Windows 7 Upgrade- Should You?

Oct 22,  2009 lurks around the corner. That’s the proposed grand release date for the much expected Windows 7 operating system. The big question now is not whether end users should adopt the system, but whether they should upgrade. By upgrade is meant to install over the existing system as opposed to perform clean install. I’ve tried both. The outcome from either yields very different experiences.

Most people would desire to upgrade because this may mean preserving existing files, setting, applications and layouts. I know I would. This  yields the least hassle. Who would want to go through all the trouble of installing Photoshop, Corel Draw and unique web development software all over again? However, this path is not available to everyone. Only those on Windows Vista can enjoy it. End users running Windows XP have no choice to do so; they can only do a clean install. But not even Windows Vista users can consider themselves that fortunate. I upgraded an average Windows Vista machine that had 30GB of data and about 50 GB of applications. It took more than 5 hours to upgrade and the end result hobbled along less than stellarly. Many programs required reinstallation and the operating system performed not quite as speedily as the clean install version. In fact I did run into what appeared to be crashes in the form of 10 second screen freezes.

My other laptop ran Windows XP. This one required a mandatory clean install which I willingly obliged.  After the old system was wiped out, the new system took over in just a whopping 20 minutes. That’s how long it took to setup. I was amazed because the old Windows ME and Windows XP normally takes 30 to 45 minutes. That’s fast. Really fast. I never even had to touch the driver disc since Windows 7 seemed to know everything on my laptop and adjusted accordingly.

Post installation was a treat. There were no crashes, hangs or slowdowns. I got online, got updates and installed the complement of software necessary for my work.  Everything worked- even applications made 2002! Start up time and shutdown times beat XP across the board and the same goes for application access time. The only grimace was the UAC notifying me each time I ran ’shady software’ like diskeeper 2009. Not a problem though. I simply disabled notification.

Looks like Bill Gates finally has something to erase the horrible memory of the train wreck that was Vista.

Are you ready to enjoy Windows 7?

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