[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Windows 7 Public Beta: First Impressions here

[dpbsmith]

The article begins by asking what everyone wants to know: "Is Windows 7 shaping up to be the cure to Vista's many woes?" It then precedes to make it very clear that it is not going to try to answer that question. The reviewer should have listed what he considered to be Vista's woes, then reported point by point how Windows 7 compare.
But he opens by saying "I won't get persnickety about the performance issues and minor functionality glitches I experienced during my first day with Windows 7." This tells us that he, in fact, found performance issues and functionality glitches.
Having decided not to tell us about them, he devotes most of the column to describing bling. But the question is not whether Windows 7 adds spiffy new user interface tweaks, even if they are worthwhile.
The important question, which a reviewer with a lab at his disposal is in a much better position to answer than a reader "trying it for himself," is whether Microsoft has succeeded with the plain old nuts-and-bolts pedestrian work, such as collaborating with partners to supply a full line of reliable, full-functionality device drivers.

[robertstrohmeyer]

@dpbsmith
Thanks for your feedback, but the point I tried to make clear is that this first impression is the result of a single day's use of the OS. While PC World's Test Center will be thoroughly evaluating Windows 7 in the near future, it's really not possible to arrive at the kind of results you're asking for in an afternoon. Moreover, this being an early beta for Windows 7, nobody yet knows how well all of the "nuts and bolts" are working, let alone how well Microsoft is doing at collaborating with partners to supply a full line of reliable, full-functionality device drivers. My purpose in this write-up was not to try to deliver information that nobody yet possesses, but to give an honest first impression of the OS as I experienced it in one afternoon of use. I would posit that anyone who claims to be able to deliver the kind of in-depth analysis you're looking for after just a few hours of exposure to a brand new beta release is probably not being as honest as they should be.

[cdotrun]

A Windows VII box is still not my ideal personal computer. What I would like to see is a Server + Thin Clients solution. For now we have centrally-hosted solutions deceptively called "Cloud Computing", just not where I trust storing my receipts and checkbooks.

[killermonkey]

This "review" is undeniably ridiculous. Have you even used Vista? The new UAC controls in Windows 7 are absolutely no difference from Vista, except instead of modifying a registry entry by hand you get a fancy slider bar to do it for you. You can always disable the black screen on UAC prompts and you can lessen their appearance IN VISTA.
As for the other features, they don't mean anything to the new version of windows. System tray icons are not "annoying" unless you make them so (downloading bloatware, etc). The only woes that plagued Vista were lazy IT professionals who somehow convinced their bosses not to do an upgrade. Any software issues are a direct result of lazy and standards lax programmers stuck in a very loose windows xp world. Windows XP is the real woe for Microsoft, because it has so many holes swiss cheese is jealous, yet some people with MACitis think its the best thing since sliced bread.
As for your comment about Linux being more secure that is NOT because of a password being required. In Linux you log in as a normal user and you are required to elevate your permissions to Root with the ROOT password. If you were logged in as Root you would simply have to grant permission (and maybe not even sometimes). UAC is the exact same way and you can setup your computer to do that properly by creating a NON-Administrator account to login to and elevate your system changes via a password to your administrator account.
So give me a break, get real, and don't write a review on something you have no idea on what you are talking about

[TKevan]

Wow, so you're of the impression Robert knows nothing of Vista, eh? You might want to pick up a copy of Microsoft Vista: The official Magazine at your local bookstore and take a peek at the masthead for the Editor-in-chief. Then get ready to wipe that egg off your face.

[ArcherSLO]

Maybe you should be refraining from making uneducated comparisons to Vista and perpetuating the myths about Vista.

Regarding shutdown control, you wrote, "Gone is the unhelpful icon; in its place are clear, concise textual menus that tell you exactly what will happen when you click on them."

Vista possesses the exact same functionality that you described in V7. To the right of Vista's "unhelpful icon" is precisely the same "right arrow" icon used to access the exact same list of shutdown options that you illustrated in V7. The only difference is that the icon appears to have been replaced by a text-only button. Thank goodness for that! I kept forgetting what that universal icon representing a power switch meant!

My Vista Sidebar app runs XM Radio, volume control, CPU/memory monitor, and THREE live video feed gadgets all day long. As I type this, my computer's CPU usage is pegged at a whopping 2%. In addition to Sidebar, I also have three windows open in Outlook, two instances of IE with numerous tabs open in each, FileZilla, and Adobe Reader running with my computer's memory sitting comfortably at 62%.

I predict that V7 will encounter the same insurmountable hurdles as Vista. Uneducated, uninformed, inexperienced, and irresponsible reporting will remain highly influential over people who want the latest and greatest OS to run smooth-as-butter on their TRS-80.

[killermonkey]

@TKevan:
Then I am embarrassed for Robert for writing such filth on this website. Editor-in-chief should know what they are talking about. It is CLEAR to me that he doesn't, I don't care what his title is.

[ArcherSLO]

And they sent a dog into space. Did that make him a qualified astronaut? Credibility comes from making informed and educated statements. If you're going to buy everything somebody tells you just because of their title, then, hey, go right ahead and "Be all that you can be!"

[TKevan]

Well, I think if Microsoft is ok with his level of knowledge on Vista, so should I. Obviously, they believe he has the "right stuff". ;0)

[killermonkey]

You must be one of those misguided individuals. Please, always pay attention to the fine print (taken DIRECTLY from the bottom of http://www.windowsvistamagazine.com/ website):
"Windows Vista: The Official Magazine is produced with input from Microsoft but is an independent publication .... Microsoft is not responsible for the contents of this publication"
let me translate: The stuff in this magazine is not reviewed by Microsoft IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER so don't trust it as absolute truth.

