Windows 7 Review

I have been trying out windows 7 on a machine for quite a while now and i thought of sharing my experience of windows 7 here . This is a very brief review of what i think about windows 7 :

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
I must say , i was very relieved to see the system requirements of windows 7 when it was out . The system requirements are much much better compared to windows vista . Windows 7 uses a lot less of hard disk space compared to windows vista even memory wise it doesnt use as much memory as windows vista . I ran this on a machine with 2gb RAM and i think it worked really smoothly compared to when i tried out windows vista with the same machine .

FIRST IMPRESSION
When i had the first look of windows 7 as soon as it booted up , i was pretty upset i must say . Most parts of the GUI of windows 7 is pretty much similar to windows vista . THe buttons , menu options etc are all the same compared to vista . There is no drastic change like from windows xp to windows vista or windows 2000 to windows xp . I liked the windows vista look , i think it was really nice but i didnt like the operating system on the whole . The reason i didnt like windows 7 at boot up was because of the task bar . That totally disappointed me .

I couldnt make out the difference between the Quick launch icons and the windows opened in the task bar . They both occupy the same size in the taskbar , it is so difficult to make out the difference . Hence it becomes really difficult for a person working with multiple windows . Here's a screenshot to show you what i mean


So overall , the FIRST LOOKS were not as expected unfortunately :(

FEATURES
A lot of new improvements in windows 7 . I like a lot of the small little things that microsoft has added on to windows 7 .
1)One such thing is the Aero Shake . I think aero shake simply rocks!!I mean its fabulous idea something that i think is very useful for people who have A LOT of windows open at a time , its really nice to be able to shake all the other windows off :) . I hope to see a similar feature in ubuntu soon !! .
2)I also like the networking capabilites of windows 7 , it has some really nice ways of helping people to setup networks . They have wizards like the network setup wizard and homegroups, easy file sharing etc . THats one thing why windows rules , SIMPLICITY . It's very easy for a newbie to setup his network and share files and folders by himself unlike in ubuntu where it would sometimes require external help like setting up samba,NFS etc .

3)Windows 7 also has great troubleshoot softwares inbuilt . Incase you have no internet access windows 7 is able to automatically recognize that as it doesnt show the INTERNET symbol in the notification area . Also you get options to "Automatically Repair or Troubleshoot" your connection . I think this again is very helpful for newbies who have no idea as to why they have internet troubles . Again , something missing in ubuntu..

4)Another BIG IMPROVEMENT i found in windows 7 is that there is less of the UAC panic :) . I think one of the major reasons why windows vista was hated was because of UAC . I guess minimizing UAC In windows 7 is great news.
5)Also no more AUTORUN is allowed in windows 7 which i think WILL PLAY A MAJOR ROLE in reducing the amount of viruses and spywares which spread . A lot of viruses which spread through pen drives and CD/DVD's are triggered primarily by auto running itself when the pen drive or disk is inserted . WIndows 7 has disabled autorun by DEFAULT something which it hasnt done ever before which i think is a great move!!
6)Also stuff like READY BOOST which was already present earlier is again a fantastic feature and can get very useful.


7)A new option provided in windows 7 which i havent seen before is Automatic Backup of your system on ANY removeable drive . This suggestion comes as soon as you plug in your removeable drive . Again a nice way to remind users on how important BACKING UP a system is . I realized i could do a backup of this system only when i got that alert as i had a lot of free space on that drive but it didnt strike me that i could use it for backup.
8)Also Internet Explorer 8 , the new version of IE which is incorporated by default in windows 7 is a really cool browser i feel . It has some really nice new features which has been pending i must say in IE as it needed to catch up with the increasingly popular firefox , opera ,chrome etc..Things like privacy browsing , filtering , site suggestions etc are really nice things to have

