Through this article you will see how Windows 7 will allow you to balance between aesthetics and performance, so read on …

• Color your World – Windows 7 gives you an option to choose from 16 different colors and set its intensity to either a bolder or a softer tone. An option to enable transparency is also available. Enable the Aero Glass feature to give your desktop a translucent and glassy effect.
• Make it your very own Desktop – Your very own Desktop can display a showcase of your photos, images and wallpapers. You can also create your own background images and customized them according to your preferences.
• Control your Screensaver – Whether it is just a still picture or an animation, customizing your screensaver will give you a sense of satisfaction as you see pictures and animations come to life when your mouse or keyboard is idle.
• Set your own Theme – Your own theme is comprised of a combination of photos, sounds, colors, menus, screensaver, icons and mouse pointers. Microsoft offers pre-built Theme packs or better yet you can set out to customize your very own theme complete with everything you want your desktop to be.
• Configure your Monitor – For your computer to set the best display you also need to configure your monitor’s settings either through its screen resolution, refresh rate and its color.
• Optimize your Visual Effects – Windows 7 interface has tons of graphical enhancements including visual effects for menus, toolbars, windows, and the taskbar.  Windows 7 can help you customize your settings based on your priorities or choose for you the best configuration.
• Fine-tune your Apps Performance – Windows 7 allows you more control on the performance of your computer by better prioritization of which applications should run making background processes and housekeeping tasks  take lesser toll on your PC’s total performance.
• Rig up your Virtual Memory – Windows 7 through paging allocates virtual memory to at least as large as the total physical memory installed on your computer or this can also be done manually by you. At the same time Windows 7 also introduces its Ready Boost which extends the disk-caching capabilities of the computer’s main memory to a USB flash device. With Ready Boost, Windows 7 will read flash devices up to 1000 percent faster than its physical disk drives.  Overall, both boost the speed and performance of your machine.

Personalizing Windows 7 to suit your tastes and preferences will make your experience with your OS a more enjoyable and fulfilling one.  Try to spend a few minutes now to do these and you bet you will curl up in satisfaction.

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Let us go into the details on what you need to prepare prior to the upgrade …

1. Go perform your housecleaning and a quick rundown utility maintenance first.

• Get an inventory list of all your existing data in your hard drive.
• Jot down all system related information and details.
• Test your backup and restore functions.
• Uninstall all Security related software.
• Clean all unnecessary files.
• Do a maintenance checkup of your hard drive.

2.  Know the System Requirements

Since Windows 7 relatively has low minimum requirements, in fact an XP and Vista based system could run Windows 7 although minimum requirements do not mean a high end performance.  By running the “Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor “, this can help you determine if your PC is apt to run Windows 7.

The following are the minimum system requirements:

Architecture                        32-bit                                  64-bit

Processor                   1 GHz 32-bit processor       1 GHz 64-bit processor

Memory (RAM)           1 GB of RAM                           2 GB of RAM

Graphics Card           DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM  drivermodel 1.0 (For Aero)

HDD free space        16 GB of available disk space   20 GB of available disk space

Optical drive               DVD drive (for installation from DVD/CD Media)

3.  Select your  upgrade option from the following:

Option #1   In-Place Upgrade from Vista – This is the easiest among all types of installations, however, the drawback is the long process which can be based on how compact and organized your files are.

Option #2  Upgrading from XP or Clean Slate Installation – This can be considered more of a fresh installation to a blank hard drive or at least a blank partition rather than an upgrade. Using the “User State Migration Tool” will help capture desktop and system settings, user accounts and files that need to be transferred to the Windows 7 system.

Option #3  Dual-Boot Installation – This involves letting Windows 7 co-exist with XP and Vista in your PC.  Installing Windows 7 on the same hard disk needs the creation of a new partition to set up the OS, for XP this means using third party tools to create and manage partitions. For Vista, the use of a built-in disk management facility will achieve the same results. After achieving this, you may to proceed to the installation of Windows 7 already.

Option #4  Boot Camp on a Mac Installation – Apple’s new Boot Camp will allow the installation of Windows to the Mac unit in addition to Mac OS X already installed.

Option#5  Load to a Netbook Installation – Windows 7 unlike Vista can run exceedingly well in Netbooks. The only hitch here is the installation since Netbooks do no not have DVD drives which means installation can be done either through an external drive or boot from a USB stick for a clean install.

