Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade [Old Version]

I'm typing this from an official Windows 7 Home Premium release (not RC), which is something that I'm truly enjoying. I've been running the RTM version since it was released, so I've gotten very familiar with the new OS. There are so many things to like about the OS. The new Aero interface is very appealing and definitely a step up from Vista. However, I'm moving from XP, so the difference there is substantial. It's definitely taking some time to get used to where things have moved to.First of all, as I mentioned already the Aero interface is really fantastic. It's provided graphical feedback in a way that makes the OS more intuitive and user-friendly. The first thing that really impressed me was how the taskbar has transformed into this super informative interface. For instance, all applications are now displayed by their icon, instead of their name. This has significantly reduced the clutter. As you call up more instances of a particular applicaiton, Win7 automatically groups them. When you hover above the icons, miniature snapshots of the applications show up allowing you to easily see and select the window that you're most interested in. There are so many more features of this that are very difficult to list all here. Rigt clicking on an icon, shows additional options for that particular application. A perfect example is when you click on the IE logo, it displays the most popular links at the top, allowing you to quickly go to a website. Another option is to quickly start the InPrivate browsing mode (which is a whole article in itself).The next interesting thing, which is going to be familiar to Vista users, is the use of desktop gadgets. It's important to note that there are several third party applications that do the same thing, such as Google and Yahoo. The desktop gadgets allow you to run mini-applications on the desktop, such as a calendar, clock, or the weather. I like this functionality, but quite frankly I haven't come to rely on them for anything. I could probably disable them and not miss much. However, it does make the desktop look more interesting and interactive. I'm sure I'll find that magic gadget that will provide some great use.All the standard applications that come with Windows have all been updated. I'm not quite sure how different they are from Vista, but many are completely different from XP. Two big examples are Paint and Wordpad. Microsoft has applied the ribbon treatment to both of these applications. I'm a big user of Office, so this was a pleasant surprise. Personally, I think it's a huge enhancement from the much dated toolbars and drop-down menus.The sleep and hibernate modes are finally flawless (or at least for me). I haven't changed the default behaviors for either, so for my laptop when I close the lid it goes to sleep. When the computer is on and idle for a set period of time, it will also go to sleep. Finally, when the computer has been sleeping for some time it will automatically hibernate. Lifting the laptop lid when in sleep mode will automatically wake it up. When I press on the function key, it will also wake it up. In order to come out of hibernation, I just press the power button and it will come up. All (again, for me) of these features have worked 100% of the time, which is previously unheard of.As mentioned previously, there's so much to mention here. But there's one thing that I have completely come to rely on. Coming from XP, it's been difficult to find things quickly. The best feature for me has been the search box within the 'start' menu. I've been able to find everything that I have been unable to find by hunting around. You can type in anything (calculator, notepad, manage computer, etc...) and it will pop up a list of things that it thinks you're looking for. From there, you just pick from the list. Excellent feature!!!My experience has been mostly favorable, but I have had some issues. The first issue was with the display driver for my Thinkpad laptop. Apparently the driver crashed and needed to be restarted. The good news is that Windows fixed the problem without having to reboot. Occasionaly, the screen will flicker, but I'll get no message as to why. One other gripes are the difficulty in finding certain things. That's just going to take time (and patience) before I get used to things. The next thing that is taking some time to get used to is in how Explorer has changed. Since the default setting turns off the menus, changing certain view settings is a bit of a pain. I'm trying to figure it out without turning on the classic menus. Finally, I'm kinda frustrated that I wasn't able to directly upgrade my old XP computer to Win7. Apparently it sticks all your old XP stuff in a folder some where so that you can still get to it. You have to upgrade to the business or ultimate version to have better XP compatibility.Overall, I'm very pleased with the new OS. I definitely think this is what Vista should have been!! It's too bad that it took Microsoft so long to figure that out. While I would recommend all XP and Vista users to upgrade, you may want to run the advisor tool that Microsoft has to make sure that all of your hardware and software are going to be compatible. Of course, you could always buy a new state of the art PC from Amazon and get Win7 pre-loaded.

