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September 29, 2009
Microsoft Windows 7 review
With its Windows 7 OS, Microsoft gets the basics right. It just works, and after Windows Vista that may be enough to make it a winner. Read PC Advisor's in-depth expert review to find out more (UPDATED September 29, 2009).
What if a new version of Windows didn't try to dazzle you? What if, instead, it tried to disappear except when you needed it? Such an operating system would dispense with glitzy effects in favour of low-key, useful new features. Rather than pelting you with alerts, warnings, and requests, it would try to stay out of your face. And if any bundled applications weren't essential, it would dump 'em.
Windows 7 PC reviews
It's not a what-if scenario. Windows 7, set to arrive on new PCs and as a shrinkwrapped upgrade on October 22, has a minimalist feel and attempts to fix annoyances old and new. In contrast, Windows Vista offered a flashy new interface, but its poor performance, compatibility gotchas, and lack of compelling features made some folks regret upgrading and others refuse to leave Windows XP.
Windows 7 is hardly flawless. Some features feel unfinished; others won't realize their potential without heavy lifting by third parties. And some long-standing annoyances remain intact. But overall, the final shipping version we test-drove appears to be the worthy successor to Windows XP that Vista never was.
We haven't yet given Windows 7 an expert star rating, as we think that the definitive answer to an operating system's value is impossible to guage until a significant number of people have used it for a significant length of time. However, we have tried and tested all aspects of Windows 7 in the most depth you'll find anywhere. CLICK HERE FOR OUR EXPERT VERDICT ON WINDOWS 7.
Windows 7 Interface: The New Taskmaster
The Windows experience occurs mainly in its Taskbar - especially in the Start menu and System Tray. Vista gave the Start menu a welcome redesign; in Windows 7, the Taskbar and the System Tray get a thorough makeover.
The new Taskbar replaces the old small icons and text labels for running apps with larger, unlabeled icons. If you can keep the icons straight, the new design painlessly reduces Taskbar clutter. If you don't like it, you can shrink the icons and/or bring the labels back.
In the past, you could get one-click access to programs by dragging their icons to the Quick Launch toolbar. Windows 7 eliminates Quick Launch and folds its capabilities into the Taskbar. Drag an app's icon from the Start menu or desktop to the Taskbar, and Windows will pin it there, so you can launch the program without rummaging around in the Start menu. You can also organise icons in the Taskbar by moving them to new positions.
To indicate that a particular application on the Taskbar is running, Windows draws a subtle box around its icon - so subtle, in fact, that figuring out whether the app is running can take a moment, especially if its icon sits between two icons for running apps.
In Windows Vista, hovering the mouse pointer over an application's Taskbar icon produces a thumbnail window view known as a Live Preview. But when you have multiple windows open, you see only one preview at a time. Windows 7's version of this feature is slicker and more efficient. Hover the pointer on an icon, and thumbnails of the app's windows glide into position above the Taskbar, so you can quickly find the one you're looking for. (The process would be even simpler if the thumbnails were larger and easier to decipher.)
Also new in Windows 7's Taskbar is a feature called Jump Lists. These menus resemble the context-sensitive ones you get when you right-click within various Windows applications, except that you don't have to be inside an app to use them. Internet Explorer 8's Jump List, for example, lets you open the browser and load a fresh tab, initiate an InPrivate stealth browsing session, or go directly to any of eight frequently visited web pages. Non-Microsoft apps can offer Jump Lists, too, if their developers follow the guidelines for creating them.
Windows 7 PC reviews
Other Windows 7 interface adjustments are minor, yet so sensible that you may wonder why Windows didn't include them all along. Shove a window into the left or right edge of the screen and it'll expand to fill half of your desktop. Nudge another into the opposite edge of the screen, and it'll expand to occupy the other half. That makes comparing two windows' contents easy. If you nudge a window into the top of the screen, it will maximise to occupy all of the display's real estate.
The extreme right edge of the Taskbar now sports a sort of nub; hover over it, and open windows become transparent, revealing the desktop below. (Microsoft calls this feature Aero Peek.) Click the nub, and the windows scoot out of the way, giving you access to documents or apps that reside on the desktop and duplicating the Show Desktop feature that Quick Launch used to offer.
