A Linux users review on windows 7
I have been a linux user for quite some time and I loved my stay, although I needed photoshop and had to shift back to Windows (cs2 didn’t work with either crossover or wine on linux for me). Since I dont really like Xp and Vista after using Ubuntu, I decided to give Windows 7 a try.
After getting hold of the ISO I found out that my burner didn’t work, how was I supposed to know that it didnt work, I haven’t used that darn thing in a year. I needed another install method so I used a usb that was lying around. I did a little research and found out that I needed vista to make the usb bootable, so I was stuck there. I could have waited a few hours and go over to my neighbors house to do the install, but I don’t have that kind of patience. I spent around 4 hours figuring out how to make the usb bootable using the other PC which had xp installed, all of which failed.
Its really late and I am dead sleepy, but I decide to use my recovery disk to install vista and then make the bootable usb and install 7, I know that’s pathetically long and sad but I was desperately in need of photoshop and vista sucks up too much ram while xp simply sucks. An hour has passed and my recovery discs failed to work, i tried them twice.
I gave up and decided to install xp. I am now in Xp and it occurs to me that I can install 7 from the usb once the OS is running and I was right. If this would have occurred to me a little earlier, I would have saved a day of hard work. Now 7 is installing and I feel so proud of myself, it was like winning a battle.
Long story short, I installed windows 7 
Sorry you had to read the long story first.
First impressions
Unlike previous versions of windows or Ubuntu, 7 had a very lively start up animation and booted up pretty fast, fastest of all others in my case. The colors were very refreshing and was a welcome change when coming from Ubuntu. Major interface changes like the taskbar which shows only the icons make me wonder why it took so long to come up with that solution. I found it easier to use, more manageable and a much simpler way to manage windows.
There have already been a lot of reviews regarding new features which I will not waste your time with here, I want to address the more subtle changes that make this a great OS.
What I like about Windows 7
Updated Apps
Some of the apps have been given a visual and feature overhaul which were very welcome. The ribbon interface which has been integrated is a pleasure to use, It simplifies the interface and makes it very easy for less experienced users to use the application. Paint, Wordpad, WMP, Calculator have turned into actually usable apps.
The calculator has become much more useful and has prettier interface.
Maximizing
By dragging the window towards the top end of the screen, you can mazimize it. By dragging it down, you can minimize it. I like using this feature from time to time.
Faster
It has a faster boot time, shutdown time, login time, than vista, probably the same as xp. It doesn’t seem to slow down if you stay away from resource hungry apps. I have noticed an increase in file transfers too.
Font Management
Font management has radically improved over previous versions. You can easily install any font by right clicking and selecting install. You can show and hide fonts without deleting them, so you now see only those fonts that are needed. Each font family is grouped together, this really cleans up a lot of mess.
Taskbar
The taskbar is a great addition, it saves a lot of space & time.
PreInstalled Codecs
Windows Media Player had quite a few codecs installed which saved me quite some time, although it wont play many formats like mp4 & mkv.
What I dislike about windows 7
No wmp taskbar view
I have the habbit of watching videos while working. In xp, vista, or ubuntu, I could very easily accomplish that, in 7 I cant. This is a huge disadvantage.
Crappy font rendering
I really missed using the amazing rendering of fonts ubuntu used to provide. This is a great disadvantage, especially for a designer.
Lacking compatibility of the taskbar with firefox
The tabs in IE show up as diff windows and allows you to select any tab, the same does not work in firefox which makes this feature worthless.
SLOW SLOW SLOW
Some things like boot etc are faster but there are many other things that are really slow, like wmp, explorer, start menu, search, sidebar, image viewer. If you have a GB of ram and a dual core 2ghz proccessor, you should be able to accomplish everyday tasks . With snow leopard coming out, and ubuntu working on a faster version, 7 doesnt stand a chance – speed wise.
Too slow for Netbooks
I dont see windows 7 working well on netbooks, it is just not fast enough. I would much rather use a customized version of Ubuntu which works smootly rather than 7 with all its issues.
