by Artemis

Created on: July 24, 2010

Back in 2007 when Windows Vista was released, the interface was pretty and the promises were nice. Talk about the interface, it was indeed beautiful. Other than that, the promises were not kept.

I was an early adopter, except for one thing: not for myself. I helped enthusiastic friends with the installation and upgrade to Windows Vista, and I was annoyed by Windows Vista's habit of asking for permission. At first, I thought it would make Windows Vista very secure, until I realized that Windows Vista was still vulnerable to attacks. More hassles, less benefit.

When Windows 7 was released in October 2009, I decided to wait instead of doing an early adoption. In almost 6 months, I didn't hear much complaints about it. I attended a venue in my town, hosted by Microsoft, introducing Windows 7. I saw no reason not to upgrade.

My laptop was broken and had to be repaired (under terms of warranty), and the entire hard drive had to be formatted. After that, I would have to reinstall Windows. It's only a matter of which one: stick with Windows XP or upgrade to Windows 7. I decided to do the latter.

And I was right.

Damaged hardware in my laptop was replaced with new units at no extra charge under terms of warranty. I spent nothing, since I didn't upgrade any hardware. So, with exactly the same hardware as before (proof: I spent nothing!), I started to notice significant differences.

Windows starts up much faster, even after being loaded with applications I usually use. I had my data restored, occupying significant space in my hard drive (again), yet Windows still works so fast. Loading even heavy applications is a snap.

I'm also grateful not to ever experience the nightmare most Windows Vista users had: approving many Windows internal operations that didn't make Windows Vista any more secure. I rarely had to approve any questions in Windows 7, since Windows will take appropriate decisions by itself.

After years using Windows Vista, most of my friends found out that Windows Sidebar sometimes disappear, and for those unlucky ones, the Sidebar never appeared again, no matter how. I don't have such a problem in Windows 7, since there's no Sidebar in Windows 7. Sidebar Gadgets are now Desktop Gadgets. The gadgets are still there, and no longer confined in a sidebar. They are free to be placed anywhere on the desktop.

I also enjoy the beauty of Aero interface that was first introduced in Windows Vista. Moreover, I enjoy the demise of the old Quick Launch. Favorite application

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