I absolutely dread the release of Windows 7. I do computer repair for a living and trust me when I say that any new Windows Operating System release is always an adventure. Every release since the first wide release of Windows 95 in 1995 has been crazy. I'm sure there are many that remember Vista's debut and all the fun everyone had with the new OS. Vista got a huge amount of bad press, and rightfully so, but Windows XP was just as bad but the memory has faded.



Is it Microsoft's fault? Not really, I've actually worked closely with them on a couple of new OS releases and they do everything possible to make it work. The problem is with the entire scenario. Venders who write buggy drivers, software publishers who ignore requirements, users who shoot themselves in the foot, and last but not least, underpowered old computers.

Each new version of Windows has new and different capabilities. That's the sizzle to sell the software. When you go from 2 million lines of code to 10 million lines of code, there is going to be problems. Every time they change the interface (that's the user look and feel) you get to learn a new way to do things. If you have never seen a computer before, it makes little difference. But if you have been using Windows XP for 6 years and you go to Vista, it will drive you crazy until you figure it out.

More code and new features mean more horsepower is needed to operate. Faster CPUs, faster and more ram, faster and bigger hard drives, and faster video cards with dedicated ram. Of course Windows 7 doesn't need any more horsepower since they optimized the code and reduced the amount of code. And in the last beta version it did perform better but no matter what you do with the code, the hardware still has a huge impact.

People always complain about how slow a computer runs. But many times it's not the operating system, it's the applications software or hardware drivers. I install a lot of new computers and I can tell you right now that if you install an HP printer (or any manufacturer's printer) as an application with scanner, fax, and photo software you will increase your boot time by minutes. The more software and hardware drivers that load upon startup will slow down any computer.

And don't even get me started on the Weather Bug or any Internet based software that loads when you boot. You want the toys; you get to wait extra time for the boot process to be complete. Part of the issue is many of these little widgets have ad servers (yes, that's why they give you freebies, they get advertisers to pay the freight) that are slow as molasses on a cold winter morning.

The number of applications that automatically install at startup is getting larger all the time. Mobile phone syncing software, to do lists and calendars, current news feeds, and anything else that auto starts will slow down the boot process. So don't think that a new version of Windows is going to change much about boot times if you load a lot of software and drivers at boot time.

Here's what I tell people about upgrading. If your current computer has problems, then upgrade by all means. If you have no problems but like adventure, then upgrade. If you love puzzles, are a computer fanatic, love technology, then upgrade. But if you just want to do what you do, don't care about computers, and don't have any problems right now, pass on Windows 7 until you buy a new computer.

No matter how you decide to approach the upgrade, back up your data and double check it to insure it is working. Make sure you have all of your original install CDs and necessary serial numbers for any application software. Go download any drivers for Windows 7 that you may need for your printer or other peripherals.

If you do upgrade to Windows 7, do a fresh install and not an upgrade in place. If you upgrade in place you don't have to re-install your software or copy back your data, but you also increase the risk of something going bump in the night. Not worth the risk in my opinion. And you also bring along any old junk files and unused registry entries. If you insist on doing an upgrade in place, clean up your current system and get rid of any unnecessary software, temp files, and do a Hard Disk Clean up.

The best choice for most people would be to do a fresh install of Windows 7 and keep your old system up and running too. You can do a dual boot setup for a month or two and that way you always have a working system. If after a month or so you find that Windows 7 is stable and works with all your software and hardware, remove the old operating system and you're good to go with Windows 7.

The bottom line is that any new operating system can have problems due to all the existing software and hardware compatibility issues. If you have a critical piece of software or hardware device, check for new drivers or patches for running in Windows 7. Backup your data and verify that it works (you should be doing that on a regular basis anyway). Run a dual boot system for a month or so to make sure that everything works.

Since the user interface has several major changes, take the time to go through the tutorial. It will save you a lot of frustration and is well worth the time. Is Windows 7 worth the money, time, and effort to upgrade or install? Only time will tell and everyone can have a different result, but with a little planning and preparation you can limit the possible problems.