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Microsoft Windows 7

Windows 7 (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) is the current version of Microsoft Windows and the successor to Windows Vista. Microsoft has stated that it is "scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year timeframe", and that "the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar."  The first public beta was released to the public on January 9th, 2009 and will expire August 1st, 2009, with a downloadable ISO available to the first 2.5 million people. The operating system was finally made available to the public on October 22nd 2009.

Where to Buy

Microsoft Windows 7 1
MSRP --
Release date October, 2009
Brand Microsoft
love it
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tag it
Pros & Cons44
Reviews53
Details
Buy It45
Competitors5
Comments8
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Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
48 reviews
80
negative
mixed
positive
34 positive
3 mixed
10 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
•
Improved memory management takes up less RAM than Vista
+31agreedisagree

•
Revamped taskbar that can combine running programs and hide labels - 3 options how it is done
+26agreedisagree

•
Allows you to turn off fundamental Windows features such as Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer
+26agreedisagree

•
Better supported 64-bit architecture
+25agreedisagree

•
Able to change UAC security (rather than ON / OFF in Vista)
+24agreedisagree

•
More secure than XP & Vista
+20agreedisagree

•
Runs on Netbooks (where Vista doesn't)
+18agreedisagree

•
Better compatibility than Vista
+17agreedisagree

•
Improved support for wireless networking
+16agreedisagree

•
Advanced troubleshooting architecture diagnoses and fix problems linked back to up to date help
+15agreedisagree

•
All features are installed from the get-go, so you don't have to always "install" a new service when you want it
+13agreedisagree

•
Multi-Touch support (inc. Gestures & Multitouch keyboard)
+13agreedisagree

•
Better looking interface than Vista & XP
+13agreedisagree

•
Abilioty to virtualise applications in XP environment (including interface)
+12agreedisagree

•
Runs well on lower end hardware such as netbooks
+11agreedisagree

•
Improved usability than Vista & xp
+11agreedisagree

•
Enhanced Tablet Support
+10agreedisagree

•
Aero visual style improved over Vista
+10agreedisagree

•
Calculator includes built-in programmer & statistics mode, plus MPG, mortgage & car payment modes
+10agreedisagree

•
Better support for widescreen monitors
+7agreedisagree

•
Much more drivers are built in for newer and older hardware, requires less driver downloads to setup your machine
+5agreedisagree

•
Extremely stable
+5agreedisagree

•
Much faster bootup times
+5agreedisagree

•
Much faster than XP and Vista
+3agreedisagree

•
Improved task bar with larger icons for ease of use, especially if you have bad eyesight
+3agreedisagree

•
Better power management and faster resume from standby
+3agreedisagree

•
Much faster login times
+3agreedisagree

•
much improved Media Center
+2agreedisagree

•
Better compatibility than Vista & XP
-5agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
•
This is what Vista should have been, and we will get to pay for an 'upgrade'
+15agreedisagree

•
Seriously overpriced
+12agreedisagree

•
Abilioty to virtualise applications in XP environment available only on Professional and Ultimate edition
+4agreedisagree

•
still #1 targeted os for viruses/trojans/phishers
+2agreedisagree

•
Idiot Linux Fanboys complain that it's still Microsoft.
-1agreedisagree

•
Expensive service pack to Vista that should have been released free.
-4agreedisagree

•
Security System Still weak
-6agreedisagree

•
still not full 64 bit support/ few 64 bit programs available
-7agreedisagree

•
Being able to use all of the new features requires high-end hardware.
-8agreedisagree

•
Slower and less compatible than XP.
-8agreedisagree

•
driver support same as vista - poor support, no legacy availability for older hardware
-9agreedisagree

•
Is made by microsoft
-12agreedisagree

•
Sucks
-15agreedisagree

•
Random Program Shut-downs. No reason given from error messages
-16agreedisagree

•
Still have to install programs
-20agreedisagree


52 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!
See individual votes »

