My Time With Windows 7

Alright, so I finally managed to get this thing rolling. My first 'official' post discusses my experience, as well as a brief overview, regarding the new features of Windows 7. Spoiler warning: There are no spoilers.

My initial reaction to the release of Windows 7 wasn't a far cry from my reaction to Microsoft's previous attempt at a stable GUI OS, Vista (or Longhorn, or Mojave, or whatever they decided to call that prematurely released wreck). Look, I'll be blunt: Windows Vista was a mess. Sure, the graphical improvements were a plus. And certain aspects, such as the Networking and Sharing Center, were well-executed. But on the whole, Vista was little more than a tremendous failure. Release day bugs, a host of glitches and the much-lauded (and publicly ridiculed) User Account Control feature put Windows at the top of many critics bash lists.

I bought my laptop pre-loaded with Windows Vista last June (two weeks too early to qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7). Of course, I had my doubts and my preconceptions. And, surprise surprise, I was right. Vista, while not quite crashing and burning as I expected it to, ran fairly at best, poorly at worst. Some things were good, some things were bad, and some things were just plain awful. Even after a full system wipe, two service pack upgrades and a host of ticky-tack fixes that I researched and ran, I still couldn't get Vista to jive like I could with Microsoft's last system, Windows XP (which still remains popular with many IT administrators today).

The public absolutely ripped Microsoft for the perceived failure of Vista (as did the corporate giant's rival, Apple, which continued its series of "Hello, I'm A…" commercials through the release of Windows 7). Microsoft had just finished trying to salvage the wreckage of its latest release. So why should Microsoft's newest attempt be any better or any more successful? Shouldn't I hold on to the reservations I held about Vista?

In a word, no.

The release of Windows 7 sparked a wave of discussion in tech circles and across the internet. Most professionals that I talked to actually held high hopes for the OS. Sam Wangsness, a system pro and son of an IT professional (and bassist of my old band back in Murrieta- preeow), said that Windows 7 was one of the nicest operating systems he had ever seen.

"It takes the good of Vista, gets rid of the bad, and makes it nice and shiny," Wangsness told me when I asked his opinion of the new release.

With that kind of a ringing endorsement, I knew that I had to look deeper into 7. I spent several weeks studying the new features that 7 had to offer. Microsoft reported that the majority of its changes came from small, simple ideas that fixed minor problems. Hell, it did more than report. That's what Microsoft's whole campaign on 7 was! Everyone knew that there were a million things wrong with Vista. Nothing major, like a BSOD that became so predictable you could use it as a metronome, but enough minor annoyances to eventually add up to a serious pain in a particularly sensitive are of my anatomy. If the advertising campaigns held any significant amount of truth (HA!), then Microsoft might have finally hit a solid point.

I ordered Windows 7 Home Premium at a student discount price of $30. Free upgrade? Not quite, but for thirty dollars, I knew I was getting a steal (unfortunately, the promotion only lasted until January 3). The download site installed a download manager that gave me two options: download an executable file that ran straight from my desktop, or grab an ISO image that I could burn to a CD. I downloaded both to see how each would play out on my system.

The Windows 7 installation process is both varied and complex. Users running a previous version of Windows (Vista & XP, but 7 compatibility needs to be checked) are given two options: Upgrade and Custom Installation. The Upgrade feature installs the Windows 7 OS over the current system, leaving user files and programs in place. This option makes a lot of sense for the no-nonsense user who just wants the pretty new additions of a new OS without transferring data or changing a host of system settings. The Custom Install feature will install the new OS _over_ the current one, essentially creating a new operating system footprint on your hard disk. The option allows users to get a fresh start with their operating systems. All of the old data present in the previous verion of Windows are stored in a folder called Windows.Old on the C drive (how poetic).

Both of these options are available from the executable program (which would necessitate having a running version of Windows on your disk). The more adventurous user can burn an ISO image of the Windows 7 installation files onto a DVD and create their own Windows 7 installation disk. I would like to take a moment to point out that the creation of disks like this is _not_ pirating. Like most software suites, large-scale programs and operating systems, Windows 7 is _licensed_, not _sold_. Installing Windows (any version) on any computer is free and totally legal. Licensing those systems is a different story, but we won't go there.

The Windows 7 installation disk allows users to both upgrade and custom install 7 onto their disks. However, the installation disk also lets users format the partitions of the machine's hard disk, giving installers a true fresh start. Of course, formatting the partition before installation means that any upgrade related features would obviously be disabled (such as licensing using an upgrade code). The ISO also serves as a standard boot disk, giving users the option to repair their system and view the partition table of the computer drives.

