Microsoft Windows 7 user reviews (Professional)

Pros Responsive
Clear
Friendly
Inviting
Less clutter
SEARCH that doesn't eat up CPU cycles needlessly

Cons 64bit Drivers (not everything is quite ready)
Some minor dislikes around Power Profiles

Summary Let's face it, Vista got a bad rap. Call it rushed to market, or call it, somewhat of a shifting point, or just plain poor support on launch, Microsoft had a lot to prove in this version of Windows. One of the challenging things for an OS of its market breadth is trying to be as much as possible to all the people that the OS serves. For the Windows XP users Windows 7 represents a true current gen operating system. From the ClearType font support to the responsive changes in the TaskBar, this version of Windows screams improvements. All the rage see the blogsphere seems to be things like Chrome OS and the always stylish OSX. I am typing this here on my MacBook Pro with Windows 7 RTM installed and I must say I see no need to go back and forth between OSX and Windows - I am happy to say I am a Windows user once again and throughly happy with this product. With things like Aero Peek, Jump Lists, DirectAccess, and much improved desktop search I am really digging this OS. The smaller design tweaks are more impressive to me however. The Action Center, reduced clutter TaskBar, and things like transitioning wallpaper make the experience equally and in some ways better then the OSX... that partion is getting smaller and smaller :-).

A lot has been said about the competition out there in relation to a cloud OS. Today nothing Google could put out could rival the fantastic experience of this OS. I imagine it will be hard for anyone to put out a web OS that will match the slickness of this OS.

So bottom-line - this is a worthy upgrade for all the Windows XP users (the experience is like night and day.) For those Vista users still sitting on the fence you might as well jump-in because to be honest, the speed at which this OS operates is impressive. Less resources, better memory management, tweaked UI... Windows 7 is a fanastic OS.

Updated on Apr 23, 2010

I am still running Windows 7 (since Beta actually) and I am pretty darn impressed. I am not getting that whole "okay you've been running me for sometime so its now time to slow down" bogged down feel.

I read some of the comments below and can see that there's always the doubters and people who just have a bur under their skin. I think they should continue using what makes them happy and if they want to yell from the mountain how great their OS is - no worries - it's a free world.

I still do not believe that a WebOS could match the capabilities of Windows 7... with that said I can see as we work closer and closer in a web app world the time will come when there will be a shift point in the technology. Will that happen soon? Don't think so.

As far as tech support for Windows it is there - all around you - forums communities and the like.
As far as Vista... I ran it as a main OS on my business machine for years - it ran fine once the right hardware was put into place

Pros - Several applications, including the on screen touch keyboard have multitouch support.
- All Windows GUI windows, including Internet Explorer, support drag style scrolling and several support pinch style zoom

Cons - Hardly the fault of Microsoft, but getting ahold of the N-Trig Windows 7 driver for my Hp TX2 laptop was a royal pain.
- Occasinally the touch screen will stop responding and only the pen will work.

Summary A year ago I was finally forced to admit, grudgingly, that the iPhone was the best smartphone out there, for things like the application support and network integration, but what really sold me on it was the multitouch screen. Now I can finally say that my laptop has one-upped my phone.

Microsoft has brought multitouch support in flying colors to Windows 7. Having expected good things due to the development of the Microsoft Surface, when I made my tablet choice I went with one that supported multitouch in hopes of seeing it in Windows 7. I have to admit HP's own software emulation of multitouch in Vista were lackluster, slow, and unreliable. Windows 7 has completely blown them out of the water.

The first test of multitouch was honestly getting the driver installed. N-Trig has made this an extremely unfriendly process, going so far as to change the user/pass you need to download the driver from their corporate support site from what they say it is. However once I got it installed I did what Microsoft recommended; I started MS Paint. It's hard to express how utterly useless, yet entertaining it is to be able to paint with 4 separate fingers at the same time, but it did well to demonstrate the ability and response speed of multitouch. Users of a multitouch screen in Vista will be happy to know that the actual multitouch sensitivity is much greater than the software they're used to. Two fingers touching each other will indeed yield two different points on the screen.

From there I launched into Internet Explorer where I found that iPhone style grab and scroll works beautifully, far better than pen flicks did in Vista (pen flicks still make an appearance and I suspect this may be more intuitive when using just the pen, however the touchscreen is too fun to pass up). Pinch style scrolling is also fairly responsive, if not quite as fluid. However browser tweaks that I suspect make heavier use of my graphics hardware have definitely sped up the process. Two finger style rotate has also been implemented in photo viewer, however it's not quite the photo gallery effect of the Surface videos some of us were so taken with.

