I'll admit, I've been running Windows 7 for six months now: the preproduction version of it and have just upgraded to the gold code. So I have quite a bit of experience with the operating system. Let's get to the nitty gritty:

Should you upgrade from Windows Vista? YES! I mean it - upgrade today.
Windows 7 is quite simply faster, more stable, boots faster, goes to sleep faster, comes back from sleep faster, manages your files better and on top of that it's beautiful to look at and easy to use. Even the preproduction version of Windows 7 was better than my Vista with SP2.

Should you upgrade from Windows XP? Maybe, but for different reasons.
XP is a good operating system and if you don't need to add new hardware or software, XP is good. However, XP is old as an operating system. Also chances are that if you're running XP, you might not meet the minimum requirements for Windows 7 - check the compatibility site at Microsoft to see if your system will support Windows 7. That said, Windows 7 is light years ahead of Windows XP in terms of functionality, ease of use, etc - to me it's worth buying a new system.

64 bit or 32 bit?
If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's ok skip this section. If you have a core2 duo or core 2 quad or a multi cpu machine, go with the 64 bit OS, it handles memory and the CPUs much better. If you have a single core CPU, one CPU or run special programs that require 32bit, then stick with 32 bit for now.

BEFORE INSTALLATION:
I recommend you have:
-a core 2 duo or core 2 quad machine
-4gig of RAM (That's about $50 in today's market)
-good hard drive with (200 gig - it doesn't need that much but that's another $50)
-back up your files to a USB drive like Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDME5000TN (Midnight Black)
-check to make sure your computer is compatible with Windows 7

INSTALLATION:
Installation was very straight forward. You put in the CD and reboot your machine. You might have to enter your bios and enable the "boot from CD" option. Once the machine reboots a nice screen comes up to guide you through the installation. You have the option to upgrade your PC or do a clean installation. I did an upgrade and it brought in all of my files and settings from my windows Vista system. It worked great.
The upgrade did take about 2 hours for me so definitely consider.
I noticed that early on in the installation the operating system went out to Microsoft's site to look for the latest and greatest updates, so I think this should help Microsoft respond quickly to any hiccups with compatibility.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK:
The driver from my old HP Inkjet printer for 2001 doesn't work on Windows 7 so there are some things that will not transition. I had to use a generic HP driver which doesn't give me the quality that I got from an injet - so overall, I'm up and running with that printer but I'm degraded on the inkjet front. That said, I recently upgraded to a HP CP2025DN Color LaserJet Printer that I love so no real loss there. I'll likely pick up a cheap inkjet for the occasional photo that I might need to print. Everything else upgraded.

BENEFITS
-faster boot time
-faster go to sleep
-faster wakeup
-faster about 20% to 30% faster at running applications than my Vista - seriously (but those are my results without any benchmarks or anything like that, just seeing how fast Adobe Illustrator loads, and how fast all the applications respond)
-joining wireless networks is much easier
-the interface is just plain beautiful
-my wallpapers are now a slideshow that can be set to change every few minutes (I'm not stuck with the same picture)
-Gadgets - these are wonderful little small applications that you can drag onto your desktop. I have a weather gadget and a calendar gadget on my desktop that tell me
-Better taskbar management - hovering over the taskbar icons shows me mini windows of what's running
-Better file management - I can organize my files into Libraries that are sortable not only by type but by folder or other data. It's great! I can browse through my presentations or illustrator files!
-Windows Media appears to be smoother which I love.
-You get some virus protection and firewall with Windows 7 but consider something more comprehensive like McAfee Total Protection 3User 2010. Yes, it'll make your computer run a bit slower but

CONS:
- Some older programs might not work and some drivers might not be available like my inkjet driver.
- Other than that, there aren't too many drawbacks to Windows 7 - it's a great OS.

WHICH VERSION SHOULD I GET?
I got the ultimate version because I have clients who ask, "is your hard drive encrypted?" -- I wanted to be able to say yes and have sensitive data encrypted one of my computer volumes - Bitlocker is only available in the Ultimate version. Ultimate also includes Multilanguage support.

