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Is Windows 7
Necessary?
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| Since Windows 7 was
released to the general public on October 22, 2009 I
must have read, at the minimum, about 200 different
articles about why you should or shouldn't ditch
your current operating system in favor of Windows 7.
The authors of the articles range from top notch
technology writers on down the line to, unless I
miss my guess, a few dogs and cats with their own
web presence. Even Linux and Apple devotees that
haven't used a Windows operating system in years
have an opinion. Here's my take which can be filed
along with all the other opinions in the digital
equivalent of the circular file. |
| As much as I like
Windows 7, is it really necessary? Obviously not.
Water, food, and shelter are necessary. Let's get a
grip, folks. We're talking about an operating system
for computers. If you're happy with the personal
computer you have right now and it's doing the tasks
you deem important, isn't that all you really need?
It doesn't make any difference what operating system
you're running, be it XP, Vista, or something else.
Operating systems get a huge and often
disproportionate amount of attention when the talk
turns to computers, but to the average user that
wants to check e-mail, surf the web, and mess around
with photos, video, and a few other tasks like tax
preparation, the underlying operating system is just
not an issue. |
| Alright, so you're
happy with what you have and it's doing everything
you want and need - but you still want to move on to
Windows 7 so your friends don't point at you and
snicker whenever you say you're still running XP or
Vista. What then? Personally, I'd get a new group of
friends, but if you're hell bent on Windows 7 (and
those dullard friends), consider the following
points. |
| If you're currently
running Windows XP: |
- Understand that just because a system is
satisfactorily running XP, upgrading it to
Windows 7 may turn it into a system better
suited to anchoring boats. XP has been available
for a lot of years, and the older the system the
greater the chance you won't be thrilled with
the upgrade, and that's in spite of all the
advice to the contrary you're going to find on
the web.
- The issue is not whether Windows 7 will
install on your older system. In most cases it
will install, but installing 'and' running
satisfactorily are two very different things.
Old hardware is prone to not having updated
drivers, and while the hardware may function
under Windows 7, it may not have full
functionality or work as well as it did before
the upgrade.
- There is upgrading and there is upgrading.
Huh? Many consider 'upgrading' to mean popping
in the DVD, setting the upgrade in motion and
sitting back until the system says, "I'm ready,
use me." There is no such thing when moving from
an XP install to Windows 7. Going from XP to 7
means starting over from scratch, including
reinstalling all your applications.
- In addition to wiping the drive and
application reinstallations, a ton of time will
be spent prior to the upgrade in backing up all
your data, digging out passwords long forgotten,
and making provisions for transferring your
personal settings.
|
| If the points listed
above haven't convinced you perhaps you'd be better
advised to hold off on Windows 7 until you can
acquire a new computer with Windows 7 pre-loaded, go
back and read them again. Really, you'll be much
happier with a new system specifically designed to
run Windows 7 and avoid a ton of headaches - and you
can donate the old XP system to someone with lesser
computing needs. |
| If you're currently
running Vista: |
- Going from Vista to Windows 7 is a mixed
bag, not because of compatibility issues, but
because there are so many possible scenarios.
- If the current system is a relatively recent
purchase that came with Vista SP1 or SP2
preloaded, chances are good that you'll
encounter few problems with hardware and
applications. That said, installing Windows 7
doesn't necessarily mean you'll see any great
performance benefits, although you might notice
a moderate improvement in some areas.
- If the current system is older, especially
if it was and old XP machine that was upgraded
to Vista, you may very well be in that boat
anchor territory again because of hardware and
driver issues that are already marginal.
- On the positive side, upgrading a current
Vista install to Windows 7 is just about as
simple as it comes. You still want to back up
all your important data and files in spite of
what you may read that it isn't necessary, but
unlike upgrading from XP, upgrading from Vista
does not require nuking the hard drive and
reinstalling all your applications.
|
| All of the other Vista
talking points aside, the greatest benefit of moving
from Vista to Windows 7 is that the lousy
networking, disk access speed issues, miserable
overall performance, lack of stability and a whole
host of other Vista problems will be gone from your
life and quickly forgotten. Really, it's like a
cloud being lifted and seeing sunshine for the first
time in months or years, depending on how long
you've been running Vista. |
| The Bottom Line |
| I started this off by
asking if Windows 7 was really necessary. Is it a
nice operating system? Absolutely. In fact, I think
it's very likely the best version of Windows that
Microsoft has ever put together. It has some
positively great features that have long been
missing in previous versions. Many of the irritants
that were part of XP and Vista have been addressed
and eliminated. On the flip side, I think some of
the long term (myself included) Windows users will
feel it has been 'dumbed' down in many areas, but
it's nothing that can't be overcome if you want that
last ounce of control over the system. |
| It's no secret that I
like XP and still use it regularly on about a third
of my systems. It's also no secret that I despised
Vista and kept it on one (and only one) system that
I use for testing purposes. I'm sure my dislike for
Vista stems from the miserable first impression I
had when it was first released, but those
impressions are hard to overcome. Sooner or later
you will be running Windows 7. When that day
arrives, and once the shock of the initial
changeover period has passed, I predict you'll be
pleased with Windows 7. |
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