I have been written to by several of the "Double Click" readers as to why I have not mentioned Microsoft Windows 7 very often. The answer is that there are about 50 bazillion other geeks out there, who have written about it relentlessly since it rolled out to the public in October, 2009. I figured I would let the clamor die down some before I started.
Today I come out of hiding with W7 (get used to the abbreviation, it saves column space).
I will start with the question that I usually get first. "Do you use W7, yet?" Yes, I do, everywhere! I have been testing the pre-launch versions of W7 for about a year now. I have been using the final version since it launched.
All of my computers run this new Operating System (OS) including my wife’s notebook, save one. I still run Vista on my home desktop because that computer has more software and data on it than any of the others. Rebuilding that particular machine will take several days to get "just right". Procrastination wins!
The next most common question I get is, "Should I switch to W7?" That really depends on you. If you are not happy with your current OS (Vista?) and you have the extra money, sure go ahead and make the change. If you do not have any complaints, why fix it if it ain’t broke?
That being said, I will as good as guarantee that if you do go to W7 you will like it. It looks similar to Vista. However, it is much faster since it uses less system resources. It has many very positive features that you will like.
When conversing about W7 the next question usually is, "What do you like best about the OS?" My wise guy answer is, "Everything." However, the primary element I enjoy was also present in Vista; though, it did not function nearly as well…the search feature.
Say for instance I want to run Excel. I can click the orb (used to be called the start button when it was rectangular) or press the Windows key on my keyboard and just type, "excel". A menu list is generated with everything on my computer that has "excel" in it. The Excel program is at the top of the list. All I do is press the Enter key and Excel starts right up.
If I know that I have a file with the words, "Windows 7" in it. I just type it, like I just did, and three files are listed. Three columns which I wrote; one each in April and June of 2009 and the one you are reading now.
That is a great, efficient and very speedy way to work. So thanks, Microsoft, for that as well as the additional features we will be talking about in the future.