Details

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This report was started October 14, 2008 at 8:56 pm by Erik
with the last edit occurring Yesterday, 11:34 AM by bluplr
This page has been viewed 3517 times, with 1039 edits by 55 contributors.
See the full report history »

Buy It

Microsoft Windows 7 | Professional Upgrade

• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade

• Windows Professional 7

UPC: 882224883443

EAN: 882224883443

MPN: fqc-00130

Microsoft Windows 7 | Home Premium Upgrade

• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade

• Windows Home Premium 7

UPC: 882224883429

EAN: 882224883429

MPN: gfc-00020

Microsoft Windows 7 | Professional Full

• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional

• Windows Professional 7

UPC: 882224883436

EAN: 882224883436

MPN: FQC-00129

Microsoft Windows 7 | Ultimate

• Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate

• Windows Ultimate 7

UPC: 882224885638

EAN: 882224885638

MPN: GLC-00182

Competitors

Microsoft Windows 7 is ranked 2nd among it's competitors.  See the top picks in Operating Systems »
Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Mac OS X Snow Leopard

MSRP  $29.00    Released  September, 2009
Pros
  • affordable to upgrade to compared to previous version of OSX
  • Finally a release that tidies up the plumbing rather then just adding features and bloat
  • OpenCL support for general purpose computation using graphics hardware - takes strain off of the CPU for computation more easily performed by the GPU
Cons
  • no longer supported on older PPC-based Apple hardware
  • Making a fresh install over pre-X.5 systems from the 29.00 upgrade violates the ULA.
  • only usable on proprietary Apple hardware
ProSCORE
7 reviews
73
Vote! (2 votes)
vote Microsoft Windows 7 0% vs. vote Mac OS X Snow Leopard 100%
Linux

Linux

MSRP  $0.00    Released  August, 1991
Pros
  • Free and open-source
  • Strong developer community
  • Enterprise-class server operating system
Cons
  • Most Windows programs aren't available in Linux versions
  • Not all hardware is readily supported.
  • driver stability - many drivers are just ports of windows drivers
ProSCORE
22 reviews
71
Vote! (2 votes)
vote Microsoft Windows 7 50% vs. vote Linux 50%
Microsoft Windows XP

Microsoft Windows XP

MSRP  --    Released  --
Pros
  • Good driver support - lots of drivers even for oblique and legacy hardware
  • backwards compatible; very good gaming platform
  • Stable
Cons
  • Programs aren't isolated from one another, so one can take down the whole OS
  • File system Fragments
  • Poor security out of the box
ProSCORE
34 reviews
55
Vote! (3 votes)
vote Microsoft Windows 7 67% vs. vote Microsoft Windows XP 33%
Microsoft Windows Vista

Microsoft Windows Vista

MSRP  $199 - $380    Released  January, 2007
Pros
  • Simple instalation from scratch (GUI really helps installation)
  • Much better compatibility with 64-bit hardware
  • Much fewer security vulnerabilities than XP
Cons
  • Performance can be much better
  • Default installation comes with many bloated eye-candy settings enabled that slow your computer down
  • User Access Control is a huge pain
ProSCORE
29 reviews
38
Vote! (3 votes)
vote Microsoft Windows 7 100% vs. vote Microsoft Windows Vista 0%
Google Chrome OS

Google Chrome OS

MSRP  $0.00    Releases  January, 2010
Pros
  • Free
  • Open source
  • Optimized OS for netbooks
Cons
  • web-based applications and focus on netbooks means it probably won't be a very powerful OS, not comparable or likely to eventually replace others (Windows, OSX, Linux etc...)
  • requires specific reference hardware - will be pre-installed on Google approved hardware only
  • not an operating system at all - just a souped up Chrome browser (running on a vanilla Debian-based Linux OS)
ProSCORE
9 reviews
65
Vote! (0 votes)
vote Microsoft Windows 7   vs. vote Google Chrome OS  

