Windows 7 - Part 2 the results...Posted on 2009/10/22 10:34:58 (October 2009). Well the Windows 7 upgrade has been completed with far less trauma than was initially expected! And for the savvy amongst you, I was upgrading from XP.
There's a lot of advice to be had during the installation process and from Microsoft's web-site, but being an "old hand" I performed my own back-up in my own way, more confident going along this route so that I knew where my data actually was etc.
From begining to end the clean install I had to make because of XP, took a tad over 30-minutes. Once complete the anticipated problem of the wi-fi PCI card drivers reared its little head and I had to re-install the Linksys application. Once done though I had the oddest problem with the WEP key. Perhaps not a Windows problem at all, more the Linksys config utility (I guess) I had to enter the WEP key as ASCII rather than hexadecimal as it now refused to accept the old key! That put extra minutes on the install.
Once done I chose to go online and let Windows update itself. There wasn't much beyond a few small security patches. Biggest was a previous patch I had missed to Microsoft OneNote.
The system is so much faster than Vista it hurts when I smile now! :-) On top of this the graphics and functionality of the desktop are gorgeous and incredibly useful. I won't list all the enhancements but suffice to say Mac OS X is now looking decidedly "frumpy" in comparison.
Part of my history with Apple Macs was fuelled by a complete disillusionment with Windows Vista. I got my first Apple iBook back in 2001 as a curiosity to replace my old Thinkpad. I ran both O/S's side by side as I upgraded my Pc to XP. I changed Macs too a few times, but when Vista arrived I moved more permanently to iMac machines. (When I'd bought a new Sony laptop with Vista installed my spirits were metaphorically broken. The difference was so dramatic). True I'd had to maintain two software libraries but that had been part of the fun! "Switching" to Mac at that time was easy.
I tried to keep my eye on the ball though and was keenly waiting for Windows 7 while I still ran an XP PC alongside my iMac. Now I've decided to move back to the PC platform full time and sell my Apple gear.
This decision has already made me a pariah amongst some of my Mac peers, however having a more cosmopolitan nature (I hope) has, for me, made the effect more one of water off a duck's back, being more interested in what I can do on given hardware than cudos and image from owning it. Company politics are much the same wherever you go, I feel.
So... Let's see what happens next ....!
(Out of interest Windows 7 Home Premium comes with two separate high-quality hologrammed DVDs in the box - one for 32-bit and one for 64-bit).
Comment 1
Interesting, I haven't tried 7, but everyone says is what Vista should have been. I gotta give it a go, but I fear that my current PC is not up to scratch for the job, still I think Microsoft took too long to bring in the market a serious competitor to OS, all the innovation was done by Linux and Apple (also in graphical terms), they just tagged along and worked on it... Still, if it's so much better I might consider upgrading my PC, but I ain't going to leave Mac for sure.
Posted by Lox at 2009/10/24 09:16:19.
Comment 2
A friend of mine runs a computer shop here in Kilkis and I popped in for a coffee this morning. He was installing Windows 7 Ultimate on a netbook and was telling me that no way would the machine have supported Vista. W7 ran as sweet as a peach on the netbook. Very impressive, and none of the annoying "help" messages you get with Vista.
Posted by Bryan at 2009/10/24 11:40:52.
Comment 3
Lox: I can't knock M$ just for being last to the table with the goods!! So far I haven't found anything I don't like about W7. Did you read what Linus Torvalds said about LINUX recently?
Bryan: I've heard similar stories but not actually seen it on a netbook yet. Impressive! :-)
Posted by Nigel at 2009/10/24 16:58:44.
Comment 4
Nigel: Yes I thought that what Linux said was a bit harsh, but probably thing got our of hands with Linux development... I'll give W7 a go for sure, then I will be able to comment as well... :P
Posted by Lox at 2009/10/24 23:44:31.
Comment 5
Lox: Well, as you know I have no problems with OS X - I have been a long-time fan and owned many Apple machines. It is just that at this point in time I don't have enough spare time to devote to *both* systems so I will concentrate on W7 for a while as it is very usable and so much better than Vista. :-))
Posted by Nigel at 2009/10/25 08:47:34.
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