Thursday, December 24, 2009

Windows 7 rejuvenated my ancient Laptop

Because I’m waiting on a new computer in order for me to become up close and personal with Windows 7, I had Brian Barnes install Windows 7 on our User Group laptop.

As it turned out doing so was fortuitous as it provided me an opportunity to evaluate Windows 7 on a 3 year old laptop with only 2 gigabytes of RAM.

Folks, as far as I’m concerned if you’re a Vista user you must upgrade to Widows 7! It’s a no brainer. And if you’re an Xper, the time has come for you to consider upgrading.

Windows 7 on our vintage laptop far and away outperformed Vista. From the very first Boot after installation it was obvious Windows 7 managed the laptop’s 2 Megabytes of RAM far more efficiently that Vista. And then continued to do so as I installed some of my most resource demanding software. In fact and I kid you not, had I not known better I might have been fooled into believing the laptop was a new computer.

Although I’ve not installed all my software, most of the software I did was accepted without having to seek out a Windows 7 upgrade. But be aware there are Vista software programs that will require a Windows 7 version.

My next adventure involved dusting off and connecting a vintage inkjet printer and scanner. Neither were Vista friendly. Even XP had experienced a problem locating their drivers. Without the slightest hesitation Windows 7 had them up and running.

As for the Windows 7 presentations. If you’re a Vista user after a few walk abouts you’ll feel right at home. And if you do need help there are many “How Do I’s” strategically placed to assist you.

With the exception of pinning shortcuts to the taskbar (Vista’s Quick Launch has been eliminated) the Taskbar, Start Menu and Toolbar properties are pretty much the same.

The only significant change to the Control Panel is the “Action Center” where among other settings the “Security Center” is now located.

As far as I’m concerned the way in which Windows 7 presents its features and settings is far more well thought out and user friendly than where those of Vista.

It goes without saying Xpers upgrading to Window 7 will experience an extraordinary adventure, but at least they’ll do so without suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune we who upgraded from XP to Vista experienced.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.

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