Is Windows XP Better than Windows 7? A User’s Perspective
MS Windows – is there a more controversial operating system? Everybody seems to “hate” it, but yet, one way or the other, it seems we can’t live without it. Vista was a disaster (guess why I know), but is Windows 7 really that good as its heavy marketing tries to make us believe?
In this guest post, Bob Newman shares his experience with Windows 7 compared to Windows XP. Enjoy.
Bob’s View On Windows XP Better than Windows 7
I have been using Windows 7 for more than one year since it was in Beta stage. It works well but I feel it is yet lack of something so I keep dual system of Windows XP and Windows 7 and often switch them to use. In fact, Windows XP is not bad and even better than Windows 7 in a way. At least my mother likes it very much because it’s simple and practical. The followings are some of my views on Windows XP better than Windows 7. Will you agree with me?
My Mother Prefers IE6
Unrealistic caricature
IE8 is almost the representative of Windows 7 and IE6 can not run on Windows 7. Although the international has loudly appealed for giving up IE6 since IE6 has numerous faults and bugs, there are still many fans for IE6, which indicates IE6 is still in demand. My mother likes IE6 because only this one can normally display the background system of her company. Yes, all of us ignore a problem that many websites especially the background system of some companies can only support IE6 for various reasons. I think it’s better to solve some fundamental problems in using IE6 when some companies and organizations are crying out against IE6.
Keyboard Is More Efficient than Mouse
Shortcut keys—I think people who are used to using Windows XP are quite familiar with them. They greatly improved the work efficiency in “no Windows 7 age”. After Windows 7 came in, Microsoft claimed that the Preview Window would be favorable to save work time, which is not the truth. Actually, the Preview Window just transfers more work to the mouse. Is this dazzling feature really more convenient for use than shortcut keys? Here I quote my mother’s words: It’s so dazzling that I feel dizzy.
Software Compatibility
No matter how good Microsoft claimed the compatibility of Windows 7 was, the compatibility of Windows XP is much better than Windows 7 in fact. Indeed, it is quite smooth to run games on Windows 7—but the precondition is that the game is compatible with Windows 7; otherwise, it does nonsense no matter how smooth the running speed is. In contrast, the compatibility of XP is much better than Windows 7. Few programs fail to run on XP unless something is wrong in the system itself.
Hardware Compatibility
Black screen
The hardware compatibility of Windows 7 is the basis of software compatibility. Some games can not run on Windows 7 largely because of the hardware compatibility problem. Now we can still see posts to seek for helping solve the problem of screen flicker or black screen under Windows 7 in some technology forums from time to time. In fact, Windows 7 is not compatible with the video cards of many laptops. This has not been verified by relevant organization or institution but really many people have met this problem including me.
About System Halts and Blue Screens
Blue screen
We may seldom meet system halted in Windows 7 while we have deep impression with system halted in XP, so we take Windows 7 not halted for granted. However, the truth is Windows 7 system also halts and it’s more difficult to solve than XP. For example, the familiar apparent desktop death in XP—you may solve it by restarting, but if you solve it in this way for Windows 7, the computer dies thoroughly which is the only result. For the blue screen problem in XP, you may easily solve it by learning from some Windows tutorials or just resetting the computer hardware, but if it suddenly becomes blue screen in Windows 7, what will you do? Most of the users can only reinstall the system and the problem may still exist. Someone said these problems had something to do with the hardware compatibility.
Absolute Change of Interface
It took me an IT worker one and a half years (from the Beta stage) to come to understand Windows 7, then what about the users who don’t understand computers so well? To change from XP that is used for 6 years to Windows 7 that is totally different from XP in style? One representative of such users is my mother who always asked me to change back to XP for her. For XP users, the change in Windows 7 is too big. Changes are not only in the operation interface and the function position but also in the function name, which are big obstacles for ordinary users. Perhaps someone will say: you can use dual system of Windows 7 and XP, but I tell you a truth: to run dual system of Windows 7 and XP on a machine with top configuration is definitely much slower than to run XP only.