If you're a home user that doesn't do a lot of networking, you might consider just the home premium edition. If you're using a laptop and connect to networks at work, you might want the Professional version of the operating system to help you with domain joining. Also Windows Professional gives you the option to run applications in XP mode so if you have old applications you can use that nifty feature. I already have 1 application running in XP mode - it's nifty to run an old application.

NOTE:
The box contains both the 32 bit and 64 bit OS.

OVERALL:
It's very hard to write a comprehensive review on an entire operating system so I didn't even try - I'm sure magazines will devote entire articles to the operating system and several books will come out. My goal here is just to give everyone a glimpse of what I've found to date with this new OS. I do hope this has helped you in making a decision.

Hats off to Microsoft on Windows 7. It's more of a refined Windows Vista than an entirely new operating system but it was needed. Thank you.

Windows 7 Home Premium is the best version to choose for older machines and/or simpler networks. The "Backup" offered in 7 Pro can be done easily with free tools, and unless you need complex networking, 7 has what it takes to manage a home network. Last, the 'XP Mode' promised in 7 Pro and above will only work on hardware new enough to support "Virtualization Technology" (stop by Microsoft's website to learn more). This isn't the same as "XP Compatibility Mode", which you will still have for all versions of Windows 7 (there's a great video explanation of this on CNET's website in their Windows 7 Center at CNET TV).

Some very important things you need to know about upgrading:

1) There are two types of upgrade: "in-place" (where a Vista machine upgrades to 7 and you get to keep all your programs) and "clean" (where you lose all your old programs and settings).
2) Anyone going from XP to 7 will have to go "clean".
3) Anyone going from a different Vista to 7 (for example, Vista Home to 7 Pro, or Vista Ultimate to 7 Home) will also have to go "clean".

If you have to do 2) or 3), all is not lost--I'll explain in a moment.

Before you even buy 7 for your machine, stop by Microsoft's website for two things:

a) download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. Run it with every device connected to the machine that you'll ever want to use in 7. It'll thoroughly examine your machine for any roadblocks and give you good advice about upgrading.
b) Go to the Windows 7 Compatibility Center and double-check anything that came up negative in the Upgrade Advisor (or didn't show up at all). This site lists detailed compatibility info on a LOT of different devices.

Anything major, like a video card or sound card driver, I'd recommend double-checking with the manufacturer's website to be sure. This almost burned me on two of the machines that I upgraded.

Last, make a backup. There's a free tool called Macrium Reflect that can do this for you.

Do you have to do a "clean" install, but just want to carry over your user accounts and settings? Microsoft makes a program called Windows Easy Transfer that's already in Vista (and can be downloaded from Microsoft for XP) that will export your accounts and settings and let you import them back again. It's very easy to use and does a good job of putting your accounts back together again, even going from XP to 7.

Do you have to do the "clean" install, and you don't want to reinstall all your programs? Laplink has an offer for $19.95 that will let you use a special version of their program "PC Mover" to upgrade one machine one time. Read the documentation in detail.

The most important thing to doing a "clean" install is that in the Upgrade setup you choose "Custom". Windows will take all of your major files and place them in a folder called "Windows.old". PC Mover and the Easy Transfer program will use this folder to reconstruct your system from, so this is VERY important.

I wish I had more space to go into detail here...bottom line is, if you plan ahead a bit, upgrading to 7 will go very easily (and if it doesn't, you'll have something to fall back on).

I have now installed this on 3 Vista computers, and I must say that the result is underwhelming. By now, we can expect computer journalists to hype any Windows release; and to certain extent they are right - 7 does work better, but not that much better or differently from Vista if you have installed all updates and security releases from Microsoft. I had to uninstall anti-virus and selected other programs, some of which did not have listings in the "Programs and Features" Control Panel section. All of my upgrades took 2 to 3 hours; journalists claiming 45 minute upgrade times must not have had many programs installed on their computers. Once programs identified as potential problems had been removed, the upgrades completed uneventfully; and it works OK once installed.

