Reasons to and not to upgrade to Windows 7
Ok, after 14 solid hours later and 2 different installs of the new Windows 7 operating system, I have learned some things that should come as no surprise, and I was hoping maybe, just maybe, they might get it right this time.
And apparerntly not at first effort with my laptop, but after HOURS and HOURS I finally got everything installed!! And it works!! But it took a lot of time and effort for it to work, it also took some technical skill to fix problems that I could see might cause the average user fits of rage.
First of all, I installed Windows 7 via a Vista upgrade onto a Dell 32 bit quad core desktop 4 GB RAM (finished installing 5 hours later) and I did a clean install replacing XP on my HP Intel core 2 duo laptop with 2 gb of memory and a 256k dedicated graphics card.
So 2 different computers. And the results?
Don’t believe the hype for laptops. If your laptop system XP or Vista is working just fine, then I DO NOT RECOMMEND UPGRADING TO WINDOWS 7, unless you are totally bored and have some serious time on your hands.
Why?
Well for starters, the boot time for Windows 7 on my laptop is 10 minutes. That means from the time I turn on my computer to the time I can actually start browsing the web, the time that takes to get going is 10 minutes. Seems a bit long to me, but call me crazy.
>> UPDATE! 10-27 – After a few days of using Windows 7, I found that unplugging my backup USB harddrive dramatically improved boot up time to under 2 minutes. So that’s helpful.
My performance score for my laptop is a 4.4 out of 7.9.My graphics card is a GeForce GO 7600 256kb dedicated. No drivers were found initally which had me worried, but somehow it worked itself around that after the first reboot. And it’s been fine ever since. Even have it hooked back up to the BIG 46″ LCD TV with a remote keyboard and mouse so I can recline and surf at the same time.
The worse problem I had was that I couldn’t get Adobe Web Premium CS 4 to install correctly onto Windows 7 after a clean install. This is not good for a web designer like me, who uses Adobe for a living.
>> UPDATE!! As a side note: After several hours, I finally did get Adobe CS 4 installed and working on my laptop – had to run a cleaeer from Adobe first, then reboot, then ran the install – it worked….finally!
But really, I can’t see at the moment why anyone would upgrade to Windows 7 at this point especially if your laptop is somewhat slower like mine apparently is. But at least I now have both PC’s on Windows 7.
>>UPDATE! Oct 27 – After a few days of using the new Windows on both PC’s – I like it. No crashes, it seems faster than vista and XP and all in all I am getting used to it.
Now, as far as the upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 on my Dell quad core desktop – IT ACTUALLY WORKED!! And on the first try too!!! It’s a miracle!!! It took 5 hours to install, but it actually did it. Amazing, really.
And the boot up time for my quad core is easily under 2 minutes. Much better than Vista. And things seem quicker in Windows 7. Adobe works, the upgrade didn’t mess with anything, and I didn’t lose any data even. An added bonus.
So if you have a slow laptop with only a gig or 2 of RAM and a slower processor, you might want to hold off on Windows 7 or get a better laptop. However, if you have a 32 bit or 64 bit desktop with 4 – 12 GB of RAM and a speedy quad core, then go for Windows 7.
The only 2 complications I ran into were having a hard time completely uninstalling McAfee Protection on the desktop and not being able to easily install Adobe CS4 on the laptop. That and about 14 hours of messing with it.
Anyway, as for now I have to play with the new features of Windows 7. But so far, I like what I see and feel. It took ALL day (backups, removing McAfee, reinstalling software, etc.) but I think it will be worth it in the long run. I guess time will tell 
UPDATE!! After playing with Windows 7 for a while, I have to give it 2 thumbs up for both my laptop and my desktop. My friend has an i7 with an SSD drive and it truly smokes on that system. All in al, worth upgrading from Vista and XP.