Fatal Fault
Just scratch the surface
Microsoft’s customer service—a fatal fault of Microsoft. It’s an absolutely bad suggestion for you to call Microsoft’s customer service when your system doesn’t work. In XP age, they might solve some problems but in Windows 7 age, they almost become sales. Your system problems are also nightmares for them.
Summary
In my mother’s words: Change back to XP for me!
Are You Ready to Maximize Your Windows Experience?
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About Bob:
Bob is a freelance writer and software developer for DVD Ripper.
Why everyone needs to argue over what’s better than what I dunno. Truthfully, isn’t what your comfortable with best for you? I’ve used every version of Windows to date and my PERSONAL preference is XP 64 bit. More compatibility for hardware and programs and gives me a bit of nostalgia at the same time. I have my Windows XP x64 box running as fast or faster than a Windows Vista or Windows 7 box by far due to the tweaking program and various other things I have installed on it. Point is argue speed and all all you want, there’s ways to solve most issues. I agree Windows 7 isn’t the greatest, XP is but its after 10 years of being out there and 10 years of patching and work. Anyone remember when XP was released… the damn system was a nightmare till SP2. All systems have their problems, what it boils down to is what you like and what your comfortable with… All these damn arguments over what’s better than what is all in the eyes of the beholder… Get over it. Use what you want, if its better for you than that’s what matters… Use it and shut up!
Darkstar, you make some very good points! However I think most complaints about Win7 don’t refer to maturity or stability (if you want Vista was Win7-alpha, with all problems that go with a prematurely released software). The sad thing is, Win7 sucks by design: Its problem is not a clumsy implementation of good concepts (like it was with XP). Its problem is solid implementation of bad concepts.
I decided to purchase an SSD and switch over to Windows 7, as it’s been long enough for MS to work out whatever bugs are in 7. I went all out and got the SP1 Ultimate X64 edition of Win7.
The first thing that I noticed is that even with more RAM and the SSD it really isn’t that much faster, I don’t think most people will notice the (small if at all) speed increase. In fact, in many ways XP is actually quite a bit faster.
I believe Win7 is poorly coded.
Also compatibility problems really show up in Win7. Microsoft’s own MS Office 2007 has quite a few issues even on installation for Windows 7. I gave up on that and just used openoffice, it may be the last time I get an MS Office product.
I have a total score of 7.5 on the Windows experience index, with the sub components ranging from 7.5 to 7.8. XP performed a bit better even in 32 bit with less than half the RAM available and the main bottleneck was the HDD, 7 is optimized for SSDs and that was my main reason to get it. Now I think maybe XP would have been okay to stay with.
I’m having trouble running games like Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas with mods. I haven’t re-installed all my old games yet. The Wireless on Win7 seems a bit less reliable and use efficiency is lowered because it requires more clicks to fix issues with it. Skyrim does work, perhaps because it is a newer game, and the other 2 I believe were released before Win7, or before it became widely adopted (if it even is now). This is not a problem XP had, as most older programs and games did, and still do, work on XP.
Win7 is solid for people that are using a pre-built system or don’t have much experience with computers. However if you build your own systems and did your own WinXP troubleshooting, Win7 will probably bring more problems for you rather than a real increase in performance.
Windous xp is indeed more sensitive to bugs and instability (sometimes even running apps malfunctions can cause a crash) and windows xp GUI was not as transparent and cooool looking as the winodws 7 aero s**t ( it is s**t because it useless i use the normal grey rectangular taskbar on windows 7 because it is to flashy comapred to the more serious XP luna)
HOWEVER!!!!
NO ONE ON EARTH can prove that windows 7 is easier to customize( besides the aero themes with changed background i found no actualy different looking themes) or easier to adjust in any way!
i had to go in 5 diferent places of control panel and delet all my toolbars gust to get it down to the normal xp taskbar size ….. u cant say widows 7 has a thin taskbar … windows 7 taskbar is the fat ass girl of all os taskbars (i had xp,nt,linuxes- ubuntu-fedora-limpus…)
windows 7 was made for god dammed office rats … no easter eggs , hard to temper with the important setting ( i had windows 7 for like 5 mounths and i still haven’t managed to get to the dam regidtry and administrative tools X( annoyng) i cant change anything as easy as i did in xp …. in xp everthing was 100% intuitive …… if u had an iq over 15 u could easly install and optimize xp …. and so on…..