Getting at your desktop may soon become even more important than it was in the past. That's because Windows 7 does away with the Sidebar, the portion of screen space that Windows Vista reserved for Gadgets such as a photo viewer and a weather applet. Instead of occupying the Sidebar, Gadgets now sit directly on the desktop, where they don't compete with other apps for precious screen real estate.
Old Tray, New Tricks: Windows 7's Taskbar and window management tweaks are nice. But its changes to the System Tray - aka the Notification Area - have a huge positive effect.
In the past, no feature of Windows packed more frustration per square inch than the System Tray. It quickly grew dense with applets that users did not want in the first place, and many of the uninvited guests employed word balloons and other intrusive methods to alert users to uninteresting facts at inopportune moments. At their worst, System Tray applets behaved like belligerent squatters, and Windows did little to put users back in charge.
In Windows 7, applets can't pester you unbidden because software installers can't dump them into the System Tray. Instead, applets land in a holding pen that appears only when you click it, a much-improved version of the overflow area used in previous incarnations of the Tray. Applets in the pen can't float word balloons at you unless you permit them to do so. It's a cinch to drag them into the System Tray or out of it again, so you enjoy complete control over which applets reside there.
More good news: Windows 7 largely dispenses with the onslaught of word-balloon warnings from the OS about troubleshooting issues, potential security problems, and the like. A new area called Action Center - a revamped version of Vista's Security Center - queues up such alerts so you can deal with them at your convenience. Action Center does issue notifications of its own from the System Tray, but you can shut these off if you don't want them pestering you.
All of this helps make Windows 7 the least distracting, least intrusive Microsoft OS in a very long time. It's a giant step forward from the days when Windows thought nothing of interrupting your work to inform you that it had detected unused icons on your desktop.
NEXT: The Library System >>
WINDOWS 7 REVIEW INDEX:
- Windows 7 Interface: The New Taskmaster
- File Management: The Library System, and UAC Gets Tolerable
- Applications: the fewer the merrier, and Windows 7 Device Management: Setting the Stage
- Windows 7 Input: Reach Out and Touch Windows 7, and Bottom Line: Is Windows 7 Worth It?
- Our first review of Windows 7 RC, from April 2009
- Our first look at an early beta of Windows 7, from January 2009
- WINDOWS 7: OUR EXPERT VERDICT
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Independent customer reviews from Reevoo.com
Microsoft Windows 7 scored:
8.3 out of 10
The 2 most helpful reviews based on 53 reviews:
11 Oct 2009 Steve, Kettering
9Good Points
Compared to Vista a vast improvement. The start up of the laptop is quicker and programs seem to run smoother. A few nice touches to the features and appearence of the system make life simpler along with the great 'snap' facility and improved taskbar.
Bad Points
The price! An upgrade should not have to cost this much.
17 Oct 2009 Anonymous verified purchaser
9Good Points
Faster and less fussy than Vista.
Bad Points
I need to download Outlook Express and can't do it for free although I have the rest of Office.
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User Reviews
Monday, 11 May 2009
Reviewed by mithrail
Star Rating: 
Duration of ownership: 6 days
Strengths:
Windows actually stay the same size as you set them to.
Weaknesses:
Just as resource hungry as Vista. No really any faster than Vista. Not sure about the new taskbar.
Overall Evaluation:
Windows 7 should really be issued as Service Pack 2 for Vista. It addresses some of the main irritating niggles of Vista (Windows remembering their size for one!) and is a useful interim solution before a really new operating system release. It is really cheeky of Microsoft to expect Vista users to have to pay for this as a new operating system when it is really just a series of minor updates.
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Reviewed by EvaBibble
Star Rating: 
Duration of ownership: 2 weeks
Strengths:
It's Vista SP2. If you like Vista, it's more of the same.
Weaknesses:
No classic start menu, anti-aliased text is unremovable and looks terrible. XP is still faster.