Value-wise, I think that the single computer upgrade is a loser for Vista users at current price levels. If you have two or more computers, the Home Premium 3-computer "family" upgrade is borderline. I will pass judgement on XP once I upgrade my one remaining XP computer. Honestly, this is what should have been the Vista release; so we have paid top dollar for Vista, then close to top dollar for an incremental upgrade. Meanwhile, Apple is charging $29 for the OS X Snow Leopard upgrade ($49 for 5 computers!). That's probably the right price for this Win 7 upgrade. If users ignore the hype and wait a bit, I suspect that the price for single computer upgrades may drop like a rock.

Here comes Windows 7, nearly three years after Windows Vista and eight years after Windows XP. By most accounts, Windows 7 is what Vista should have been. Do we finally have a worthy successor to XP?

** CLEAN UPGRADE UPDATE BELOW 10/29/09 **

PRO's:
- Fast startup and performance
- Stable
- Nice aesthetic and functional changes to the desktop
- Improved networking, power management & security
- 32-bit & 64-bit versions included
- Windows Media Center
- Windows XP Mode (Professional & Ultimate only)

CON's:
- User Account Control still annoying
- Upgrade can be challenging
- Expensive

** CLEAN UPGRADE UPDATE 10/29/09 **
It seems that a lot of upgraders have been complaining about the upgrade process, especially from XP. Most of us expected to be able to format our hard disks and be prompted for either the XP disc or product key. Alas, this is not the case. The upgrade is much more complicated than it should be and some workarounds have been discovered

Method A (simplest)
If you already have an older version of Windows on the hard drive, finish the Custom Install, without entering the product key. After installation, go to your System Properties and click the link to activate Windows. Enter your product key and it should activate. This has worked for me twice.

Method B (hardest)
If Method A doesn't work, try the registry hack.
1. Finish the custom install without entering the product key then click Start and type regedit.exe into the "Search programs and files" box.
2. In the registry, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/. In the pane on the right, you'll see an entry for MediaBootInstall. Double-click on it and change the value from "1" to "0" and click OK.
3. Close regedit and go to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories then right-click on Command Prompt and select "Run as administrator." You'll get a UAC alert, click Yes.
4. At the command prompt, type: slmgr /rearm and hit Enter. Reboot.
5. Now try to activate. If it fails, make sure there are no pending Windows Updates to install. If there is, install them, reboot and start over from Step 4.

Method C (most time consuming)
Perform the Custom Install and skip the product key. Once completed, run the upgrade again from within Windows 7 but this time, enter the Windows 7 upgrade key and then activate Windows.
** END UPDATE **


I had been running the Windows 7 release candidate for 3 months and the full version 2 weeks before official release date. The experience convinced me to finally upgrade my Windows XP systems to 7. This review briefly touches upon some of the key features and enhancements of Microsoft's latest OS.

PERFORMANCE & STABILITY
One of the welcome enhancements Microsoft made was start-up time. The shutdown time has been improved as well. Also, in my non-benchmarked experience, Windows 7 has been at least as fast as XP if not faster. The kernel changes and ability to run the 64-bit version probably has a lot to do with that. Most benchmarks from around the Internet seem to support my observations.

64-BIT
I am elated to finally upgrade to a 64-bit operating system in order to take advantage of more memory support and modern processors. I have Intel Core 2 Duo processors in both my systems with 4GB of physical RAM but XP only allowed 3.25GB for system use.

DESKTOP
At first login, you'll notice the changes to the taskbar. The taskbar is no longer just a place to store quick launch icons and view open windows. It now provides functionality in the form of Jump Lists, which allow you to select your most frequently opened files or links from the apps you have "pinned" on the taskbar. The clock and calendar are improved and the Show Desktop icon is now integrated in the far right corner. Other desktop enhancements include Aero Peek, Aero Shake, Snap, new themes and wallpapers. You also get gadget support. All of these features combine to create a much improved and enjoyable desktop experience.

LIBRARIES
Windows 7 introduces a new feature called libraries. Previously, your system had shortcuts to My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, etc. which had files residing in only those specific folders. Files can now reside anywhere on your system and be organized inside libraries. It's similar to how many music and photo applications organize files.

