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8 Things To Think About For Windows 7

informationweek.com — Windows 7 has features that point to the future of the desktop.

Who dugg this? Made popular Oct 12, 2009

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  • springboks, on 10/12/2009, -5/+89Sounds like an article for an articles sake from information week.

    1. Remote users will love Win 7
    2. Infosec teams will like Win 7
    3. It has better management
    4. It's netbook-friendly
    5. Desktop virtualization's coming
    6. Windows 7 is SaaS-friendly
    7. The hype is your friend
    8. You have a definitive timeline
  • Elranzer, on 10/12/2009, -1/+40So basically: Same *****, different day?
  • DigitalWorld, on 10/12/2009, -5/+41"Whether you welcome Win 7 or curse the demise of XP, it's time to decide: Adopt Windows 7, move to Linux, or bring back the abacus. Your call."

    I sense a future disturbance in the force...

    ...and by disturbance, I mean a Windows vs. Mac vs. Linux debate.
  • pathouston22, on 10/12/2009, -1/+273 words: Solid State Hardrive.

    Running Windows 7 on an OCZ Agility. This thing flies. Photoshop opens in 3 seconds. Boots faster than the mobo posts. And no crashes yet after a month of operation.

    Never touched Vista, but very happy with my XP to 7 change.
  • Hortnon, on 10/12/2009, -2/+28You could've easily gotten the RC and found out for yourself.
  • noumuon, on 10/12/2009, -2/+26is this anything new? win95->win98, win2000->winXp, winVista->win7 ... we can just forget ME every existed.
  • cosworth99, on 10/12/2009, -5/+27OS X is ten years old. No more coat tails Jobs, get cracking.
  • Elranzer, on 10/12/2009, -4/+25It's really Mac OS 16, but Jobs thinks the "X" in the title makes it cool.
  • Moralogic, on 10/12/2009, -1/+19Definitely like your list more. Less cluttered with needless text.
  • Jeepinator, on 10/12/2009, -2/+19Terrible troll attempt.
  • AlyxVance, on 10/12/2009, -0/+14Grouped windows on the taskbar used to annoy the hell out of me in xp and vista. Every time I logged on at school I would change the grouping settings. But now that I installed windows 7 I actually like it. Just move the mouse over the group and all the relevant windows pop up to choose from.

    Also, the new 'Library' concept is one of the best additions imo. All I can say is about ***** time.

    The only gripe I have is that there are still a few driver issues which are to be expected.
  • diggerpleez, on 10/12/2009, -3/+16I am a hardcore linux nut, but have been using it just so I could natively run Flex Builder. It is certainly a better OS than any Windows that I have used previously, but file copy still makes me want to hang myself.
  • RevLoki, on 10/12/2009, -3/+16You just made some macboy's head asplode.
  • Hortnon, on 10/12/2009, -2/+14Could you provide more detail about how my OS is locked away from me?

    The reason I ask is, I suspect you have no idea what you're talking about.
  • Jeepinator, on 10/12/2009, -2/+13The file copy is an improvement, but it still blows. TeraCopy :-)
  • and101, on 10/12/2009, -0/+10The Library feature is one of my favourite bits. It's made finding all of the media on my home server far simpler.
  • MxM111, on 10/12/2009, -8/+18I am really tired from all this hype. Do not get me wrong, it looks like 7 will be better system than Vista, but I have to know both sides of the story (positives AND negatives) before making an upgrade. The only info that I see right now on internet is so one-sided, that I suspect that huge MS money somehow are at play.
  • rossisdead, on 10/12/2009, -5/+15There may very well be a good reason that there's been so much positive feedback over Windows 7 since the first public beta came out. I've yet to have 7 crash on me once in all that time.
  • Hortnon, on 10/12/2009, -0/+9"Any good web developer wouldn't support IE 8. "

    Why?
  • diggerpleez, on 10/12/2009, -1/+10wow! Just tried it an that is a much better option. Why the hell can't MS write crap like that into the OS? I don't get it. Thanks for the tip.
  • kingatrock, on 10/12/2009, -1/+10where are all the good trolls? Instead we get the "Millennium Edition" guys, like dwalker.
  • Subduction, on 10/12/2009, -6/+15If unfounded hype equals money, then iPhone must be outspending them 100-to-1.
  • and101, on 10/12/2009, -3/+11I've been using the final release of 7 for a couple of months now and I like it. Quicker and easier to use than Vista and once you get used to the new task bar it is easier to manage all of the open apps. I did have a few problems to start with where it would lock up the computer while playing videos but it turned out to be a memory issue on my iMac, after I swapped the memory sticks out for some new ones it became rock solid and hasnt crashed since.
  • fuzzynyanko, on 10/12/2009, -0/+8IE8 is a huge improvement over IE6. Why shouldn't you support Microsoft bringing their browser closer to standards? If you are on a PC (especially someone else's) and am only going to do 1-2 minutes of web surfing, you probably won't be downloading the latest version of your favorite alternative browser
  • AlyxVance, on 10/12/2009, -1/+9have you even used it?
  • Aurabolt, on 10/12/2009, -0/+7TeraCopy is awesome, thanks
  • wpf999, on 10/12/2009, -1/+7Teracopy. Agreed :-)
  • askantik, on 10/12/2009, -1/+7I don't get all the fuss about any of this *****-- I've been using Vista Home Premium 64 for a year and a half and the ONLY problem I've had is with older pieces of hardware whose manufacturers are ***** and won't release 64 bit drivers, so you have to rely on (read: hope) that someone has made a third party driver... and then hope it works. Aside from that, I'm impressed with both OSes. Yes, UAC is annoying, but then, I just turned it off.

