Review: Upgrading to Windows 7

Upgrading to Windows 7

Yes, I know, Windows 7 isn’t out quite yet. I was lucky enough to get chosen to participate in the Windows 7  House Party program, and got my copy of Windows 7 Signature Ultimate Edition on the 9^th. A couple of days ago, I finally got the chance to install it on my Gateway 7805u laptop. For those of you interested in specs, they are as follows:

When I purchased this laptop, it came with Windows Vista. Prior to this I had been on a Mac, so needless to say, I was not impressed. Approx 2 weeks into owning the computer, I started getting BSOD’s happening fairly consistently (2-5 times a day at times). I had bought it at Best Buy, and they offered to replace it, but I didn’t want to get rid of this particular piece of hardware. The first production units of this particular Gateway model were mistakenly run with a premium screen (LG 1980×1420 res), instead of the 1440x? that they were supposed to have been installed with. I fell in love with this resolution from the first moment I booted up the computer, and refused to go with an inferior screen if I could help it. Stubborn, yes, but I had a plan.

You see, I knew that there was a new operating system just around the horizon. By this point, I had found that the problem was software-bred, rather than something wrong with the hardware. The House Party selection took place, I learned that I’d be getting a limited edition version of Windows 7, and all of the puzzle pieces fell into place.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand. I began upgrading Windows Vista to Windows 7 around 7p.m. The installation concluded around 4am. This was not as quick of an upgrade experience as some were claiming, but wasn’t the 24 hours of tortured waiting that others had to endure. For a rather long time (approx 2 hours), the installation was stuck unpacking the installation files for around 2 hours. This was rather nerve-racking, as I kept expecting it to fail. At one point, I was about to do a quick battery-pull and try again, but I instead got on my Blackberry Bold to check and see if anyone had similar problems. Apparently, this extended wait was very typical during the Windows7 RC installation, and was expecting in the final release as well. This calmed me down somewhat, and I went back to twiddling my thumbs or whatever it was that I was doing.

When I got back on the computer the next morning, I was pleasantly surprised. The installation was complete, I had a crisp Windows 7 Login screen waiting for me, and I didn’t have to chuck my wife’s cat for sleeping on my keyboard again (she likes the heat coming up from the comp). When I first booted into Windows 7, I immediately noticed how much more quickly the comp went through the startup process. I actually timed it, and it took around 1:30-1:40 to go from a dark screen to being logged in and seeing my Windows 7 background.

In the past 48hrs, I have not had a single BSOD or crash of any kind. All of my software, with the exception of Skype ran smoothly and efficiently. For some reason, the version of Skype that I was using was incompatible with Windows 7. I. No worries though- I downloaded a Beta version of Skype 4.1, and everything now is hunky-dory (haven’t had a chance to use that term in ages!)

As far as speed, Windows 7 is showing at least a 20%-30% bump on the startup times, application opening times, and multitasking. I have taken the time to run 12 labor-intensive applications at the same time, and didn’t see anything other than a small expected slowdown on the app side. I like to think of myself as a gamer (especially considering I’m opening a gaming store), but I haven’t had the time to run any graphics-intensive games. I had SimSociety running in the background while listening to music while writing an article while surfing the net while loading a youtube video, and didn’t see the processor task load jump over 70%. Sometime in the next few days, I’ll pop in a copy of Call of Duty World at War and see how things look then.

Overall, the installation of Windows 7 went more smoothly than any of my other OS upgrade experiences (although I would have to say it’s tied with my experience upgrading Mac OSX Tiger to Leopard.

If anyone has any questions about the upgrade process, feel free to send me an email or SMS txt!

Tips for Upgrading to Windows 7 from Windows Vista:

1. I recommend Defragging your hard drive prior to any major system upgrade. This process takes data that has been spread across various parts of your HDD (Hard Drive),
2. Backup as much as you possibly can, otherwise there you may end up on the proverbial “Wall of shame” if you lose everything without having a backup.
3. If the download hits any snags, DON’T RESTART IT unless it tells you to. Let the Windows 7 install wizard take it’s time and do it’s thing.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll keep updating my experience with the Windows 7 OS as time passes. So far, I give it a 10 out of 10, even with the lengthy upgrade. I will be recommending this OS to anyone wanting more out of Windows XP, or higher speeds than what vista has to offer. Other than that, let me know how your own installations go (especially if you can get your hands on it before the 22^nd). Adios!

Misc. Info:

Windows 7 Versions

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