Windows 7: The Verdict

Is Windows 7 the savior to the disaster that was Vista, or is it a protégé in a series of repeating bad operating systems? Many of people I have talked to are switching over to Apple because of all the problems they had with Vista.

The reality is that Windows 7 is still very similar to Vista, however, it's not as bad as you may think.

Windows 7 doesn't carry over all the compatibility issues Vista had, I have run into one or two with certain software, but nothing that was a major hinder. Windows 7 also runs much softer on your machine compared to Vista; Home Premium uses up only 1GB of memory to function properly.

I do, however, have a problem that Microsoft is still marketing multiple tiers of their operating system. You start with Home Premium, then move up to Professional, and if you want the best OS, then Ultimate is what you seek. Why not just market Ultimate on all their machines? That way any new purchaser can receive the full experience from their operating system, like other operating system platforms.

There are upsides to Windows 7 though. Microsoft added some great features such as the ability to pin most commonly used programs to the taskbar for easy access as well as the Snap which allows you to instantly full screen or left and right justify a window just by smacking it against the appropriate side of the screen. Another nice feature is for those of you that do not have a background in computers. Many of you want to be able to share information between multiple computers in your house and Windows 7 makes it easy to do that. Finally, Windows Live is a great way to stay organized and share media.

Windows Live offers:

· Email

· Calendar: Windows Live lets you and everyone else in your life stay organized and up-to-date. Share calendars amongst friends and family to never miss an important appointment.

· Contacts: Keep your contacts backed up and easy to access whenever and wherever you are.

· Instant Messaging / Video Messaging

· 20GB Online Storage

· Spaces: Website creating (ie. Facebook or Myspace)

· Windows Live Photo Gallery: Upload pictures instantly

· Windows Live Mail: Access and sync your emails, calendar, and contacts

· Family Safe: Keep those you care about safe online, block unwanted websites and like content.

· Windows Writer: Upload your ideas, thoughts, and experiences easily.

So as you can see, Windows 7 might not live up to the expectation many have since XP, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

Brenton Niebauer has repaired computers for Staples EasyTech and FixedbyaGeek.com. He has attended networking and hardware seminars at PTI and has earned various certifications from HP. His tech site can be found at http://bniebauer.spaces.live.com.