NETWORKING
Even as good as XP was, networking was cumbersome. Windows 7 makes connecting two or more Windows 7 systems together easy, using HomeGroup. This enables easy sharing of files and devices. One downside is that HomeGroup is only supported between Windows 7 systems. File transfer performance between computers has been vastly improved and connecting to a wireless network has never been easier on a Windows machine.

SECURITY
Security in Windows 7 is good and comes with Windows Firewall and Defender. Still, you'll probably want to invest in a more comprehensive Internet security suite, like Norton. User Account Control (UAC) has been tweaked in order to give user accounts more flexibility in controlling their own security as well as providing more detailed information so the user can make better decisions about whether to allow certain actions. Coming from XP however, it is still annoying. Also, in Windows 7 Ultimate, you can encrypt entire hard drives as well as external portable storage devices, like USB thumb drives. Though this is a welcome integrated feature, much of the functionality can be found in a popular open-source program called TrueCrypt.

POWER MANAGEMENT
Power management has been improved overall and you should be able to squeeze more battery life out of your laptop, even when using your DVD drive. Sleep and resume has also been improved. XP wasn't always consistent when entering or resuming from sleep mode, but Windows 7 has been perfect.

WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER
I've only briefly played around with WMC but it looks promising. It has some fun options for media, especially when you're connected to the Internet. It may even be an adequate replacement for component DVR's should you choose to use it as the centerpiece to your entertainment center. The biggest advantage for me is that Windows 7 now includes a DVD decoder. This means that I can now watch DVD's natively. WMC is available in all Windows 7 editions except Starter.

WINDOWS XP MODE
For applications that ran in XP, but won't on 7, there is now XP Mode. It isn't perfect and your system has to have virtualization support and turned on. Go to your system BIOS to check. If supported, then install Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode. Check your hardware if you intend to use XP Mode. XP Mode is available in Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate editions.

RECOMMENDATION
If you're an XP holdout, like I was, I recommend upgrading. Vista SP2 users may have less reason to upgrade but might want to just for the changes to the taskbar and the UAC improvements. For users who don't need to use their computers in a corporate environment, then Windows 7 Home Premium edition is a good choice. If you decide on Windows 7 Home Premium and need to upgrade more than one PC, I recommend Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Family Pack, which is an excellent deal. I'm guessing most power users will choose Professional. I suggest a clean install for best results. If you're a Mac OS X user, there is probably nothing in Windows 7 compelling enough for you to consider switching.

SUMMARY
Windows 7 is the premium Microsoft OS that Windows users have been waiting for. It's fast, secure, stable, visually appealing and fun to use. Windows 7 will make your old system feel fresh and new again. New system owners with Windows 7 pre-loaded can feel confident that they're getting the best Windows OS ever produced.

I have been using Windows 7 Ultimate for a few weeks now. I have also used Windows 7 Premium. All in all, I think Microsoft did a really good job.

Here's what I like about Windows 7:

- Driver Support: I didn't have to hunt for one driver. Win7 recognized everything including my TV tuner card and front panel A/V ports.
- New Task Bar: Easy access to apps... but did MS rip off Apple's dock? ;-)
- Jump Lists: You are only a right-click away from accessing recent documents, folders , web sites, and even recent remote computers.
- Snap: A quick way to resize windows. I can quickly make 2 windows take up my entire 24" screen.
- Home Group: File sharing that's easy for anyone to use.
- New Windows Explorer and Libraries: You basically have quicker access to the "major" types of files on your computer (i.e. documents, music, photos, etc.). It's a simple change but a welcomed one. Plus you can create your own Libraries. (I added libraries for "E-Books" and "Software Installs")
- Seems to use less memory than Vista.

What I don't like:

- Expensive: If you have an XP or Vista system that is running fine, I don't see a compelling reason to shell out $[...] yet. If Win7 turns out to be more secure, this alone would justify the upgrade.
- The Backup application isn't flexible at all. I'd prefer to be able to select which files to backup and when, instead of "all files at one time".
- I don't know if it ships with Internet Explorer 8, or if I installed it via Windows Update. I just know that I have compatibility issues with it. Stick with 7.

