Nothing fancy to see here, but I’ve been getting a lot of questions around Windows 7. I figured I’d answer them. I recently attended a Microsoft event here in Atlanta where they handed out full copies of Windows 7 Ultimate. They handed out the 32bit version but I can verify that the same key will work on the 64bit version.
Q. Do you like Windows 7?
A. I love it. I can honestly say that “it just works!”
Q. Why do you like it?
A. Well, at work I use a Mac, and I know it sounds cliche to say that Windows 7 is very Mac-like, but it is.
Q. Will it work with my system?
A. My PC is best a “franken-puter” that I’ve rebuilt and upgraded parts of it over the years. Not only do I see a impressive performance improvement, I have yet to manually install any drivers. Win7 found ’em all. So yeah, I’m willing to bet it will certainly work with your system.
Q. Can you get me a copy?
A. Alas, no. But if I get some more Google wave invites, I might be able to hook you up with that.
Q. Are you using Antivirus? If so, what do you use?
A. Yes, I am using Anti-virus. You’d be nuts not to. I am personally using Avast.
Q. Are you aware of anything that doesn’t work with Win7?
A. Yes, I know of a few things that don’t work. Mainly the only thing I really want to use is VMWare’s VI client. It will not run under Windows 7, or at least the version I’m using. I’ll check for an update after I finish this post.
Q. I heard you have to format and reinstall if you are upgrading from WinXP? Is that true?
A. Yes, it is, and you know what? I am SO glad I decided to take the plunge. I backed up all my users Documents and Settings using the WinXP back up utility and was able to restore them and I am so glad I did. Remember, I said my computer have been rebuilt and upgraded many times. Starting “fresh” allowed me to eliminate a bunch of crap and set some things right. No regrets! Just plan for it and you’ll be in good shape.
Q. What else have you installed on your “new” system?
A. Since I started fresh, I have installed only stuff that I need. I’ll continue to install stuff as I need ’em, but here’s what I installed so far:
- Open Office
- Seesmic
- 7-zip
- Bitvise Tunnelier
- My Dropbox
- Filezilla
- Pidgin
- Google Chrome
- Firefox
- ImgBurn
- iTunes
- Picasa
- Python 2.6
- Vim
- UltraVNC
- VideoLAN / VLC
- Doit.im
If you got other questions, please let me know! I’m sorry I didn’t have a more catchy post title.