If you've had the chance to see Apple's newest attack add against Windows in which the nerdy PC guy goes back through time talking about how the most recent version of Windows will fix all the problems from the last, you might be asking yourself if it really is worth upgrading to Windows 7. Aside from the fact that the add is grossly unfair (considering Apple released quite a few OS during the same years as Windows, and none of them were perfect either), the add has a point: some Windows versions have been inferior or even downright terrible (ME for example). That said, Windows 7 is a great OS, really a dramatic improvement in many ways, and should not be ignored. The short answer is you should absolutely upgrade from either XP or Vista. The longer answer is still a yes, but that you need to understand what you're buying and how you can use it first.I think much of the confusion about this version of Windows 7 surrounds the title 'upgrade.' Many have taken 'upgrade' to mean that one can seamlessly move from XP or Vista without having to reinstall anything. This is not always the case depending on what OS you are upgrading from. Here 'upgrade' means that you are 'upgrading' from one OS to another. The retail versions are being sold for systems that have no OS in place at all--for example a new system build. I agree that Microsoft (and Amazon for that matter) could and should have been explicit about this--unfortunately they were not, and that's left a sour taste in the mouths of many, which I totally understand. Adding to the confusion is that you can seamlessly upgrade from Vista Home Premium with this version, but NOT Visa Professional, NOR Vista Ultimate. Microsoft did not do a good job of making the seamless upgrade paths clear, so here they are:If you are upgrading from XP (any version) you MUST do a clean install of Windows 7. No seamless upgrade route is available. However, you CAN do a dual boot installation that will allow you to keep XP and run it in tandem with Windows 7. This is a great route if you have programs that may not run on Windows 7 (I've yet to find one myself--everything I have runs perfectly).If you have XP, you should do a clean install. Even if it is time consuming, it bears a multitude of benefits for you and your computer in the long run. If you're dead set on upgrading from XP and keeping your programs, you could try Laplink Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant but I would NOT recommend it.If you are upgrading from Vista, here is what you need for a seamless upgraded:Vista Home Premium: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium UpgradeVista Professional: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional UpgradeVista Ultimate: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate UpgradeKeep in mind that you MUST install the same system type (32-bit or 64-bit) as your current version of Vista to have a seamless upgrade route available! You cannot upgrade from a 32-bit to a 64-bit system and keep your programs (well actually you can keep some of them, but more on that later). Since you are provided both 32-bit and 64-bit installation disks, you can choose which version you want to run. If you have newer hardware, 64-bit is probably the way to go as it is faster and will allow you to take advantage of more than 3.5gb of system RAM.The silliest part of the upgrade scheme is that you CANNOT do a downgrade 'upgrade.' In other words, you cannot downgrade from Visa Ultimate to Windows 7 Professional through the seamless route! This defies logic and explanation from Microsoft, and is the reason I've knocked a star off an otherwise nearly perfect OS.Personally I did a clean install of Windows 7 64-bit over a Vista 64-bit system (I chose the clean install method because I believe it represents the best route to a trouble free and 'clean' feeling system). I installed over my old Windows directory (which I had backed up by creating a disk image using Acronis True Image Home just in case anything went wrong. Installation took about 30 minutes, actually much faster than any other OS install I've ever done. All of my hardware was recognized and drivers were installed without a hitch. The old windows files are moved to a windows.old file which contains all of your user accounts, program files, and old Windows files. It is possible to open the programs file (in windows.old) and copy over many programs into your new programs file and some of them will work perfectly fine. I was able to do with with all my web browsers, a few computer games, and some random applications. Not EVERYTHING will work, but many will and it's worth at least testing it out.I've since upgraded several other computers (my wife's laptop, a few computers at work). My wife's was a simple streamline upgrade from vista home to Windows 7 home (32-bit to 32-bit). It took a bit longer, probably about an hour, but managed to keep all programs and settings from Vista. The others were clean install upgrades. The only one that I had an issue with was upgrading a 32-bit system to a 64-bit system. I installed to a different hard drive and booted up to W7 just fine. However, I could not delete the old windows files from the previous installation. I followed various Googled help pages on taking ownership of files, etc., but was unable to get all the files to delete no matter what I did. Ultimately I was forced to physically remove the hard drive, put it into an enclosure, and delete the files using a separate computer. The UAC (User Account Control) system that prevents system files from being deleted was in this case out of control and impossible to overcome--even for an middle-advanced computer user who knows how to troubleshoot/problem solve using online resources. For someone with less experience, it would have been even more frustrating I am sure.Many others have gone into great detail about the feature set of Windows 7 and the various improvements from Vista, so I will not spend much time running through all of them again. Suffice it to say that Aero works wonderfully, QuickSnap is amazing, especially on a larger monitor, and that all of the visual tweaks are nicely done and very welcome. The reorganization of the start menu is wonderful and makes the W7 task bar nearly perfect. Add a simple dock program to the mix like RocketDock (google it) and this OS is hands down better than even Snow Leopard--which is pretty awesome.Performance is also great. My boot time went from 1:47 to :56! Nearly a minute faster! (Hardware: E8500, P45 Asus Striker MB, 8GB ram, Hd4870 x2 in crossfire). Overall the OS just 'feels' faster, snappier, and easier to use. Everything Vista wasn't, W7 is.I'm very pleased with W7, and aside from some miserable communication from Microsoft about what upgrade means and what can upgrade to what, it's nearly flawless. If you want a stable, fast, visually appealing and advances OS, W7 will not disappoint. Just make sure you know what you're buying so that you don't end up dissatisfied.4/5 Stars.