theme, it's sticking to me. Anything with too much eye-candy just looks like clogged up toilets to me, lol. XP is working fine for me - why switch if I don't need to? :)
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Comment by Tyler Brown on December 27, 2009 at 8:35am -
Its better than Vista.
And Vista was better than XP (after SP1 was released that is.)
and of course in one major way both Vista and 7 dominate XP - and thats in the realm of 64-bit.
Actually, I had one issue with Windows 7 that I didn't have with Vista, that I didn't manage to fix till the other night, and thats a problem I had with sleep mode. It wouldn't allow me to use it, it would just instantly wake back up again. It was some default setting in Windows 7 that wasn't available on Vista that was causing it.
© 2012 Created by Chris Pirillo.
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