Other things that I have not figured out yet that another Amazon user might tell me via comments: :-)

- When you click an application on the taskbar that has multiple windows open, the windows pop up, giving you a chance to pick which one you want to go to. I'd prefer to go back to the last window opened. This 2 step process irks me.
- I'm able to easily re-locate folders that reside in the "c:\user\my-user-name\" folder to another disk (right-click > properties > location). I don't see how to move the actual "c:\users\" folder itself.
- I couldn't shrink the C: drive to anywhere close to the available space, even after multiple defrags. I might have to start over from scratch to set up my partitions the way I want.

Should you Upgrade!?!?!?!?

As I stated above, if you have a system that runs XP and Vista fine, I don't see a compelling reason to pay $[...] to upgrade to Windows 7. You should just wait until you buy a new computer that comes with Windows 7. If you want to see the differences between Win7, XP, and Vista, check this out:
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/software/microsoft/WindowsVsWindowsLarge.jpg

If you can upgrade to Windows 7 for free (or really cheap), I think you should upgrade. Unless you have a specific requirement to run XP (or less likely, you need to run Vista), Windows 7 is the way to go. At the least, it's going to perform better than Vista, and it will be compatible with future software. XP and Vista eventually are going to die.

Should you pick Windows 7 or Vista?!?!?!?

Vista will die eventually so there's no reason to pick Vista over Windows 7.

Which Edition of Windows 7 should you get?

Most users will be fine with Premium:
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Home-Premium-Upgrade/dp/B002DHLUWK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=software
If you need to upgrade multiple machines, consider the CHEAP family pack:
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Premium-Upgrade-Family/dp/B002MV2MG0/ref=amb_link_85673411_11?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Windows 7 Clean Install vs Upgrade?!?!

I always vote for a clean Install. I know re-installing all of your programs is a hassle. I just think it's better to rid yourself of orphaned files, orphaned registry entries, unused programs and updates, etc. You might even get rid of spyware that you didn't even know you had!!! Before doing a clean install, just make sure that:

- You have all the serial numbers for your apps.
- You have Windows 7 compatible drivers for all of your devices and internal cards.
- You back up all of your data to another drive before performing the install.

Hope this helps.

At first, I was hesitant to try Windows 7 because of the criticism I've seen and heard about Windows Vista. Both of my computers still had Windows XP SP3 on them, but I decided to risk the upgrade to try something new.

You don't need anything fancy-- single-core computers with just 1-2GB of RAM will do just fine for 7. My computers are both lower-end computers, but I was surprised at how well they performed on Windows 7. For comparison, they are:

Dell Dimension B110 desktop computer (2005)
2.53 GHz Intel Celeron processor
2GB RAM after RAM upgrade
1.0 on the Windows Experience Index

ASUS Eee PC 900A netbook (2009)
1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor
2GB RAM after RAM upgrade
2.2 on the Windows Experience Index

The Windows 7 upgrade will not let you directly install 7 on top of XP. I had to backup my files on another drive, and then do a clean install with the DVD, which deletes everything on the drive I was using. However, installing Windows 7 was a simple process that took less than 30 minutes for each computer. After rebooting the computer just once, it was ready to use!

Drivers were a minor issue for both computers. Windows 7 already has plenty of drivers to cover most computer parts. One of the drivers on each computer was not covered, but I was able to automatically choose and install the missing drivers from Windows Update. However, there was one exception-- there were no Windows Vista or Windows 7 drivers available for my HP Officejet v40 printer. This meant that I couldn't access the advanced options through the computer, though I can use them through the printer itself. The included generic printer driver was able to print through the Officejet with no problems.

After the display was corrected, the first thing I noticed was the very eye-appealing interface. The Eee PC could run Windows Aero with the transparent glass borders, but the Dell Dimension could not. Nevertheless, the Dell Dimension's blue-gray theme is a refreshing change from Windows XP. Also, the new taskbar at the bottom has been much improved. It's a little wider, which means that I can see both the date and time in the clock at once. Also, there is no text-- only icons, which makes for a more organized look. Besides the windows, the desktop backgrounds have a slideshow option that changes the background every once in a while. The backgrounds bundled with Windows 7 are stunning, including beautiful scenery of buildings and nature, and also a slideshow of famous places from any country. I chose the landscape slideshow for both computers.

