Windows 7: Top Ten Reasons You Want It!

By the end of this year, Microsoft will have gone and done it again: they are releasing the another new operating system (OS), called WINDOWS 7. Everybody knows Bill Gates needs the money, but after the controversial release of Windows Vista in 2007, many of my customers are a little skeptical about going to Windows 7. Here is my top ten list of why you want Windows 7:

10-Windows 7 will not have the same “problems” Vista had.

Yes we all know during the first 6 months there were some problems. Legacy (a.k.a. OLD) software and hardware had some trouble running on Vista. There were greater hardware requirements so it was difficult to load Vista on older PCs. And let’s not forget the usual mantra chanted by PC users, pros and newbies alike: Have they got the bugs worked out yet?–a question it seems like people ask out of habit whether legitimate problems are experienced or just phantoms. While I address the business side of Windows 7 in Reason #9, for the vast majority of my Computer Doctor home office and residential customers, (including myself) have had nowhere NEAR the amount of problems “reported”.

9–Windows 7 is ready for business.

A big concern businesses have when Microsoft upgrades their OS is their legacy, proprietary, boutique or just plain old software may not run properly (or at all!) Caution is acceptable, even though us IT guys are told to set up a test environment and practice running the applications on the new OS, not everyone has the time to do that. So what do these businesses do? They just skip the OS upgrade like thousands of businesses did with skipping Windows Vista, especially since HP and Dell made it painless to stay with XP using the XP downgrade option.

This time Windows 7 is ready for legacy applications with the XP OS simulator option that uses Virtual PC technology to allow you to run an application that worked on XP to run on a new Windows 7 PC. Similar to the “compatibility mode” option that came out originally in XP but totally better.

8–Windows 7 will not have the same “problems” Vista had…continued

The dirty little secret about Windows 7 is that is an IMPROVED version of Windows Vista. It uses a similar user interface (UI) so it looks the same, is built on the same kernel /software code so it runs the same, and uses the same 70,000+ hardware drivers that were developed for Vista, so printers and cameras and other devices run the same as on Vista.

Some industry experts jokingly refer to Windows 7 as Windows Vista, Service Pack 3, a product that has actually worked very well, but got hammered by Apple in those hilarious “I’m a Mac and I’m a PC” commercials. Still frustrates me that a $14B company cannot mount a better ad campaign that countered those commercials–anyone remember the Bill Gates, Jerry Seinfeld spots? Ugh.

7–Windows 7 is faster.

Vista was quite a resource hog so Microsoft has actually been able to lower the minimum hardware requirements (1GB RAM. 1 GHz CPU) AND make the new OS start up and run faster without sacrificing any features. In my tests with the Windows 7 release candidate there is no doubt it IS faster.

6–Windows 7 is safer and more secure.

Another big success story that has been overlooked about Vista is the huge security improvements made that Windows 7 builds on. User account control (that little annoying box I call the “Are you sure you want to do that?”) gives users the chance to stop a malicious virus or trojan from drive by downloading onto their machine. The obvious success of this feature is evidenced by the fact the here at Computer Doctor we spend very little time having to remove viruses on Vista PCs.

5-Windows 7 has better backup software.

What good is any OS if your PC crashes? Well with Windows 7, the Backup and Restore Center makes backing up your critical files easier than ever. And now the option to do a complete PC backup image that includes not only your data files but your programs and OS makes Windows 7 really shine compared to that creaky old NTBackup that came with XP.

4-Windows 7 protects your files better.

Ever heard of “shadow copies” or “previous versions”? Unless you are a network administrator, probably not. But this cool feature has saved the data of dozens of my small business customers with the ability to “roll back” a document that has been mistakenly edited or even deleted to its previous version. What a relief that this feature became available in Vista for my home office and residential customers!

3–Windows 7 has improved networking for home users.

With HomeGroup, Windows 7 builds on Vista’s improvements for peer to peer (home) network file and print sharing making it much easier to share devices, documents, music and pictures.

2–Windows 7 looks cooler.

The Aero user interface with Aero Flip and the improved taskbar, the transparent overlays and better desktop shortcut features, along with new touch screen capabilities called Windows Touch, make this new and improved, better looking Windows actually not only look better, but make it easier and more fun to use.

And the number one reason you want Windows 7……..

1–Windows 7 will come preinstalled on your new PC.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! Dell and HP may still be able to offer XP to business customers for a little while longer but expect Microsoft to turn up the heat and “discourage” them. So fear not and dive on in to the newest and possibly greatest Windows OS I have seen so far.