When Windows 7 is released on Thursday, many who’ll rush out to buy it will be users of Windows XP.
Unfortunately, Microsoft has not made it easy for XP users to move to Win7. You won't be able to run the upgrade disk and have the newer operating system install on top of XP, leaving your data and programs in place.
Instead, you have two options:
1. You can do a Clean install, in which you wipe the hard drive clean and install a virgin copy of Windows 7, then reinstall your software and copy your data back to the drive.
2. You can do a Custom install, in which your older setup is squirreled away in a folder called WINDOWS.OLD. This will include your program files, though you won't be able to run your software from there. It will also include data files, but you shouldn't rely on this as your sole backup strategy prior to upgrading.
Because you can't upgrade over XP, there are some steps you'll want to take before you install Windows 7 to make the process easier. This game plan also works if you plan to do a clean or custom install on a Windows Vista system.
• Make an inventory of the software you'll want to reinstall on Windows 7. This may be a good time to do some housecleaning. Identify the programs you really need and plan to keep them, and cast off those you don't.
• Download, install and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor at www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx. This will scan your PC and point out compatibility issues with hardware and software. You may have software that won't run on Windows 7, and you'll need to upgrade to a newer version of that program, or obtain a patch if available.
• Download and save to a CD, DVD or external drive any software patches you'll need. Do the same for any Windows 7 drivers that are available for your key hardware — video and audio adapters, printers, mice, keyboards, scanners, etc.
• Research and identify the security software you'll want to install. Don't expect the antivirus or antispyware programs you bought two years ago to work on Windows 7. Microsoft has a Web page that lists developers with compatible security titles at www.microsoft.com/windows/antivirus-partners/windows-7.aspx.
• Make a backup of your documents, music, videos and photos, to an external drive. Check the help files for your e-mail program to see how to export your mail folders, then save those to the external drive as well. If you're really cautious, make a disk image of your entire system — using software such as Acronis TrueImage, Norton Ghost or Norton Save & Restore — so you can recover your Windows XP setup in case something goes horribly wrong.
• Check the system requirements for Windows 7 to see if your PC is powerful enough. Although Microsoft says 1 GB of RAM will work with the 32-bit version, I'd recommend you have at least double that. Install your RAM — or any hardware upgrades — before you install Windows 7.
• Once you have Windows 7, you can start the installer from within XP. It will do additional compatibility checks, then reboot the system to begin the installation. I'd recommend doing the Custom install, because it does provide a secondary copy of your data files.
• When the installation is complete, install the latest Windows 7 drivers, then the antivirus software you've selected and let it update its malware definitions.
• Manually run Windows Update to check for any patches and fixes.
• Before you install any of your software, live with this installation for a while. Play around with Windows 7, learning its differences before you have to rely on it for real work. Give it a few days before installing your software, and copying data back to the hard drive.
Once your installation is the way you like it, consider using the Backup and Restore function in Windows 7 to make an image of your existing hard drive. You can use this later if you need to start over from scratch — and it will come in handy when Windows 8 rolls around in a few years!
The software giant hoped that wide exposure to Windows 7 would help smooth its entry. Microsoft let millions of consumers and professionals download test versions of the operating system. And by a wide margin, testers have found the new system to be the best yet from Microsoft. Version 7 is leaner, more useful, and prettier than past editions--a worthy effort to update the Windows world.
Still, the fictions are legion. Much of it is innocent confusion that accompanies any major software release. Some of it arises from Microsoft apologists trying to bury the botched release of Windows Vista, sniping Apple fans who want the Mac to continue gaining market share, or diehard techies who revere free Linux software.
[Why some analysts argue that Linux is better than Windows or the Mac.]
With so much misinformation swirling, we've sorted through seven points that are confusing consumers:
1. It's only a minor update to Vista. Overstated, but there is some truth. With Win7, Microsoft had the luxury of going back to basics. Vista was a massive effort to update the core of Windows. The edition following Vista didn't have to be as ambitious. Programmers could focus on the edges of Vista, reducing its hardware-hog tendencies and annoying security nags. But Microsoft went further, adding consumer-friendly functions to paint Windows 7 as an upgrade. HomeGroups greatly simplify home networking, libraries organize jumbled collections of files, and multifinger power makes touch screens more powerful. Aero Peek allows users to roll over 10 or 20 open windows in a flash, proving that Apple isn't the only company that can make computing easier and more fun.