I enjoyed the new convenience features in Windows 7. There is a button at the end of the taskbar which minimizes all windows with one click, and brings all of the windows back with a second click. Also, I liked the ability to make a window expand to half of the screen by dragging it either side of the screen. I found this helpful when I needed to do two things at once, such as typing in Word and browsing online. Gadgets, little desktop displays from Windows Vista, also appear in Windows 7. I opted to place the weather gadget on the Dell Dimension to show me the weather in my location whenever I see the desktop.

Windows Explorer has received a facelift, and the left bar is categorized into favorites, libraries, computer, and network. Favorites allows me to access my download folder and recent places I visited on my computer in one click. I can also quickly open my documents, music, pictures, and videos in one click through the libraries. Also, there is now a search function on the upper right of Windows Explorer, which works very quickly to find files on my computer. The same search function is also right on the start menu-- after I start typing, the start menu automatically starts searching and displaying the results in a few seconds.

Speed was not an issue for either computer. Even when the Eee PC had Windows Aero turned on, I did not experience any problems surfing the web, checking email, watching YouTube videos, or typing in Word. The Dell Dimension behaved the same way. For these two computers, normal use is pretty fast-- not quite as fast as Windows XP SP3, but very close. On the other hand, startup and shutdown times were much improved compared to XP. The same applies for putting the computer to sleep or hibernate.

Battery life did seem to cause a minor issue for the Eee PC. Even though the window borders automatically cease to be transparent when the netbook is running on batteries, the batteries only lasted about 80% of their normal time. This is not a problem for me since I usually have access to an outlet for charging, but Windows 7 does make a difference here.

Any program that runs fine on Windows XP would run fine on Windows 7 for me. If a program did not work, Windows 7 would automatically detect that it had failed, adjust the compatability settings by itself, and ask if you would want to run the program again. Every time a program made for XP failed for me on 7 (which was very rare), the automatic detection would successfully correct the problem and the program would run as if it were on XP. Microsoft only offers the "Windows XP Mode" on the Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate editions, but with the auto-adjust, the Windows XP Mode looks totally unnecessary.

If you are looking reasons to upgrade because Windows XP works fine for you, keep in mind that Windows 7 is more secure and that Windows XP will not be able to support Windows 7-only programs in the future when XP is phased out. I found the transition to Windows 7 smooth for both a desktop computer and a netbook, and I found the upgrade to be worth my time and money.

Received my order without a hitch (release date delivery).
I opted for the Clean install, wanted to take advantage of switching to the 64 bit version of home premium.
The install was easy and straightforward. The needed drivers auto installed and it even advised of a problem driver and went and downloaded it directly from Dell, after clicking through two advisory windows.
The whole expirience was painless and the most pleasent install of a operating system from microsoft, ever!
It loads blazing fast, software runs smooth and even downloads from the internet seem to be faster.
The clean install was performed on a Dell Studio 1535 and the task was flawless!

Total install (counting downloading anti virus software and email) took about three hours.

Very, very satisfied!

I was a Mac user until I used Windows 7.

I've owned several Macs running OS X, including the late 2008 aluminum MacBook. Thanks to Boot Camp, I was able to run Windows on my Mac, and when the opportunity to try the Windows 7 Release Candidate came up, I decided to use my Boot Camp partition for just that.

It ran great. I was impressed. After a few months, I found myself spending more time in the Windows 7 partition than in the OS X partition. I finally decided to swap around my partition sizes, and gave Windows 7 the larger chunk of my hard drive, while OS X was re-installed fresh and left unused on a tiny partition. I didn't miss OS X, which is interesting because I've spent many years defending OS X, and countering PC users when they bashed Macs. Still, I was a Mac user. I had Mac hardware. I was certain it was a good value anyway.

Some online friends proved me wrong on that count, too. They showed me PC laptops that had more features than the MacBook, and which cost way less than the MacBook, too. I couldn't deny it: I was clinging to my Mac out of brand loyalty, and with Windows 7 on the horizon (and the RC working so well) I could see no reason why I shouldn't switch to PC.

