Windows 7: possible pitfalls to watch for?

I've heard mostly good things about Windows 7, from people who have been using the Beta Version for months now. Much has been said about how it's a considerable improvment over Windows Vista. Yet are there things we should be wary of? Here is a review that looks at both the pros and cons:

Windows 7 Review: Seven Reasons Windows 7 Could be a Success/Failure

I got my first look at Windows 7 this week and my initial reaction was "so far, so good."

"So far" being the key phrase of that statement.

New operating systems (Microsoft officially releases Windows 7 on Oct. 22) are almost always an improvement, and will almost always generate some sort of enthusiasm or buzz within the first couple months.

But until the user sits down and gets a feel for what a new OS is all about (outside the VirtualBox), you're not going to understand the product's deficiencies ... or its notable improvements.

The reality being you need at least 4-6 months under your belt before you can conclude how successful an OS is for you. And that's the bottom line, how successful is this system to you and your work environment? [...]

The author then makes the case that some of the people who are praising Windows 7, are the same people who praised Windows Vista before it was released. Fair enough.

So how should we judge it? What should we look at when we consider it's worthiness? He offers us seven reasons why Windows 7 could be a success, and seven reasons why it could be a failure. Read them and see what you think.


Here is another review:

Windows 7: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

If you have ever climbed up a sand dune you understand the meaning of the catch phrase,

two steps forward, one step back.

If you are a Microsoft Windows user, or you are in the 85% of Mac users who also own a Windows PC (according to NPD Group's 2009 Household Penetration Study) then you have also been subject to the truth of this proverb.

I am not going to harp on Vista, which seems to be the new favorite pastime of many tech bloggers, I am going to acknowledge it as an important stepping stone to Windows 7. Windows 95 and XP were solid steps forward and Vista was the step that sunk back. Windows 7 has taken the next step forward and that is good for all of us, even if it did piggy back on some features of our other favorite operation system.

Starting off, Windows 7 has made the appropriate increases and decreases. Windows 7 decreases the install time and the boot time so now you can start working as soon as your pop-tarts are done microwaving. It increases your battery life by monitoring and trimming down energy sucking background activities. This allows you to actually watch more than one episode of Lost you pirated (Ed. note: Oops, did we let him say that?) without having to plug in.

Windows 7 decreases the amount of memory that it take to open new application windows. This is fantastic for those of us who multitask e.g. Working in Photoshop, snooping google for images, listening to Pandora, and Instant Messaging your mother who just discovers what IMing was.

[...]

So, Windows 7 is full of cool interface additions and eye catching shininess that pass as productivity enhancements. However, the true test will be over time. It will take rigorous testing to prove that Windows 7 is as stable as XP and as speedy as it seems.

First Microsoft must prove that Windows 7 is actually an upgrade before the majority of the business sector will jump in. It is about time that Microsoft delivers a solid OS and stops being the leading factor for hair loss in America. [...]

The main point I seem to get from many of these reviews is, that Windows 7 is basically Windows Vista with a lot of the problems fixed or improved. It's not radically different from Vista, merely improved.

I expect for many that will be enough, but only time will tell how well it is received, and if it becomes as popular as XP was in it's hey-day.
     

How to "downgrade" Windows Vista to XP

I had posted about this earlier. This post is a follow-up with more details about how to do it.

The Microsoft downgrade only applies to OEM editions of Vista Business and Vista Ultimate. The essential details from ComputerWorld.com:

FAQ: Giving up on Vista? Here's how to downgrade to XP

[...] downgrade rights lets owners of some versions of Vista replace it with Windows XP without having to pay for another license. In effect, the license for Vista is transferred to XP. Think of it as a swap, Vista for XP, not as an extra license. By Microsoft's end-user licensing agreement (EULA), you can't have both the Vista and its downgraded XP installed at the same time on the same or different machines. You have to pick: It's one or the other.

To the vast bulk of users, though, "downgrade" is a synonym for reverting to an older version. In that case, it simply means dumping Vista and returning to XP.

