Windows 7 - at last!

I finally have Windows 7 installed. Instead of building up an old desktop to use for this, I sacrificed my Vista laptop. I ran out of patience, and using the Vista laptop was the easiest way to get the job done. Besides, I don't foresee a need to have a working Vista system anymore. I have worked on enough Vista systems to know that I can handle Vista problems without having my own system.

So, on to Windows 7. I never was able to use the first DVD that Amazon sent me, and they sent me a replacement set. Windows 7 comes with a 32 bit version DVD and a 64 bit version DVD. My laptop had the 32 bit version of Vista installed, and everything I have read told me that the 64 bit version is unnecessary at this time because there are so few programs that will take advantage of the technology. The 32 bit version is recommended.

So I tried, but failed. The installation did not at all go the way it was supposed to go. I could not get the 32 bit version installed, and mind you, all I wanted was a CLEAN install, meaning all I wanted to do was lay the new system down on the drive overwriting my old system and destroying all of the data. I did not want tp upgrade my Vista to Windows 7. This latter install is the toughest, I have read, and a CLEAN install is recommended whenever possible.

I then decided to try the 64 bit DVD, and, to my surprise, I was able to get through the install, although not terribly smoothly. There were problems along the way, but I somehow managed to get through it.

Then, and this comes as no surprise, I had to sit through hours of Windows Updates. The DVD set was dated, as I recall, July 2009. Microsoft has been very busy patching Windows 7 since then, and there were tens, maybe even a hundred, updates to apply. Then I had to install Microsoft Office 2007, and it too had many, many updates, some quite time-consuming.

This is the Microsoft way, isn't it? It always has been and probably always will be.

Eventually I had all of the fixes applied, and thought I would try the new Microsoft Security Essentials. I had promised in an earlier blog post that I would give it a try. Supposedly, this one free package will do it all, anti-virus and spyware. The download and install of this package went very smoothly and quickly. Can it be that Microsoft has done this one thing right? I sure hope so.

So there you have it. I have to admit that I LIKE Windows 7. This may surprise some of you after what I have written above. I can and will recommend Windows 7. Microsoft has done a very good job at improving what they had in Vista. They may even have listened to users!

I can recommend Windows 7 to you now mostly because I know you will most likely be buying a new computer that already has Windows 7 installed on it. It is a very nice and user-friendlier interface. I simply can't recommend the upgrade from Vista to Windows 7. I am glad I have gone through it, but I had so many problems that it was painful, and to be honest, I don't even know if the 64 bit version I had to install will run well with the software I want to run. Time will tell.

Bottom line: Windows 7 is a very good product. Make sure your next computer has it. I think you will like it a lot, especially when compared to Vista.