if they kept the GUI and the CP (control pannel) of xp and put it on the great sistem of windows 7 including the aero thing ( btw … if u have xp u can install the aero theme and run programs that were intended for win 7 or vista – i think vista is a pice of S**T a friend of mine has it and says it crappier than hand calculator)
All you lot are wrong. Windows xp is slow, boring, and a total waste of time. The interface is crap and it catches bugs easy. Windows is fast, easy and amazing when it comes to games. It has a great inteface with fast shortcuts. And whoever likes vistor really really should get a new sort of mind. Windows 7 is the only original success in my personal opinion. xp+vista= bin!
hmmm … windows XP .. the legendary windows ever made in the history of mankind ..
well if u want a better look then search in google for windows 7 themes .. lol …. 7 is SLOW by all means ,,
may i remind u guys that XP has an incredible PLUG AND PLAY support which 7 DOES NOT have ?
hey try to use a webcam for ur desktop is 7 … u never get to click any pic from it ..
but in xp u can do it real easy ..
but the media center is an awesome gift of 7
but XP is the best for its blazing speed and yeah it will remain best forever
well, if slower mean better then, yeah xp is better.
and why complain about feature? you don’t know that you can turn it off or even uninstall it?
oh! i forgot, many still stick with xp!
7 is unstable? now i am sure those said that, have never use 7.
I am using it, and some of my apps start much slower on a machine that has like 5x the power of my old XP machine.
you right I’m totaly agree with you and your mom.
Windows NT4=Good fast
Windows XP was heavier for me than windows ME/95/2000
Windows Vista=totaly shit
Windows 7= Still heavier than XP but less crap than Vista
If you buy new 64 bit pc format it and instal windows xp 64 bit, it’s much better than Windows 7 64 bit
I AM USING BOTH XP AS WELL AS WINDOW7 BUT I LIKE ONLY XP. WE CAN PLAY GAME EASIER IN WINDOW 7.
If I wanted my OS to change that much at one time I would have just bought a Mac, and in fact I think that’s what I’m going to do. Thanks Micrsoft for being so freaking stupid.
windows xp & windows 7 are different on different backgrounds. but some features which were really exceptionable on xp are still mising on windows 7…There are many softwares in the market which are still not compatible with windows 7…………
so in my point of view i’ll prefer windowsxp rather than windows7
I’m sticking to xp as i use some programs that are old that i used on win95 and 98 and there’s no updated programs so they work on XP plus there are things that i can do on XP that i can’t do on 7 i wont be upgrading “if it isn’t broke don’t mend it”
I find win7(in my case prox64)much more reliable than XP. Took me some time to adjust it, fix some really annoying things (visuals, not responding problems while rendering etc.) but at least I don’t have to reinstall OS every 5-6 months. I did some nice job in XP over the past few years, still have it on old PC at home. Before I switched to win7 I used XP x64 edition for audio production in studio, found it very stable and fast, no hardware or software compatibility problems… Now I am very happy with win7 on both my desktop in studio and laptop that I use at work. I don’t play games so no comment on that….
As reply to Te Dude: you can easily customize taskbar the way you want in taskbar properties
Mr ‘DK films’ wat do you mean by this 21st century interface?? An interface is meant to be the one thru which we must be able to access all the resources of any device, no matter how qualified you are or not. XP is one of the best example for the above statement.And i am a PC Technician. for me, wen i am going to diagnose any PC or any network issues.. windows 7 can only waste my time because of the fading effect which takes abt 1 sec to popup a window and wastes my clients time.. i think the great engineers worked behind XP is no longer the employs of Microsoft. Because they know wat a user needs other than anything els.
its up to the individual user mate windows 7 might be okay for some but not for others i myself am staying with XP but that doesn’t mean other people should do the same
Dear people,
I just “upgraded” (!?) my PC
FROM : intel dual core 2.33ghz ASUS PK5 SE – 2GB RAM – Win XP SP3
TO Intel core i5 – ASUS P8H67-M LE – 8Gb RAM – Win 7 -
apart from the Win 7 nightmare – hassles – heaviness – useless graphic interface shit to make it work is a tragedy !!! I need a fk computer to work with – not to struggle with its os !