Microsoft through Windows 7 deserves a pat on the back for making available all these installation options to a user.  The flexibility and user-friendliness of Windows 7 will surely pave the way towards greater acceptance and satisfaction from its users.

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What is this paradigm shift and how did it happen? This article intends to explain in detail this observation. Hoping that by doing so, PC users would appreciate more the new image Windows 7 is trying to project in the computing arena.

Looking back in the past …

Whether we accept this or not, Windows 7 came out at a time when Microsoft needs a big major push. In fact, the launching of Windows 7 confirmed this assertion. Windows 7 with its powerfully enhanced features is a silent acknowledgment somehow on Microsoft’s behalf of the failure they had committed out of Vista. For the past two years and a half, Microsoft had gropingly tried to cover all the gaping holes Vista had created in terms of performance issues and hardware compatibility. If one will be keen enough to notice the introduction of Vista is a complete overhaul in their lineup of past OSes – the very same reason that brought Vista down to its knees. The high level of hardware requirements of Vista had taken toll on its performance; leaving a lot of disgruntled users who cannot cope with the resource intensive Vista. In short, this can be the scenario that triggered the sudden shift.

Presently now…

Looking back at Microsoft’s history and comparing now the present situation wherein Windows 7’s requirements are slightly lower than those required to run Vista. This strikes us with the plain truth that Windows 7 tends to run better on the same hardware configuration as a Vista PC. Windows 7 now becomes the very first OS that does not require more hardware resources than the version before; a completely new trend being introduced by the Microsoft camp. Very subtle and convincing, Microsoft had made the change happen.

Future Implications…

Microsoft’s stance to become customer driven instead of being pulled by the strings of PC vendors is a revelation indeed. With this breaking of link on the upgrade cycle between the OS and hardware, small hardware vendors will eventually close shop giving way to a monopoly of a few giant vendors within the next ten years. On the part of Intel, more innovations beyond the PC CPU had to be developed to cope with the ability to maintain a market’s demand for faster and smaller microprocessors. As for Microsoft, it has to maintain the balance between its OEM division and the newly recovered image brought about by Windows 7’s changes. Lastly, the greatest bulk of benefits will go to the PC end users, surprisingly thought it may seem, but Microsoft intends to make everything usable for PC users this time around. Perhaps after two to three years, we will know if this trend is here to stay or just a ‘one time fad’ of Microsoft.

As for now, eyebrows will continue to raise as more speculations will come as the new PC market dynamics brought about by Windows 7 is slowly fitting in. Whatever implications or consequences that may arise out of this new trend, definitely it is for the better – at least seeing it from a user’s perspective.

Technorati Tags: windows 7 blogs, windows 7 review, Windows 7 Software, Windows Vista

• Please read my Windows 7 Beta Review which is based on months of using the Beta and paints a very accurate picture of Windows 7.
• Have used the Windows 7 RTM for months and it works great. A full Windows 7 Review will be up soon.
• See my Windows 7 Tips post for lots of great Windows 7 tips.

Technorati Tags: windows 7 review

Here are the Top 10 Windows 7 AntiVirus Software based on information gathered from forums and surveys and a review of each software -

AVAST Windows 7 Anti Virus
Considered one of the best anti-viruses in terms of over-all balance, Avast is compatible with Windows 7. It still has all the qualities most users would like in an anti virus software:

1. Easy to use.
2. Works in the background.
3. Doesn’t eat a lot of CPU resources.
4. Changeable skins so you can pick a look you like.

The Avast version for Windows 7 has anti-spyware protection.

The best part of all, this anti-virus is free.

There is one glitch - Automatic updates for Avast anti-virus for Windows 7 sometimes are not detected so you have to manually update virus definitions.

However, overall Avast is great. When it comes to scanning and protecting your PC from malwares and viruses this is the anti-virus to use.

AVG AntiVirus for Windows 7
AVG is one of the most used anti-virus software in the entire world. This is because -

1. It is easy to use and the user interface is easy to navigate.
2. You can also choose from a myriad of options on how your anti-virus behaves while running in the background.
3. The AVG free edition not only gives you anti-virus protection, but also it includes anti-spyware, email scanner and a resident shield.
4. The user is given the capability to change to speed of scanning, the faster the scanning, the greater CPU resource is needed.