[Even the name suggests that Windows 7 is a return to basics.]
2. Vista users need to upgrade. The Vista launch was painful. The system nagged consumers with unnecessary security concerns, didn't support enough of the hardware that plugs into PCs, and was too bloated to run decently on some hardware advertised as "Vista ready." But most Vista users are past those problems. If they have a system that's working well, Windows 7 offers nothing that's compelling enough to make the switch. Upgrading an operating system costs users in dollars, time, and frustration. Vista is a good operating system--one that's secure and stable. Windows 7 offers nifty new features and runs more quickly. Gamers and power users would appreciate the bump in speed. But most users wouldn't notice a big difference as they surf the Web, write E-mail, and maybe edit a photo or two.
[Microsoft hopefully learned its lessons in the dismal mistakes of Vista's launch.]
3. Windows XP is still better. WinXP ran faster than Vista on many, if not all, computers. It also was more compatible with existing equipment, particularly scanners, printers, and other peripherals. But Microsoft spent years working to make Vista's core more stable and secure, and the company succeeded. Buggy software that runs on a Vista PC is much less likely to cause problems with the rest of the system, resulting in many fewer "Blue Screens of Death." Windows 7 has all those benefits of Vista while also running as fast as, if not faster than, Windows XP. Another consideration is that some companies that make PC hardware and software have already stopped making versions for XP. That trend will accelerate if Win7 proves to be the hit that is promises to be.
4. Windows XP users can't upgrade. It's true that Microsoft has not made it easy to move from WinXP to Win7. If installed over Vista, Win7 will transfer software, settings, and data. Not so with Windows XP. All is not lost, however. XP users can find third-party software that eases the transition. "PCMover Upgrade Assistant" ($30) from LapLink preserves most software, settings, and data when users upgrade their XP machine to Win7, what's called an "in-place upgrade." No need to copy files to an external drive or to reinstall programs. There can be hiccups. Installed programs might need to be reactivated with a call to the manufacturer. But it's relatively painless. And WinXP users qualify for the upgrade prices that Microsoft offers for Win7, rather than having to buy a "full" version.
5. It's too expensive. The price of Windows 7 may seem unreasonable, considering it is a derivative of Vista and Microsoft is charging nearly as much for Win7 as it does for Vista. The Home Premium version, which is what most consumers will want, costs $119 for upgrading to Win7, versus $129 for Vista. The discount seems particularly thin when viewing Win7 as a fix to Vista's problems. But happy Vista users don't have much reason to upgrade (see No. 2). For Windows XP users, the upgrade cost is fair. Plus, for homes with multiple PCs, which seem to be a majority these days, Microsoft is offering a Family Pack that will upgrade three PCs for $150. That's a good deal for homes that can use it.
6. The initial release will be a mess. It's always safer to wait for new software to get tested in the market, and for Microsoft to release the inevitable fixes. But the pedigree of Windows 7 suggests that the problems will be fewer this time. Many bugs and hardware issues were worked out with Vista. For example, Microsoft worked to make sure that hardware drivers for Vista will also work for Win7. Problems will undoubtedly crop up, but they're unlikely to affect the core of the operating system, which also remains largely true to the battle-tested Vista. Win7 at the start seems to be one of the least risky system upgrades to make.
7. Mac users should abandon Apple. The Mac is still the standard for a computer that "just works." Apple has more control over the end product because it also assembles and sells the hardware. The Mac system is also more secure, if for no other reason than that a smaller market share makes a smaller target for criminals. Windows has to run on any batch of hardware that a maker or user throws together. That's one reason Windows requires more tinkering. But Windows also comes from a culture that is more influenced by techies who like tinkering and think everyone else does. Macs cost more. But they also benefit from the aura of success that surrounds the iPhone and iPod. Windows 7 may cut into the momentum behind the Mac, but it alone is unlikely to reverse Apple's gains.
The Windows experience occurs mainly in its Taskbar - especially in the Start menu and System Tray. Vista gave the Start menu a welcome redesign; in Windows 7, the Taskbar and the System Tray get a thorough makeover.