my OLD PC goes 3 time faster !!!
i absolutely totaly agree with you!
maby windows 8 will pack the “game eingen” of windows 7 with all the previous interfaces (rectangular grey thing i can’t name ; XP luna (i luv it); aero (eating graphic resources just to be the fattest taskbar ever if u leave it default) and soomething new probably) and of course the well made Control pannel and administrative tools of windows xp ( cuz they rule and they are maby not as user friendly(/female friendly) lookign as the windows 7 but they are intuitive and fast)
Hey guys, I think windows xp is far better then 7. My pc used 2 run with windows 7 ultimate, it used 2 many ram on my pc then xp, xp uses a little, my games is running much faster after I installed xp professional. So I would rather consider using xp then 7. Far more convenient then any other OS, 2 go from windows 7 ultimate to windows xp was almost like an upgrade
lol at a guy who doesn’t understand style. windows seven IS windows XP with a 21st century interface. don’t be a hater because of it. Oh wait, someone’s mom says XP is easier? Yeah right.
“Honey, I can’t find the execution file for word?”
“Oh, that’s okay, with windows 7 all you have to do is search it. then click on it”
“Oh, okay, that was easy.”
mmmm. weird. also, its 2011, all the compatibility issues are GONE! geez, grow a set and learn the new technology.
Hmm, style? Is “style” going to make up for the 8 minutes it recently took Win7 to move (move! not copy!) one folder? For the blatant inefficiency of how their “style” and “security” and whatever buzzwords MS is coming up with to fool people into buying it are implemented?
Issues gone? Gone my a**! Win 7 is something that belongs in the labs, not on the shelves. I can live with no-cost, open source programs being released prematurely, because that’s the only life cycle they can have. But overpriced proprietary stuff should be damn well tested before they start selling it!
I agree with Hackadelic, Windows 7 is garbage an should be replaced.
I’ll have to agree with you. The only reason why I use Windows 7 is because everything is centered around it at the moment – games, device drivers, software…
In absolute terms, it’s a fairly poor OS. Mainly the GUI. Cannot customize to one’s preferences. ClearType for example – it is supposed to improve text readability on LCD’s (that sound backward to anyone yet? Aren’t LCD’s supposed to have better text readability?) But what if I don’t want to use it? IMO, it makes text blurry and hard to read. Yet you cannot disable it. Using the ClearType text tuner will turn it off for a few places in the OS, but in the others, no, why? Because it is hardcoded into the Aero theme. Whose idea was this, again? Naturally within an hour or two I find myself craving the nice standard antialiasing of XP’s Tahoma. Thick, unnecessary padding and borders, pointless window elements like the Folder Band in explorer…makes my 24″ monitor feel like a 19″. And the Start Menu? Dear god, I cringed when I saw that. It takes almost 15% of the screen by itself. Thankfully you can fix it with Classic Shell. And even if you somehow strip away the wreck that is the UI, you’re left with a slow, bloated OS that runs dozens of services – half of which are unnecessary, installs completely pointless features, such as the Windows Mobility Center. Try running that, it will tell you it is available only on Laptops. So, why the hell is it installed on my –Desktop– PC? It would have been a good idea if you could select which elements of Windows to install during installation… oh wait, that idea was implemented in Win98 SE. Another feature that Microsoft improved (removed). I could go on and on, but I’m forced to use it and hate every second of it. Just look at what they’re planning with Windows 8 – the basic Windows 7 interface is unchanged, and a useless tablet/iPad GUI is tacked on? Fu** it MS, I’m done with you and your incompetence. Time to find a good Linux distro.
Windows 7 is bloated.
I bought a new laptop today able to run Win7 or XP (both included)
Which one I’ll use?
XP!
farewell
Toshiba Tecra S11 PTSE3C-010013
Excellent choice
Windows 7 : Bad pictures preview on folders :
For me, one of the most annoying problems in Vista / Windows 7 is the representation of pictures previews on folders. XP puts 4 previews of pictures from folder, whole pictures are visible, so you can easily figure out what is inside a folder. In Vista / Windows 7 content of a folder is represented as a pile of pictures, one over another… pure nonsense ! Maybe someone considered such 3D view more realistic, but it is way less useful, and I haven’t find a way to bring back the preview from XP – Maybe someone have a solution for this ?
