From Windows Vista to Windows 7
As you know, Windows 7 was released last week. As a developer, over the weekend, I downloaded the Windows 7 Professional ISO image to install to my Windows Vista laptop.
What I found out was there isn't an upgrade path from Vista to Windows 7 Professional. It has to be a clean new install. In my case, I only have a few programs installed so it is not a hassle to re-install some of the applications.
The install and reboots went by relatively painless. It took a while (couple of hours) and the last step on the install list was deceivingly long (you would think at the last step it would whip by but no).
During the intial Windows 7 setup screens, you have the ability to connect to your LAN or wireless network. You are also prompted for the Windows 7 activation key. What is really nice about Windows 7 now is you can bypass these 2 questions (if you do not have the information handy or the information is on the network and you need Windows 7 to run first to see the network) and answer them later after Windows is running.
I have already played with Windows 7 via Virtual PC 2007 so I am somewhat familiar with the new OS. What I was concerned about was whether my docking station (screen and sound) would continue to operate. I installed the old Vista drivers and after a while, it gave a message saying the install failed. So that did not work. Luckily I was able to find some beta Windows 7 drivers for my docking station, and this time everything was running.
I was quite impressed. Vista drivers never allowed me to use the Aero interface via the USB cable, it would freeze up, forcing me to use Vista Basic, but now, with Windows 7, I have Aero for the first time on my big monitor via the USB docking station.
What was remarkably easy too was Windows 7 found my network laser printer, and it already had the driver, so connecting to the printer was a breeze.
It also found my network hard drives and discovered the shares, so all I had to do was map the drives to the shares.
A clean Windows 7 install means it moves several key Vista folders to a new folder called Windows.old. The folders that got moved are Windows, Program Files and Users. This clean install is truly clean, as Windows 7 provides you with a new Windows folder, a new Program Files folder and a new Users folder. This is really nice, as you will not see old Vista installed software inside Program Files, you have a new registry, and your Windows folder is not bloated with old Vista files and data.
Some post install activities included installing anti spyware software such as AVG Free (recommended), Mozilla Firefox, the latest Flash plugin for your IE and Firefox browers, Adobe Acrobat Reader (why won't that ever be an OS default?). If you are one that likes the ability to print to PDF directly, then you would also need CutePDF.
Just so you know, straight out of the OS install, there are already Windows 7 updates and patches, so the madness continues.
Windows Movie Maker is not available by default. Good news is you can download it for free from the Microsoft Live site.
Other software a developer might need would be Office, Visual Studio, Visual Source Safe, SQL Server and FTP software.
Some of the new features really do make you more productive. I like the improved taskbar. Having quick access to your browser and explorer from the taskbar is very nice. The shake is cool. The multiple Windows Firewall profiles is also clever. File copying is back to the good old XP speed. I don't know why file copying was so slow on Vista.
I haven't verified this, but judging from the vast array of file extensions it can handle, it appears Windows Media Player can now play Quicktime movies and other Apple file formats.
Windows 7 startups (bootups), reboots, shut downs and sleep all seem faster. Windows 7 also requires less memory to run, so you have more memory (RAM) for your programs. A vast improvement from the sluggish and churning Vista.
Overall, Windows 7 is refreshingly lightweight, nimble and responsive. It is a nicer, improved and updated XP plus a faster Vista all combined into one, and hopefully, the most secure OS Microsoft has ever released. I think Microsoft finally got it.
