It's been a few weeks since the end of the holidays so I'm sure some of you are introducing yourself to Windows 7, either on your new PC or thanks to a gift wrapped retail copy of the new operating system.
So... what do you think?
Is Windows 7 the greatest thing since sliced bread or are you looking around for instructions to downgrade back to your trusty Windows XP?
More on Windows 7:
How to Install Windows 7
Windows 7 Drivers
Windows 7 Gadgets for System Monitoring
I like Win 7 because it is faster than Vista, but as far as being able to save things, I have yet to learn how to just make a file like in 98 or XP and “save to”. Win 7 has renamed the folders to “Libraries, and has no facility (at least none that I have found yet) to just simply create a new folder and save to that folder. I keep getting some error message like “There is no folder in this library” but the only folders I can PUT into the “Library” is some other folder already named something else, which I have to then jump through hoops to rename. What a stupid waste of time! I’ll take XP any day!
To create a new folder in Windows Explorer, navigate to where you want to create the new folder, right click and select “New” then “Folder”.
This works in “Save As” windows too.
To be honest, I had no intention of changing to Win 7, however, it came with my new laptop. My initial plan was to install Vista and stay in my comfort zone but something convinced me to give 7 a try first. I’ve been running Win 7 for about 2 weeks now and have to say i’m quite impressed. Start-up and shutdown are very much faster than Vista as is copying or moving late amounts of data between drives. The interface took me a day or two to get used to but is not that far removed from Vista that it caused any real problems. I guess i’m going to stick with Win 7 now but I’m not sure I would have gone out and paid for the change, it really doesn’t strike me as that significant. Two weeks is barely enough time to evaluate Win 7 completely but certainly no complaints so far.
I now have a worthless bunch of programs that will not function on my new compaq dual core processer computer thanks to system 7 home version that was on the computer. Since the programs will not function I have gone back to my old home built computer that runs xp and all of my once purchased programs. The compaq is now a useless paper weight thanks again microsoft.
Considering I’ve hated every new OS from Microsoft (at least for awhile), I must say it’s a step up From Vista. I’ll probably like it better in about 2-3 months. That 5 hour upgrade still leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I don’t like not having access to those ‘locked’ folders. One more good thing is that I didn’t have to go out and buy $200.00 worth of new hardware!
Windows 7, My instalation on a new computer has a ocasional problem, after aperiod of none use the sleep mode starts thats o.k. When attempting to restart it sometimes opens with the wallpaper on screen but no icons or buttons showing the only way to shut down and reboot is to use the start button on the tower. Is there an answer or quick fix please.
I love it! I feel that it is the best OS yet brought out by Microsoft – it could be because of them copying some features from Mac like the multi-touch scrolling and libraries. Either way I think it’s great. I found my way around very easily and love the new look, new taskbar and libraries where you can add all your different folders under one heading like Music. My one frustration so far is with my wife’s netbook with Windows 7 Starter. You cannot change the wallpaper – ridiculous.
I just picked up a new HP laptop with Windows 7. I have never experienced a computer with 4 Gb memory run soooo slow as this one is. XP64 loads so much faster and runs the programs I have better on a proven platform like XP. Has anyone experienced such a first impression with win7 loading very slow(2 min) with the system on the pc next to my Turion double core(<1 min) besktop with only a 1 Gb memory. Any comments?
Is Win7 good, or not, but it does not cost $200. It is cheating, criminal behavior of Microsoft. Why not improve OS with current of time, never making the changes which force user to experience difficulties, like, for instance these idiotic “locked folders”?
Additionally, it is not honest method to force user to spend money on new hardware and software. Cheating, cheating and once more cheating.
I have been using Windows 7 since beta and absolutely love it. I have it installed on both my laptop and desktop. The desktop had been running Windows XP and the laptop had been running Windows Vista Home Edition. They are both like brand new computers with how quick Windows 7 is.I haven’t changed any of the hardware in the desktop that is roughly 2-3 years out of date now it runs flawlessly. Windows 7 is finally a more compact and essentially better designed then any other os by microsoft.
Microsoft finally got 1 operating system right at the expense of failing with Windows Vista.
@Griff: Check Device Manager for any missing drivers – it could be that a system device is properly recognized and it’s causing this problem. You might also try a Startup Repair if you think there might have been an issue during installation. Other than that, it might be an issue that your computer manufacturer could solve. Have you checked for a BIOS update lately?
@scott: Something is most certainly wrong if the XP system you described is booting up faster than that new Windows 7 PC. This has in no way been my experience with Windows 7.
Windows 7 is great but not the best in terms of 100% reliability. ZoneAlarm and Comodo does not work well on Win7 AND not to mention it does not always shut down. Has anyone else have this issue where it does not always shut down? Please advise.
I support XP, Vista and Windows 7 daily, and I must say, Windows 7 is my favorite. It’s more complicated than XP, but better than Vista in several ways.
@OM: IMO, Zone Alarm is not something that I would install on any computer, let alone Vista/Win 7 as they both have built in firewalls.
@Tim, about scott: If the processor of the old computer was screaming, for the day, and the current processor is bargain basement, they could be the same processor or close to it, with the same amount of memory. Depending on tweaking, and what’s installed, XP or Win7, could boot faster. Without a complete hardware & software profile, there is no way to say what is supposed to be faster. I had a customer today that had an older HP that was booting nearly as fast as a newer dell (both XP), due to memory type and what was in the startup group.
OM: This is probably a driver issue as I don’t think this is a common problem across the board. Have you checked for updated drivers for all of your hardware?
@Justin: I guess in my mind I was imagining two new clean installs of each OS. In that situation it would surprise me to see XP running faster than 7. But I see that’s not the case in Scott’s case so yes, you’re completely right. That new Windows 7 PC could have who-knows-what preinstalled causing all kinds of problems.