Dienstag, 29. September 2009

Should I upgrade to Windows 7?

Some readers ask the question whether they should upgrade from Vista to Windows 7. So far I have considered this a no-brainer given the audience and other press publications that clearly recommend Windows 7 over Vista.

But here are some Q&Q's adopted to the reader audience.

Usually we spend significant time and effort to make sure that our cars and gadgets are the best that we can get/afford. I translate computers into cars: we all understand that a new revision of any car model is always better than the old one since it's sleeker, more comfortable and has more performance. The same applies to operating systems for computers.

Q: How much time do I need to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7?

A: This depends. Windows 7 offers an "upgrade" function which should keep all your data and installed applications. I have never tried this since Microsoft (and I) recommends a new installation from scratch. For this you have to backup your data and reinstall all applications afterwards. The installation itself takes 30 minutes and runs mostly unattended.

Q: Do I need updated drivers for Windows 7?

A: No. All Vista drivers work also under Windows 7. But Windows 7 is very good with hardware support. In most cases I needed only additional drivers for very exotic hardware.

Q: Do I need updated applications for Windows 7?

A: No. If an application runs with Vista, it will also run with Windows 7.

Q: What benefits do I have with Windows 7?

A: www.google.de – lot's of information. Usually people coming from Vista find it very intuitive to work with Windows 7. Everything is more "elegant" than under Vista, faster and uses less resources.

Samstag, 26. September 2009

SSD: The Secret about Windows 7 Performance vs. Vista

I installed Windows 7 Final now on several notebooks but none of them experienced the same dramatic performance improvement than the Latitude E4300. Okay, they all feel a little bit faster than Vista but not as radical as the E4300.

Why? The E4300 was the only notebook with a solid state disk (SSD). Microsoft apparently improved SSD support in Windows 7 compared to previous version. And this explains the big difference. It is supported by several technical review, benchmarks and tests available in the web.

So the conclusion is: if you want a notebook with the fastest user experience, get yourself a SSD and Windows 7.

The E4300 has a Samsung PM800 SSD with 256 GB.