Just before the arrival of my darling little daughter, Windows 7 Release Candidate was unleashed upon the Internet. I have been interested in taking the plunge for some time, as I had heard great things from the beta, so I decided to do it – hell, it won’t expire till this time next year, and I can upgrade to 64-bit Windows at the same time. Simple decision, really. But was it worth it?

Like all things, it depends. Some people are simple and happy with what they have, and if that’s case for you, then there’s no need. But if you find yourself constantly in front of a PC, even just for surfing the ‘net, it might be a good decision, because Windows 7 is a vast improvement on Vista (and thus on XP – I don’t understand why people hate Vista so much).

Now, I’m going to be relatively brief, because I haven’t tested all aspects of the OS, but I’ll cover what I’ve got so far…

Speed: It’s MUCH faster. Start-up, shutdown, and the running of all regular tasks are markedly speediferous in comparison to Vista. This might be a result of the change from 32-bit to 64-bit, but I can’t imagine why this would cause such a big improvement. Then again, it could reflect on the poor management of my previous system (which was riddled with unnecessary crap). Still, it’s so much faster that it makes life easier.

Applications: Windows 7 does a lot of new things that I used to rely on other applications for. Two quick examples – firstly, the new taskbar does away with the need for a dock, simplifying access to commonly used applications, as well as currently open ones; and secondly, wallpaper shuffling – Win 7 now does this as standard. Finally.

As a result of these and several other improvements (including the new Gadgets, which don’t eat up as much memory as the Gadget Sidebar did before I disabled it on Vista), I run half the applications I used to.

Explorer: Things are easier to find in Win 7, and mainly as a result of the new Libraries – pseudo-folders in which you place relevant folders. For example, you can have a Pictures Library that links to pictures from your own account or another user’s, or basically any folder you choose to put in there. This really simplifies things, particularly if you don’t want to keep all of your pictures under your user account…

Look and feel: Much like Vista, which in my opinion is a good thing. ‘Nuff said.

Compatibility: Like I said, I installed the 64-bit version, so everything had to change. While there were some devices that the OS couldn’t find on it’s own, it took me a matter of about an hour to get it up to speed. Now, 2 weeks later, I haven’t had a single issue. Bravo Microsoft. That said, there are some applications that don’t run on 64-bit systems. Sigh.

Install time: This was impressive. I had formatted my old HDD, and reinstalled a new, fully functioning system in under an hour. Including installation of all my standard apps and device drivers, my system was running at 100% of what it was previously the day after installation. Considering it usually takes me a week to get to this stage, I was suitably impressed.

Problems? Sure, nothing’s perfect, and there are some aspects I don’t really like. The taskbar doesn’t function EXACTLY the way I want it to (but it might do so for you) – particularly because you can’t set buttons for everything you want (if you want to add a folder, for example, it is only added under the explorer icon – lame! You can’t even add the “Games” icon!)… The Gadgets, while speedier and can be placed anywhere, are still very simple – many free applications that can be downloaded off the ‘net are more functional/aesthetically pleasing. Oh, and while the UAC (User Access Control) is still there and can be modified to match your requirements (more so than previously), it’s still difficult to get things elevated as an administrator! I would’ve thought that if you were signed on as an admin, you would immediately be given admin rights… Turns out I was wrong..

Anyway, Windows 7 is a worthy upgrade, if you have the time and the patience. You still need to prepare for the installation (I guess you don’t HAVE to, but it’s recommended), and it’s also a good idea to consider what you will do next year, when the RC comes to the end of its free licence… Give it a go if you can come up with appropriate responses to these points!