So, what downgrades does Microsoft allow? Owners of the OEM editions of Vista Business and Vista Ultimate can downgrade to Windows XP Professional, including Tablet PC Edition and x64 Edition. Only the OEM editions qualify for a downgrade, so if you purchased a new PC with either Business or Ultimate preinstalled, you're in like Flynn.

Those who aren't: All users of Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium, and anyone who upgraded to Vista using a retail edition of any of the operating system's SKUs. You are, as they say, SOL.

How do I downgrade? Install a copy of Windows XP Professional with the product key that came with the copy, and then when you hit the activation screen -- which is near the end of the installation process -- select the activate by phone option rather than the online method. You'll likely end up talking with a live rep; tell him that you're downgrading from Vista to XP, and give him the Vista product key. The rep is supposed to walk you through the rest.

Where do I get the XP install disc? [...]

If you need further answers, it's definitely worth reading the whole thing. I find the process a bit tiresome, but it sounds doable if you really want it. Me, I think I'll go with Ubuntu Linux, and run XP as a virtual machine with Virtual Box software if I need it.


Related Link:

How to make Windows XP last for the next seven years
Vista, schmista. Follow our tips for keeping your XP setup humming happily for a long, long time
     

"Downgrade" Microsoft Vista to Windows XP?

I never knew this was an option:

Microsoft gives Windows XP six more months

[...] Ever since the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft has offered customers "downgrade rights." Essentially this means that those who purchase Vista Business or Vista Ultimate have the option to use to Windows XP Professional on their PC and then move to Vista when they are ready, without having to pay for an upgrade. OEMs have supported this option forcefully ever since Windows XP expired on June 30, 2008 (XP was no longer licensed to OEMs and retail sales were terminated). Downgrade rights never expire, however, so those who insist on using XP will be able to as long as they can get their hands on Vista.

These "downgrade rights," which are available for almost every release of Windows, are a little more heavily publicized with Microsoft's latest operating system due to the unusually long gap between XP and Vista's release, and the accompanying problems when Microsoft decided to majorly change the driver requirements. [...]

This is the first I've heard of "downgrade rights". I'm going to read up on it more.


UPDATE 10-18-08: Here is a link to more details about it.

How to "downgrade" Windows Vista to XP
     

An HP Vista mini-note, VS an HP Linux mini-note

A while back I posted about the new HP 2133 Mini-Note PC that was coming out. It's now for sale on Amazon.com, along with it's Windows Vista counter part. Here are two samples, with considerable price differences:

HP 2133-KX870AT 8.9-inch Mini-Note PC (C7-M 1.6 GHz Processor, 2048 MB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, Vista Business)

Technical Details

* Full-function laptop with 8.9-inch display, stylish anodized aluminum case, and integrated webcam

* 1.6 GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor, 120 GB hard drive, 2 GB RAM (maximum), tri-mode Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g), Gigabit Ethernet

* Spill-resistant 92 percent full size keyboard; hard drive protected by HP's 3D DriveGuard

* Connectivity: 3 USB, 1 headphone, 1 microphone, ExpressCard 54/34, Secure Digital memory card slot, VGA monitor port

* Pre-installed with Windows Vista Business; trial versions of Microsoft Office 2007 and Norton Internet Security [...]

As of this date, the selling price is $640.98. The Amazon reviews are for ALL the HP 2133 notebooks, all lumped together. Most complaints seem to be about poor performance with Windows Vista.

Here is a model with Linux on it:

HP 2133-KX869AT 8.9-inch Mini-Note PC (C7-M 1.2 GHz Processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, Linux)

Technical Details

* SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

* It comes equipped with the tools to help you conduct business efficiently on the go with features such as high-resolution, 8.9-inch diagonal WXGA display; 92% full-size QWERTY keyboard; and touchpad.

* Stay connected where you need to work with integrated Wi-Fi Certified WLANand optional Bluetooth wireless technologies. Access the Internet, email, IM, or chat at school, at home or at your favorite hotspots.

* The simple, refined design and all-aluminum case make it sleek, sturdy and lightweight. Features such as HP DuraKeys, magnesium alloy support structure, and HP 3D DriveGuard make a durable mini-note PC that can go the distance. [...]

