Microsoft trumped Apple in one helpful way: If you have a problem of any kind, Windows 7 immediately offers to fix the difficulty.

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Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Forget Vista and XP! Windows 7 is an exciting replacement

Oct. 18, 2009

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2009, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2009, The Post-Standard

   This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on Windows 7.

   I never thought I would get excited about Windows. But the latest version of Microsoft's PC operating system, which hits store shelves Oct. 22, isn't just better than older versions of Windows; it's night-and-day different, superior to its predecessors in dozens of ways.
   The new software, called Windows 7, is a cleverly redesigned version of Microsoft's disastrous Windows Vista. Along with a much-needed revamping of Vista's annoying User Account Control, Windows 7 borrows two highly admired features of Apple's Mac -- a visual dock to anchor both file launchers and icon previews of running programs, and a slick way to see "behind" program windows to view what was hiding on the desktop.
   Also like the Mac, Windows 7 is totally unruffled if an individual program stops functioning.
   But Microsoft trumped Apple in one helpful way: If you have a problem of any kind, Windows 7 immediately offers to fix the difficulty. In the many weeks I've been running an advance version of Windows 7, this feature alone has saved me hours of likely frustration.
   Windows 7 is different from previous versions in another way that seems surprising. Unlike Vista or Windows XP, and even unlike the Mac, Windows 7 is zany and cute in its dozens of background images. They're artistically tasteful, entertaining and often humorous.
   This may seem like a small touch, but to me it's a sign that the decades-long corporate stupor that stiffled Microsoft finally may be lifting.
   You'll be able to upgrade a Windows Vista PC to Windows 7 without a hitch, using an upgrade version of Windows 7. The cost of an upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium is $119.99. You'll find boxed sets of Windows 7 in stores such as Best Buy and Amazon.
   But if your PC runs XP, upgrading doesn't work. You can still buy the upgrade version of Windows 7, but you'll have to install it from scratch. (This is always the best way to install a new operating system anyway.) Use an external USB drive at least as big as your PC's hard drive to store your documents and photos while you do a clean install, then copy them over to the new system.
   Users of Windows versions older than XP have to do a clean install using a full version. Home Premium in that case costs $199.99. As much as I like Windows 7, I find these prices out of line. The newest version of the Mac operating system, Snow Leopard, costs only $29. Microsoft should have matched Apple's low price.
   By the time the holiday shopping season starts in November, all new Windows PCs should be equipped with Windows 7. If you buy a PC before then, make sure it comes with Windows 7 or with a guarantee of a free upgrade from Vista to Windows 7.

   Next week: A close look at seven impressive new features of Windows 7. The following week: Windows 7 vs. the Mac -- Has Apple finally met its match?