Seven good reasons to switch to Windows 7

[Lite]

Landing in stores October, Windows 7 is sparking a surprisingly heated debate (in our forums, at least) on whether or not upgrading from XP is a good idea. If you're in the "nay" camp, we're going to lay out seven reasons why you should consider switching your stance to "yay."

Windows 7 is coming in October. Here are seven reasons to consider switching to Microsoft's new OS.

When scanning our list, we politely encourage you to ask yourself, "Do I really want to continue using an eight-year-old operating system?" Followed by "Don't I deserve better?"

Because no matter how comfortable you are with XP, you do deserve an OS that's both newer and better, and Windows 7 will deliver. Not convinced? Then read on.

You Asked for This

Remember Vista? We know most of you don't want to, and that's because the OS fell short of many consumers' expectations. As a result, many -- especially power users -- elected to skip Vista entirely, and have continued running Windows XP. Hence Microsoft's attempt at a redo with Windows 7. This time around, the software giant made an effort to crowdsource feedback from Microsoft enthusiasts by distributing a free beta version of Windows 7 in January.

You complained, you demanded, and in response Microsoft slapped something together to ship October 22. The result? The overall presentation of Windows 7 is familiar enough to welcome XP users, but fundamentally it's different enough to make you change the way you think of Microsoft. (I can vouch for that, being a long-time Mac user and ex-Windows fan).

Upgrading Won't Screw You Over

Microsoft has its loyal fans in mind, including those clinging for dear life to XP. The tech giant promises that Windows 7 has been coded to support almost every piece of software that runs on your XP system. If, in the rare case one of your XP programs doesn't work on Windows 7, you can still run it in a virtual environment called XP Mode. What's especially cool about this mode is you won't have to toggle between an XP emulator and Windows 7. The apps running in XP Mode appear like ordinary windows that are part of Windows 7.

Also, the Windows 7 upgrade chart may appear intimidating and confusing, but prior to release Microsoft plans to release a compatibility checker that will automatically scan your system to tell you which version of Windows 7 is for you.

Automatically Installed Device Drivers

This is only a minor improvement, but it addresses a major pain in the ass in earlier versions of Windows. Who has time to scour the internet for a device driver to work with hardware such as a video card or an external hard drive? Life is too short for that garbage work, and fortunately Windows 7 does this chore for you.

Plug in a new piece of hardware, and the OS will find and install the driver for you. XP has this feature, sort of, but it works better in Vista and much better in Windows 7. No more of those annoying yellow question marks. Good riddance.

Piracy

Yarr! We know there are plenty of you out there downloading pirated digital booty, especially in Windows land. But it's never been convenient to be a pirate compared with being a paying customer. For example, if you're a legitimate buyer purchasing movies off iTunes, you can easily stream your media to your legitimately purchased Apple TV. If you're a pirate, you'd have to go through roundabout programs and hardware to re-create the experience.

Windows 7 is an OS practically made for pirates. Want to display your movies, photos or music on your TV? Bam! Windows Media Player will do that out of the box if you have a Wi-Fi enabled TV, or an Xbox. No extra programs to install: Windows Media Player seamlessly communicates with your Wi-Fi device to display your illegal content in all its glory on your fancy HD TV.

And sharing media is easy, too. Want to download all of your brother's music? Bam! HomeGroup, an easy networking feature included in Windows 7, will make that super easy between computers running the OS. Immediately upon plugging in to your network with Ethernet or Wi-Fi, HomeGroup will ask if you wish to join the group on the network, allowing you to set up easy file sharing in minutes.

A Better Interface

The new Aero features, which we covered in our Windows 7 first look, will change the way you interact with your computer. Aero Peek will prove the most useful: The feature displays outlines of all your open windows behind your active window. Each outlined box contains a thumbnail previewing its corresponding window to help you choose.

Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan, who has been using AeroPeek for six months, provides an excellent perspective on Aero: "It breaks the instinct to maximize windows as you're using them; instead, you simply let windows hang out, since it's much easier to juggle them." Makes sense, doesn't it, for a generation of multitaskers? Aren't you tired of Alt-Tabbing over and over and over?

Another feature, Aero Snap, makes it easier to resize and tile windows to fit the available space. (Read more about Aero Snap and Aero Peek.)

Words aren't enough. You really have to try the OS to understand why these UI enhancements are a big deal. We get the idea that the people dismissing Windows 7 haven't yet tinkered with it, and we highly encourage you to download the release candidate and give it a test drive. But do it now: The download is only available until August 20.