Hardware support
I had and have problems with my touchpad, mic, webcam, all of which were instantly supported in Ubuntu.
No built in Antivirus
Wouldnt it be crazy if your Acer laptop had a problem and you called Dell customer support, Why should I have to buy an Antivirus software from avast or symantic when the problem is with windows. If I spend my hard earned money on a copy of windows, I expect a product that works without any addons or 3rd party products.
Conclusion
Even though windows 7 is a great visual upgrade, has quite a few features, and has a lot of hype surrounding it, I am not convinced that it is any better than Ubuntu or OSX and I will be shifting back to Ubuntu as soon as possible. Windows 7 is what Vista should have been, it is simply Vista service pack 3 and it does not deserve to be sold with that ridiculous price tag.
What do you think
Let me know what you think, do you think Windows 7 is a fad and overhyped, looking forward to your comments.
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29 Interesting Conversations
Nice reading your review, thanks. I think you managed to keep things real, and not rant like a fanboy of Ubuntu/OSX etc. I don’t particularly like Windows, but 7 is a step in the right direction.
Had to comment on the virus issue… couldn’t agree with you more! It always annoys the hell out of me to have to go and find a dodgy 3rd party software to install ASAP after a clean OS install. Although I’m sure F-Secure and the lot would run straight to the EU courts to have Microsoft provide a version of Windows without a bundled virus app (sigh).
Glen
February 17, 2009
Don’t forget windows 7 is a beta and has plenty of room for tidying and quicking up in some areas. and improving things like the tabs feature for IE and not FF
It is probably against competition laws to ship with antivirus software, The EU are trying to stop them shipping with IE (rightly so) even if it did I would probably still use a third party like I do with a web browser. Another reason I would rather not have MS ship with antivirus is I’d rather they focus on fixing the exploits, rather than ‘fudging’ it by just looking for the virus and block it.
As it is a beta I like what they have done so far, and will hopefully make some improvements when it goes gold
adam
February 17, 2009
@Glen
I really appreciate your comment, It pleases me that you found the article unbiased. Well, I am not sure why the EU would do that, but MS could always remove the antivirus from the EU version and let them suffer if that’s what they want.
@Adam
Microsoft will *very* soon release RC1 which and they are almost finished with the features. I think they have a years work ahead of them if they want a competitive product. The mistake they made with Vista was releasing it very early, we all know what happened to Vista, they are repeating history by releasing a product that has a lot of flaws. It is basically a patch for Vista which they will make money off.
I do agree that they might fix a few issues here and there, but that will not make the product any better, it will just make it do what it has promised to do.
I also agree that if MS comes out with and antivirus it will be bloated and just a pain to use, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is an incomplete product if they don’t. As long as the EU is concerned, MS could give them a lacking version and slap it on their face until they realize they are spending twice on 3rd party products to get a functioning OS.
It might get better, but I have lost hope the moment MS said they were close to releasing it.
Thanks for you comment, keep it coming
kumailht
February 17, 2009
The Firefox tabs integration is more an issue on Firefox’s side rather than Microsoft. I’m sure it’ll be in Firefox 3.1 (and if not there, not long after).
As for anti-virus. I’m kind of glad there’s not one included. There are plenty of free options out there, and having different people on different anti-viruses will mean it’s much less likely to have a single exploit written to break the majority of users (most people are slack, and would never change their anti-virus if Windows actually came with one).
Very well written review though, I didn’t know about dragging the windows up and down either.
Sam
February 18, 2009
@Sam
I think you are right on the firefox part. As long as AntiVirus is concerned, you are right, hardly anyone would use MS Antivirus but there are thousands of ppl who have no clue what an antivirus software is and when they find out, they end up paying symantic for shitty software like norton.
I think it would help keep majority of the computers safe, and the geeks will probably use 3rd party software if it is as bloated as everything else.
Thanks for your comment on the review, I really appreciate it
kumailht
February 18, 2009
Have you try windows update to resolve your hardware problems? I had some problems with graphic and fingerprint sensor drivers….. but windows update found them and everything is ok now.