One downside is that when using AVG in windows 7 you will get two anti-spyware programs running at the same time which is not advisable (due to the burden it places on the computer).

AVIRA AntiVirus Software
Another free anti-virus option, Avira is at par with AVAST and AVG.

1. It runs smoothly in the background.
2. Automatic update works.
3. It has a user-friendly interface.

But as of October 16th,  2009 AVIRA is not officially compatible with Windows 7. You may suffer some glitches when using this anti-virus with Windows 7 -

• For instance it is very hard to fully uninstall due to its update definitions.
• Also there is a slight hang-ups when scanning your PC.

Hopefully in a few months this anti-virus will fully work with Windows 7. Like any other anti-virus, it gives the user the ability to customize the behavior of the anti-virus software for scanning, and the level of protection. Avira also gives a detailed report of on all the scans and updates that take place.

4. Kaspersky AntiVirus
This anti-virus isn’t freeware, its about 60 dollars, but there is a 30 day free trial after downloading the client.

Kaspersky AV is a mixed box -

1. Even after all the updates Kaspersky AntiVirus still lacks some valuable features compared to the other anti-viruses.
2. The new version has removed it best feature, the Safe Run program sandbox, where you can use the anti-virus even in Safe Mode.
3. On the other hand it has added a better anti-virus engine, which runs at blazing speed compared to the free edition anti-viruses.
4. A new feature allow customers to send their PC’s scans for analysis for better protection. However, this costs an extra $20.

Would recommend using the trial and seeing whether you like it before committing to this anti-virus.

5. TrendMicro AntiVirus for Windows 7
Unlike most anti-virus software that scans incoming files and protects your files, Trend Micro is different. This nifty program has the ability to protect your files from being sent without authorization for the client. Also by subscribing manually, users are allowed to use the Smart Protection Network, which monitors any malware files that are being created and destroys them before they can spread.

Trend Micro (when a scan is going on) does not causes stoppages when playing games or watching videos. Trend Micro can scan and protect your PC without limiting what you can do.

6. Norton AntiVirus from Symantec
Ever since Symantec released Norton, it has become a household name. Unfortunately, that has led to it being a big target.

Most malware creators target Norton out of all anti-viruses and and their success rate is above the norm. Don’t get me wrong - Norton is a good anti-virus. Unfortunately it doesn’t even come close to AVG or Avast. None of the updates are groundbreaking and new features and utilities added are usually unnecessary.

All hope rests in the New Norton Anti-virus 2009 -

1. It has a sleek user-interface design.
2. Uses less PC resources as compared to earlier versions.
3. Has 24/7 virus definition updates.
4. An array of security tools.
5. Most of all it has free technical support for users.

To be able to use all these, you have to pay an annual subscription fee.I’m not sure if consumers would pay for something that AVAST or AVIRA offer for free. Norton gets around this by paying PC manufacturers to bundle its antivirus software with Windows 7 in new PCs.

7. BitDefender
Another pay-to-protect antivirus, Bit Defender is not as good as its name sounds.

Sure, it defends like any other anti-virus, but it makes little sense to pay 50 dollars a year for something you can actually get for free.

1. Most users complain that it puts your computer speed into a screeching halt if you want to scan and do something else.
2. Also uninstalling through conventional means is a headache. You’d need another software to uninstall it or have a lot of patience.
3. Also, customer support doesn’t function very well. Having to wait for more than 5 minutes before getting an automated response is just bad.

8. F-Security
Finally, an anti-virus that has an online tutorial. Maybe thats the only thing that separates F-security from the rest. However, an online tutorial is probably necessary with the rest of the problems encountered in this software.

1. From the installation process, there is a slight slowdown in CPU processor speed. However a reboot takes care of that problem.
2. F-security has a myriad of security tools, however what is lacking is the “SCAN NOW” option, which is actually hidden in along with the disky utility feature.
3. Also its firewall has trouble recognizing programs like Google and Skype toolbars and it has to be flagged first before being able to be used.

Also, like any other anti-viruses, pop-ups are supposed to be discreet and at least simple. F-security’s pop-ups are not. They are usually found in the center of the screen, old-school style. And above all, F-security is expensive by 20 to 30 dollars. Users should think twice before picking F-Security.

9. Bullguard
Not as famous as its counterparts, Bullguard is what people would call normal. Nothing would entice consumers into buying this software. No new security tool, no new interface-user design, no online support.

