Windows 7 RC - The First Look

6th May 2009

After testing the Beta release for some time we were looking forward to the Windows 7 Release Candidate and we weren't disappointed. If still had the vast speed benefits over Vista and on a 3 year old HP which struggled with Vista it is running a dream.

With a speed difference of approx 200% in running Office applications it is fair to say Microsoft have released something that could seriously shift IT professionals off the stable XP release and onto the next-next-generation release.

Driver issues?

Having already gone through the stress of getting all the drivers sorted for Vista moving to Windows 7 RC was straight forward and all software released for Vista installed fine on Windows 7 including corporate VPN software as well as printer drivers off the print server.

 

For those who have gone through the Vista driver issues will be well placed for the Windows 7 install although those still working on Windows XP and have not even touched let alone looked at Vista then you may still have some issues with software/drivers used only on XP systems.

 

However help is at hand for those who cannot go through the pain many of us went through with Vista as there is a new “XP Mode” feature that was unveiled recently. This feature will allow users of Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise to have access to a Windows XP SP3 virtual machine to run any software that’s not compatible with the new OS.

 

Internet Explorer 8

Clearly Microsoft want to push their new software and IE8 is installed by default on Windows 7 and it is here I have some issues. Rendering of web sites IS STILL an issue with Internet Explorer 8 and even with the latest updates several sites do not display right in IE8. I have looked at a lot of the source code of these sites and some can be blamed on bad coding but others are simply IE8 having problems and not even working in backward compatibility mode.

 

For example: shadowbox.js which is used by a vast number of web sites broke in IE8 until a recent update was released and this great bit of scripting worked on all versions of IE/Firefox/Chrome/Safari.

 

The Jury is still out on IE8 but I do need to do more testing of it before I create a blog on the good and bad the new browser brings.

 

Vista front end

For those that did not like Vista's front end then Windows 7 will still not make you happy as it is based on Vista and although there are a few tweaks it is based on the Vista GUI although the main advantage of Windows 7 is the speed it has over Vista. Interestingly, for those who love everything Mac then there are a few features Mac users will notice and say "That was 'nicked' from Mac OS and indeed the UI does have a few 'Mac' type features.

 

Home or Professional?

Personally, I think Microsoft should stick with the Home and Professional model and make it easier for the end user to buy their software. Instead we have 5 options when purchasing Windows 7:

• Starter
• Home Basic
• Home Premium
• Professional
• Ultimate

A complaint many had about Vista was the complexity of the versions and clearly Microsoft have not taken any notice and carried on with the numerous versions. Microsoft will claim it is better for the end user to get the right version without the expense of all the other features although I feel many people will buy new equipment and not realise they need another version of the OS to do what they want and then have to pay the upgrade cost.

 

For those of us who deal with volume licensing then there is an Enterprise edition, to add to the 5 already mentioned.

 

Conclusion

Despite the number of editions which will cause confusion for end users and IE8 letting it down a bit, Windows 7 looks to be a great OS. However,only time will tell if it will be adopted into the hearts of IT professionals like Windows XP and NT, or hated like Windows Vista.

 

Personally, from what I have seen so far I am likely to suggest upgrading from XP to Windows 7 for a few clients, which to be fair I have NEVER done with Vista! As a result of Windows 7 I believe Microsoft are making some way into restoring people's faith into it's Operating Systems and put Vista down as another Millennium Edition (ME) disaster we would all (especially Microsoft) rather forget.

 

Darren