This model with Linux has a slightly slower processor, but more RAM. As of this date it is selling for $393.94. A considerable savings over it's Windows Vista counterpart.

There are other versions available at different prices, with different specs, such as a solid-state memory drive instead of a hard drive.

But the C7-M processor is not very powerful. In a similar price range, you can find full blown HP laptops with better processors, that come with Windows Vista. Why not buy one of them, and install Linux on it? It would cost a bit more than this Linux machine, but it would have a faster processor, built in DVD drive, etc.

As much as I like seeing an HP notebook with Linux, I'm not sure this is really the best way to go.

Not sure, which means I AM thinking about it. ;-)
     

New Windows Version coming "soon"?

If you can call the next year or so "soon", and if you can believe Bill Gates:

Gates: Microsoft Windows 7 Sometime Next Year

Gates' comments are in line with a development cycle that usually releases a test version of the software before its official introduction.

MIAMI (Reuters)—Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates said on Friday he expected the new version of Windows operating software, code-named Windows 7, to be released "sometime in the next year or so."

The software giant has been aiming to issue more regular updates of the operating system software that powers the majority of the world's personal computers. Nevertheless, Gates' comments suggested that a successor to the Vista program might be released sooner than was generally expected.

Microsoft has said it expected to release a new version of Windows approximately 3 years after the introduction of Vista in January 2007. A company spokeswoman said Gates' comments are in line with a development cycle that usually releases a test version of the software before its official introduction. [...]

Some people are speculating that Windows Vista was really just a test release, and that the next version will be the real one. Comparisons are being made with WindowsME, which was released about a year or so prior to WindowsXP. ME was considered a flop. Some people saw it as a transitional release from Windows 98 to Windows XP.

It will be interesting to see if Microsoft actually has "Windows 7" ready for release in a year or two.


Related Link:

Win XP gets reprieve, while Linux advances
     

Can Windows XP fit on the OLPC Laptop?

It would be like a fat lady trying to fit into a dress that's two sizes too small. Yet the increasing popularity of inexpensive low-end laptops and internet devices (with small resources) seems to be making a fat lady out of Microsoft, as Linux moves with ease into this market, and Microsoft tries to follow.

From DesktopLinux.com:

Linux is about to take over the low end of PCs

[...] Four trends: user-friendly Linux desktops, useful under-$500 laptops and desktops, near-universal broadband, and business-ready Internet office applications. Put them together and you have a revolution.

For the last two decades, we've been buying expensive desktop operating systems on business PCs running from $1,000 to $2,000. On those systems, we've been putting pricey desktop-centric office suites like Microsoft Office. That's a lot of money, and the convergence of the above trends is about to knock it for a loop.

[...]

Linux desktops run just dandy on low-end, under-$500 PCs. Vista Basic, which comes the closest to being able to run on these systems, is unacceptable since it doesn't support business networking. Office 2007 also won't run worth a darn on these systems. And somehow, I can't see Microsoft optimizing its applications to work with Google Apps instead of Exchange and SharePoint.

Put it all together, and here's what I see happening. In the next few quarters, low-end Linux-based PCs are going to quickly take over the bottom rung of computing. Then, as businesses continue to get comfortable with SAAS (software as a service) and open-source software, the price benefits will start leading them toward switching to the new Linux/SAAS office model.

You'll see this really kick into gear once Vista Service Pack 1 appears and business customers start seriously looking at what it will cost to migrate to Vista. That Tiffany-level price tag will make all but the most Microsoft-centric businesses start considering the Linux/SAAS alternative. [...]

I read in another article that MS is trying desperately to get WinXP to work on the OLPC XO laptop. But they can't, unless the units have double the memory they have now. As a result, they are trying to get the OLPC Project to build in and extra port to add up to double the memory the device currently uses.

Microsoft has wanted to dump XP and promote Vista instead. But now it finds it wants to compete in the low-end market with Linux, and Vista can't go there. It would seem that XP is going to be sticking around for a while, in some form or another, although it may have to go on a crash diet.


