This Christmas, I gave my parents a special present: Windows 7. I know what you’re thinking… I must have eaten a bowl of crazy for breakfast that morning. Trust me, I’m practically falling over the irony. However, the fact is that since I switched over to Mac, I had to do something with my old rig. My parents were using an old Sempron PC I built for them donkeys years ago… they also have little interest in learning to use a Mac.
All wrapped up
They’ve been running it now for about a week. This is the first time I’ve experienced Windows 7 properly, and I have to say I was very sceptical… regardless of how much the press hailed it. However… it’s not all that bad.
I’ve had worse.
The first thing that struck me was how the operating system will run on slower, older PCs than Vista will. They’ve taken into consideration the PCs that it will be running on (possibly for the first time in history) and it’s really quite good. For once you can upgrade to a new operating system and actually find it works better and faster than the old one. Some people have even tried running it on a Pentium III!
My Windows 7 Desktop
I’ve noticed that it feels slightly smoother than Vista does. This is something that I like to hail Macs for. It’s not something you really notice unless you use the computer for a long period of time… but things just feel right, like they’re as they should be somehow. It’s not necessarily about speed or workflow, but more to do with things happening as you expect them to. I think Windows 7 is better at this because the development was supposed to be very focused upon the user; a very Apple-like approach interestingly. Definitely something that Windows needed.
There’s also a slight inclination towards a more minimalist operating system. They’ve actually taken some of the features (or ‘clutter’ as I like to call it) out. For instance, things like Windows Mail and Calendar have been removed, and are available to download off the Microsoft website. It’s only a start but I think this shows Microsoft may begin to simplify the operating system, rather than continuing to shove unnecessary features into it. As I was completely free from Windows Mail, I decided to put Thunderbird on as the email client. Funnily enough, I’ve had more trouble with getting Thunderbird to work than Windows itself!
But it is still Windows after all.
Unfortunately, we can’t forget that this wonderful new OS is actually Windows; and as such still has manifestations from all the years of damage and neglect… wrought upon it like a spoilt toddler with it’s least-favourite doll. The underlying system still remains a fairly unchanged tangle, and the OS is still subject to many of the same issues that will land it in the not-so-capable hands of PC World’s “Tech Guys”. One example of Windows’ refusal to progress is it’s continued lack of effective security. I have a firm belief that any operating system should provide reasonable security that is relative to the size of the threat. There is a great threat to Windows systems from viruses, and yet the built-in security pales before it. No operating system should require the user to buy a third-party package to protect it. It’s just wrong.
The public's response to Vista
Naturally, it’s not as good as Mac OS X (like I’d ever say it was) because the underlying system still has the same old problems. I still believe that Mac’s greatness comes from it’s solid UNIX foundations, and that’s what Windows has always been without. Having said that, I really do think Windows 7 is a big step in the right direction. They refined the things they already had, rather than sticking loads of unstable features in it, and taking the user into consideration for once didn’t hurt either. All in all, it’s better than Vista. Usually I’d stay away from new releases of Windows (or run in the opposite direction and never look back), but this version isn’t another one of Microsoft’s dodgy experiments. It really is better than Vista and XP, and personally i’d say it’s worth upgrading.
…although I have no desire whatsoever to abandon my Mac of course. 
Photo by oddsock
