So a while ago, I wrote an article on pretty much why the new Microsoft Windows 7 sucks.  Basically, I didn’t give a thorough review on the operating system.  It was too expensive for me to test out.  Since then, I’ve built a new PC because of a couple of games that have come out, as well as to balance the ‘Mac’ side of things in my work and fun. Below is my experience with Windows 7 Professional.

Luckily through some digging and blog surfing, I was able to find out that you can get a full copy of Windows that’s called a “Systems Developer” install pack for about 100 bucks cheaper than it’s full retail version price. It’s a full copy of Windows that can be installed on a fresh hard drive, but plan to throw out your support for tech info - you have to provide that for yourself.  But, If you’re tech savvy like myself, a quick Google search will elevate all your W7 needs.

Since I’ve installed it on my computer, I haven’t been to Google consult any problems with W7. I’m actually really pleased with it. Here’s what I did from start to finish:

The Build:

First, I built my own computer and ordered a lot of parts from newegg.com.  I happened to get all the latest and greatest stuff and put it together.  I installed a AMD Phenom II 3.4 (965 black edition), motherboard 980 Nvidia chip set, SLI ready, EVGA GTX285, gSkill memory at pc1600, 300gb WD velociraptor drive and a cooler master case to hold all of it with a 1k watt power supply.

As I installed the last nut and bolt, it was the moment to truth and I turned the computer on. Very quickly, it booted up and the bios came up and recognized everything. On my second build of a PC, I’m pretty impressed, and so far, all the hardware works flawlessly.

The Windows 7 Install:

Clean simple and everything was automatic.  I had a blank hard drive and the install took about 20 minutes. Once Windows was up and running, I had to play around with the settings to get back my style, black screen, Windows XP taskbar with matching folders, and ‘adjust computer for best performance’.  If Windows didn’t do this, I would have been disappointed.  I was not disappointed.

The hardware was recognized in all aspects.  Both hard drives, 4 gigs of memory, and all the little pieces here and there were correct.

Program Installs:

I have to say, that installing programs on Windows was a more relaxing experience than it had been before.  If an install didn’t work correctly, Windows took care of getting rid of the files that came with the set up and it also gave you the option to let it find a solution for you and then to re-install the program again.

All the drivers for my graphics card, monitor, installed perfectly. All the Adobe flash programs I get from the internet installed perfectly.  Adobe CS4 installed perfectly and Windows even separates 32bit programs from 64bit programs.  Photoshop 64bit made it into its respective program folder.

I was even impressed with old games that I wanted to play again.  They installed perfectly even though they were designed to run on Windows 2k or XP.

There was a couple of times where I did had to go to Google to find out how to install Quake 4, but a few clicks later, you just had to navigate to the correct folder, Windows’ auto install setup didn’t recognize the Quake 4 Setup, but it didn’t bother me one bit, it was very fast.

Windows 7 Problems:

It crashed once while I was playing Quake 4.  The screen froze and I tried the ctrl-alt-delete, but with no luck.  Reset and it hasn’t crashed since.  Other than that, Windows 7 has been a great experience to work with.

The ONE BIG thing that really upsets me is that Windows Media Player doesn’t use the spacebar to stop and play video files.  Now, I haven’t looked at the preferences of MWP, it may be there, but come on guys, that’s the standard of all video players, make it default right out of the box!

Windows 7 Conclusion:

I think Microsoft really did figure out what customers wanted from an operating system. Customers wanted no problems, ease of use, and everything to just simple work. I got exactly that. I think people want an operating system that’s going to maximize their tasks, work, schedule, and entertainment.

Apple has done really well in the last couple of years and I’m glad to see that Microsoft has caught up. I still think the price is way too high and unreasonable, and it takes a few clicks on the internet to solve minor bugs and problems but nothing to serious.  I think that Windows 7 is a solid operating system.  If I were to choose between Mac and Windows I would still choose a Mac, only because for the majority of the things I do, Mac suites my style better, but Windows 7 fills up those Mac OS gaps quite nicely.

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