Windows 7 Upgrade
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Upgrading to Windows 7
Yesterday I finally decided to upgrade my main system from Windows Vista to Windows 7 Ultimate. It took over 15 hours to complete the upgrade, but it was worth every minute of it. Windows 7 will officially be released on October 22, 2009.
Who should upgrade?
Having been playing with the Windows 7 on my secondary system for a while, I could only see benefits compared to Windows Vista. Reading through online literature, such as developer blogs and reviews, it became clear that Windows 7 is finally what Windows should have released in the first place in stead of Vista.
However, the spirits are divided about whether Windows 7 is better than Windows XP. Many claim, that a well working XP is as good as a new Windows 7, less the trouble you have to go through when moving from XP to 7.
In fact: if you are running Windows Vista, then Windows 7 is a smooth upgrade, picking up all your programs and settings automatically with one exception: there is no more mail client in the Windows Pack. If you migrate from Windows XP to Windows 7, you start from scratch, installing all your programs and reimporting your files from a previously saved back-up.
I am running two Windows XP Professional set ups and 2 Windows 7 Ultimate systems now. I do not change what’s good and keep my XPs, but I have upgraded my Vista installations and I am glad about it.
Upgrading Windows Vista to Windows 7
The upgrade process is smooth: first there is a system check and then a compatibility check which result in a list of potential issues. In my case, and I am running loads of programs, there were two issues: the installed Skype version would not work and there was a mention about the Mail handler. The new Windows 7 does not include Outlook Express like XP nor Windows Mail like Vista. The European Windows 7 release will not include Internet Explorer.
Windows 7
Once you start the upgrade, it is just a matter of patience. It took over 15 hours to complete the upgrade. The time will largely depend on the number and kind of programs you are running on your computer as well as on the number of files you have in store. My 1 Terabyte of hard drive space and over 3,5 million files, occupying about half of the space (just above 500 GB) didn’t make it easier … The installation process saves first your files and programs, expands and installs Windows 7 and then replaces your files and programs back on the new operating system.
In any case, after about 15 hours, the new Windows 7 was installed and ready to go.
After installing Windows 7
To my surprise, all my programs are working smoothly, even some antiques I am running, such as a Frontpage 2003 or a Photoshop 7. But then all my good stuff such as Adobe’s Master Collections 3 and 4 open smoothly without any problem and for Skype, windows 7 finds online quickly the appropriate software download page from Skype to download the latest installer. Brilliant!
Windows 7 and Email
The quick and easy solution is to download the Windows Live Pack. In my case I don’t need the Live Toolbar nor Windows Movie maker since my Adobe Premier Pro does that job more professionally. However I am interested in Windows Live Mail. When installing Live Mail, it will find your Windows Mail files and folders from your previous Vista installation and import your Mails and Folders automatically as well as your account settings. You may have to create the rules again.
Bye Bye Windows Vista
It’s with joy that I can say now Bye-Bye to Vista, one of the worst rip-offs Microsoft has ever come up with. Talking about rip-off: The price for the upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista is well described at Ars Technica. It’s another rip-off at least for the Ultimate version, however, if you use a Microsoft product, you may as well use the best, the others often are even less worth their money.
PS: This post was edited with IE 8 on Windows 7 which seems to work fine WordPress; even the flash image uploader provides a smooth experience.
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Author: Yorgo Nestoridis, Media Marketing & Publishing, Founder of YORGOO Publishing, YORGOO Press and Semiomantics.
