Review on Windows 7

Thanks to MSDN at Faculty of Informatics Masaryk University, I got Windows 7 Professional before their official release and for free. I decided to install it, after having my Windows Vista perished by viruses. Today I can boast a wealth of experience with the new Windows.

Installation and first contact

Installation was very fast and without problems. I successfully uploaded a new system on my formatted disk. It was also possible simply to upgrade Windows Vista to Windows 7, but I did not use it.

System quickly loaded with a beautiful new logo Windows animation. Everything looked pretty, just surprised me the absence of graphic eye candies from Windows Vista. Later I found out that Windows 7 simply not have had a driver for my graphics card, which I had to wait for another week. I was offered installing the driver few days later when I started the system. I immediately celebrated by exploring new graphical effects and by playing Counter Strike.

Windows Aero

Windows Aero looks almost the same as for Windows Vista, just a little more tuned up and it seems to me less prone to falls.

Yet Aero just does not like the video at Skype. Whenever I run a video-call and a dialogue shows up with blackout screen requesting authorization administrator, Aero would turn off. For Vista it always did happen, at the sevens, it now does that only sometimes.

Main panel

The most obvious changes on the surface finally probably received the main panel, where the minimized windows are no longer rectangles with icons and titles, but they are large squares with large icons. When you go across the mouse over the icon Aero will display a live preview of applications and some of the icons can be placed on panel permanently.

This change is needed to get used to. Now it's easy to orient myself between different applications, which I welcome, but slows me to switch to different windows of the same application. To my way of working, this solution is more beneficial and other folks may just change the settings.

Disaster with dead keys

For now, dead keys ',",,¨,',° will only appear after you press another key, which for me personally is a great disaster for characters ' and ", which I frequently use as a programmer. Now if I want to add an apostrophe anywhere in the code, it will appear only after I hit the spacebar (which will not be added itself).

Dead keys solution

After loads of research over the internet I found out what to do about the dead keys. In keyboard settings you have to change English keyboard from English (International) to English (United States).

The verdict on Windows 7

I like Windows 7, they are better Windows Vista, tuned and freed of problems. Lots of small improvements make me happy.

The first time in many years I have not installed on your computer Mandriva Linux and although I miss virtual screens, 3D cube and comfort install packages management I got used to Windows and now I need Linux just for testing. Moreover, due to membership in the Microsoft BizSpark now I can indulge Microsoft software for free.