Windows 7 - Ready to take the plunge?

With the public availability of Windows 7 approaching, I thought it might be a good time to give my thoughts on it (at least so far).

First off, I've never been one to jump into a new operating system as soon as it has been released. Going back to Windows 98, I can remember using it even after Windows 2000 had come into use. Once moving to Windows 2000 (after SP2), I found it to be a very stable operating system and was reluctant to move to Windows XP. After SP2 was released for Windows XP, I found it to be very stable and was then very reluctant to move to Windows Vista when it finally came out. While that opinion hasn't changed, I have found that Windows 7 is a much leaner and much more useable version of Windows than its predicessor. I'm quite happy to just skip right over Vista and move to Windows 7.

After downloading the Release To Manufacture (RTM) version I decided to install it on a few systems at work to see how it worked. After having no problems, I decided to take the plunge and install it on my new HP Laptop. So far I have not been disappointed.

With the retail version hitting the stores in less than a week, my recommendarion is to go for it. I'm actually impressed with this new release (which in my opinion is more like Vista 2.0 on a diet).

If you have any misgivings about it, put them to rest. Windows 7 is highly useable and seems to run much better than its immediate predecessor.