There’s been quite some hype leading up to the release of Windows 7, and its advertising continues unabated today. For some weary PC users, particularly those less-than-impressed with the difficulties they faced when they embarked upon the XP to Vista path, the surprising good news surrounding Windows 7 is a welcome change, but understandably, they remain cautiously optimistic.
As we look at Windows 7 to see if indeed it is stable enough for us to consider as our foundation, we are reminded of the various constraints that Vista imposed upon us when we walked its path a few years ago. Yes, it happened in the past and yes Vista ultimately steered in the proper direction, but nonetheless, the suspicion looms. No doubt Microsoft is aware of this mistrust, so it is not surprising to see some Windows 7 ads that hammer home the message that we, the people, created Windows 7. That somehow, while in a coffee shop and experiencing an epiphany on making the computer easier to use, we were able to direct Microsoft into baking in the great idea into Windows 7. Ditto the shower. Somehow, Microsoft wants us to believe that our great ideas are encapsulated in Windows 7, that in fact, Windows 7 is an amalgamation of all that is good that we dreamt about. That somehow, we created Windows 7.
I’m a PC and Windows 7 was my idea. Well, let’s see shall we? In this first of a multi part post, we’ll see if indeed Windows 7 delivers on our idea of great. And it all starts with stability. Great is not so great if we’re constantly battling OS induced interruptions.
Dude, where’s my stuff? One of the most mind numbing experience we’ve had with Vista is its rather ineptness at searching for our stuff. Back in the XP days, we installed the Google Desktop Search app, and within minutes, many of our documents, including ones we’ve forgotten about, was found with a simple search. We had high hopes that this impressive feature would be adopted by Microsoft in Vista, but what did we get? Not exactly. Vista’s search feature was so lacking that we felt we’ve taken a step back in terms of productivity. Never mind why we need to search oodles of data scattered across the desktop and other external drives, the point is that we once easily navigated this with XP and Google Search. All gone with Vista.
So, how does Windows 7 stack up? Much better. Libraries is not exactly a novel concept, i mean one only need look at Apple’s products to see that the library is a loose construct that allows us to get to almost anything as if they were all cobbled in one area. Well Windows 7, thank you for the Libraries feature. It’s a useful feature that enables us to organize files that are stored in disparate places, including the network and other Windows 7 PCs. Once a location has been specified in Libraries, you’ll be able to search for its contents with ease. Contrast that with Vista, whose Byzantine-like setups required you to jump through hoops before it indexed and searched a network drive containing your old emails. And even then, it somehow failed to index and consequently failed to deliver a comprehensive search result. Certainly not the stable foundation we had hoped for. But Windows 7 has changed all that.
In our next installment, we will look at the speed with which we are able to access our stuff. Can Windows 7 help us manage our daily navigation challenge and get us to what we need, sans the laborious routine, in a reliable fashion? Stay tuned.
The Kold Kat