The new Taskbar replaces the old small icons and text labels for running apps with larger, unlabeled icons. If you can keep the icons straight, the new design painlessly reduces Taskbar clutter. If you don't like it, you can shrink the icons and/or bring the labels back.
In the past, you could get one-click access to programs by dragging their icons to the Quick Launch toolbar. Windows 7 eliminates Quick Launch and folds its capabilities into the Taskbar. Drag an app's icon from the Start menu or desktop to the Taskbar, and Windows will pin it there, so you can launch the program without rummaging around in the Start menu. You can also organise icons in the Taskbar by moving them to new positions.
To indicate that a particular application on the Taskbar is running, Windows draws a subtle box around its icon - so subtle, in fact, that figuring out whether the app is running can take a moment, especially if its icon sits between two icons for running apps.
In Windows Vista, hovering the mouse pointer over an application's Taskbar icon produces a thumbnail window view known as a Live Preview. But when you have multiple windows open, you see only one preview at a time. Windows 7's version of this feature is slicker and more efficient. Hover the pointer on an icon, and thumbnails of the app's windows glide into position above the Taskbar, so you can quickly find the one you're looking for. (The process would be even simpler if the thumbnails were larger and easier to decipher.)
Also new in Windows 7's Taskbar is a feature called Jump Lists. These menus resemble the context-sensitive ones you get when you right-click within various Windows applications, except that you don't have to be inside an app to use them. Internet Explorer 8's Jump List, for example, lets you open the browser and load a fresh tab, initiate an InPrivate stealth browsing session, or go directly to any of eight frequently visited web pages. Non-Microsoft apps can offer Jump Lists, too, if their developers follow the guidelines for creating them.
Other Windows 7 interface adjustments are minor, yet so sensible that you may wonder why Windows didn't include them all along. Shove a window into the left or right edge of the screen and it'll expand to fill half of your desktop. Nudge another into the opposite edge of the screen, and it'll expand to occupy the other half. That makes comparing two windows' contents easy. If you nudge a window into the top of the screen, it will maximise to occupy all of the display's real estate.
The extreme right edge of the Taskbar now sports a sort of nub; hover over it, and open windows become transparent, revealing the desktop below. (Microsoft calls this feature Aero Peek.) Click the nub, and the windows scoot out of the way, giving you access to documents or apps that reside on the desktop and duplicating the Show Desktop feature that Quick Launch used to offer.
Getting at your desktop may soon become even more important than it was in the past. That's because Windows 7 does away with the Sidebar, the portion of screen space that Windows Vista reserved for Gadgets such as a photo viewer and a weather applet. Instead of occupying the Sidebar, Gadgets now sit directly on the desktop, where they don't compete with other apps for precious screen real estate.
Old Tray, New Tricks: Windows 7's Taskbar and window management tweaks are nice. But its changes to the System Tray - aka the Notification Area - have a huge positive effect.
In the past, no feature of Windows packed more frustration per square inch than the System Tray. It quickly grew dense with applets that users did not want in the first place, and many of the uninvited guests employed word balloons and other intrusive methods to alert users to uninteresting facts at inopportune moments. At their worst, System Tray applets behaved like belligerent squatters, and Windows did little to put users back in charge.
In Windows 7, applets can't pester you unbidden because software installers can't dump them into the System Tray. Instead, applets land in a holding pen that appears only when you click it, a much-improved version of the overflow area used in previous incarnations of the Tray. Applets in the pen can't float word balloons at you unless you permit them to do so. It's a cinch to drag them into the System Tray or out of it again, so you enjoy complete control over which applets reside there.
More good news: Windows 7 largely dispenses with the onslaught of word-balloon warnings from the OS about troubleshooting issues, potential security problems, and the like. A new area called Action Center - a revamped version of Vista's Security Center - queues up such alerts so you can deal with them at your convenience. Action Center does issue notifications of its own from the System Tray, but you can shut these off if you don't want them pestering you.
All of this helps make Windows 7 the least distracting, least intrusive Microsoft OS in a very long time. It's a giant step forward from the days when Windows thought nothing of interrupting your work to inform you that it had detected unused icons on your desktop.
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