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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

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November 6th, 2008

In-depth look at Windows 7

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 10:39 am

Categories: Windows 7

Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, Operating System, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Microsoft Windows Vista, Ribbon UI

Given that I knew most of you would be virtually blasted out of your chairs by a “shock and awe” of Windows 7 reviews once the news embargo on the OS was lifted (combined with the fact that I only got my hands on a copy of Build 6801 a couple of days later), I decided to take my time to get to knows the OS before I shared with you my thoughts and feelings about Microsoft’s latest OS.

Check out the Windows 7 install/UI gallery here!

Previous gallery here

UPDATE: Also check out Windows 7’s troubleshooting tools post!

Installation

Installing Windows 7 is quick … very quick! I managed to get Windows 7 installed and ready to go in under 15 minutes on one system - a time that makes Vista seem like a lumbering dinosaur.

Beyond the speed boost, the setup process for Windows 7 Build 6801 is pretty much the same as for Vista in that you interact with it at the beginning and the end of the process, but for the most part it gets on with the install by itself.

Next –>

Pages: 1 2 3 4

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations

Want to get in touch? Got a tip? Feel free to drop me a note! I ALWAYS respect anonymity. I'm also on Twitter (@the_pc_doc)

Right to Reply: Should any industry representatives wish to comment on any posts on Hardware 2.0, I will be happy to publish their reply verbatim on this blog.

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To NonZealot:: ?Version = Major.Minor.Build
Technically they could call it anything they want, but
they usually stay pretty close to what is universally
excepted. 2000 was a major release and XP was a min... (Read the rest); Posted by: Joel R Posted on: 11/25/08 (Edited: 11/25/08 @ 12:01) You are currently: a Guest | Log in | Terms of Use

