No more hiding in the server room

I'm Excited for Windows 7

I admit that I'm excited for Windows 7*. Maybe I'm just a victim of all the recent good press, but I can't wait for Windows 7 to be released. I'm a nerd, I admit, but I like new operating systems - they're like new toys. Back in the day when I was a Linux admin, I always got excited when Red Hat or Suse came out with something new. Currently I get a tingle whenever Apple drops a new version of OS X. But there's something even more special about Windows 7.

I think the reason is because it's been so long since Microsoft released a client OS that's worth getting excited about. I love Server 2008, I think it's really done right, but that's only the server side of things. XP wasn't that much better than 2000 and was so long ago and let's face it, Vista just didn't deliver. It feels kind of like those heady days when NT or Windows 95 first came on the scene. Not only were they "new" but they delivered some real potential. I think that Windows 7 is going to be the same. I've tried using Vista as my main development box, but I've always gone back to XP. I am hopeful that I'll be able to transition to Windows 7 smoothly.

What I'm most excited about is that I it appears Microsoft has really learned from Apple. My favorite part of OS X is that it does a good job of just getting out of my way. There was a time when I was a tweaker. I would change every setting I could find not because it helped me out, but because it was there. But I'm past that now. I have work to do, and I want a system that just lets me do it with no fuss. Vista wasn't that system, Windows 7 appears to be.

It's entirely possible that I'm wrong about all this, and it's that same hopeful nature of mine that had me stick with Vista as long as I did. I guess the proof in the pudding will be the eating. So serve me up.

* This is not a paid ad, I swear. I wouldn't mind getting some Microsoft Astroturfing money, but I'll settle for a decent replacement for XP.

Comment by John McGrath on June 18, 2009 at 2:43pm: Are you trying the RC?

I have been since it was released, and have been impressed with the interoperability it has with XP, Linux, etc.

The only real complaint I have is that it doesn't link my Logitec webcam, but that seems to be a driver issue.

I run a Linux distro at home on my desktop, and Windows 7 on a Toshiba laptop, and I find that I am enjoying the experience, so much that I have been using the laptop more and more.

Comment by Adam Ruth on June 18, 2009 at 10:31pm: I've only been doing some testing on it. As much as I'd like to switch over to it fully, I guess I'm a bit nervous because it's a bit more time than I can spend right now if I need to switch back for some reason.

I hear constantly that the RC is production quality, but still, I can be patient for a little longer.

What will be interesting is to compare it directly with OS X, which I have on my personal computer.

Comment by Nigel on July 1, 2009 at 3:53am: I am using it in Bootcamp on a Macbook with 4Gb of ram and it runs very nicely. As stated above, the OS does a good job of getting out of the way. The new UI tricks are very slick and the reduction in clutter on the taskbar does resemble the OSX dock in a good way.

I have been using Windows Vista as my primary OS since I got my Studio XPS desktop and its been brilliant. We use it at work as well so I haven't been near XP for months except when I discover a rogue hidden desktop someone hasn't reimaged yet. I agree Vista wasn't great on release but its a decent OS now. Price will decide whether I upgrade my own machine to Windows 7 when its released but I will be testing it to be rollied out to every University machine next summer.

Not half as much of an issue since all Vista machines should run it and get a performance boost at the same time. It does run nice and fast :)

Comment by Chris Kamler on July 7, 2009 at 6:13pm: It seems to run MUCH better than Vista. Somebody finally sat the OS programmers down at a Vista workstation and said... "don't make it like that!!" Just seems to flow better and is less intrusive when you want to add something. It only asks you once rather than three or four times. I'm looking forward to it as well.

Comment by Adam Ruth on July 7, 2009 at 10:22pm: Due to a hard drive failure on my main workstation I finally took the plunge over the weekend. I'm very happy so far even though I have had about 6 BSoDs in that time. The interface is much snappier than Vista and even XP.

Comment by Nigel on July 9, 2009 at 4:09pm: Not sure if anyone is aware but MS are offering a preorder of Windows 7 upgrade in the US for 50 dollars. Thats for the home premium version.

In Europe from 15th July until 9th August we are being offered a full version of Home Premium-E for £49.99 or Professional-E for £99.99. They are full versions rather than upgrades because they had to remove Internet Explorer from the European version of windows 7.

I will definately be buying at least one copy of the home edition at that price.

Comment by Nigel on July 9, 2009 at 4:10pm: Sorry, Professional is also available for $99.99 in the US. Details of the preorder are at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy/offers/pre-order.aspx

I'm Excited for Windows 7

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