Windows 7: Explorer window with annoying section on left side, but without the easy to use button to go to parent folder. I like to have a simple, compact & clean view of folders, in Windows 7 & Vista it seems impossible
I would have to say yes, I still think XP is better than Win 7. Unfortunately, I had to upgrade from XP to Win 7 Enterprise at work. I really don’t see what the big fuss is over Win 7. They basically move everything around, renamed some of the features and add the annoying UAC. I miss XP already.
It seems that all of you agree that xp takes big time. i disagree big time.
the only reasons for using xp imo are these:
1. it cost money to upgrade
2. you have an old computer
I think win 7 is better because of these reasons among other
1. problem fixing – at first i was skeptical about clicking “troubleshoot” when right clicking stuff, because I thought i will end up getting a message telling me there is an unknown problem, but as i used it so many times, i think its working amazingly and I think it will only get better and better as more problems will be added to the database
2. intuitive links – there were intuitive links in xp as well on the right side of windows but in win7 the links are well organized and always are what I’m looking for
3. libraries, pins, tasks links – genius inventions, make life so much easy
4. better search – well, not quite the best search in the world of OS but much better than XP when you just type a letter or two and get results that consists from files, apps, emails and more
5. in my eyes, win7 looks nicer and cleaner and I can edit the desktop themes
6. win7 has a better support in cores and ram, and it connects easier to TV
I’m sure my mother will use XP until 2030 at least but not because it’s easier, just that because that’s what old ppl do
Once upon a time, there was an automobile company named Mazda. They had one of the best engineered, fastest, quietest, reliable sports cars in the world – it was called the RX7. But they got bored with the wankel engine, and of course, congress didn’t like it because they couldn’t understand it. So they pitched the best system in the world in favor of a swankier, more engineered car. It did more things rather than doing the things it did, well. Eventually, even the most dedicated Mazda RX7 fanboys gave up and moved on to different brands. The moral of the story is: DON’T OVER-ENGINEER YOUR PRODUCT! That’s exactly what Microsoft has done. It’s not that the new system isn’t OK, it’s that it’s not as good as its old system. Simple as that. Name a function. XP is better. Example – move an icon to a place on the desktop – it moves back at its earliest convenience. It does keep order if you’re an anal retentive, but it won’t let you be creative as XP does. Dilbert was right about Microsoft, Inc.
“However, they would much rather take the interface backwards and dumb down the user base while appealing to the MPAA/RIAA that their system is the most DRM friendly.
(Some here may not know that Windows 7 (And Vista) DRM Enforcement is a chain of trust going all the way up from the bare metal to the Display/Sound Drivers)”
Vista/7 was a coup d’etat for Content Producers – just like Sony’s Blu-Ray format was.
Format openness and consumer choice will suffer as a result of this.
It will take a few years for these coup d’etats to realize themselves but corporate control over content will certainly re-establish itself.
Then you have Apple which are DRM lock-down fanatics too.
You know, i have just started to use windows 7, and it is defenetley slower than windows xp. My laptop is a dell vostro 1500 with an intel centrino and 2 gb ram with 500 gb hdd, and xp runs much better. But i haven’t passed by the posiitive thing it brings. It is true that it is in a way a little more hard and tedious to use, but it`s maybe because i`ve been using xp sor more that i can remember, but it is in a way easier to build networks in it, unfortunateley i use them for gaming, and games do not run smoother on 7. Also i have noticed that i can not haver the windows media player runing while y play a simple game, like starcraft, because it laggs my game, in xp this did not happen. On the bright side, i do have less problems than i did with xp. Less blue screens, it almost does not freeze, i do have a better netwok experience, it shuts down faster, although it does take more to start up, but you can speed it up with some programs, like tune up. The sad thing is that all new programs and games are comming out only for win 7, as well a new external and internal hardware. I do like better xp, but 7 does makes a lot of thing easier, for the cost of performance though.