Overall Evaluation:
No reason to upgrade from XP.
Sunday, 11 January 2009
Reviewed by ratdogbaby
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 1 days
Strengths:
I like the desktop management, being able to organise windows side by side is a useful tool. But I miss the 3d rotating window effect, but sure no one really used it anyway.
Weaknesses:
Crysis Crysis Crysis Crash! I decided to try out the most demanding game out today, Vista64 driver worked fine makes me think this is just a Vista with a name change and some baggage removed.
Overall Evaluation:
looks pretty needs work I need more time to tinker with it, and well if it is Vista with a name change I will advice not buy it.
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Reviewed by 12345n
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 7 weeks
Strengths:
Desktop functions (loading of windows etc) only are marginally faster
Weaknesses:
Useless graphics - hate the new menu structure. 15% slower than vista, when it comes to heavyweight applications - useful features buried or absent. Price £200 ultimate upgrade - laughable!!
Overall Evaluation:
Good job I got the trial version!!! Why increase the top win experience level to 7.9 from 5.9 - it supposed to be faster? Despite people slagging vista off - it is more informative than windows 7- especially with security and if you set it up right MORE STABLE and FASTER!!. enough said
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Reviewed by sirjohng
Star Rating: 
Duration of ownership: 0 days
Strengths:
If it proves to be true - faster than XP is good (not essential) but I have to buy a new machine to run it on and have a business edition to run older Apps in a virtual machine?
Weaknesses:
The videos show, as with Vista over XP, lots of window dressing and putting the same things in different places to make it look like it's changed.
Overall Evaluation:
Upgrading from XP (what happens to all my emails in Outlook Express, browser settings, NAS backup system setting, Documents data, etc.) If you have ever had to reload XP you will know it can take many hours to get your system and software back to normal. By not providing an upgrade path, Microsoft are cocking a snook at all XP users (the world's majority) for not upgrading to Vista first!!!
Thursday, 04 February 2010
Reviewed by StealthBomber
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 2 weeks
Strengths:
Slim, and easy install
Weaknesses:
ITS AS SLOW AS VISTA
Overall Evaluation:
A Do-Not-Get if you're hopping from XP to 7.
Saturday, 06 February 2010
Reviewed by marcopolo1981
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 3 months
Strengths:
Nice to look at, less cluttered than Vista. I don't know what benchmarks some have you have been using, but I'd recommend you do them again. XP beats Vista and Win7 on everything.
Weaknesses:
It will never beat Ubuntu for stability, security or usability. And the price is absolutely rediculous. How can they justify these prices when Linux GIVES better OSes away for free?
Overall Evaluation:
I only use it as it was given to me for free. My main OS is Ubuntu. Linux is rock solid stable, secure, looks nice, and very intuitive. People think they have very little alternative, but if they knew, they Linux would be the leading OS providers. Google distrowatch and have a browse at all the choices there for FREE!
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Reviewed by MrFixitall
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 3 days
Strengths:
looks pretty
Weaknesses:
more of the same
Overall Evaluation:
see this blog: http://reviewofwindows7.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Reviewed by muffinmawr
Star Rating: 
Duration of ownership: 7 days
Strengths:
So far it seems to be doing the business with the same speed as XP. Intuitive interface and navigation, uncluttered and easy to follow instructions and very nice to look at too!
Weaknesses:
Not found any yet.
Overall Evaluation:
So far so good, maybe the next worthy evolution of XP?
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Reviewed by dms_05
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 250 days
Strengths:
Runs everything I've tried. Simple uncluttered interface. Faster than Vista. Runs on a netbook in 1GB RAM. Never crashed since I loaded on the first day of the Beta release.
Weaknesses:
I haven't found any worth commenting on.
Overall Evaluation:
The best Microsoft OS ever, I've been using them since MS-DOS 25 years ago. Pity MS released Vista - rather than waiting for Windows 7 to be ready. It really makes XP look and feel very dated.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Reviewed by cheinyeanlim
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 3 weeks
Strengths:
The installation is a smooth process.