    Also been using Windows 7 RC on my netbook (yes, with an N280 and still just 1 GB of RAM) and it's pretty nice. The boot up time is slow but it's a netbook. The GUI is a tiny bit different, but overall probably more efficient.
  • ShoeSh1ne, on 10/12/2009, -2/+8I really never had a problem with Vista. But 7 is awesome.
  • cyrix, on 10/13/2009, -0/+5Dude, your ***** is ***** HUGE.
  • pagno, on 10/12/2009, -0/+5Wasnt XP based on Win2k? XP was the first consumer OS built on NT.
  • RevLoki, on 10/12/2009, -11/+16I like 7. I really do. I've been using it since the first betas came out and have watched it grow into an OS that I can love. It does have its' quirks, but it's by far much better than vista. Diggerpleez is correct, the file copy is still horrendously slow. But searching is more relevant than it was in Vista. In fact, I'd prefer not to compare and contrast 7 to Vista at all. Besides the shiny interface, you just can't compare the two.

    It's fast and responsive, and it's intuitive to boot. I like the ability to shake a window to minimize everything else. I like the task bar (though it took some getting used to.) Upgrading from Vista Ultimate to 7 Ultimate was nowhere near as painful as upgrading from XP to Vista (though it did take me 2 hours to upgrade.)

    Will it "kill" linux or OS X? No. You can't compare linux users to windows users. And Mac users are zealots of the worst kind. This just helps wipe the stench of Vista out of the air and makes PC users love their PCs again. I haven't beat my keyboard since loading 7. I hope it stays that way.
  • drex8, on 10/12/2009, -1/+6@rossisdead: "There may very well be a good reason that there's been so much positive feedback over Windows 7 since the first public beta came out. I've yet to have 7 crash on me once in all that time."

    Same can be said about Vista. The internet was abound with negative hype about Vista. Well, there must have been some truth to all that negative rumor, however unvalidated those rumors might have turned out to be under close scrutiny.
    Now if you have been an avid digger for the last two years since Vista came out, diggers have nothing unabashed praise for Vista, because they did find the OS to be quite stable and sometimes superior than XP.
    Now for an end user who's running Vista, and reading digg forums as well, and not so technically adept at the same time..that person is getting confusing messages about vista on the internet and tech forums and discussion sites like digg.
    So it seems to me as Mxm111 has pointed out, that Microsoft didn't do a good job hyping vista, but so far has done an excellent job about win 7. So to me, its still all hype..and that is even true for a user who has been diligently checking out the rc for the last odd months.
    So as mxm111 said "it looks like 7 will be better system than Vista (and xp, or even better than both put together), but I have to know both sides of the story." And the truth will emerge after exhaustive end-user usage.
  • FlaNative, on 10/12/2009, -4/+9Wow, I point out that DRM and the WGA will remain in Windows 7 and I am called a troll, and told I do not know what I am talking about.

    Bill Gates fan boys are weighing into Digg.

    My work place had a company wide outage last year due to the WGA.
  • youcandoitjoshu, on 10/12/2009, -16/+21Please remember to cup the balls when sucking Steve Ballmer's dick.
  • Jektal, on 10/12/2009, -5/+9No. PEBKAC.
  • wolfing, on 10/12/2009, -0/+4you don't have to upgrade if you don't want to. Windows 7 is more oriented towards all the XP users who never updated to Vista (like me). Already preordered Win 7.
  • datdamonfoo, on 10/12/2009, -1/+5How did Vista suck?
  • Subduction, on 10/12/2009, -5/+9Uhmm...you "feel so dirty running it?"

    Do you think it might be time to take a little step back from the computer thing for a while?
  • twiztidsinz, on 10/12/2009, -1/+5"On the flip side, if you've settled on Firefox or Chrome, you'll need to watch their releases closely. Both have documented issues with Windows 7."
    I agree with you that this seems kinda scripted/paid for...

    I've been using Windows 7 since the beta (loving it), and in that time I have used Firefox exclusively (except for IE8 to download firefox) and had ONE crash --on close, so not really a big deal.
  • NTolerance, on 10/12/2009, -0/+4The Library feature is nice, but it's almost completely crippled by lack of support for NAS drives or any data on your network that's shared by a simple Samba server.

    This is compounded by the fact that using the Libraries is compulsory because the save dialog always goes there by default.

