Windows 7 Roundup

Unless you scored a Windows 7 free upgrade or plan to go PC shopping soon, the new software will cost a pretty penny (up to $319 for the “Ultimate” edition). So, is
Windows 7 worth it?

System Requirements

• 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit Processor
• 1GB of RAM (2GBs for 64-bit)
• 16GB Available Hard Drive Space (20GBs for 64-bit)
• DirectX 9-enabled GPU

Obviously, to reap the benefits of many of Windows 7’s other features, higher performance machines are required. If you’re not sure what kind of gear your PC is running but still want to get Windows 7, Microsoft has created a small evaluation program for determining whether you machine is capable of running Windows 7, which can be downloaded directly from Microsoft’s official download center.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor will also tell you whether or not you will be able to upgrade your existing OS to Windows 7 or be required to do a fresh install, which will remove all of your preexisting files and settings. If you’d like to find out without having to install the software, Microsoft released an upgrade chart viewable here.

Whats New?

Many of the features of Windows 7 are improvements on the core framework of Windows Vista, but what features are new to Windows 7? Check out the most notable additions below:

• New Windows Taskbar: Now, it feels and behaves a lot more like Mac OS X’s dock.
• Jump Lists: Context-sensitive menus which are available for each program in your Taskbar and your Start Menu
• Unified Search: The old Start Menu gains a greater amount of utility in Windows 7.
• Fewer Annoying Popups: Remember the famously intrusive UAC system in Vista?
• Device Stage: gives you a single window for interacting with your various gadgets

Better than Vista?

Most reviewers made the inevitable comparison to Microsoft’s last operating system, Vista, which was widely considered a dud. And, most reviewers were happy to announce that Windows 7 is a big improvement over its predecessor. “The first thing you’ll notice about Windows 7 is that it looks like Vista,” writes the Guardian. “It also works like Vista, in the sense that it has the same plumbing underneath, except for a very welcome graphics upgrade to DX11. However, it works much better than Vista, and most of Vista’s annoyances have either been removed, or (mostly) can be changed so the system works the way you like. It takes personalisation to extremes.”

Cleaner look

“Windows 7 introduces real advances in organizing your programs and files, arranging your taskbar and desktop, and quickly viewing and launching the page or document you want, when you want it,” says The Wall Street Journal. “It also has cool built-in touch-screen features. It removes a lot of clutter. And it mostly banishes Vista’s main flaws—sluggishness; incompatibility with third-party software and hardware; heavy hardware requirements; and constant, annoying security warnings.”

Speed test

“Windows 7 feels faster than Windows XP and Vista, but it turns out that’s not always the case–sometimes, it’s the slowest out of the three operating systems,” reports CNET. “As you can see in the chart, we found that Windows 7 RTM was the fastest to shutdown, and was tied with XP for iTunes encoding. However, it was slower than XP and Vista for both booting up cold by a bit more than 1 second, and slower than either of its predecessors in its Microsoft Office performance.”

Compatibility with old software and hardware

Engadget maintains a Windows 7 upgrade guide, but in their review they say that “anything we found to work in Vista seemed to work just fine (in some cases better!) in Windows 7. That goes for hardware and software, but of course the real test will be when this OS is unleashed upon the masses — your mom’s brother’s 25 year old printer might not make the cut, and we’ll be sure to pour out a 40 upon its behalf. In truth, Microsoft does a very good job with keeping a truly insane quantity of hardware and drivers and vendors happy, but we still think they could do better.”

Compatibility with Drivers

“With the Big Day just days away, expect to see a plethora of announcements from Windows hardware manufacturers about the availability of drivers for Windows 7,” says Driver Detective. Microsoft has addressed the issue of driver compatibility with Windows 7 by requiring all Vista-certified hardware manufacturers to provide Microsoft with compatibility metrics for Windows 7. Those drivers that don’t pass muster on the first blush must be made Windows 7 compatible by the time the new OS is released if the manufacturers wish to retain Vista certification.

The final word

“Windows XP was a great OS in its day. Windows Vista, once it found its feet several months in, was a good OS. With Windows 7, the OS is great again,” concludes Gizmodo. “It’s what people said they wanted out of Windows: Solid, more nimble and the easiest, prettiest Windows yet. There’s always a chance this won’t be a huge hit come October, given the economy and the state of the PC industry, but it’s exactly what Microsoft needs right now. Something people can grab without fear.”

Reuters reminds us that, “Like Windows 7, Vista got good reviews too: As Microsoft Corp’s Windows 7 release approaches, early reviews are generally positive. But so were reviews for Windows Vista just before its launch…. Vista got high marks before its release as well, with writers back then praising a new visual design — and glossing over quirks that later became common gripes.”