[TKevan]

Check the "Best of" published by Microsoft, but, do you think Microsoft would allow it to remain the "official" magazine, if it was total crap?

But, I'll play. Killer, you said UAC was the same, "except". Nobody wants to hand-jamb registry entries. Except some of my buddies, who still do DOS line entries, and obviously you. The systray icons are irritating to many, maybe not to you, the rest of us are glad to be able to quiet them down. Not sure how you would stop a user from continuing a program change when UAC kicks the prompt, which is where he was going with that.

Archer,
That universal power switch ICON? Doesn't shut the system down. Puts it in hibernation. Yeah, I can guess that the arrow on the right has the rest of the shutdown options, but why make me go there? And as far as your system and the CPU usage? I say that you've probably got much more than Joe Q. Public has, because my wives 2Ghz, 2GB system is dog slow running Vista.

[adin]

Ballmer should maked Vista work or return the money to the people who got it and then announce Windows 7 or whatever you call, I call it Vista fix with the new prace tag for the same people who got Vista. Anyway why not sell the same s... in a different box

[ArcherSLO]

» That universal power switch ICON? Doesn't shut the system down.

Actually, that's an easily configurable option via the control panel, power options, system settings. Perhaps they've changed the default behavior, but that seems hardly worth mentioning when it's already a configurable option. Seems to me that people (such as yourself) don't like some of Vista's defaults and seem unaware of how easily Vista can be dialed in to your own preferences.

» because my wives 2Ghz, 2GB system is dog slow running Vista.

That begs the question, was your wife's computer upgraded to Vista from XP? I don't mean to suggest that I'm interested in debating the whole upgrade issue, but it's pretty well known that upgrading from one version of Windows to another will rarely yield a satisfactory outcome in terms of performance. And again, Joe Q doesn't seem to appreciate that for an operating system to effectively strive to be the "latest and greatest" it must utilize the latest advancements in computer hardware technology. Unfortunately, Joe Q doesn't seem to appreciate that all 2GHz, 2GB systems aren't created equally. Consider bus speed and graphics card for example. It's a painful reality that we have to invest in newer, faster, and higher quality systems to truly appreciate all that a new operating system is cut out to be.

[captfbgnet]

Did Vista's mail program continue to work with Windows 7? How is this handled if it doesn't, does one loose all mail contact information or...what?

TIA

[issuesbc]

The problem inherent in all of these “discussions” is that a vast majority of the people reading these articles and posting responses are advanced users who have been working with computers for years. As a result, we’ve all found our niche – XP, OS-X, Red Hat, etc. The real discussion should be, how does the operating system work for the casual user? The biggest reason Vista failed was because of OS fanboys (myself included) who bashed it without giving it a chance. Yes, UAC is annoying. Yes, driver incompatibilities were abound and should have been easy to avoid. Yes, the hardware requirements were incorrect. However, the same problems were present when XP came out, and most of these have been corrected with time. The same problems are present when any “major” upgrade happens to an OS, although Mac is fortunate enough to control their hardware, so this isn’t generally a problem (but it has happened). I digress…
What I want to know is, when my little sister or my parents buy a new computer, will it be easy enough for them to use without a dozen 9PM phone calls. My parents are running Vista right now, after their W2K box died. My mom LOVES Vista. She thinks it’s easier to use than W2K and very “pretty.” In the end, that’s all that matters. I’ve jumped to Vista on my laptop, although I run XP and Ubuntu on my desktop. Vista is as stable as them all. All I’m saying is, even though Vista / 7 may not deliver the same user interface of its predecessors, do they deliver a simple, easy interface that the casual user will understand? Most of us can edit the registry to change the UAC, but is that something the casual user can / should do – no. As for me – I want to know about the glossy features and pretty UI tweaks, cause that’s what 90% of my phone calls will be about.

[savage4naves]

I'll give you that the title is misleading. It is not just, however, to state that performance issues affect Windows Seven Beta because the author didn't go into detail about the performance side of the O.S.. I find Windows Seven Beta to be more efficient than Vista in several ways; faster performance is one of the beta's stronger points. Simple file copying, boot times, and general benchmarks for this beta are impressive. I expect Windows Seven final to even better the performance of Windows Seven. If you have the time feel free to download the beta for yourself and make your own evaluations.

[savage4naves]

I'll give you that the title is misleading. It is not just, however, to
state that performance issues affect Windows Seven Beta because the
author didn't go into detail about the performance side of the O.S.. I
find Windows Seven Beta to be more efficient than Vista in several
ways; faster performance is one of the beta's stronger points. Simple
file copying, boot times, and general benchmarks for this beta are
impressive. I expect Windows Seven final to even better the performance
of Windows Seven. If you have the time feel free to download the beta
for yourself and make your own evaluations.

[JFSebastian]

It's nice to have ANY review whatsover given the time frame.

Why switch from XP? Is W7 good enough to leave XP?

[greyaburton]

installed on different partition on my original hard drive.install went fine(took a while)but could not get the sound to work.tried installing the same drivers i used in xp but said the operating system was not supported.looks like this system is going to have all the companys having to provde drivers all over again,which must be a pain in the ass for a lot of people.(my audio device is intel 82801eb)