How much ? Alan Smithie | 11/06/08

Good point ... Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

| 11/06/08

No argument from me on this thought. NT CrashPad | 11/06/08

ummm.... mikefarinha | 11/06/08

If you already have the HW... justthinking | 11/06/08

Although Apple charges for upgrades far more frequently NonZealot | 11/06/08

MS does charge for SP's actually fr0thy2 | 11/06/08

Um, what? NStalnecker | 11/06/08

Ha Ha. Not Cayble | 11/06/08

It would appear Pliny the Elder | 11/06/08

Versions and SP.... ShadowGIATL | 11/06/08

Clueless as usual... Wolfie2K3 | 11/07/08

Not this again! ye | 11/07/08

LOL - the lights on but nobody's home - nt USTechHead | 11/07/08

Guys, guys... tikigawd | 11/07/08

@ye. wasted words. xuniL_z | 11/07/08

Hey fr0thy2 sackbut | 11/07/08

Apple does NOT charge for service packs Asiafish | 11/06/08

Doesn't matter what you call it NonZealot | 11/06/08

Actually... ShadowGIATL | 11/06/08

About Apple updates. xuniL_z | 11/07/08

Apple Service Packs toml_12953 | 11/07/08

Not sure about that deaf_e_kate | 11/07/08

Where did your XPSP2 copy come from? xuniL_z | 11/07/08

And the black sheep rears his head again. vulpine@... | 11/07/08

no it does not... akaralia | 11/08/08

To NonZealot: Joel R | 11/25/08

Businesses and families Asiafish | 11/06/08

Businesses don't qualify for the family license. nt ye | 11/06/08

Perhaps so... vulpine@... | 11/07/08

re: Perhaps Badgered | 11/07/08

weird pillock Richard Turpin | 11/10/08

How so? Letophoro | 11/06/08

In This Case, Tongue's Not In Cheek dumptux | 11/06/08

Apple makes their money tikigawd | 11/07/08

If they try that, expect pirate city Lerianis | 11/06/08

You DO know that there are some programs in place... Wolfie2K3 | 11/07/08

I love MS upgrades donniebnyc@... | 11/07/08

If everyone thought that way..... xuniL_z | 11/07/08

Nothing to do with socialism Alan Smithie | 11/08/08

Does 7 still ahve the RAM limits of Vista? No_Ax_to_Grind | 11/06/08

What RAM limits? ShadowGIATL | 11/06/08

re: What RAM limits? johnay | 11/06/08

What the hell? Kaiwai | 11/06/08

Actually... ShadowGIATL | 11/06/08

Sluggish systems ITSecurityGuy | 11/13/08

Vista's RAM limits vulpine@... | 11/07/08

HAHAHAHAHA tikigawd | 11/07/08

Very good. Does that mean... vulpine@... | 11/07/08

What? ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

It seems time YOU did some research... vulpine@... | 11/07/08

For the fanboys SMFX_ | 11/07/08

You should get your references straight! dcsos | 11/12/08

you shouldn't make stuff up rtk | 11/12/08

The limits are on Vista 64-bit tikigawd | 11/07/08

limits ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

Limits tikigawd | 11/07/08

See.. ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

BTW, @ShadowGIATL ITSecurityGuy | 11/13/08

what a pedantic argument! ITSecurityGuy | 11/13/08

@shadowGIATL ......shared memory. xuniL_z | 11/07/08

I'm not saying its bad. ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

Driver, not OS? InnocentBystander | 11/10/08

Actaully... ShadowGIATL | 11/17/08

RAM Limits toml_12953 | 11/07/08

Should be Vista SP2 maferious | 11/06/08

No, Vista SE Anton Philidor | 11/06/08

Gee ... mwagner@... | 11/07/08

Windows 7 ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

Was Windows XP a "glorified re-packaging" of Windows 2000? Yes it was. cornpie | 11/08/08

Got it all figured out, don't cha dprozzo | 11/08/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 Samic | 11/06/08

Why the magnify in Windows 7? Grayson Peddie | 11/06/08

Its actually a lot better in the nwer builds demoed at PDC08 (NT) logicearth@... | 11/07/08

Question for Adrian... MGP2 | 11/06/08

Should be ... Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

| 11/06/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 do it yourself IT | 11/06/08

Installation/Format Disruptor4 | 11/06/08

Dear god Kaiwai | 11/06/08

I have had no huge issues... ShadowGIATL | 11/06/08

There IS one time you DO want to do an upgrade install... Wolfie2K3 | 11/07/08

MS needs to do away with the check. ye | 11/07/08

It's really... ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

Sure they will ... mwagner@... | 11/07/08

Agreed... ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

Vista Upgrade Works Differently mikefarinha | 11/07/08

True, however... ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

Re: Dear god Disruptor4 | 11/07/08

? ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

Vista and 7 both will format the drive CrashPad | 11/08/08

Hopefully they'll make the UAC default the same as Vista. ye | 11/06/08

And boy will the anti-MS zealots jump on that one!! NonZealot | 11/06/08

It amuses me... ShadowGIATL | 11/06/08

re: It amuses me... deaf_e_kate | 11/07/08

Supporting facts? ye | 11/07/08

What design flaw are you talking about? jamesrayg | 11/07/08

Actually... ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

Actually... hasta la Vista, bah-bie | 11/07/08

Apache on Linux is the most hacked combination NonZealot | 11/07/08

The reality... Wolfie2K3 | 11/07/08

Yeeaaaa.... ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

That's not the whole story hasta la Vista, bah-bie | 11/07/08

Yeaaaa.... hasta la Vista, bah-bie | 11/07/08

Then explain the whole story NonZealot | 11/07/08

Yeaaa..., pt. II hasta la Vista, bah-bie | 11/07/08

Umm... ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

What story? hasta la Vista, bah-bie | 11/07/08

(re) Umm... hasta la Vista, bah-bie | 11/07/08

LMAO@NonZealot storm14k | 11/08/08

Linux's sudo is not part of the OS but it's a stupid command line program qmlscycrajg | 11/07/08

Windows doesn't have MAC support. ye | 11/07/08

I agree, Win7's UAC is less secure qmlscycrajg | 11/07/08

not a chance rtk | 11/09/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 Anvil01@... | 11/06/08