    MS has this notion that everyone saves all their data to random folders and the only way to find it is by grouping via Libraries and Super Mega Indexed Search 11.0. I know a lot of people are disorganized in this way, but parts of Win7 hold back those of us who actually put documents in the documents folder. And music in the ***** music folder.

    Anyways, there is a workaround for Libraries and network shares using symlinks. Hacky, but it works.


  • AndrewDB, on 10/13/2009, -1/+5I'm already running Windows 7 RTM,...

    What more is there to think about?

    It's the best version of Windows they've ever released.
  • wpf999, on 10/12/2009, -1/+5The only prob I've had with Win 7 so far is with HDMI audio on TV-out. I've tried everything but no go. I'm hoping this will be fixed with the copy I've ordered. Otherwise it seems like a fine OS.
  • Hortnon, on 10/12/2009, -2/+5Does that change that the Firmware is incapable of managing memory correctly?

    Does that change that you need to buy "mac compatible" memory? Even though it's DDR2 and should be supported?

    I don't understand your point, I think. Maybe you could explain why this is a common problem, and why my memory isn't recognized with both sticks on the Macbook, but works fine on my Dell?
  • HPMNick, on 10/12/2009, -0/+3Its better to use tweakUAC to just disable notification, otherwise IE won't run in a sandbox.
  • DigitalWorld, on 10/12/2009, -2/+5Actually I find them all useful for one reason or another. I'd totally be running OSX, Windows 7 and Ubuntu if I didn't have to pony up for a machine to get OSX and run it.

    I use 7 for the day to day. I use ubuntu as a home server and for some programming tasks. I'd use Mac OSX for cross-platform support of some stuff I'm working on and iPhone Development.

    My only gripe about Apple is their relentless Mac-vs-PC ad campaign. I found it funny at first. Now it's just hurtful. And attacking MS, who doesn't actually make PCs?
  • Jeepinator, on 10/12/2009, -2/+5"For a simple example, someone actually spent development hours to prevent me from customizing the start bar to use something other than a windows flag."

    There is an application for skinning windows. I even made a custom skin for myself by editing some files (not closed btw) in photoshop. Windows is incredibly open compared to OSX. It is not as open as a Linux distro for obvious reasons.

    "I like that with linux, every single setting in the entire system is clearly available for me to alter in the form of a text file."

    "I like that with linux, every single setting in the entire system is clearly available for me to alter in the form of a text file. Moving from that to the windows registry just makes me feel so confined I guess."

    I find it easier to do things in Windows sometimes just because I am used to it. I hate terminal b/c I don't ever remember commands/syntax. At least in Windows most everything can be done in a GUI. To each his own.
  • quaxon, on 10/13/2009, -0/+3DRM lol. I downloaded windows 7 ultimate and had it activated with a double click of some file with an extension i didnt even recognize and everything is working perfectly. I was a diehard xp fan and had my doubt w7 would even run on my some-what dated laptop, but it's been awesome so far.
  • kingatrock, on 10/12/2009, -0/+3Thanks for the reply/info! 60 gig for $150 is very cheap for an SSD, I'll definitely look into it, thanks!
  • celotil, on 10/12/2009, -1/+4I get what you're saying, and I agree with you, Tetsuo.

    To everyone else,

    UAC without password entry for actual Administration tasks is like sudo not asking for the root password or OS X not asking for my admin-level (not quite as powerful as root) password when I install system level software - it's just ***** stupid.

    For one thing, the family computer is a mess at the best of times. Not a lot of people like having to log out of one person's account and then log in to their own, and if the computer is automatically booting up into the account that is created when the PC is first turned on and Windows runs its setup process then, in most cases, that computer is never seeing any other accounts created.

    The majority of users don't know how their computer works, and will take no steps whatsoever to ensure the security of their computer other than what the salesman tells them to do - I know, I've been working in Technical Support (DSL, Dial-up, stand-alone and networked PC's both in the home and business) for quite a while, and the majority of people will pay attention, listen to what you say, and forget it all twenty minutes later and then go to the shop to a sales guy for advice where he'll will sell them something which could be useful if they used it properly, but they won't.

    Most people simply are not interested in how their computer works, the same as most drivers today couldn't tell you how the internal combustion engine works. They just don't give a *****, so UAC has to do what these users don't want to bother learning how to do - Protect their computer's system level software so that recovery from a virus or malware infection can be a quick and simple process.

    Why not just stop the ***** getting in the computer at all? Because they'll put it in there eventually. Bob will get some bogus porn from an office worker in an email, Little Jimmy will download a game which is infected with bot *****, Margery will click those pop-up ads that look like anti-virus warnings, and within six months of ownership there'll be at least two viruses and a bit of malware running.

    You can not change how most people use their computers (ignorantly and without due care), you can only make the computer easier to recover from a software attack, and UAC keeping it's head down until something system level is being installed, and then asking for a password would help greatly.

    With UAC only asking "Are you sure?" and giving a Yes or No option, who's going to really think about that question? I don't mean you, the semi-geek with an interest in keeping your computer clean, but are your friends, like the one who bought his kid a computer for school, or the one who fires up a game now and then and his/her spouse uses it for email and ebay?
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