Retail Launching All Over The World on
22 Oct'2009
It's the most base of operating system functions. Install, turn on, turn off. But first impressions matter, and Microsoft made sure to give Windows 7 a nice sheen when it came to these things. You can read through our full installation guide for an in-depth look at the pitfalls and triumphs of Windows 7 in this department, but in short: it's fast and lightweight, but the real performance gains can be found on netbooks and with clean installs. Otherwise there's really nothing to put Vista to shame -- though the amazing breath of fresh air a clean install provides should really set cruftware-happy vendors to a bit of soul searching.
Though an impressive basket of extras went a long way in smoothing over our Vista misgivings, the real test came when we broke out the stopwatch and measured frame rates. After all, bells and whistles don’t go very far when they slow your computer to an unbearable chug. (We’ve learned that, right Microsoft?)On paper, you wouldn’t really expect any major difference, based on the system requirements. Both Windows 7 and Vista demand a 1GHz processor, 1GB of memory, and the required hard drive space has swelled from 15GB to 16GB. That said, needing the same hardware can be considered progress when computers continue to get faster and cheaper every day. Any new machine on the market today should be able to handle Windows 7.Racing both operating systems against each other on boot-up times proved that system requirements don’t mean everything. Windows 7 took us from our dual-boot menu to a working browser window opened on the desktop in 45 seconds. Vista did it in one minute and five seconds. That’s some significant progress.Though we don’t have an actual metric to prove it, we can also attest – based on the impression of every DT editor who tried Windows 7 – that it definitely feels faster. Windows open and close quicker, menus snap open without delay, and that dreaded spinning wheel of blue that indicates the system is busy has been all but banished.
Of course, the real test for Microsoft will be winning over gamers, an audience that almost universally shunned Vista for its negative impact on performance. When you’re dealing with audience willing to rip open their computers and cool them with water for an extra ounce of performance, all the glassy windows and widgets in the world just don’t matter.And they won’t be disappointed this time around. Microsoft has vastly improved gaming performance with Windows 7. As you’ll recall from our HP Firebird review, the machine seemed to struggle with both MotoGP and Crysis at 1080p resolution when running Vista. Both games were technically playable, but in both cases we had to trim back other settings to get the smooth frame rates that make games enjoyable and fun to play.Running the same games on Windows 7, we encountered no such issues. Same system, same games, same settings – no stutter. The big firefights that brought the Firebird to its knees in Crysis went over without issue, and MotoGP 08 played – with all settings maxed out – without a hiccup. Benchmarks didn’t really seem to bear out any improvement, though. Running 3DMark06 produced a score of 12,266 3DMarks, which is incredibly close to our original 12,297 from Vista. But we know a difference when we play it.
Windows Vista notoriously strangled older PCs, but with the reputation for performance Windows 7 had started to garner, we couldn’t help but test it on the same aging, nearly-broken laptop we turned into a home media server. With a Pentium 4 processor and paltry 512MB of RAM, it wasn’t even technically over the minimum requirements, but we went ahead and pushed anyway. After installing new firmware for the DVD drive to get it to load, it miraculously worked. Unfortunately, it’s no substitute for Windows XP. Where XP could go from power button to desktop in 30 seconds on this machine, Windows 7 hit a much longer one minute and 23 seconds. It also seemed a bit more sluggish on the desktop, but to be fair, just idling ate up 44 percent of our RAM, so a rather inexpensive memory upgrade would probably improve performance significantly. We also have to give it credit for finding most of the drivers we needed on its own, including some notoriously finicky ones for an old Linksys PCMCIA card. Gamers need not apply, but for surfing, typing, and some light Solitaire, it actually worked. Will Windows 7 replace XP as the OS of choice on aging computers? Probably not. Will it work in a pinch, even on machines that shouldn’t even be able to run it? Unlike Vista, that answer is yes.
Still a Few Hiccups
Despite otherwise shining experience with Windows 7, we do feel obliged to report a few zingers it sent us during our days of testing. After changing themes, for instance, we found that the taskbar icons no longer worked until we reopened the windows. We also had Launcher.exe crash the first time we ran MotoGP 08, and some older software forced us out of Aero mode and into Windows Basic mode since it lacked support for it. So it goes. These are all minor inconveniences, and none of them significantly diminished our experience, or held us up from accomplishing anything important. Our biggest hang-up actually came from the wireless mouse included with HP’s Firebird, which sporadically stopped working every 10 minutes until we turned it off and on again.
Aero Peek:
What this is it gives you a preview of windows in a thumbnail without actually opening them by simply hovering over the icon in the taskbar. Click on one of them and you will be taken to that window, this also works with tabs in Internet Explorer which is very handy, but unfortunately it doesn’t work in Firefox or Chrome as yet
You can also move your cursor to the lower right corner of your screen to get a preview of your desktop, click and you will be brought to your desktop
Aero Shake:
If you have lots of windows open on your desktop and you only want to look at one, click and hold its window and shake it! All the other windows will minimize, simply shake the window again and all the other windows will restore.
Aero Snap:
One of the most useful features I use in Windows 7, If you click and drag a window up to the top of the screen it will automatically maximise itself. If you have two windows open, and want to view them side by side. Click and drag one to the right edge of the screen and the other to the left. They will both resize automatically to fit the screen
Aero Flip:
This Aero effect was in Windows Vista but not in XP. Activate it by pressing the windows key and tab at the same time. It will give you a 3D effect that will allow you to “Flip” between the different windows
Here is a video that I made on giving a walk through of the Aero features
Conclusion
With OS X Snow Leopard, innumerable different flavors of Linux and now Google’s own ChromeOS lining up to challenge Microsoft’s superiority in operating systems, its stranglehold on the market has never seemed more precarious. But let Windows 7 lay rumors of an OS coup d’état to rest. Like an old fascist dictator, Vista is officially dead and buried, and its successor is one you can actually warm up to. Microsoft has not only atoned for Vista’s grievances with vastly improved performance and fewer nags, a number of old standbys that no one was complaining about (like the task bar) have been reimagined and made better at the same time
Pros:
Painless installation
Quick boot times
Reimagined, clutter-free taskbar
Vastly superior gaming performance
Cons:
Some users will still crave more customization
Windows XP still outshines on older systems
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