Windows 7

Ok, let's see. This little rant of mine is probably not going to be as long as I had hoped to make it but oh well. I'm not going to re-iterate all of the things that had already been said about Windows 7 elsewhere on the net (just search for Windows 7 beta review and such and you'll get hundreds of hits), nor am I going to post a million screenshots or anything like that instead I am simply going to give my opinion about it.

When I first heard about Windows 7 I was fairly skeptical, saying all the things that other people said (This is what Vista should have been, should be a service pack, etc etc). Though due to my curiosity and my addiction to updates (and any software that is new) I decided to take the plunge and download the Windows 7 beta (yes, the non-torrent one, I find it worthless to format my computer for 30 days). I was quite disappointed that Microsoft planned to only hand out keys to the first 2.5 million to download and was desperate when the servers went down, but I must say that MS did a spectacular job bringing them back online and then deciding to provide keys until 24 January 09 to anyone interested. (If you haven't already or didn't know find the beta here)

Ok, now that that is out of the way lets get down to the beta. I decided to download the 64bit version as my PC has a 64bit processor and I had always wanted to test out a 64bit OS (my laptop shipped with Vista Home Premium 32bit, personally I think it is stupid to ship a 64bit laptop with a 32bit OS but oh well).

Installation was a breeze after writing the ISO image to a DVD. At a guess I'd say it took about 30 minutes but I didn't really time it so can't be certain. I was truly impressed by the way the installer had been streamlined since Vista, asking for minimal information until it finally present you with the create user option and then after that letting you log in.

I initially had some problems scraping together all of the drivers (Windows 7 didn't have my Bluetooth drivers nor did it have the drivers to handle my built in memory card reader but I found those on Toshiba's site so no-problems there) but all other hardware had drivers and I was ready to go in no time. I was also impressed by the way the new Solution center work, quickly pointing out where I should go to get the drivers.

After this it was time to appreciate the cleaned user interface, I must say that I love the new taskbar (yes, you may not agree with me, but that is your problem). I find it convenient that you can pin icons to it, which makes it easy to launch often used apps and find them quickly. I am crazy about the fact that you can finally rearrange icons on the taskbar (should have been implemented long ago) and the way the new preview thumbnails work. I like it that windows are now transparent whether they are maximized or small. I adore the fact that wallpapers change themselves natively instead of having to do it with some third party add-on. Overall, in the looks department, I must say that MS did a great job. I guess there are some things to nitpick about, but nothing that really bothers me that much (and I can always use the feedback option to complain to MS, beautiful).

The new libraries are awesome (though I always liked to keep my folder neat, but this makes it so much easier) making it a simple task to keep files of the same type grouped together even if they are spread over multiple disks. (I must admit I haven't tried this feature fully, but will do so in the next few days).

Networking was a breeze, easily installing the 3G modem (I had trouble doing this in Vista, but Windows 7 had no problems) and then quickly setting up an Internet share between my own and my aunt's PC.

I must also say that there seems to be no compatibility problems with programs (had an issue with Chrome as it doesn't want to work on a 64bit OS without an added switch, but this is in no way MS's fault and will most likely be fixed by Google soon, apparently it happens on all 64bit OSs).

I did find an interesting problem(?) with the experience index rating which now rates my laptop at 2.0 (due to my hard drive, rather weird but it does seem as if I am not the only one with the problem and I assume it will be fixed).

Overall thus, my impression of Windows 7 is very favorable. I must admit that I had always liked Vista (don't really know what other people's gripe is with it), but I must say that MS seemed to have surpassed themselves with 7, bringing out a beta that is so well polished, I can only imagine what the final product will be. And yes, I know that there will always be people who will complain about it (as they did with Vista, as they did with XP) but to them I say, get a grip and go with the flow, or switch to Linux [then we'll hear the siren song of complaints]. (Anyways if you want to complain, do it better yourself and only then do you really have the right to moan).

Mmm... Seems as if this has run on far longer than I had suspected.

Well, that in a nutshell is my thoughts about Windows 7. Yes, I know some people will hate me for this, but as I said, that is their problem. Each unto his own. To MS I must say, a job well done! My faith in you is definitely renewed! Keep it up!