I actually had the same problem while playing media player and sim city 4 DE, I found a fix for it on the internet… I can’t remember what it was though, had something to do with the sound management however… good luck… Oh and I just bought Win XP Pro x64 for my new computer ^^, I didn’t like windows 7 when I was on. I had it for a year, so not like I’m a noob.
Now I understand your problem guys. Windows 7 would definitely run slower on older computers but if you buy a new computer with windows 7 pre-installed, you can say that 7 is much better and faster than xp or vista.
That’s pure bullshit. Windows XP runs way faster on any system and it doesn’t matter if its old or new…
That is sooo not true, i installed a new amd motherboard and 8gb ram with nvidia geforce gtx 590 graphiccs and i put in windows 7 it ran slow as hell, if i chose i would be going with xp
It is your hard drive then LOL
Windows seven is FASTER on systems that don’t have crappy 5,200 RPM hard drives.
What a BS! Every OS runs faster on higher RPM hard drives than it does on low RPM ones, and WinXP wins hands down on all.
the words in this article are really true ,window xp sucks but window 7 f*. [REM Word censored by moderator to not upset Google. Hint: It rhymes with "sucks".]
.
i also agree
xp is better than 7
thre are some reasons for that like:
less space needed
very simple and practical
7 is a little bit more complicated
no system restore points IN WINDOWS 7
windows 7:If damaged it will have to be reinstalled
ya i agree that xp is most better than glitch vista or seven, cos once i installed seven in my machine, and after a week , i got a virus and all programs started screwing and system become slow, antivirus even couldn’t sort it out (avast pro) so i tried for system restore, but there is no point stored automatically in win7 as when compared to xp which stores every programs uninstall point or even install in restore points then i came to know 7 only does store some restore points after a week or so. so i jacked off and then reinstalled xp and i am running fine, i love xp and will stick to it then unreliable 7
Hackadelic, I want to personally thank you for an insightful article which helps to put this whole sorry mess called “Windows 7″ into perspective.
I had upgraded to Windows 7 on my home laptop (Aside from Linux, which I much prefer) but always felt that something just wasn’t at all right.
Your piece highlights succinctly and clarifies where this feeling comes from, and why the system is just so painful to use at times.
I shall be getting Windows XP SP2 64 Bit edition reinstalled on my machine along with the requisite security software (Including Avira and a snort based IDS) as soon as I can.
And also, I think µ$oft are perfectly capable of producing streamlined software. XP, while not perfect, was the closest they ever came.
However, they would much rather take the interface backwards and dumb down the user base while appealing to the MPAA/RIAA that their system is the most DRM friendly.
(Some here may not know that Windows 7 (And Vista) DRM Enforcement is a chain of trust going all the way up from the bare metal to the Display/Sound Drivers)
Thanks again,
Aimee.
Windows XP 64 bit runs 30054248544844548921454 times faster on my core i7 extreme with 6GB of RAM than Windows 7. Since Direct X 9.0 is still the gaming development standard, Windows XP is a far superior gaming operating system. Win 7 is good and vista sucks. However, XP is best
Recycling the “Why Win 98 is Still Better than XP” Article, eh?
Ron, what do you mean “recycling”?
This was a guest post, and I took it in good belief. If it’s a ripoff of another article, I’d like to know.
An exact search for “Why Win 98 is Still Better than XP” did not yield any results though. Would you like to clarify?
love that comment ha ha
I also agree on this, on my laptop games run a lot better on XP than 7 in fact win 7 blocks about 25% of the video card.
Bill Gates has proven again that his favorite meal is Spaghetti. Go figure.
What your mother prefers shouldn’t be included in your own judgement of which is better, windows 7 or XP? After-all, parents tend to be conservative and resist change. To the best of my belief, windows 7 is very compact and comes with a lot of functions that have been simplified to ease operation. I don’t understand what people mean by “windows XP is more stable”. Stable in what? The simplicity and unchallenged advancement that windows 7 brings to its users puts windows XP to a lower level compared to the former. Copying files, burning files with windows 7′s own resource, sorting out saved documents, the functionality of browsers, etc. make windows 7 the best.
