Windows 7 – Review | techblog.sg

Windows 7 – Review

19 January 2009 1 views One Comment

Have you tried Windows 7? The next big thing from the company in Redmond, USA.

Ever since Steve Ballmer announced Windows 7 Beta availability during his CES 2009 keynote, I excitedly waited for the release date (January 9). I wanted to test out what was in store with the latest OS.

As we all know there was some problem downloading due to too many people trying to download that MS had to bring it down to add more resources/infrastructure. Eventually I was able to download and get the Keys.

I had it installed in my Lenovo Y300 notebook which has a humble specification with Windows Vista Home Basic preinstalled. Since, I had some programs installed and Data existing, I decided to do an upgrade install which went successfully. All devices were recognised except the in-built infra-red device. Why the hell do I need it it!

After a week of light usage here is by brief review.

Speed & Performance

Boot up was pretty fast. A little faster than Vista atleast. Good job Microsoft!
Launching application and damn fast and smooth I notice. I was impressed. Performance did not suffer even after launching many programs.
Transfer speed over network. I am talking about backing up to my NAS. Vista takes ages to transfer with the message stuck long on calculating…
Windows 7 was pretty much better. To compare between Windows XP and 7, Windows 7 took 8 mins to transfer a 608MB file (over wireless) where else the XP desktop took 4. It is an unfair comparison because XP machine is using LAN cable and Windows 7 on Wi-Fi.

Features & Eye Candy

I have accept, Windows 7 is cool with wonderful look and feel. Hello….. it is pretty much Vista with enhanced and definitely useable features.

This is what I see immediately after upgrading to Windows7, with all my programs intact.

The taskbar has been reworked to show bigger icons
Opened application docks on to the taskbar
Aero peek – a cool feature. If you have multiple programs open this gives a way to peek at what you have open before deciding use it.

Final Say

These are the basic features that I have been working on. I will come up with more cool features of Windows 7 in the next blog. Yes, I am still experimenting as and when I have the time.

You can find out more on the Windows 7 official website itself and follow the Windows 7 Team blog for updates. Do you want to download a copy? Click here for more information.

I simply love this OS.