But will XP even be good enough (or small enough) to compete effectively with Linux in this arena? Here are some more articles that look at that, links about XP on the OLPC's XO:

A Good Thing About Windows XP on XO: Contrast

No Microsoft Windows XP on OLPC XO

Put GPL Code Windows XP on XO

I think that if MS does somehow manage to SQUEEZE WinXP onto the XO, Linux is still going to look like the better alternative. It will require more memory, which will drive up costs, and it may not be as fast as a Linux alternative on the same hardware. Linux also does not have licensing fees. It will be interesting to see what happens.
     

Linux competes with Vista for laptop market

Penguin Power; coming with your next low cost laptop?
Market trends have been moving towards people replacing their desktop computers with laptop computers, especially as prices of laptops continue to get cheaper, and wireless access becomes increasingly common.

Steven Vaughan-Nichols at eWEEK has a look at what this means for Windows Vista, and why there is an opening for Desktop Linux to best Vista in this market:

Cheap Laptops Bad for Vista, Good for Linux

Opinion: As laptops get cheaper, Linux and Windows XP are both making better business sense than Vista.

The good news for everyone is that you can get a good, solid laptop for under a grand these days. The bad news for Vista users is that many of those laptops, even though they're sold with Vista, have nothing like enough resources to run Vista decently.

This year, from everything I've seen, has lived up to the Merrill Lynch prediction that 2007 would be the year that notebooks overtook desktops to become the bigger revenue generator for PC makers. For some companies, like Hewlett-Packard, laptops have become the single most important revenue source.

There are a couple of reasons for this and they're closely tied together. First, a PC vendor can make more profit on an under-$1,000 laptop than it would on a PC at the same price. At the same time, with Wi-Fi being available essentially everywhere and laptop prices falling below the magic $1,000 mark, more and more customers, both consumer and business, are turning to laptops.

There's only one little problem with this if your company name is Microsoft. Those under-$1,000 laptops can't run Vista worth a darn. In addition, Vista has become a bigger and bigger part of a laptop's cost. So, if you're a PC vendor, you could either upgrade your hardware—and there goes your sweet price point; put Vista Home Basic on the system—which even Vista lovers admit is trash; or continue to sell Windows XP and give adventurous customers a Linux option.

What's happened is that people aren't upgrading their basic laptops. Computer price margins are razor-thin. If people want top-of-the-line laptop, vendors are happy to provide them at an appropriate price point. But Dell, HP, Acer, et al. know darn well that they sell more of their cheaper systems than premium ones.

When you see a cheap laptop, you're seeing one that almost certainly has a gigabyte or less RAM and some kind of embedded graphics chip like an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 8MB to 64MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory. Vista really requires 2GB before it becomes usable, and there's no point in even trying to run Vista's Aero interface with that low level of graphical horsepower, or perhaps I should say ponypower.[...]

See the rest of the article for more particulars, and embedded links.

There are big changes occurring in the desktop computer market, and a whole slew of low cost laptops and micro computers that will be coming onto the market soon, and Windows Vista is not capable of running on many of them. Linux is, and as a result, we may see it coming into use more widely. Lets hope so.
     

Linux Rescue CD's can also repair Windows

Repairing Windows PCs the Linux way

Do you want to know the basics of repairing Windows systems with Knoppix Linux?

You should. It's incredibly useful information to have, since with Knoppix, or other live CD-based Linuxes, you can do life-saving surgery on near-dead Windows systems.

I've done it several times myself and I've meant to get around to writing an introductory how-to on the subject. So much for that idea! Scott Granneman has beaten me to it with his excellent story, Fixing Windows with Knoppix, in our sister publication, Extreme Tech.

In this tale, Granneman goes over some of the repairs you're most likely to want to do on a Windows system with the Debian-based Knoppix Linux. These include: working on the Windows machine's hard drive partitions; repairing broken boot.ini files; editing the system registry file; and recovering data from dead systems to USB drives, writeable CD or DVD, network drives, or even an email account. [...]