Suggest a new competitor to add to the list of competing products.
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Comments

28 taps
show more
1.  avatar Yale said:

Funny how it looks so similar to KDE.
Oct 29, 2008 4:59pm
2.  avatar Darkstriker said:

Funny how it works so very different from KDE
Mar 09, 2009 4:47pm
3.  avatar anon said:

Couldn't be worse than Vista
Mar 12, 2009 11:58am
4.  avatar eurica said:

@anon, not 100% true. I accidentally installed a plate of rotting meat as my operating system and the experience was perceptibly worse than Vista :)
May 29, 2009 10:04pm
5.  avatar shadowtech said:

I've been using this since the public beta, and recently got a pre-release copy (actually 2, x86 & x64 versions) of the Professional edition through my college's MSDN-AA subscription. Windows 7 runs great on my netbook with only 1GB of memory, but on my higher powered desktop the OS really shines. As a person who's used OS X for the past 8 years or so (and loved it), it's not hard to tell that Windows 7 has taken some obvious cue's from Apple's OS -- but MS has improved upon everything before it for a better user experience.

The OEM version is a great deal if you can't get it for free. Worth the cash.
Oct 16, 2009 10:17pm
6.  avatar vsaxena911 said:

I'm on XP and I'm STAYING on XP until the very last moment -- I'm talking 2015. I'm just not ready to switch yet.
Oct 19, 2009 4:48pm
7.  avatar vsaxena911 said:

Oct 23, 2009 6:59pm
8.  avatar dialupinternetuser said:

Does anyone know how it would run on a P3 with 256KB RAM?
Nov 17, 2009 8:34pm
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Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

phenix1819

avatar
June 6, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
4 pros
0 cons

Pros

  • Better supported 64-bit architecture
  • All features are installed from the get-go, so you don't have to always "install" a new service when you want it
  • Multi-Touch support (inc. Gestures & Multitouch keyboard)
  • Abilioty to virtualise applications in XP environment (including interface)

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

bluplr

avatar
Yesterday, 11:34 AM
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
0
negative
mixed
positive
0 pros
2 cons

Pros

Did not agree with any pros

Cons

  • This is what Vista should have been, and we will get to pay for an 'upgrade'
  • Seriously overpriced

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

VesNL

avatar
October 28, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
2 pros
0 cons
want itwant it

Pros

  • Able to change UAC security (rather than ON / OFF in Vista)
  • Better compatibility than Vista

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

jujutiles

avatar
October 17, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
0
negative
mixed
positive
0 pros
2 cons
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Pros

Did not agree with any pros

Cons

  • Is made by microsoft
  • Sucks

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Avi Shalom

avatar
July 19, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
0
negative
mixed
positive
0 pros
2 cons

Pros

Did not agree with any pros

Cons

  • This is what Vista should have been, and we will get to pay for an 'upgrade'
  • Seriously overpriced

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Jihoon Lee

avatar
November 8, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
1 pro
0 cons

Pros

  • Much faster login times

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

rickzmond

avatar
July 13, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
0
negative
mixed
positive
0 pros
1 con

Pros

Did not agree with any pros

Cons

  • Still have to install programs

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

eurica

avatar
May 29, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
0
negative
mixed
positive
0 pros
1 con

Pros

Did not agree with any pros

Cons

  • This is what Vista should have been, and we will get to pay for an 'upgrade'

Comments

"@anon, not 100% true. I accidentally installed a plate of rotting meat as my operating system and the experience was perceptibly worse than Vista :)"
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

KeyBoardCowBoy

avatar
March 16, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
0
negative
mixed
positive
0 pros
1 con
love itlove it
want itwant it
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Pros

Did not agree with any pros

Cons

  • Security System Still weak

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Yale

avatar
October 17, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
0
negative
mixed
positive
0 pros
0 cons

Comments

"Funny how it looks so similar to KDE."
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No
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