The Windows 7 hype is in full swing. I am never quite sure whether all the computer mags are just obedient to what the majority of their advertisers want or whether they really believe the enthusiastic mush they are writing. Vista ended up as a mess. It was an attempt to (A) copy various features of OS X (mainly surface appearance), and (B) to tighten up on security.
The security story is complex. MS is fairly clueless, but it also has a much tougher time than OS X or Linux, because unlike them it is the target of choice for writers of malware. In any case its approach on Vista was to involve the user. You could do almost nothing without apparently endless click boxes asking if you were sure you really, really wanted to. Needless to say, this infuriated users.
Windows 7 is really Windows 6.1 (indeed it describes itself as such to apps to encourage them to treat it as Vista). It is an attempt to streamline Vista for the user. MS has also come up with a neat marketing idea. Offer it free to everyone. But “Watch the calendar. [It] will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption you’ll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before 1 March 2010.”
A quick scan of the instructions reveals nothing about installing Windows 7 in a separate partition, or about how to go back to your old Windows if you do not want to pay $200 for a non-expiring copy of Windows 7 next year. Or indeed before then, if it does not work to your satisfaction. According to some sources on the web. You are stuck if you don’t like it. Eg Stephen Pate on njnnetwork.com:
“This means if you are not happy with Windows 7 release candidate you can live with it or manually re-install your previous operating system. The last choice is time consuming and complex. All drivers will need to be installed for your computer, all programs, all data.
After 10 days with Windows 7, the bloom is off the rose. Several programs will not work. Most of them are video programs like Adobe Premier Elements, A/V 8, video editing software and video conversion software. The nVidia drivers are beta 1.1 versions.
However, I use those programs daily so I must revert to Vista 64.
I will have to back up all my programs and data. Vista will be re-installed from the Dell OEM disks. The drivers will need to be installed then updated. All the software will be re-installed and the data copied back. It will take 1-2 days.”
But still, 2010 will not be my problem, I am giving this machine back at the end of the week, so I thought I would see what Windows 7 is like. Whilst I have been writing this I logged in to MS and clicked to download. For the last 20 minutes nothing has happened except a little circular ring of green dots rotating in the middle of the Google Chrome window. It is unclear whether download is in progress or stalled. So I shall have to report back tomorrow!
In the meantime, for those who would like a little more information on the wonderful people behind MS, you might like to look here.
