“Windows 7 is no Windows Vista. But it remains a Windows operating system,” Rob Pegoraro reports for The Washington Post.
“That is, Microsoft’s new release, arriving in stores and on new computers Thursday, ought to turn the troubled Vista into a bad memory. But it shouldn’t make people forget about Apple’s Mac OS X,” Pegoraro reports. “On its desktop, 7 introduces a new, Mac-like version of the taskbar on the bottom of the screen. Here, the old rectangular taskbar buttons have been condensed to squares that can be rearranged and can point both to open programs and ones you use often — much like Mac OS X’s Dock.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple introduced the Mac OS X Dock on September 13, 2000, over 9 years ago. That’s better than the eleven (11) years it took for Microsoft to badly copy the Mac’s UI in upside-down and backwards fashion (Mac debuted in 1984, Windows 95 in 1995), but not by much.
Pegoraro continues, “The Start menu, however, remains the same old mess… [and] 7 takes a step back with its new Library folders, a set of prominent shortcuts to all the documents, music, pictures and videos on a computer. On a computer used by only one person who already sticks to the default Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos folders, they’re more likely to confuse.”
“Upgrading an older machine from XP to 7 is a recipe for pain even if the computer meets 7′s hardware requirements,” Pegoraro reports. “Microsoft calls an XP-to-7 upgrade a “custom install,” but “destructive install” is more accurate. You run an Easy Transfer utility to back up your files, the 7 installer wipes out XP, your programs and the drivers enabling your computer’s hardware; Easy Transfer reloads your files and settings; you reinstall programs. On a test XP system, this left some applications missing their settings or files.”
“If you were hoping to stop policing random software-versus-hardware squabbles, Windows 7 isn’t the operating system for you. Nor does it bring an end to drawn-out program installations and uninstallations, the risk of virus and malware attacks, the need to submit the computer to “validation” checks, or compatibility problems between 32-bit software and 64-bit installations of Windows,” Pegoraro reports. “Then again, for Vista users weary of that operating system’s foibles, Win 7′s selling points can stop at two words: ‘not Vista.’”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Some selling point: Windows. Now it sucks less. Get a Mac.
Mac users have way more fun!
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Carl H." for the heads up.]
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