Windows 7: The pros and cons

By Rick Castellini Special to PRIME Except for the small user interface changes with the Start menu, taskbar changes, system tray overhaul, and the way you can interact with open Windows, Windows 7 looks and feels like Vista. Under the hood, however, is where Microsoft cleaned up and improved Vista quite a bit. First and foremost is speed and resource management. Windows 7 runs a lot snappier than any Vista system and doesn't require the kind of resource (memory) requirement that Vista does. I still recommend that you don't buy a new system with less than 4GB of RAM, but overall Windows 7 runs much faster that an equally configured Vista machine. Networking Microsoft changed the networking quite a bit in this edition of Windows, and I'm not sold on it yet. If all of your machines are Windows 7, it works pretty well. However, like Vista, mixing and matching machines with different operating systems and version of Windows presents a greater challenge than with XP. Connecting a Windows 7 computer to a wireless network, however, is streamlined down to two clicks (from Vista's 5-6 non-intuitive clicks). Seems Microsoft may have looked to Ubuntu and Mac OS for inspiration for wireless connectivity.and thanks for that.vastly improved. 64 bit One debacle that Microsoft kept with the release of Windows 7 is the insane practice of offering multiple versions. With Windows 7, you have the choice of Starter, Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate editions. Confused? Yeah, me too. And not only do you have those choices, but with Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate, you have the choice between 32 bit or 64 bit version. More confused? Yeah, me too. So now, Windows consumers have a choice between 7 different version of Windows! Unbelievable. At least Microsoft didn't choose "Windows 7, your computer simplified" as their slogan. Oh, wait, they did! Sorry for the short rant, let me try to decode this for you. In a nutshell, 64 bit computing takes advantage of newer advances in our computer's hardware and is supposed to make things faster. For details regarding 32 vs. 64 bit computing, read this Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit). 64 bit computing causes some problems, however. Almost all of the software we use to do anything from word processing to running our printers and scanners was developed for 32 bit systems. Some of the software can run fine under the 64 bit version of Windows, and some can't. And when it can't, it's pretty ugly. Then you have to wait for the software or hardware company to develop and release a 64 bit version of their software in order for you to be able to use it again. The reason I bring up all this messiness is that a majority of new computer systems are being sold with 64 bit versions of Windows 7 pre-installed. In just the short amount of time since Windows 7 release and the limited number of machines I have seen personally, I have run into everything from printers that won't work, fairly new software not work or be extremely buggy, to even conflicts with Microsoft's own Internet Explorer (they include 2 versions of IE in the 64 bit release of Windows). If you want to buy a new Windows 7 computer and it comes with Windows 7 64 bit, you need to do some pre-purchase research (and this doesn't mean asking the salesman at Best Buy) regarding the current hardware and software you hope to install on the new machine. Most software publishers and hardware manufacturers have special sections on their web sites giving you information about Windows 7 compatibility. Again, the key is to research and find the information specific to 64 bit versions of Windows 7. In many cases, you may need to buy new versions of the software or download and install patches to make your hardware or software work. By far, this has been the biggest hurdle in the jump to Windows 7. Some users have zero problems, others have ongoing, horrific problems. Security Microsoft has tweaked the annoying User Account Control (UAC) pop-up dialog boxes that plagued Windows Vista, but overall I can't say that Windows 7 is any safer than previous versions of Windows. Already, I have had to help bail out Windows 7 users who get stuck with self-inflicted spyware problems. I do like the new Microsoft Security Essentials program, but it is not included in Windows 7, you have to download and install it. It's still early, however, to properly comment on the security of Windows 7. Time will tell. Overall, I do recommend that those wanting to stick with Windows make the jump to Windows 7 when they invest in a new system. I do not recommend upgrading an existing computer in most cases because of the hassle involved with the upgrade process for the average user. I also continue to carefully consider a computer users needs and recommend Apple computers or Linux/Ubuntu as viable alternatives. Rick Castellini is an author, computer consultant, and hosts a computer radio show from Colorado. Visit his web site at www.HelpMeRick.com for new tips every week and sign up for his free weekly email newsletter. You can also follow Rick on Twitter at twitter.com/helpmerick.