Andrea
February 18, 2009
Windows is fully updated, these problems have been consistent since Vista so I am pretty sure its unresolved. It only works if I use my recovery disk as they have the drivers preloaded, but those failed to work.
kumailht
February 18, 2009
“No Built In Antivirus” – wtf?are you kidding? do you really wanna leave that job for Microsoft? that will be veeeery bad idea.. pls leave that job for profesionals
all what microsoft have to do is that they have to create system which is smart and viruses dont have chance there.. but antivirus software from microsoft? heh..
Jozef
February 18, 2009
I would much rather have MS antivirus rather than pay for norton. Norton is a joke and unfortunately very popular, this step would change that. I agree that there will be better AV software but you could always turn it off and use your preferred one.
Kumail.H.T
February 18, 2009
maybe u have to try Nod from ESET http://www.eset.com..iam using it on all windows based machines in work and i recomending it for all friends.. symantec/norton or avast are joke.. true.. i never liked them..
and ofcourse i understand your point of view.. i just dont think that M$ will do good work on antivirus war field
Jozef
February 19, 2009
I installed windows 7 a few weeks ago in virtual machine, so yes!, microsoft did a good (not great) improvement in its operative syste, but any of you realize that the GUI is not an OS X copy anymore (Vista), IT’S KDE4 COPY. I use Debian with KDE4.2 and it’s amazing how good microsoft copy the gui.
BLackSword
February 20, 2009
i saw windows 7 beta, it was quite interesting,but it only had some new features.
it wasnt that impressive.
about anti virus ^^
if you want to live with windows then you have to have a ghost image, so that your windows can go into internet naked, get killed and revived ^^
even with heavy armor it will be killed immediately ^^
so ghost would be the best solution for windows.
and i think windows need too much resource to work,unlike linux.
but linux still has some annoying bugs, like flash, some problem with hardware, killer bugs (hdd load issue, videocard isnt support, they start to support it now, but still too slow.)
xieu90
February 28, 2009
@Xieu90
One aspect I really hate about windows is that it slows down with time, its been 3 weeks and I know its not as fast as a week after I installed it.
The issues you spoke about with linux are history, they might have been there once upon a time but as of now there arent any problems with flash, bugs, or hardware. If you compare it to windows, it has much lesser issues.
kumailht
February 28, 2009
Well you’re damn right talking about W7 being a Vista SP3. Hopefully Vista to SP3 upgrade is not going to be expensive, because W7 is like what Vista used to be, otherwise it’s going to be ridiculous if the price is going to be high..
Paulius
March 5, 2009
good read, are beta keys still available?
snowboard vids
March 20, 2009
I am not sure, but I doubt that its available.
kumailht
March 20, 2009
I agree with your conclusion, M$ will do this in the future too. Let me tell you about my theory, when Windows 2000 was released M$ was working on Win XP which is the full version of their product since it uses the same kernel Win XP uses but they (M$) don’t want to stay on their toes without some money backing them up and the same happened with Vista, the full version should be Win 7 but since M$ like to milk us wide open they decided to suck some of our money until they release Win 7 and yeah both Vista and 7 use the same kernel. In the future releases after Win7 we will notice the same pattern. Still Mac OS X and Ubuntu are years ahead of Windows.
El_Member
April 5, 2009
I also support the idea of adding a built in anti-virus strongly
El_Member
April 5, 2009
@EL_Member
Your theory makes quite a lot of sense. Disappoint, make a lot of money, make a good product to win back the customers. Unfortunately for them Linux has become a strong alternative and took turned quite a few heads, enough for MS to feel insecure.
Thanks for commenting, hope to see you around.
kumailht
April 5, 2009
Cool – started looking a bit dodgy, but ended up quite nicely. You’re already experienced enough to know that ubuntu was a pig compared to XP just 12 months or so back, but in the last 12 months it has improved beyond recognition (without changing too much…)
The main issues of Windows remain. Microsoft sneaking updates that interfere with FOSS apps like Firefox, making them insecure – the logical problem about being able to sneak files that don’t have an .exe extension into the system still remain, the system is so clever it can still know what to do with such files, and can execute your trojan launchers without worrying you with the details.