9)One more improvement which i was wanting to see in windows is the media player . THe latest windows player has done 1 thing which i always wanted . SIMPLICITY . YOu will notice what i mean when you try opening a video file , windows media player eliminates its other menu bars and other options like in earlier versions and just plays the video file with the basic CONTROL OPTIONS like play,pause etc . This is something that i was hoping from windows 7 because whenever i want to open a video file , all i expect is the basic control options and not menu options like library,media,burn a cd, rip a cd etc , loading all of this when just playing a video file is just a waste of resources and i think microsoft has realized that and made windows media player a lot more simpler and also providing these features by choosing to view these menu options . This i like a lot!! :)

10)Another nice thing i observed with windows 7 is its ease to install software . I mean no more pop ups like "run in compatibility mode " or " your software might not have installed correctly" or "use windows xp environment to install" etc etc . Softwares were installed with no issues at all , again something that i was hoping!!These softwares ran very smoothly and with no compatibility problems at all!!
11)Another new invention found INBUILT windows is the ability to change the desktop wallpaper automatically , i think thats a really nice thing to have. There were softwares which did this earlier , but having it inbuilt i think is fantastic.That reminds me Windows DreamScene which came with Vista was fabulous , awesome idea!!


12)Also another useful feature was the "Aero Peek" , aero has been popular for a lot of things , i really like the aero theme personally speaking. The aero peek allows you to view the open windows in a small thumbnail as well as it would show you the preview on the full desktop . I may not be explaining it well , but do check the screenshot below.


There are a lot more things i liked about windows 7 , these were just a few main things i observed!!

THINGS I DIDNT LIKE
Well , those were things i liked , but ofcourse no operating system is perfect , so here are a few things which i didnt like about windows 7
1)Firstly as mentioned earlier , i HATE the taskbar , i mean that could be THE thing for me not to use the OS , as ANY person who has to deal with a LOT of open windows can find it VERY difficult to handle these windows in the taskbar as they merge or look like QUICK LAUNCH icons, so very tough to differentiate!
2)Secondly , The look . I mean i was expecting microsoft to be more creative this time . They have shown it in windows xp , they have shown it in windows vista but nothing much in windows 7 . Its so much like windows vista . I mean when you release an OS once in a few years you will want to expect a FRESH Look , a totally different look which unfortunately i didnt find at all!!
3)No antvirus inbuilt . Microsoft did a GOOD JOB by including windows defender to scan for spyware in windows vista but did they forget about viruses ??? Microsoft for sure knows that windows is the MOST AFFECTED operating system with a majority of windows users being affected by viruses and i'm sure that a LOT of these infected windows machines is caused because of no antivirus software installed . So i think microsoft should have taken an initiative by including an antivirus software inbuilt of windows 7 . I believe they are going to start a new antivirus software soon ( CLICK HERE ) but they should include it in windows 7 or atleast team up with freeware like AVG etc to get that installed by default.
4)This comes as a shocker to me as well , windows vista was able to successfully detect my HP network printer and was able to even provide drivers for it . For some reason windows 7 no longer has drivers for the same printer and i remember looking at the HP printers drivers list for windows vista . I must say that windows 7 has removed support for a LOT of HP printers and i have no idea why!! I am sure this is the case for other printer brands as well .
5)Windows 7 also failed to recognize my smartphone , it was instantly recognized in windows vista and xp , that again was very disappointing!!

FINAL WORDS
Well finally , all i have to say is that windows 7 is A LOT BETTER than windows vista and i'm glad its being released . It has improved a lot and im hoping to see a lot more neat stuff in the final version . I also hope they dont make the same blunder like last time with the PRICES . I really hope its REASONABLE. Feature wise , i think they have done a really good job . Even stability wise , i am very happy . Only thing is the GUI , i really expected from from that part especially the taskbar( please do something!! ) . Networking capabilites , troubleshooting softwares etc were great!!Typical windows - SIMPLE AND EASY TO USE.
So ,all in all , so far a really good operating system , even if you HATED vista , you could still give this a try , i'm sure you will be a lot more pleased than earlier :) .