Windows 7 Report

04 Jan 10 - Mark Klein

This blog is about marketing, but my recent experience using Windows 7 is so positive that I feel some obligation to share what I’ve learned. (Full disclosure: Microsoft is a long time, major Loyalty Builders client. However we have never pulled any punches when describing their products and have often given them—privately—critical reports.)

Installation was done as an upgrade over Vista rather than as a clean install. Once I cleared away enough space, it went smoothly but took slightly more than one hour. Specifications say 16GB are needed, but an on-screen message said I needed 12 GB. Before I started clean-up, I had 9 GB free. I cleared out a total of 13 GB and then installed. After installation and putting back some files, I had 19GB free, so W7 is definitely more space efficient than Vista. All of my programs, files, bookmarks, and settings were preserved.
 
On my laptop, it starts up faster and shuts down a lot faster. Wireless connectivity seems simpler.

The new features I like best are Libraries, Snap, and Jump lists. Libraries are a very convenient way to collect associated files stored all over my disk drives. Snap is great when I’m editing documents since it is so easy to set the documents up side by side. Jump lists let me access recently used files more readily.

And then there is Jiggle.  You will have to try that one for yourself.

This is, hands down, the best Windows version yet.