Even though 7 has some things looking nicer than ubuntu, I won’t switch. XP runs my games nicely, and I wouldn’t pay for any upgrade in that department – it runs well with no internet connection, and that’s the only way I’d ever use Windows.
I don’t like Photoshop, but I do use ACDSee Pro2 – it’s my best productivity tool for taking 300 photo’s and adjust the lighting levels/curves (very nice automated options, simply not comparable to anyting in Photoshop or GIMP) – and that’s all.
Hopefully you’ll find Gnome-Do with the ‘docky’ appearance setting will rest your mind about comparing to the Windows equivalent. I just hope that the default desktop continues to improve (Jaunty didn’t suck half as much as the last few efforts).
One thing’s for certain, Windows 7 won’t improve, or evolve. Their best effort may look satisfactory this year, but then so does ubuntu – without the incredible rate of improvement, it’s already dead in the water!
ben2talk
June 6, 2009
may i suggest you to try kde4.3
looks far better than win7 and yet so easy to customize and adapt
thou i prefer compiz over kwin for more eye-candy effects
kale
August 26, 2009
To be honest, this is the worst review I’ve ever read, and I’m surprised it’s done by a linux & photoshop user !
** firefox ? That not a part of Windows ? maybe you should blame Mozilla for not supporting new features of new windows releases that are not officially released yet.
**Hardware support ? you got to be joking. I’m using a 3 years old machine, I have to keep a folder containing 10 drivers for XP, guess what happened with 7 ? Everything was detected, I mean everything, even the graphic card with 3D support, even my cheap bluetooth dongle that I never succeeded to install correctly in XP, even my cheap wifi dongle that took me time to find it’s driver … All without any user action, just an internet connection …, it’s just amazing !!!
I can even put my machine in sleep mode while it never worked in xp.
**Speed? I’ve been a long time user of XP, I’ve tested ubuntu.
Windows 7 seems to be as fast as XP, sometime faster (as you said). I didnt run any benchmark, but I’m playing some heavy games with my “moderate” graphic card, and I’m not noticing any slowdown, even at the same graphic levels.
**Fonts? reality is, I never liked ubuntu’s font inconsistency.
**Video? grub KMPlayer, maybe you can hate media player, but you can’t hate KMplayer !
**Slow and Slow for notebooks ? How much notebook did you test Seven in ? To me, 7 feels faster than ubuntu.
—> Windows 7’s pros are not just Updated apps, maximizing, faster, Font management, Takbar and Pre Installed Codecs. It’s way more, this is really a well done system, the user experience is GREAT, everything is polished. And please don’t compare it to Ubuntu as if it was XP-like, Ubuntu is totally different OS, its way behind 7 in user experience, in stability, in ease of use and in software support.
Finally, the only thing I agree with you is, “Windows 7 is what Vista should have been”.
Maybe it should have been vista SP3, but don’t forget Bill have to collect some money, and at least this time, they are selling something that actually work.
karatchov
August 27, 2009
@karatchov I wrote this review 6 months back when the RC version was out and most of the issues are gone in the latest release. I totally agree with you, I have used 7 lately and I was dying to find something wrong with it but failed.
Kumail.H.T
August 27, 2009
@Kumail.H.T: thnx for your answer, I didnt know that you tested the RC version, probably I should had noticed the post date. Now, I can see why you wrote it.
—
Maybe you should update this article now, or probably at least correct it and explicitly mention RC.
karatchov
August 27, 2009
I`ve been using windows 7 on 2 PCs … 1 desktop pc and one laptop and what can i say … windows 7 is the best windows ever … it works fine on a 512Mb of RAM PC … looks really nice … and is faster and more stable than the xp version …
sOs
August 27, 2009
Ditto…
It is simply,” What Vista should have been, Vista service pack 3,if you will, and it does not deserve to be sold with that ridiculous PRICE TAG
Sorry Bill
Pete
November 21, 2009
Hi
I agree 100% with you
Thanks
l33t
AVGFre-eDownload
December 20, 2009
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