We are getting a lot of questions about Microsoft’s newest Operating System, Windows 7.  Seems everyone wants to know how it compares to it’s predecessor, the ill-fated and (arguably) worst Operating System ever turned loose on an unsuspecting public.  While a lot of people want to believe Win7 is a good product, they are gun-shy after being bitch-slapped with Vista on their last PC purchase (understandable to be sure).

In essence, Windows 7 is not a “New” OS, but rather, a re-manufactured version of Vista (essentially Vista with the warts shaved off and a shiny coat of paint applied).  Windows 7 was not engineered from scratch, but the long list of egregious, irritating sins of Windows Vista were purged from the guts (and surface) of the OS, resulting in a much prettier and better behaved OS.

We have installed Win7 on several machines here and even added a new Toshiba 16″ notebook with the 64-bit version to our stable of Forensics tools.  So… What do we think?

To relate a favorite anecdote: It is said an optimist fell off the 40th floor balcony of his apartment.  On his way down, people standing on lower balconies heard him say “So far, so good”.

And on that note: So far, so good.  Windows 7 is a LOT faster than every version of Vista that ever prowled, plundered and pillaged the digital landscape.  The installation is faster (by an order of magnitude) and it is a much friendlier OS after installation.  It appears Microsoft took some constructive criticism (read Hate Mail) seriously during the Vista debacle and the result is a much cleaner OS with a lot less nagging during normal use.  Win7 seems very stable and quick – and the interface for establishing Wi-Fi connections is very clever indeed.  All things considered we give Microsoft’s shiny new OS a hearty “Thumbs-Up”.

Keep in mind, we still do not recommend “upgrading” your OS to Win7.  Back up your data (NOT with Vista backup – read the blog on that mess) to an external drive and perform a new OS install on a formatted drive to rid your system of any trace of the dreaded Vista and you will have a much happier computer.  Win7 still has the same Plug and Play issue Vista had in that it doesn’t know anything about hardware or software that’s more than about 2-3 years old, so any Legacy programs or printers you are still using may require replacement if you go to Windows 7.  But we think you will really like the result…

Unless you have the 64 bit version of the OS.  It seems that Micro$oft still cannot get the whole 64 bit OS thing to work properly.  Our new Toshiba laptop came with the 64 bit version of Windows 7.  After a month of dealing with slow performance, software incompatibility (even some browsers would not install) and 5 minutes of searching and grinding to use any USB device plugged into this BRAND NEW LAPTOP – we “downgraded” it to the 32 bit version of Windows 7 (not with any help from Toshiba, by the way) and we have a beautifully functioning machine.

So…  While we DO feel good about recommending Windows 7 – there are caveats and you should consider all of them before settling on a Win7 computer.  You can still order XP-based machines from Dell and Toshiba if you want one.