So I did. I sold my aluminum MacBook and picked up an ASUS gaming PC. I removed Windows Vista from the ASUS and installed the Windows 7 RC as my primary operating system, and was pretty happy with it. It ran smoothly and without incident for many months while I waited for the retail release of Windows 7.

Just yesterday I got my copy of Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade, and I have to say that installation went well. I was up & running in less than an hour, and had my previous Windows Backup restored to my new OS within another 40 minutes. I did have to spend a little time re-downloading some things like Firefox and Thunderbird, but those things are to be expected with a fresh install. The cool thing is that Windows 7 remembered that the RC I was running was an "upgrade" from a legitimate Windows Vista installation, and so I wasn't bugged, prompted, or tasked with proving my ownership of Vista. It just *knew* and went ahead with the installation.

Once installed, activation was simple and took a few seconds online. You need not fear MS activation now, as they're a lot less touchy than they were when Windows XP first showed up.

So what do I like about Windows 7? On a really basic level, I like that I can play Direct X games, where the Mac was a little short in the gaming department. But that aside, I like the availability of software, the new features like the improved Taskbar, Windows Peek, and the Aero environment. Sidebar gadgets are nice, too. Windows also did a good job ripping off the "Sticky Notes" application from the Mac, and I use that quite a bit.

The big negative for most people in switching to Windows 7 will be the lack of an email client. For me it's no big deal because I use Mozilla Thunderbird (free and open-source). For people used to Windows Mail or Outlook Express, you'll either have to switch clients, or make a purchase.

Best of all, Windows 7 is not a resource hog. I gained a lot of performance going from Vista (the original OS in my ASUS laptop) to Windows 7 RC, and the retail release is no different. Things work better, and Windows 7 takes advantage of my 4GB of RAM. It helps to be running 64-bit, though. It's a good thing Microsoft included both 64-bit and 32-bit DVDs in the case. No mail-in upgrades, here!

If you're used to OS X, but want to come into the PC world where things cost less and you get more features, by all means consider Windows 7 the stepping stone to do just that. After seeing the pricing on the newest MacBooks this week, and the limited features compared to what I currently own, I have to say that now is the right time to consider that switch to PC.

Upgraded from Vista Home Premium x64
Intel Core i7 920/4Gb DDR3 RAM/ATI Radeon 4850 512mb

First impressions mean a lot and that was the big failing of Vista. But Vista in its current state is certainly not trash if not solid, although there are many improvements that Microsoft can still easily implement to make Vista even more solid.

Enter Windows 7. Or as stated above Vista with all the easily implemented improvements to make Windows more solid. What you get with this "new" version of Windows under the hood is small to zero increase in performance (google "Windows 7 vs. Vista SP2 vs. XP SP3 Performance Comparison"), smaller resource footprint, and faster start/shutdown/wake times.

Also more superficially you get a more mac like experience with a dock type bar at the bottom, a greatly improved mac like spotlight search feature and little gimmicky ways to manipulate windows on the desktop. The good thing is that the new taskbar is not only just a weak imitation of the mac dock, but is actually better. Navigating through a few dozen windows and programs has never been easier. The Windows search feature however still does not surpass what mac offers, but is a very close approximation and much, much better than Vista's horrible attempt. These new features make the user experience much more superior than anything Windows has ever offered.

There are also a few other tweaks such as an improved, still very basic, firewall, a backup program that actually will backup what you want now, and less security nag popups. Also there are some other new things such as touch gesture features and disk encryption that normal users won't use either because it isn't needed or the hardware isn't widely adopted yet (touchscreen monitors).

Installation was more than smooth. I upgraded from Vista Home Premium x64 to Windows 7 Home Premium x64. I started the upgrade, went to sleep, woke up the next morning and entered the product key and was ready to go with all my personal files (music, photos, emails, papers etc) intact and placed in the normal places. All my hardware, software and peripherals that worked with Vista also work with Windows 7 automatically without even doing anything.