I set my laptop to boot from the CD and ran a custom installation of Windows 7. The process took about an hour to complete, including several reboots and a few short questions (things like setting up a network connection, basic system settings, etc.). After many minutes of tedious progress bar-watching (a watched PB never fills?), Windows 7 booted from my hard disk and took me to the log in screen. The boot process itself seemed faster than Vista's, which earned points in my book. The boot logo was also slightly modified and given an Aero-esque texture.

After logging on to the system with my newly created account, Windows took me to a generic welcome screen and an overhauled desktop. The look of Windows 7 hadn't changed significantly from Vista. The Aero system scheme seemed to be running fine on my 64-bit architecture. Most of the visual changes in 7 are found in the taskbar and system tray.

Long gone are the days of long, rectangular windows buttons that display every open window. The taskbar has been heightened, and open windows are now displayed as square icons located on the bar. Open windows are covered in a semi-transparent box, and the active window on the screen is highlighted more opaquely. Previewing these windows has also been enhanced. Holding the mouse over any open icon generates a thumbnail preview above the icon. Hovering the mouse over that icon will create a full screen preview. By clicking on these icons, users can open and minimize windows. Open windows, programs and shortcuts can all be pinned to the task bar, similar to how Mac OS operates its shortcuts. The Start Pearl (which was changed from the Start Button in Vista) remains the same.

The system tray (the bottom right corner of the taskbar that has the clock and all those little icons) was the other visual aspect of Windows that got an overhaul. The system tray now holds icons for network status, volume control, battery power (on laptops) and the Action Center, Windows new one-stop shop for system solutions. Every other program icon is listed under an arrow next to the tray. This prevents users from being forced to view a myriad of tiny icons with no description in their system tray. At the far right side of the taskbar is the 'show desktop' button. Hovering over this button will cause all open windows to become transparent, allowing users to see a real-time snapshot of their desktop. Clicking this button minimizes all open windows.

Microsoft also included a new set of visual features in Windows 7. The Snap feature allows users to drag open windows to the edges of the screen and automatically resize the window. Dragging to the top of the screen fullsizes the window, while dragging to either side halfsizes the window. This lets users simultaneously view two screens, allowing for easy back-and-forth switching between two open projects.

These visual features make a world of difference in the Windows experience. Technological standards have shifted in the last decade; a merely operable GUI is no longer sufficient. Graphical interfaces need to have spark, light and depth. Motion, transitions and presentation are key in today's operating systems and software. Vista began to capture this idea, and Windows 7 furthers the concept, adding and improving on its predecessor.

In addition to visual additions and modifications, Microsoft introduced several new programs and functions in Windows 7. The Action Center displays a list of potential problems that Microsoft has identified with the system, such as not having an anti-virus program installed, or not turning on Windows Updates. This allows users to quickly view the status of the system. Gadgets, the quick little mini-programs introduced in Vista, were also given a retouch. Instead of residing in the sidebar, gadgets now float freely on your desktop, and can be locked so that they appear on top of every open window. Other feature quirks include a laundry list of good ideas that should have been implemented two releases ago: screen clipping, which allows you to take a picture of your screen as you see it and save it as a JPEG (useful in diagnostic situations involving the less-initiated), and a redesign of the control panel to make it less confusing. Windows 7 also includes a new feature called 'libraries' to help users organize personal files. Libraries aren't file locations themselves, but instead act as a sort of shortcut to other place on the drive where files are located. These changes, while small, add up to a huge improvement in the operability of Windows.

Microsoft also made changes to the OS under the hood. According to engineers, Windows 7 was designed to use less system resources than its predecessors, a claim that I found to be true. My operating system at idle used almost two-thirds of a gig of RAM less than compared to Vista, a significant decrease. This was achieved by decreasing the number of programs running in the background and consolidating those that do run. These programs are also less susceptible to crashing and stopping unexpectedly (and of course, we all know that only happens during something important- like that last budget meeting). There still are, however, a large number of SVCHOST.EXE processes running in the background- too many for my taste. But hey, there's always Windows 8.

Overall, the changes to Windows were minor, but noticeable. In essance, I almost like to think of Windows 7 as Windows Vista.5. Windows hit the nail on the head when they made a large number of little change that fixed irritating bugs, rather than rewrite the entire coding architecture. The response to Vista was negative because of the large number of small details that could have, in the public's eye, been easily fixed. Windows 7 accomplished just that.