More Advanced Hardware Support

Technology evolves faster than living organisms, and Windows 7 is also designed to work well with upcoming hardware. Touchscreens are getting more popular in the mainstream (thanks largely to the iPhone), and sure enough Windows 7 includes multitouch support. (Check out a video demoing how it works.) If 2010 is indeed the year of the tablet, as we predict, then Windows 7 just might be the winning OS in that new landscape.

If you're not interested in touchscreens, think multiple processor cores. At some point when multicore computers are more widely available, affordable and energy efficient, an eight-year-old OS like Windows XP isn't going to know what to do with all that extra processing power. Microsoft has already hinted that Windows 7 will scale to 256 processors.

That's more than enough, but you get the picture: This is a new operating system designed for newer systems. You're going to need to upgrade eventually, so why not do it now, so you can get a good feel for the OS, rather than later?

The 64-bit version of Windows 7 can handle bigger system memory, too, scaling up to 192 GB of RAM, compared to the 4-GB limit for the 32-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows 7, and 128 GB for the less common 64-bit edition of Windows XP.

Oh, yeah, speaking of new devices -- Windows 7 is tweaked to better suit those trendy netbooks, too. These puny devices are low-powered and thus limited in performance, and Windows 7 will run better on them thanks to its improved memory management. For example, Windows XP allocated video memory for unseen windows, but Windows 7 does not. It uses video memory only for visible windows. That equates to a more responsive netbook with longer battery life.

It Looks Sexier

A superficial reason, we know, but we've become so intimate with our gadgets that their looks are important, too. Windows 7 will make your new PC look new, unlike the boring-as-vanilla UI of Windows XP. Extra detail, polish, gradients and a UI that will clear your desktop of clutter should all make Windows 7 a more attractive choice.

View: Original Article

[KotaXor]

Nice.Had been using Windows 7 since it RTM.

No regrets about switching from XP.

[Rock Lee]

Nice read. I really liked the "Bam!"s they put in :lol:

I'm sold on 7. I'm just waiting on the 22nd to get a legit version. I decided that I will buy 7 instead of stealing it. The Ultimate version is pricey but with the connections I have & the fact that Football (American) is getting closer, my pockets will become money magnets :D

[Night Owl]

XP Mode is not available in Windows 7 Home Premium: Windows 7 Compare Editions

Windows 7 Home Premium is what most consumer PCs will get after October 22nd.

[irefay]

I plan on getting it soon. The thing I worry about though is the reliability of cracks. I start school soon (so I honesty cannot afford 7) but I also need a reliable OS. If I spend 5 hours trying to get my OS to work it may mean not getting an important assignment done.

[jofre]

I intend to buy, cause I am an honest guy.

Fortunately there are no pirates on this website.

That`s why I am staying here.

I could never live with that kind of people.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

BTW :-Does those cracks already posted work well on Win7 Ulimate?

Cheers !

[KotaXor]

I intend to buy, cause I am an honest guy.

Fortunately there are no pirates on this website.

That`s why I am staying here.

I could never live with that kind of people.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

BTW :-Does those cracks already posted work well on Win7 Ulimate?

Cheers !

Those cracks already posted are suppose to work only on Windows 7 Ultimate!

For the rest of Windows 7 version...cracks will be out soon.

But you are no PIRATES...and you will NOT use the cracks.... :unsure:

[Bolt_Gundam510]

well if there's no pirates then, read the little blue lettering in my sig that schould say it all.

[LeetPirate]

I'm sold on 7. I'm just waiting on the 22nd to get a legit version. I decided that I will buy 7 instead of stealing it.

Blasphemy! :P One may burst into flames by simply thinking about such things.

The one thing I enjoy on Win7 is how fast it is, now even when I have a load of programs running and games running in window mode I still can't get past 2GB of ram usage. I reduced pagefile to 512MB. Vista was a nightmare, I would be halfway through my snack before Vista even boots up so I could start a movie. Win7 is immediately usable from the time you login, no more waiting for tray apps to load. I could only imagine the performance on a SSD.

[KotaXor]

I don't condone piracy too.

I want to purchase a legit copy of Windows 7 too....

just testing it out first.......in case it's like Vista.

This testing is going to take a while....maybe even years. :think:

[Shmit]

Windows 7 reforms what Microsoft destroyed in Windows Vista.

