Windows 7: Oops! Microsoft did it again!

infoWorld ^ | October 28, 2008 | by Randall Kennedy

[Swordmaker]

My initial evaluation of Windows 7 shows that it's really just Vista with a fresh coat of paint

I have seen the future, and it is bleak. Windows 7, the next big version, the one that was supposed to fix everything that was wrong with Vista, is here (at least in pre-beta form), and I can now say -- with some confidence -- that Microsoft has once again dropped the ball.

Based on what I saw in today's keynote speech, and on what I discovered while testing the Windows 7 M3 build during some down time this afternoon, Windows 7 is:

• Just as slow as Vista. In fact, Windows 7's performance is virtually identical to that of Vista SP1 on the same hardware. If you were unhappy with Vista's CPU-hogging, memory-sucking ways, Windows 7 will provide little relief. And don't start with the whole "it's still in beta" crap. This is NO beta – at least not at a kernel-mode level. As I predicted months ago, Windows 7 is very much Windows Vista "R2" under the covers. Microsoft established its platform baseline with the SP1/2008 kernel and nothing significant has changed since, nor is anything likely to change before RTM. This is the reality we face. Get used to it.
  

• Just as consumer-focused as Vista. Home Groups. Media Sharing. Federated Search. All very cool. All very slick. And all very much irrelevant to the enterprise desktop customer (though the Search stuff might be useful in certain scenarios). In fact, from what I can see with the M3 build, there's virtually nothing new here that would address the very real migration concerns that have stalled Vista's deployment among larger Windows shops. I was looking for a "mea culpa" and some solid integration tools and compatibility features. What I got was a prettier GUI and new ways to share music with my dog. Ugh!
  

• Just as confusing as Vista. Microsoft has once again moved stuff around in the UI. After baffling its loyal users by completely upending the XP UI, Microsoft has decided that it wasn't satisfied with the end result. So it started moving stuff, with the Control Panel taking the brunt of the abuse. Need to add a printer? Welcome to the new "Devices and Printers" applet! Looking for the "System and Maintenance" subgroup? It now has a new name: "System and Security." And can you guess where the Security subgroup went? No? Then it's time for some retraining!

Overall, I'm extremely disappointed with Windows 7. Far from atoning for Vista's sins, Windows 7 simply carries them forward, visiting them upon yet another generation. All of which makes me even more convinced that I was really on to something last summer when I posed the question: Is it finally time to cut and run?

Maybe. Maybe not. But one thing's for sure: Windows 7 is no panacea. Rather, it's just more of the same: slow, bloated, and frustrating as hell.

[TChris]

Linux of Mac

Wasn't he some sort of Scottish royalty in the 15th century?

[GLDNGUN]

I hear ya, but a private company has to show a profit to survive, while the gubmint obviously does not. I guess MS is too busy counting their past billions and has lost their competitive edge. I hate the whole Mac snob thing, but they are killing MS with their ads and if MS continues to put out this crap, where else will PC users have to go?

[TChris]

Some percentage of any brand of HDD will fail. All HDDs will fail sooner or later.

FWIW, in my experience (personally built > 500 PCs, currently support network of ~150 clients and ~20 servers), WD's fail far less than any other brand.

I've replaced only one dead WD in the past 10 years; many more Seagates and Maxtors.

[TChris]

I hear ya, but a private company has to show a profit to survive, while the gubmint obviously does not. I guess MS is too busy counting their past billions and has lost their competitive edge. I hate the whole Mac snob thing, but they are killing MS with their ads and if MS continues to put out this crap, where else will PC users have to go?

Microsoft has never, ever been the technologically superior product in any category. They have proven time and again that marketing, market share and integration trump technology and software quality.

There are a number of FReepers who've been in the business far longer than I who could tell you about technologically superior products losing out. Digital Equipment (DEC) comes readily to mind.

[CaptRon]

That is HILARIOUS!

[MichiganMan]

I hate the whole Mac snob thing, but they are killing MS with their ads and if MS continues to put out this crap, where else will PC users have to go?

[cough]Linux![/cough]

[markman46]

your not the only one

[sionnsar]

Am I the only person on the planet who loves Vista?

No. I know a few people who do.

I've never used Vista, so I can't say -- my work machine is XP (I hated the forced "upgrade" from Win2k but for the most part it worked out).

But Microsoft has made a lot of decisions over the years that I simply disagree with. Office '97 was about perfect for my usage patterns; in Office 2003 I am forever trying to enable/disable/work-around functionality, and I fear the situation gets worse with subsequent versions.

[RichardW]

I agree. I have Office 2007 and I can’t even find the menus to format correctly. I have no idea what they were thinking. That is why I now use OpenOffice which is free and reads the Microsoft files.

Sometimes more is less. Many of the annoyances alleged about Vista can be turned off. I don’t see them as a big deal and since I have yet to have a single lockup on three computers in over a year I would say it is a very stable operating system.

All of this enthusiasm I see for Linux which is unusable except for computer geeks and for the supposedly superior Mac makes no sense to me. Linux is a throwback to the old DOS days and I don’t know what Mac does for twice the price that Vista and any PC can do. I don’t get it.

[RichardW]

I would add that because of all of the hulabaloo about Vista worked to my advantage. I sold my old XP machines nearly four years old for what I paid for the brand new Dells that came equipped with all of the necessary software. About the only downside is stripping off the crapware but that is not that big a deal. That helps to cut down to cost of the computer. The only thing that anyone really needs is a dual core processor and 2 gb of ram and a reasonably sized hard drive and you’re good to go. Five minutes from unpacking the box to operation sounds pretty good to me. And I spend countless hours on the computers so I would surely have seen problems if they actually existed. I’ve owned computers back to 1985 so I know a thing or two about these things.

[MichiganMan]

All of this enthusiasm I see for Linux which is unusable except for computer geeks and for the supposedly superior Mac makes no sense to me. Linux is a throwback to the old DOS days

2008, I'd like to introduce you to RichardW.  Richard, this is 2008, I don't believe you two have met.  Take it easy on Richard, 2008, he appears to be coming off a bad relationship with 2001.  

[cbkaty]

What the hell happened to MS Document imaging? It was in MS Office 2003.... It's disappeared in MS Office 2007.....