Reviewing Microsoft Windows 7 on a Lenvo X200s
The time has come for me to take a look at Microsofts brand spanking new operating system Windows 7. Yesterday I decided to take a look at Windows 7. Since my experience with Windows Vista hasn’t been a good one, and reading about Windows 7 has given me some hope that this might be the one to finally replace Windows XP in our corporate environment. Windows 7 is still in RC (Release Candidate) status so you should not expect a fully working operating system.
First of all I ran the Vistas answer to XP’s Files and Settings transfer wizard, the Easy Transfer. I’m used to do this with User State Migration tool but for a user Easy transfer is really what the name says, it’s easy. And the options to select what you really want migrated so you can save some space is a great new feature.
After migration I rebooted my Vista 64 Enterprise and slammed in the Windows 7 installation DVD. The installation kicks of and if you’ve done a Vista install this is no different. It’s not fast as many Linux installations but I don’t find it slow either, compared to a full Windows XP installation. After about 20 minutes I had my Windows 7 desktop in front of me. Looking at the standard desktop makes me think of KDE I’ve used so many times in my Linux computers.
Adding to domain
Next I had to add my laptop to our corporate domain, and this wasn’t a problem. I was amazed to see all our default software policies like Adobe Reader, Java, Flash and antivirus getting deployed when the computer rebooted. Wow! And everything even works. So next I imported my settings with Easy transfer and after the reboot I had my documents and settings back. Everything fine so far.
Hardware and drivers
As I said, Windows 7 is still in RC status so getting drivers isn’t a walk in the park. I also chose a not so compatible computer to install it on. I went to Lenovo’s site to get some Vista 64 drivers and they seem to work fine. My Ericsson F3507G HSDPA card works like a charm, the fingerprint reader software works and I have no exclamation marks in device manger. All to god to be true? Well actually it isn’t. I’ve been struggling with Vista for 6 months now and it has never worked as good as the RC of Windows 7. The only Lenovo software I use and can’t get working is Access connections but I’m sure a working version will soon be released.
Looks
As I said in the beginning of this post, the desktop reminds me of KDE. Any way there are some really great improvements. The taskbar for example, programs are now organized behind their icon which results in a less cluttered taskbar. Also the function to see and select your preferred window on hovering the icon is useful.
Performance
What interested me most in all the articles I read about Windows 7 was that it performed better than Windows Vista. It does, but at standard settings the result isn’t as great as all the hyped articles tell you. It does boot a little faster and getting to the stage were you can start working doesn’t take over a minute anymore. I won’t say it’s not good because I already prefer 7 over Vista and I’ve been using it for a day now.
Security
In my quick trial with Windows 7 this is where I noticed the biggest difference. UAC was a good idea that became an annoying function in Vista. Most users probably shut it down as soon as they installed Vista, it didn’t bother me that much but compared to the way Ubuntu or OS X handles the same functions it was not good either. This has been upgraded in Windows 7, UAC doesn’t jump in your face every time you want to change something and that’s an improvement.
BitLocker
I never tired BitLocker in Vista because I always forgot to partition my hard drive to support it. I was happy to see that I didn’t have to partition my drive in the install process to get BitLocker running in Windows 7. I activated Bitlocker and the encryption process does take forever, so if your in a hurry do it later. One cool new feature is BitLocker ToGo, it supports encrypting your USB drives, and this really makes us corporate administrators sleep better at night. We can now get an easy to use encryption software out to our users and that is something I look forward to.
Conclusion
Running Windows 7 has been a good experience for me. You might argue that using Vista for 6 months can make a man weird in ways hard to imagine but Windows 7 does feel like a step in the right direction. It performs better and handles better in every way in my opinion than it’s predecessor Windows Vista. It’s been a long time since I’ve looked forward to a Microsoft OS release but this time I am.
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Comments
I just have to add a comment here about Sleep and Hibernate. I’ve been living without them for över 6 months in Vista 64 now. And in Windows 7 they work out of the box. Sleep is even nearly as fast to wake up as an Mac. And that’s amazing.