[karachidude]

many tnx for the insightful info.

[DKT27]

Actually there are millions of reasons for which I will switch to 7. The site will crash if I post it here. There is one bad one though, My Private Folder doesn't work on 7. Now where should I hide my media files. :hehe:

[LeetPirate]

Actually there are millions of reasons for which I will switch to 7. The site will crash if I post it here. There is one bad one though, My Private Folder doesn't work on 7. Now where should I hide my media files. :hehe:

The old fashioned way, right click the folder and set deny permissions then password protect your account. Another admin could still view it but they would have to take ownership and stuff. I think you can encrypt the folder to avoid anyone else taking ownership of it.

[Rock Lee]

Blasphemy! :P One may burst into flames by simply thinking about such things.

:unsure: Really? I haven't spontaneously combusted yet :P

The one thing I enjoy on Win7 is how fast it is, now even when I have a load of programs running and games running in window mode I still can't get past 2GB of ram usage. I reduced pagefile to 512MB. Vista was a nightmare, I would be halfway through my snack before Vista even boots up so I could start a movie. Win7 is immediately usable from the time you login, no more waiting for tray apps to load. I could only imagine the performance on a SSD.

Good info, glad to hear it. 7 gets released just after my birthday so I'm thinking of getting 4GB DDR2 RAM for the new laptop. If 7 doesn't even use up 2 then I may have too much (I have read that you can have too much ram. I may need to move up to x64 bit if I want that much ram huh?).

[HX1]

You know you can actually create a RAM Disk and load the driver at boot ( SuperSpeed v8 would do this 9 you couldn't tell it if it did, and I haven't had a chance to run v10 yet..)...and configure your system to use this drive for your pagefile...Some configurations really become lightening fast with it..

What do I need to do to get ready to upgrade to 7 Ultimate when it is released and I get a retail copy? .. and how will it run on a 1.7 GHz Celeron Laptop with 2GB of ram? 64 MB vid?

[DKT27]

Me will go for a non buying copy. ;) . But after upgradin to i7 or another quad core and the max RAM allowed on 86X. A HD ATI Radeon. A blu-ray writer.

[bigjohn]

Actually there are millions of reasons for which I will switch to 7. The site will crash if I post it here. There is one bad one though, My Private Folder doesn't work on 7. Now where should I hide my media files. :hehe:

I hide mine in a system folder.

[DKT27]

I don't put anything on the main drive atleast on system folder. It will slow your PC startup.

[Tucker]

It Looks Sexier

True dat! :rockon:

[RadioActive]

I can't think of a single reason to upgrade to W7, I tried it and didn't like it much, so I'm sticking with Vista for time being.

[donizme]

I can't think of a single reason to upgrade to W7, I tried it and didn't like it much, so I'm sticking with Vista for time being.

I hope you pull through this illness you have! :o :o

[harpua]

I just love W7. I have a legally activated copy of Ultimate (RTM). It's just awesome. It makes my two year old laptop fly like it never did before. Vista was choking it. W7 is so nice and stable and fast.

To mention just one feature that I thought was ridiculous at first before I understood its purpose, I love the libraries feature. By creating a library for say your video files, you can group different video folders that are located on different drives (internal and external) and view them all togther in one place with explorer. So when I'm connected to my external drive, I can see both video folders from internal and external drives in one place with one click in explorer.

Another feature I love (besides the speed) is that quicklaunch and the taskbar have been combined into one and you simply pin various shortcuts to the taskbar and they don't take up much room and they stay where you put them on the taskbar, whether the app is open or closed, and it's easy to tell whether the app is open or closed by the way the icon on the taskbar changes when the app is open. This has to be experienced and gotten used to to fully appreciate it. And this alone would make it worth upgrading, imo, but there is so much more. It's as if almost every aspect of the OS was lovingly worked over, redone and optimized, and most of it is under the hood, so may not be obvious upon a casual look and try.

Every time I have to work with a machine that has Vista or XP on it, I hate it and just can't wait to get back to the wonderful world of 7. But that's just me.

MS really hit the ball out of the park with this OS. (Now, if only Office 2010 would be as good, but I kind of doubt that will be the case.)

[DKT27]

Well I haven't tired 7 yet but there is no reason that I wont use it. :yes:

[manpe]

How does it treat games? Win7 has much greater requirements than XP. Do games work faster on XP or 7?