For those of you who expect 7 to be a radical change from Vista, prepare to not be amazed. This is for all intents and purposes Vista SP3 with even more mac like ui changes. Is Windows 7 an improvement? Definitely, yes. But is it a necessary upgrade? If Vista was still the same Vista that we saw on its launch day three years ago then yes, but 3 years later Vista is solid enough not to warrant upgrade to Windows 7 a necessity, just an indulgence.

I have a Dell Insiporn 531 with a Windows Vista 32-bit operating system. Before upgrading, I backup all my important files on an external hard drive. I have attempted to install this upgrade 2 times already. On the first install, it told me to uninstall my anti-virus program. I thought turning it off and disabling it will do the trick, but nope, it wants me to uninstall it (stubborn Windows 7). So after 5 hours of installing, my computer froze on the last step at 62%. On the second try, I installed the upgrade overnight, only to wake up to see that Vista is still there. I got this message saying Windows 7 failed to install. It say to download this program to see if your computer is compatible. I remember I already did this before pre-ordering this software for $49. So I checked it again and my computer is compatible, just that some of my software may not work. So over 10 hours wasted trying to install this program. Maybe a 3rd time will do the trick?

I can't really rate this item, but I heard Windows 7 is better, but I'm still having installation problems, so I give it 3 stars. So I'm searching solutions online and going to try to upgrade Windows a 3rd time.

(For you those who are wondering if I have the correct cd in, I do have the correct one in that says 32-bit).

*Edit Nov 1, 2009* After reading up in Microsoft forums and finding no solutions that worked, I decided to do a clean install, which turned out to be a nightmare! First, it saves all your current Windows files in one folder called Windows Old. Near the end of the installation, the computer rebooted and it gets to the pretty windows 7 logo and then an error shows up that there was some sort of error and the installation need to be restarted after the computer reboots. So I click "ok" only to find the same error again! I'm like oh crap! So I'm stuck in this loop and knew I had to somehow boot from the DVD drive. So immediately after the computer restarts, I push F12 to get the boot menu. What you will see is the normal initial setup screen. Here you can do a clean install all over again and this time it should work after a couple reboots.

Once Windows 7 is loaded, you will see the initial setup screen such as entering user name and password. It will ask for product key. After all that, you will see an empty desktop and a slightly different taskbar. First thing I notice is that I'm immediately connected to the internet. With Windows Vista, I had to wait a couple minutes to be able to have access to the internet. As for all those windows arranging tricks (like sliding window to top to make it large), I really have no use for them. You can read all the new features in your Windows 7 short version handbook. So I tried to access the Windows Old folder and you will see a pop up that you need admininstrative privileage to access "Click ok to continue". Depending on the speed of your computer, it make take a few minutes to get into this folder. After that, I manage to transfer my old documents and pictures and stuff. Oh yeah, you may want to activate your windows product by right clicking on "Computer" in the start menu and selecting properties. Scroll to the bottom and you will see that your Windows is not activated. Just click to activate it.

Anyway, the taskbar is strange to me and it will take me awhile to adjust to it. There's now an "A Drive Floppy Disk" on my computer for some strange reason. Floppy disk? Where on earth did that come from? There's no such device on my computer and yet, it shows it there. There's no external hard drives or any USB devices plug-in other than my keyboard and my mouse. Now I'm trying to figure out how to fix this.

Other than that, it starts up pretty fast. And now comes to hideous task of installing and downloading all the programs I use every day. I will still stick to my rating of 3 stars because of all the failed attempts to upgrade and the scary part of doing the clean install.

*Edit November 29, 2009* After a month of using Windows 7, I must say this is way much better than Windows Vista. Its faster to load, easier to use, and it has a new feature called the library where you can access all your related files in one window. For example, if you have pictures in different folders, you can view all your pictures in one window. You know how similar windows are grouped together in the task bar (such as having multiple Internet Explorer windows open) from Windows XP or Windows Vista In Windows 7, instead of using words, it uses the icons to group your windows. All you got to do is just move your mouse over the icon and see which windows are open. So there's less clutter on your task bar. If you right click on the icon, you can access frequently used files or websites you go to. Another neat feature I like is that your desktop background can change image every few minutes (or how often you like it to change).