Weaknesses:
If you try to jump from 32-bit to 64-bit to get the best performance from both hardware and software, the process can get a bit tricky.
Overall Evaluation:
Installing Windows 7 is a breeze. Once installed, users will feel the performance enhancement.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Reviewed by hqsarasota
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 0 days
Strengths:
Given their history, I don't wnatanything unproven from Microsoft.
Weaknesses:
Per your review: "XP... it's such a solid, stable operating system that people simply don't want to give it up... now they can run XP as if it were a part of Windows 7." So why bother?
Overall Evaluation:
Won't buy it. I'll wait three years until the bugs are discovered.
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Reviewed by Windywoo
Star Rating: 
Duration of ownership: 14 days
Strengths:
Faster than Vista, handy tweaks for viewing documents, runs on netbooks, less annoying UAC.
Weaknesses:
Not a whole lot new over Vista, questionable whether its worth upgrading.
Overall Evaluation:
So many negative reviews here from people who don't seem to know anything about computers. Windows 7 is what Vista should have been, Not as sluggish as Vista was and looking less like a reskinned XP.
Monday, 06 July 2009
Reviewed by Snell
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 2 months
Strengths:
works well on my athlon 64x2 Duo 5600 with 4GB ram
Weaknesses:
shutdown fast but restart takes forever when it decides to work at all only addresses just over 3GB ram but 64-bit will recognise all 4GB
Overall Evaluation:
A step forward from vista but is it big enough? Will purchase home edition for £50 and dual boot it with vista which I find very good never crashed on me yet (fingers crossed!!)
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Reviewed by dbgarza
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 1 weeks
Strengths:
Fast, intuitive, compatible with every single piece of hardware I have, those are the best description words I have for this OS.
Weaknesses:
Maybe its only weakness would be the use of animations for maximising, minimising and opening windows. Is that even useful?
Overall Evaluation:
All in all first for a Beta (February, 2009) was epic, really stable and now with the RC1 I have no complains at all. And I tested it on my 3.20Ghz Pentium 4 HT PC with 2GB RAM and surprisingly on an old - 8-year-old - 20GB Seagate Hard Disk that runs at 5400RPM and with a buffer cache of 1MB
Saturday, 25 July 2009
Reviewed by tigertop2
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 3 months
Strengths:
A big advance on XP. Very intuitive and leaves Vista and XP standing when it is required to seek out drivers for add on equipment.
Weaknesses:
Not convinced it is any more secure than Vista or XP and will continue to use security software I trust.
Overall Evaluation:
If you have bought it for the preorder price around £50 you will not be disappointed. Windows have to be careful they don't milk the public in the same dastardly way Vista did when one went to buy it so any final retail pricing should be aware of this.
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Reviewed by Guybrush1
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 4 months
Strengths:
Compatibility and stabilty straight out of the box. Can't understand any egative comments on this OS, Microsoft have finally come good.
Weaknesses:
In many ways it is Vista with knobs on. Vista was good for me, but should never have happened. This OS is what should have followed XP.
Overall Evaluation:
This OS is the dogs Doo-Dahs... Vista is already forgotten with this release. I can't recommend upgrading to Windows 7 enough... particularly to XP users. You won't be disappointed.
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Reviewed by Dealt_Soul
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 4 months
Strengths:
Uses less resources to run, only 1 lock up in 3.5 months, XP, Vista compatibility works good. Runs faster than vista, and it seems to fix not responding program problems quickly.
Weaknesses:
Just a bit of security issue right now, and there are a few programs that run slow in the XP and Vista compatibility part.
Overall Evaluation:
Very close to vista but runs 100 times better. To people who dont think that its worth the upgrade because being so close to vista, take in consideration of a better and smoother running OS.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Reviewed by merlinx
Star Rating:
Duration of ownership: 4 days
Strengths:
Stable, nice interface, pretty efficient. Overall a nicely turned out OS.
Weaknesses:
Security is a joke, doesn't appear too bad at first, but there are several potential holes. I don't expect this one to be launched until well into next year.
Overall Evaluation:
Nice overall, but in my opinion its far from ready in the security department. Getting better though.
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