It does have Full-email protection, and supports KAZAA, ICQ and MSN messenger.

Bullguard doesn’t really pop out from the rest of the pack. The hardest pill to swallow is the annual subscription, which is 69 dollars. The free trial does last 60 days. Bullguard is commonly used for email spam filters (commonly used in offices and firms).

10. McAfee
Mcafee is in tight competition with Norton, so every software update is supposed to top the former’s update. As of the moment, both are on equal terms.

1. McAfee’s wide range of security tools would give viruses a fit.
2. It’s also great that Mcafee has combined all those security tools into a single  user interface. The user can now not only change the behavior of the software but also enable or disable any security tool Mcafee has installed.
3. A new tool was added in the new update. Mcafee’s Active Protection or Artemis detects threats that are only a few minutes old.
4. Virus definition updates are instantaneous and up-to-date.

Customer Support is limited compared to Norton or Trend Micro. There is a ‘first 30 days’ free customer support provision. After which the user has to pay nine dollars a month. Other than customer support, Mcafee gives you more than adequate virus protection for your Windows 7 system.

Do leave your thoughts on what Windows 7 AntiVirus worked well for you.

Technorati Tags: Top Windows 7 antivirus, windows 7 antivirus, windows7 antivirus software

Windows 7 Installation – A-, Easy and Quick

I’ve installed Windows 7, re-installed it, and also installed it on my laptop, and it was smooth and intuitive every time. It comes in at around 30-40 minutes.

The main things to keep in mind are -

1. You don’t really need to burn a DVD. Use MagicIso’s DiscMaker or any virtual CD drive software instead.
2. Its best to create a partition specifically for Windows 7 (or use one that already exists) – separate from your existing OS. This gives you the option to work with either your existing OS or Windows 7. 
3. Do expect it to take 30 minutes or so. Be ready with your Beta Activation key.

You can find instructions all over the net to install Windows 7 on netbooks, Macs, and more. Overall the install gets a solid A- grade.

Windows 7 Usability + User Interface – A, It’s Excellent.

The task bar really rocks. There’s loads of small little things that make using it easier and contrary to some negative reviews I feel that the benefit of having features like Jump Lists, Aero Peek, Aero Shake, etc. far outweighs the small learning curve.

Surprisingly, this is my favourite feature so far. I love how much quicker it is to use Windows, the easier switching between windows, being able to preview windows without switching to them, and much more. 

Here’s a video to see what Windows 7 is like until my review is done -

Windows 7 Multi Touch – Its Great, Needs More Features. I Grade.

There is an included Multi-Touch Pack and multi-touch can be used in a myriad number of ways.

However, this is a beatuiful feature that needs more work.

This is an incomplete grade because a lot of the cool features from demos aren’t going to be available until later. There is something beautiful about just reaching out to the screen and touching your way through an OS and applications.

Windows 7 Application Compatibility – A-, Surprisingly Good.

I’m pretty impressed by the fact that apart from Skype I have not had any problems with any of the software I use regularly.

I moved up from Vista – so I do not know how the move from XP to Windows 7 will work out in terms of compatibility.

Also, the 32 bit to 64 bit change is handled very elegantly. All 32 bit programs get installed in a separate program files folder just for 32 bit programs (that’s the default), and they work perfectly.

Windows 7 Reliability/Stability – A, Very good.

I went 14 days without a crash and then ran into a BSOD caused by one of a number of random programs and plug-ins I had installed. System Restore works well – however, I decided to just re-do the install. 

The RTM version – the one that ships to stores is very stable too. No Blue Screens of Death so far.

Internet Explorer 8 – B-, Improved in Windows 7 RTM Build

The IE8 in the Windows 7 Beta was terrible. The one in Windows 7 RTM is much improved.

IE8 has a strong suite of features like remembering your tabs when you re-start, reviving lost tabs, accelerators, blank tabs show your last few open tabs so you can always go back to pages you accidentally closed.

However, IE8 still takes up a lot of memory and has 3-4 processes running when I have multiple tabs open.

B- is rather harsh – However, the bar set by Windows 7 is so high overall, that anything less than stellar performance is an B-.

Windows 7 Security – A-.

This is great as Microsoft Security Essentials add to the security in Windows 7.

Have also used Kaspersky and would recommend using a security software suite in addition to MSE.

