Well, I did it. I installed the Windows 7 RC a couple of days ago. Cannot tell, until now, how does it “feel”, since I’ve had very little chance (time) to try it out throughly, but the first impressions I can give to my loyal readers (yes, I mean you 2 out there…) is that it is something in between an SP3 for Vista, and a much more friendly linux distribution with all the bell and whistles of compix, and whatever else you may think of.

Does this make it a better OS? Well, frankly speaking, no, it does not. Why? mmm hard to say with only a couple of hours using it. The web is full of pretty and nice reviews on how the new Microsoft‘s OS is bashing competitors, and even older MS OSes. Truth to be said, I liked it right from the start. But please don’t get me wrong: I only “liked it”. That doesn’t mean I find it the perfect OS, yet.

I’ve used Ubuntu for some time, finding it the best user friendly linux distribution that a non-programming wiz-kid could ever think of installing as alternative to the windows monopoly. I installed it willing to try it in a working environment, seriously taking my time in following forum threads dispersed on the web on how to configure the network properly, how to install video drivers for my x1600 PRO ATI card, and things like this. All things that are only a blink away for a linux expert, but that took me weeks, if not months, to learn how to set properly.

It’s true: there are millions of guides out there in the web that explain you step by step what to do to install that PARTICULAR driver for your PARTICULAR video card. Linux has always been like this. And I’ve said it too many times to remember that it was exactly THAT the problem.

Windows was, and has always been, much more easier to install, configure, use. Windows was, and is, for the masses, not for an elitarian group of people with “sufficient” know-how. You don’t need, a great IT or programming knowledge to install a printer under Windows. It was meant to be “plug-and-play”. And still is.

Windows 7 has continued this tradition, as far as I can see it. It did become a littel more ubuntu-like, just like ubuntu itself has had to implement many features that recall, or even are the exact copy of, Windows built in features. Not making a comparison between the two, if you have tried them both, you know what I mean.

Windows 7, as I said, was made for the masses, with the masses in mind, let’s not forget this. But you could say that Vista was also made like this. But there are some changes. Everybody complained about the annoying Vista privilege features (the infamous pop-up that asks you every single time if you are sure you want to install the program you actually wanted to install in the first place…) and data prefetching (which makes your HD spin loud and clear even when it is supposed to sit down quietly, waiting for instructions…

Well, the new OS apparently (and I repeat, apparently) has learned from the errors of the past. AS far as I can see, I am asked if I want install something, of course, but once I set administrative privileges, the annoyance disappears.

The data prefetching is still there, but it’s much less intrusive than Vista’s. The system is way “snappier”, faster in other words, than with Vista. And bear in mind that I purpousedly installed W7 on an old system, with 1GB DDR ram, Athlon XP 2000+ CPU and a Nvidia FX5500 AGP video card.

Under Vista, any flavour, boot up times, program launch and even web surfing is just a pain in the lower end of your back. W7, instead, is of course slow, but still useable to a very good degree, and I even managed, installing the latest video drivers, to activate the aero function, which slows down the system, ok, but it is still faster than with Vista and same options activated.

This is what I could see in my first limited hands-on on the new OS of Microsoft, and considering that it is an RC, I can only hope for the better. Or not?

Will MS screw up the whole thing and release a final version full of useless things (as with Vista) that will slow down my system? Will I be forced to finally dismantle the trusty and old Athlon XP system and spend money I didn’t really want to spend just to be able to hav the latest and greatest from Microsoft?

As per the first question, only time will tell. Until then, I’ll continue using the system and try to discover how to tweak it at it’s most, to make the system as fast as it was under Windows XP PRO SP2. The second question is easier to answer: I will not spend money updating hardware just because someone thinks I should run more recent HW to make their software boot up in 5 seconds less.

So, by the time the RC will expire (June 2010), I will have had enough time to evaluate and decide whether to stick to it or reinstalling ubuntu, or even Windows XP on it, and I’ll by no means buy new unneccessary hardware. Unless it breaks down.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Contrasting Windows: New feature comparison (download.cnet.com)
• 5 Reasons Why You Might Want To Switch From XP To Windows 7 (ghacks.net)
• Living with Windows 7 release candidate (news.cnet.com)