Kwains, I’m not the author of the article, but my experience with Win7 provides for a different picture than yours: Win7 is neither compact, nor simpler, nor – and this is what pisses me off most – faster than WinXP. And by that I mean that the same application starts much slower on a brand-new Win7 PC with a ton more of memory, disk space, and CPU power than on a 3 year old WinXP machine with a fraction (like about 25%-50%) of all that. Applications also run faster on that old machine, though the start up latency is the most annoying thing, it’s really freaking me out actually! None of the alleged “new functionality” of Win7 (what new functionality?) is really that much of a benefit to compensate for the poor performance. (Though I’ll admit Win7 performs slightly better than Vista, but that’s not a hell of an achievement really.)
I have quite a clear picture why µ$oft is literally unable to create a streamlined, snappy piece of software, but that’s another story, and is to be told another time.
I remember when I was a diehard Windows 2000 fan while all the “followers” were tearing their hair out over Windows Me, the junkiest Os that Microsoft ever built. Sure 2000 was plain and lacked coming preloaded with everything. But it was stable. XP was a pile of dung until SP2, and even SP3 made XP fall apart again. Its easy to see how much trouble it is for Microsoft to do anything right. I am thinking it is purely an accident when they get something right.
When I switched to XP 64-bit, I was amazed at how much faster it is and it has served me well no matter what I throw at it. But keep in mind, no Os is perfect. Part of what makes one run reliably is the person who uses it. If you are advanced at troubleshooting, you have no problems squeezing the most out of it. But somebody’s uneducated mother would have viruses every week.
I made the switch to WIndows 7 Ultimate a month ago and have used it everyday, installing many programs and putting it to the test. First of all I must say that the security is a major annoyance. But it can be turned off. It has worked very well. But three days ago I decided to restore my backup of XP 64 to see what I was missing. Talk about FAST!! I had almost forgotten how much faster XP is. WIndows 7 hesitates when processing which tells me it isn’t very efficient at all. Sure it avoids the crashes 99% of the time. But at the expense of true performance. It eats up RAM like an addiction that never quits. That’s crazy. XP never did that. Some people tend to justify Windows 7 by stating that its easy to just buy more RAM. I have a different outlook. Any Os that can run the way XP does with little RAM is built well enough. Windows 7 is bloated. Firefox browser was once the greatest browser until it became so bloated that it couldn’t run efficiently. WIndows 7 falls into that category. But I notice that recently Firefox has gotten back on the right path again and runs very well. Heed the words Microsoft!! WIndows 7 is nothing but the reality of what your WIndows Me dream once was. But XP is still the true king.
Windows 7 is EXTREMELY unstable compared to XP. I doubt businesses will swap to it without a few service packs.
I entered XP before SP1 and was told to go with 98SE but I wanted a new OS with a new computer. Whatever service pack you went to in XP wait for the equivalent in W7. (I’m looking forward to W7 SP3 – but not holding my breath)
Things that go wrong with W7: lots of programmes with (not responding) including Office, which requires using the task manager regularly to fix. eg. Excel opens very slowly or loses information even after saving. That is pretty scary to get used to losing hours of work with no control over it. An odd one was having to run a CMD scan when you loose the PASTE function. There are problems with connecting to company servers.
There are a lot of nice things with W7 that stops me going back to XP, but if you are using XP wait for some service packs for W7 to come out to fix a very unstable OS.
The best way to define W7 is to say it is very nice looking crap
Here’s my Windows 7 hate list:
Remember good old ALT-ENTER for a quick free space check? GONE
Remember good old free space at bottom left of Windows Explorer? GONE
Remember a user responsive desktop as 1st priority? GONE
Remember a less RAM consuming bloated OS? GONE
And to think the future is mobile computing and Microsoft insist otherwise.
Apple has literally been handed the future with iOS leading the way.
Ubuntu!
I agree 100%, Windows 7 adds more hasle to use, microsoft calles it fetures. i ‘m forced to use windows 7 at work and i hate every minute of it. i’m looking for a shell exchanger that will make windows 7 works like windows xp. there is one but it only fixes the start menu not the taskbar. what i hate the most, it groups tasks togther, no i want them in the order i open them becouse they are related by the task im working on. i wish someone sue microsoft for monabily becouse they are shoving this OS down our throught becouse they rae stopping support for it.