So, I’ve been using Windows 7 for a little over a month now, and thought I’d document my first impressions.  And for this, believe it or not, I’m going to take my Microsoft hat off and be as candid as I can.  This is by no means a concise summary of all the features and benefits of 7, rather a summary of my experiences to date.image

So first off, for a beta, I’ve found it extremely stable, so much so that I use it on all my PCs, including my primary work laptop.  I haven’t yet downloaded or used a program which doesn’t work with 7, and by and large all the drivers for my Lenovo X61T (of which there are a lot), work like a charm.  Everything from the proprietary wireless application to the custom buttons on the laptop seem to work without a problem.  My one real driver issue is explained later in this post.

I’m also loving the new usability features on the taskbar (or superbar as it’s come to be known).  It’s great being able to get a quick view of what’s open (especially IE), and also quickly close any windows I want to without having to open each one.  I’m also quite partial to being able to pin frequently used documents in the jump-list, particularly useful in my job when I frequently have to open a variety of decks about Microsoft products.

I haven’t had much exposure around some of the enterprise features of 7, like BranchCache and DirectAccess, however I look forwarded to being able to play with these features soon.  I did however play with BitLocker to go yesterday, which allows you to encrypt portable drives using BitLocker technology, and I was surprised and pleased at how easy it was to do.  It took slightly longer than I thought to actually encrypt the drive, however the actual process of encrypting a portable drive was pleasantly simple.

I’ve noticed a definite performance increase on my machine.  Start-up is definitely quicker, both on boot and also logging on to Windows.  I’ve also found a huge improvement for those dreaded UAC prompts!  Rarely now do I have to confirm that I ‘wanted to do something’, and when I do get a prompt, it’s because of a perfectly legitimate reason.  In fact, a lot of the time UAC has prevented me doing something I didn’t really want to do!

Here’s something I found out the other day.  With document preview in Windows explorer, you can now copy and paste directly from the preview.  How cool is that?! image

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So with my hat firmly sat beside me for the duration of this post, what about the bad?  Well, I’ve had a few issues with the display driver, where occasionally I get the message that the display driver has stopped working, and has subsequently recovered.  I’m hoping Lenovo will bring out an update to correct this.  My other minor niggle is that, when you hover over the application buttons in the taskbar, the preview doesn’t always disappear when you move the cursor away from the toolbar, and sometimes the preview doesn’t even render.  Again, I’m hoping these are driver issues, although I have submitted these issues to the Windows 7 dev team, and hopefully they’ll be corrected.

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I guess the other thing I’m trying to get used to is the fact that when I click on an application on the taskbar, IE for example, it will always bring up the open window.  For example, with IE, to open a new window, I have to right-click the IE icon, and then click Internet Explorer.  But like I say, it’s just a matter of getting used to a new way of doing things, because overall I love the new taskbar/superbar and all the benefits it brings.

Let’s remember though, that this is a beta, and little niggles are bound to crop up, especially when hardware manufacturers haven’t yet brought out the latest versions of their drivers for the new OS.  I mean, that’s what beta testing is all about after all!

I’m delivering my first formal customer presentation on Windows 7 next week, and I’m really looking forward to it.  I really feel Microsoft have pulled one out of the bag with 7, produced something they can be very proud of, and provided me with everything I need to really evangelise the benefits 7 brings.  So, if you haven’t downloaded the beta yet, my advice would be to get it, and have a good play!.  You only have until February 10th to download it, so be quick!!

Now where’s that hat?