Overall I’ve had no problems using Kaspersky and then later after I switched to Avast Home Edition. Kaspersky had a lot of things like Hacker protection mode that caused too many alerts.

There have been very few UAC (User Account Control) prompts which is a relief.

Windows 7 Speed + Performance – A-, Better than Vista

I haven’t done any benchmarking. Truth is, that’s for later – most people want more basic things i.e. How fast does it boot-up? How fast does it run? and so forth. Well, it boots up fast and works fast. Its definitely, without any doubt whatsoever, faster than Vista SP1 running on the exact same machine. Programs start faster and I’ve not had any system slowing down because of running programs problems at all.

I haven’t tested any games yet. However, will add that in down the line.

Windows 7 Looks – A, Looks Great.

I’m considering this different from UI and usability because this is more about what Windows 7 aesthetically looks like. Well, it’s beautiful. There are some great desktop backgrounds and great color schemes and themes.

Forthcoming Windows 7 Feature Reviews

1. Windows Media Player – initially my gut on this is A. However, I still have to try out movies and play around with things other than just music. 
2. Windows Media Center – Need to get one of those surge protectors and then try this out.  It’s supposed to be one of the most improved features.
3. Device Stage – Waiting to get a printer to try this. Might be a while. 
4. Voice Recognition – I’ve liked the initial playing around and want to test out the Speech to Text fully before reviewing.
5. Windows 7 Home Group – soon.
6. And more to come.

Biggest Opportunities for Microsoft

This is easy  -

1. Multi-Touch is the single biggest area Microsoft can really revolutionize OSes and the full Windows 7 release needs to have 3-4 very compelling multi-touch apps. 
2. IE8 – With such a huge amount of time spent online, having a rock solid IE8 is critical. Perhaps being able to ‘rescue’ failed tabs is making the IE8 team complacent – those tabs should not be failing at all. IE8, if not fixed soon, will become the Achilles Heel of Windows 7. 
3. Playing the PR and Expectations game right. Windows 7 is a definite winner – personally I’m really glad I started blogging on it because it rocks and now I can be 100% congruent about recommending it to people.

Overall Windows 7 : A-/B, Best Windows So Far. 

Windows 7 rocks – it’s far better than Vista. Even IE8 acting up can’t stop me from loving it. The first few days in, I knew that I wasn’t going back to Vista and 3 weeks in that decision has proven to be a good one.

The feature that I think will really change things is full blown multi-touch and lots of apps to support it. At the moment, there is little multi-touch, and already Windows 7 is a hit. If Microsoft works out multi-touch and the polishing up and final touches parts well, Windows 7 is going to be something else.

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IE 8 is killing my enjoyment of Windows 7.

Here’s what I’d like to say – There are a lot of good features in IE8 like accelerators and a blank tab showing recent history and other good stuff.

However the negatives are preventing me from appreciating the positives. Here are things that are gumption traps and distracting me from having a great, productive Windows 7 experience –

1. I might be mistaken here – However, Task Manager shows multiple IE processes running. Its almost as if a process gets started every few tabs. 
2. IE 8 takes too much memory – in the hundreds of MB of memory. It does not scale well. A lot of tabs leads to more and more memory being taken up. It almost seems as if there is a memory leak.
3. It literally takes 3 seconds from the point that I click on a tab to it actually opening. Now that I think of it that sort of hints that they actually are starting a new process. 
4. Some websites don’t work. 
5. When I use Speech Recognition to ‘start internet explorer’ i get three options i.e. IE 32 bit, IE 64 bit, IE 32 bit with add-ons disabled.  Why is this decision not made for me?
6. Wordpress editing doesn’t work on one of my sites. 
7. One of my forums can’t log me in when I’m using IE8. 
8. IE8 tabs crash – regularly, and then it automatically saves the tabs and brings them up – which is great. Except when the recovered tab had crashed. Because it crashes again. 

I understand this is a Beta of Windows 7 – Why then is Windows 7 working absolutely great, and IE8 behaving like a pre-alpha version?

I really hope Microsoft takes this as feedback and cleans up IE and makes it perform better and not mess up all the time. I only use Windows 7 and I only use IE8 – so perhaps I’m seeing a lot more errors than someone who tests it for a few minutes or a few hours. However I should be seeing very few errors – ideally no errors.

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