Of course I could hardly surf the tablet internet without bringing up the on screen keyboard. As I said it now supports multitouch as well. I was able to ctrl+shift+arrow key select text even. Keys light up and then fade as you press them (except when entering a password) but I do feel that aural feedback is lacking. Call me spoiled but the tick sound that the keyboard on my iPhone makes greatly aids in on screen typing accuracy somehow.

The new task bar did take me some time to get used to, but it's definitely an improvement and I fully agree that they have brought a strong GUI contender against OSX. For one thing the larger buttons are a touch improvement making it easier to select things with a finger, especially on 12.1 inch tablet laptops such as mine. Once I began to understand the functionality of it by playing around I found it so incredibly intuitive that it was the first time in years I uttered the phrase, "Now why didn't I think of that?" The touch and drag context menu works beautifully and once I discovered that clicking a program group brings up real time previews of each window in that group it was incredibly easy and intuitive. And perhaps a small but well designed improvement, downloads now show up minimized as the "e" program group icon with a progress bar gradient filling it as the download proceeds. In fact aside from my Google desktop button and the date/time, the task bar no longer has any text on it. Daunting at first but surprisingly easy to get used to.

While Vista touch users may miss the on screen mouse that made moving and right clicking a little easier to the touch savvy, it's honestly not needed anymore. Moving the mouse without clicking something is still hard to do, however right clicking now has two faces. One is the traditional hold and wait for the circle to complete, however multitouch users now can hold on what they want to right-click and tap a second finger nearby to get the right click menu. And if people simply find this old tool too hard to part with, it can be turned back on.

I think the research Microsoft did with Surface definitely shines through in Windows 7 and in fact I expect we'll be seeing those coffee table computers in wide distribution before long. Even in the beta version it's inredibly polished and intuitive, enough that I find myself working in screen only mode more than laptop mode just for the shear usability it now offers. I haven't even talked about the surprisingly increased graphics responsiveness but if you've got a multitouch capable monitor/laptop, Windows 7 will not disappoint.

Pros -Performance(works on old hardware as well as XP)
-Aesthetics (Glass Transparency is Gorgeous)
-Superbar (Multi-Window Management)
- Boot Time (30-40secs w/AV and misc programs)

Cons -Gadget Selection
-IE8 is decent but not a testament to MS
-Event Viewer needs to be more user friendly
-Price

Summary Windows 7 has to potential to be the new XP or 95 in terms of longevity and consumer adoption. People will love the UI enhancement and subtle changes that make tasks easier and actually fun to do. Simple window management tricks itself are Godsend.

Microsft hit it out the ball part on this one. Everyone says they do their best work when their backs are against the wall and I guess it's true. Trashing vista rightly or wrongly fueled this release which is phenomenal.

Pros Ease of operation is superb. It is reassuring to know that after living with the flaws inherited with Vista, Windows 7 will lead the way with dramactic improvements for both the novice as well as the advance computer users.

Cons There is just one very small concern, that being for those who prefer to leave their computers running, sometimes you must restart to make a certain program run effectively, other than that, no problems

Summary Fast and resourceful and full of help features that guild you in layman terms to identify a problem and fix it quickly. the compatibility mode is a great plus for software and programs that are not yet up to Windows 7 Specifications. I am anxious to try the touch screen feature, if not just for the trill of having a new toy to play with. I am still concerned with Internet Explorer functionality. It still need a little tweeking to get it to perform smoothly like that of Mozilla/Firefox. I find that even having a large physical memory, it still needs to have an enhanced program, such as smart defrag and Smart ram, offered by Windows Advance System Care to keep the performance at it's peak. [ For those who like to keep their computers on and have extended times between screen saver activation ] There are moment, even though they may be few, the small icons that represent the programs in use, do not always appear during a reboot or restart. It seems that if you do a complete shutdown and then reboot, all the program icons will appear in your task bar. One other small glitch is still the sound feature. If you are running to different sound programs, you still must click your primary sound program to make it the default. I have Realtec HD audio Manager, which by the way is Super, and I also have SRS Audio Soundbox, and if I do not set the default for Realtek the sound quality is slightly compromised. Still can live with it. I like to be able to still interact with a computer and have a little manual control. That what make having a computer such fun. The day it starts thinking on it's own is the day I will cut it off. Much success to Microsoft's Windows 7 RTM and Brother Bill Gates....