Can you still disable UAC? Randalllind | 11/07/08

Read the article before posting. ShadeTree | 11/07/08

You have to be more specific... ShadowGIATL | 11/07/08

Longhorn Was Great Too itanalyst2@... | 11/07/08

It's coming and even your ... USTechHead | 11/07/08

Typical Response From A Typical Idiot itanalyst2@... | 11/07/08

I'll take that bet and since you USTechHead | 11/08/08

Big difference between Vista developement and 7 archer75 | 11/07/08

Longhorn was crap rtk | 11/09/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 osXCanada | 11/07/08

UAC Suggestion for Microsoft Ken_SF | 11/07/08

The larger point missed again rcfoulk@... | 11/07/08

NOT offering any benefits to business??? WTF? Wolfie2K3 | 11/07/08

:But ... rcfoulk@... | 11/10/08

What retraining? itpro_z | 11/07/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 UJ63366 | 11/07/08

Put the crack pipe DOWN... Sheesh.. Wolfie2K3 | 11/07/08

My Vista RTM installed in about 20 minutes: it's not a dinosaur! qmlscycrajg | 11/07/08

Ultimate? Premium? Not again. UGH Pharaoh36706 | 11/07/08

Ultimate in the iteration of Vista sense is gone! CrashPad | 11/08/08

Themes? Pharaoh36706 | 11/07/08

The most important part? bernalillo | 11/07/08

Use the following test to determine compatibility NonZealot | 11/07/08

Just installed 7 on 5 year old Dell inspiron CrashPad | 11/08/08

Only a few mb's in the CPU's L1 cache runs that fast? BALTHOR | 11/07/08

Windows 7 = Windows Me mietz | 11/07/08

EH????? Vista = ME james.faction | 11/07/08

You are an indiot. CrashPad | 11/08/08

I HATE THE RIBBON INTERFACE james.faction | 11/07/08

MANY hate the ribbon interface... especially DigiMediaMan | 11/07/08

backtracking please joebishpie | 11/07/08

I hate that so many icons now look the same, ITSecurityGuy | 11/13/08

What firms? dprozzo | 11/08/08

HATRED FOR RIBBON INTERFACE ALSO ramnet@... | 11/14/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 Disruptor4 | 11/07/08

I Just Saw Windows 7 jabailo1 | 11/07/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 deowll | 11/07/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 taboojoe@... | 11/07/08

Windows 7 running on a 5 year old Dell lappy CrashPad | 11/08/08

and it would be nearly impossible to keep secure today! [nt] ITSecurityGuy | 11/13/08

Windows 7 is kick ass balajionline | 11/07/08

I really hope you're right, but... elt10@... | 11/07/08

You gotta get in on the beta of this thing CrashPad | 11/08/08

In-depth look at Windows 7 jetsethi | 11/07/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 trm1945 | 11/07/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 DannyO_0x98 | 11/07/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 archer75 | 11/07/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 jimk_z | 11/07/08

I have to agree dsljay | 11/08/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 richvball44 | 11/07/08

RE: Do you know what the post is for? akaralia | 11/08/08

RE: The Ribbon in Windows 7 troytruax | 11/08/08

Hardware? Alienboy | 11/08/08

ill wait billw1234 | 11/08/08

I'll Will Also Wait chessmen | 11/09/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 rtirman37@... | 11/08/08

Beta-test Gradius2 | 11/08/08

Oh, retraining ... rcfoulk@... | 11/10/08

UI change for itself isn't helpful rcfoulk@... | 11/10/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 ceh4702 | 11/10/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 PhoenixStorm26 | 11/10/08

Same Old, Same Old rtb | 11/10/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 said.fox@... | 11/10/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 qbicdesign | 11/11/08

So you never used KDE I take it? (NT) logicearth@... | 11/11/08

Windows 7 = Windows Vista Tweaked Properly pcwizkid.tech.talk@... | 11/11/08

Dual Quad-core Xeon systems, re: SMFX_ For the fanboys ITSecurityGuy | 11/13/08

RE: In-depth look at Windows 7 tepaull@... | 11/18/08

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Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

November 6th, 2008

In-depth look at Windows 7

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Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

November 6th, 2008

In-depth look at Windows 7

Related Discussions on TechRepublic

Did you know you can take part in these discussions with your ZDNet membership?

What do you think?

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

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