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Windows 7 Q&A

 
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I thought I would compile some some basic Q&A about Windows 7 which is about to be released into retail on the 22nd of October. This is not Vista and it will likely put more pressure on folks to upgrade based purely on it's increased performance and usability, particularly coming from a Vista install. However watch out for the hype "Windows 7 will change your life; it's soooo much faster; all that multitouch stuff is going to change the world, etc.". Don't get me wrong- Windows 7 is an improvement along pretty much every axis  and I think most will greatly prefer it over Vista!

  • What versions will be released?

Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate will be sold in the US; and the Home Starter Edition on Netbooks in developed countries. 

  • What's the Upgrade path?

From Vista:  Pretty Seamless retains all apps and data: (estimates depot labor cost around $112.50*)

With Windows Vista (and with pre-release versions of Windows 7, though Microsoft does not support this), you can do a traditional in-place upgrade, where you insert the Windows 7 Setup DVD in the existing OS, run Setup, and upgrade the entire system, applications and all, to the new OS. Or you can do a migration, where you use Windows 7's Easy Transfer utility to backup your settings and documents (but not your installed applications), perform a clean install of the Windows 7 OS, and then re-apply your settings and documents to Windows 7, again using Windows Easy Transfer.

From XP: No Upgrade per se, more like a migration: (estimates depot labor cost around $250.00*)

With Windows XP (and Windows 2000), your options are fewer and it's going to be more expensive for us to do it for you: You cannot perform a traditional in-place upgrade but will instead have to do a migration using Windows tools. While this type of upgrade is less convenient in many ways--after all, you will need to later reinstall all your applications- The migration tools in XP  does provide a nice report describing what's missing, and the result is a cleaner, more reliable system than what you'd get with an in-place upgrade IMO. For this reason, I feel that a migration is actually the more desirable upgrade type, even for Windows Vista, assuming you have all the application installers (and product keys) you'd need to make that work.

  • Will your system run Windows 7

The short answer is “Yes”. I have personally run it on many platforms – including a 5 year old DDR1, P4M 1.5Ghz 32bit CPU notebook. I simply used Windows Vista drivers – all was good. But – it you need to make SURE, Microsoft has an Upgrade Advisor tool available.

FYI Windows 7 is a 64bit operating system, which means you are not stuck with that 2GB-maximum 32bit memory limit. 

  • What about application compatibility?

Microsoft has done a lot of testing to avoid the Vista debacle, but don't take their Word for it. Assume no application that is more than 1 or 2 versions behind with work correctly but you can use XP Modewhich may work for the application.

  • What is XP Mode?

Microsoft offers “WindowsXP Mode”. This feature utilizes Microsoft VirtualPC (With compliant hardware) to create a virtual machine running WindowsXP Pro. Check this out! 

  • What happens if it all goes South and I'm pissed about Upgrading?

Yes, Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate customers will have the option to downgrade to Windows XP Professional from PCs that ship within 18 months following the general availability of Windows 7 or until the release of a Windows 7 service pack, whichever is sooner and if a service pack is developed.

Other interesting features :

  • Full-system Backup and network Restore only in Pro and Ultimate which are both $300 or so
  • Full language switching in ultimate
  • Touch-sensitive PC functionality
 

*price excludes Windows 7 software


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