Technical Reviews and Geek Toys

I finally got my hands on a copy of Windows 7 Beta that someone else had downloaded which saved me alot of bandwidth. As I write this I am installing it on a virtualBox virtual server. My first impression is the size of the installation. I think it is the first time I have installed off of a DVD. So far it has required very little interaction. I chose to install a fresh version of Windows 7 not upgrade a current Windows installation and I selected what drive to use. Currently it is expanding files...

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I have been reading around, about what others have had to say about Windows 7. I don't understand where people get their ideas I guess. I found one post where the individual thought the taskbar in Windows 7 was the best in the industry. He didn't really say why he thought that. I wonder if he has even seen all of the task bars for all of the operating systems available today. Another individual stated that Windows 7 was just a Service Pack for Vista. I don't know enough about the details to comment on that. Most commented on the User Account Control settings and the ability to set it to never notify when programs try to make changes to Windows. It looks like an appeasement to one of the things about Vista that most people didn't like. It seems to defeat the purpose though.

Ok, well the installation appears to be done. I have entered my name, name of the machine, and my password. Next comes the Product Key, how to handle updates, and the current time. Hmmmmm.... Home Network or Work Network. I don't know what a homegroup is but I might like to belong to one. Make sure to write down that Home Group password.

Ok, up and running. The first notice I received was to find an anti virus program.... very important. Well it is Windows. One of the things I had heard was there was no longer a Quick Launch tool bar. Well, I see the IE icon, an icon that looks like a folder stack (a popup says it is Libraries), and a Windows Media Player icon. All of these where the Quick Launch menu should be. I can drag a start menu icon down to this area and it asks if I want to pin to taskbar. Looks like a Quick Launch to me.

Looking through the Getting Started pages, I can see where there are several Control panel functions that have been consolidated. The Printers and Devices window is a good example. And looking at the Control Panel I see some things that I am not familiar with.

Well, I have looked at all that I can find to look at. I don't see a big difference in the overall experience between Windows 7 and Vista. It is still Windows. There is still only one desktop. I can't help but compare this with KDE 4.2 which has a whole lot more to offer in the way of productivity and effects. This is the next best thing from Microsoft. I'm not going to get real excited about it.

By the way, I just saw an announcement that Microsoft just turned off the ability to download Windows 7 Beta.