Or how about SystemRescueCD, designed specifically as a rescue CD:

The best Linux system repair distribution gets better

[...] The new 0.4 version of SystemRescueCd was released on Oct. 4. This new edition focuses on disk partitioning, Vista support, and data rescue tasks. In the past, we've found SystemRescueCD to be the best of the best when it comes to repairing troubled systems. We see every reason to believe that this version will be even better.

[...]

If you're a Windows user, don't let the fact that this is a Linux-based repair tool keep you away. SystemRescueCD has long excelled at repairing Windows systems. With new support for the Vista “Offline NT Password & Registry Editor” and improved support for NTFS drives, SystemRescueCD is better than ever for what ails your Windows PCs. [...]

These can be downloaded for free. And if nothing else, a live Linux CD can easily help you rescue your data from an otherwise inaccessible hard drive. Every computer user should have a Linux live CD handy.

Is Windows Vista as bad as some are saying?

Does Vista suck? I think it depends. When you buy Vista already installed, say on a new home PC, the manufacturer has taken some steps to insure that it is compatible with all the hardware. If it also happens to be compatible with all your hardware peripherals, or devices you add to it later, you would likely have a good impression. But if it's not compatible with peripheral devices you used previously with XP, or new things you bought, you would think differently.

The greatest criticism seems to come from people who have tried to upgrade existing Win XP computers to Vista. Here is one example from Steven J. Vaughan Nichols at Desktoplinux.com, who talks about his friend, and avid Windows user, who is uninstalling Vista from all his machines:

Second-rate Vista has Windows fans looking to Linux

[...] I'm now editor at large for Ziff Davis Enterprise, which means I get to stick my nose into just about any technology that interests me, and Jim's just left being the editor in chief of PC Magazine to take over Revision3, an Internet television network focused on developing programming for the on-demand generation. When it comes to operating systems these days, I'm now using SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) 10 SP 1 and MEPIS 6.5 on my work desktops and Jim's switching back from Vista to XP on his workday machines.

Yes, that's right. A loyal Windows user of more than 15-years is throwing in the towel on Vista. You can read his story for why he finds Vista so annoying, but I'll sum it up for you: Vista sucks.

The drivers don't drive, running programs won't run or won't stop running, applications don't apply and networking won't net. I feel his pain.

I keep two copies of Vista Ultimate up so that when I want to compare Vista with a Linux desktop I'm able to actually use Vista so I can make a fair comparison between Vista and its Linux competition. Vista just doesn't cut it. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) Yikes! Read the whole thing for more details. Is it any wonder so many people are saying this a window of opportunity for Mac OS and Linux to make big inroads in the Desktop market?


I think Microsoft has always been too content to release buggy software, and too willing to expect people to just put up with it. I know one friend, a business woman, who is wanting to buy a new PC, but is putting it off, because she doesn't want to deal with Windows Vista.

Apparently many people feel that way. Have you noticed how cheap the price of computer memory is lately? That's because a surplus was manufactured, in anticipation of people wanting to upgrade to Vista. But the rush they anticipated hasn't materialized, so they are cutting prices and selling memory cheap.

I once worked for an accountant, who advised "Never buy the first version of ANYTHING by Microsoft. Let other people be the guinea pigs first." I have found that to be sensible advice. I only got Windows XP after it had been out for a while. I got it already installed on a new computer I bought, and service pack 2 had just come out.

My experience with XP has been mostly positive. It helped that many of the bugs had been corrected by the time I started using it. Perhaps this will become true for Vista too; only time will tell. But in the meantime, alternatives like Linux, BSD and Mac OSX may find lots of new customers.



Windows Vista is the best thing to happen to Apple

[...] I do work on both an Apple and a PC – but haven’t yet upgraded my PC to Windows Vista as of yet; don’t know if I ever will. I am consulting with a start-up in northern Virginia and their entire team upgraded – I’ve heard nothing but endless complaints since. I thought it was funny that Vista has so many options and all seems to miss the mark. [...]

It will be interesting to watch how this all unfolds. More viable choices in the marketplace could only be a good thing for everyone in the long run, IMO.