Windows 7 forum: Poll: Windows 7 users, well, how is it?

In my experience, it's a nice enough upgrade to Vista, but nothing worth getting overly excited about.

I wish there were more control over the new taskbar, so I could have things like only Firefox WINDOWS show up, not each individual tab. Other than that, it adds a few moderately interesting ideas to the OS X Dock which was clearly the inspiration for it. And IMO, I don't care who comes up with it, a good idea's a good idea.

The improved bootup times are quite welcome, and memory management seems to be improved as well.

It doesn't seem to play nicely with the Dell 5310 printers used at work, but I rarely need to print anything so it's not a great hardship for me.

All in all, it's a nice refinement of Vista, but I would stop well short of proclaiming this as some masterful OS release. I still firmly believe that Microsoft has pretty much hit the technical limit of what they can do with the current Windows code base, and it's time to chuck the whole thing, or at least a very sizable chunk, and start fresh. Smaller, faster, incorporating all the lessons learned since the rise of the Internet age, as well as being more nimble and better able to take advantage of multi-core CPUs along with the increasing multimedia demands of end-users.

It's nothing to get excited about.

Once I figure out how to get it to look as much like XP as possible, I'm sure things will be fine.
I like to look like OSX. (grin)

I like eye candy, it is pretty! It loads fast, It eliminates some of the extra steps to whatever I try to do. Some are saying it is no faster, but it seems faster to me. I had some hassel getting my Canon ip4200 printer to work, Canon has drivers for Vista, got that, now I can print. My copy of MS WORD is 2001, so I am now running Open Office.
I have IE8, and Windows Live Mail, Avira and SuperAntiSpyware and WinPatrol. Also have all of windows security enabled.
BTW, I'm running 64-bit Home Premium.

I am debating as to whether or not I should install Windows 7 on my Dell laptop (M1530)... I have the Windows 7 software but have been reading a lot of Windows 7 blogs and am now getting cold feet (not to mention a cold sweat thinking about some of the nightmares folks have told of once they installed or attempted to install this upgrade). (On the flip side, there are others who absolutely love it!)

Is it really worth the hoopla? Someone please help me make up my mind. Thx for your input...

OnTheFence

I now have 3 computers running under Windows 7. So far ... so good. It sure cured the problem I was having with my PC just dying sometimes under Vista. For some reason, my PC would just stop after a few minutes, especially when I used my webcam under VISTA in Yahoo. I would have to physically disconnect the PC from the power source and reboot. It worked fine for awhile, but then after a few large Vista updates, it started acting weird. The webcam seems to work fine under Windows 7, and no more dead PC.

The major thing I found disconcerting (and surprising) about Windows 7 is that Microsoft did away with Windows Mail. That really upset me at first, but then I found out that they've replaced it with Windows LIVE Mail. I don't like it was well as Outlook Express nor Windows Mail because it functions somewhat differently, and some functions are on your computer and some on the internet. I'm still not sure if my mail is resident on my computer or on some remote Microsoft webserver. Supposedly, your old mail messages are transferred during the Windows 7 upgrade process, but some of mine went missing, so if you have essential mail saved on your computer, I suggest that you back it up some other way to be sure you get everything transferred saved and transferred properly. After I lost some on my first computer, I actually EXPORTED my mail messages on the second computer and imported them into another mail program. On the other hand, you will now have a calendaring function with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Another thing I found a bit disconcerting is when you move the cursor off a particular screen, it will disappear on you ... but return when you move it back. That gave me a heart attack a time or two at first, but I'm getting used to it now. Anyway, so far, I am fairly pleased with Windows 7. I hope that sentiment lasts.

Thanks for your enthusiasm & sharing your expertise with other members.

Cheers,
Tara

I am frustrated with Microsoft, who in their infinite wisdom only develop software for high-end systems. My computer is about 5 years old, and therefore cannot have things like Widows 7 or Vista on because the specs are too low. I would love to try Windows 7, but according to the requirements, it will not work on my system. I have maintained my friends Vista for a while and really don't think much of that one. Don't think he will upgrade though

like the other reply, you cant run it. but more importantly, you are not missing anything. vista was the worst OS ever, W7 is a friendlier version of vista. the reason computers keep getting faster/stronger/bigger is so they can run these over-sized operating systems that use tons of memory/power. if you have half a brain and don't go to sites that infect you or open spoof emails, you will likely not have a problem. keep your spy-ware and firewalls up to date. about the only reason you would need to get a new computer is if you buy some new software that needs tons of computing power. otherwise, the software you have been using should do just fine. W7 has capability to run older programs by imitating XP if the program cannot run on a high powered 64-bit OS. you are not missing anything unless you HAVE to upgrade for a particular reason.

Since I use a Mac with VM Ware Fusion loaded with XP and have little need for any Windows applications, I have decided to stick with XP. It works fine for me when I use it and can't justify either the bother or the expense of another system whose advantages are doubtful, at best. OS 10.6.2 has sorted out a few problems I've had with Snow Leopard, and am a happy bunny!

...and I say that as someone who clung on to windows XP thinking that it would be tough to improve on.

It has pretty good backwards compatibility though I think that many people have too great an expectation of this and I wonder how of the operating systems these days are cluttered up with routines to make them compatible with old equipment and old software. I have two bits of redundant kit - my agfa snapscan scanner (must be 8-10 years old I guess) and my logitech zoom webcam. agfa pulled out of the scanning market years ago and havent produced a driver beyond win 2000 and Logitech simply havent issued updated drivers for their old webcams (shame on them) - To me however these are not issues to blame microsoft for - they have to update their OS to take advantage of the latest technologies and the production of drivers is something.

I'm so glad I'll never use Microsoft products (in my computers anyway) since I bailed on W98 10 years ago - I've seen nothing but heartache and frustration with MS users since then, especially after paying $$$ for their problems!

Linux - free, open source, reliable, and for the regular computer user, no different to use than Windows whatever or Mac

My computers are old - worth no more than $50 each, but they are just as fast as any new ones, so why replace them? - it's all a commercial conspiracy to take money out of your pockets and put it in the hands of Microsoft.

I was using Windows Live Onecare and Windows 7 does not support it. However, Microsoft has come out with Microsoft Security Essentials which is free.

I regret loading Windows 7 as I use Adobe Elements 7 and 8 and can no longer at this stage as a professional photographer share my photos (COULD IN vISTA) as Windows 7 does not have Outlook Express AND THEREFORE aDOBE WILL NOT WORK.. Can ant tec computer guy help me with this as I am not a computer expert ... Adobe 8 or Windows 7 sucks..

In addition to my earlier post I would like to add that I have all HP hardware. My initial mistake was not to go to the HP site and see what they had for Windows 7. They have a complete procedure for upgrading from Vista that includes the BIOS upgrade. Since I did not consult HP prior to installation I now must take my system back to Vista, upgrade the BIOS and then reinstall Windows 7. I may not reinstall for a year or so. If then. My recommendation is that if you are on the fence and your current OS is working then the upgrade is just not worth the hassle and the expense. Wait until you make a new purchase or Google comes out with the Chrome OS if you really want something new.