On Wednesday I began installing Windows 7 and after four attempts, two days, and both the 64-bit and 32-bit version, I now have a operational system running the 32-bit version of Windows 7. First I’ll go over the problems I had with the install, or rather mostly with the setup, and the likely cause of these problems then the pros and cons I’ve found in Windows 7 thus far. Unlike most other new operating system releases from Microsoft, I think this one will mostly go off without any ‘major’ problems.
I started with the 64-bit version of Windows 7 in the hopes that the kinks of other 64-bit systems had been worked out by now, unfortunately I was mistaken. I was able to install and run the OS without any troubles which leads me to believe that the problem lays with the other software I use and not in Windows 7. However, Windows 7 could and should find better ways to support these other software titles as I don’t believe they are that uncommon. A few of these include, OpenOffice.org, Avast, and driver updates from windows update and my HP printer. After installing these items the computer would no re-boot. I was not able to narrow down the exact cause of the problem because I only tried the install and setup three times before switching to the 32-bit version. It did seem to be more prone to problems if I installed a large program, such as OpenOffice.org or my HP printer software, or multiple programs without restarting the system between installs.
My favorite features of Windows 7 thus far include their decision to keep the general layout of Vista and the updated design of the taskbar. Have a look at the my Windows 7 desktop.
I like to keep a clean desktop with very few links and icons, but there are a few programs that I use often and typically like to keep readily available. Now I can pin these to the taskbar, the small list of icons next to the Start menu, and they’re available with only one click. This has been available since Windows 95 or 98, I forget which had this first. The difference with Windows 7 is that when you open multiple windows they nest together under the one icon. This frees up lost of space on the task bar and is similar to one of the features in OS X and has been tried in Windows XP and Vista, but wasn’t very useful. With Windows 7 this feature is now usable due to the fact that windows are shown as thumbnail views with updated information when you move the cursor over the icon. Check out the screen shot below.
My biggest drawback so far is the lack of ‘Classic View’ option in the menus. This has been my crutch for some time and I would like to keep it. I know that I need to get used to the new menu layouts for future versions of Windows, but I’ve been reluctant to learn a new layout and generally like to avoid change if I can. It looks like with this version of windows I will be learning a new menu layout.
I will continue to use the 32-bit version, which installed the first time and worked perfectly, until the end of this test on June 3rd. Let me know if you have any questions or programs you would like me to test while I have Windows 7 installed.
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