The Curious Appeal Of Windows 7

Giles Turnbull ()

windows7-20090102.jpg

I probably shouldn’t be saying this on a Mac site, but reputation be damned: I’m quite interested to see Windows 7. Let me explain why. (Hang on while I put on my flame-proof jacket. There.)

THING THE FIRST: I want a netbook. I want a cheap, tiny, low-power little computer that does text editing and web browsing. Something I can chuck in my bag and forget about, but be sure it’ll be there as and when I need it. I don’t want to play games on it. I don’t want to mess with my photos on it. I don’t want to make phone calls on it. It doesn’t need a lot of disk space. But it does need a keyboard.

THING THE SECOND: I cannot afford to buy a MacBook Air. And anyway, it doesn’t offer the battery life I’m looking for.

THING THE THIRD: I don’t think Apple’s going to be producing a netbook like this any time soon.

THING THE FOURTH: But I wish they would.

THING THE FIFTH: Windows 7 is on the way, it’ll run on netbooks, and – this is the important bit – I think it’s the first version of Windows that I might have a chance of getting on with.

Why?

Because it, ahem, borrows rather a lot of ideas from Mac OS X.

Let’s see now: it removes unnecessary icons from the Desktop. It makes the Task Bar more Dock-like. It adds a system-wide search box to the Start Menu, from which you can launch apps, open files, access preferences (sorry, options), much in the manner of the Spotlight menu.

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What’s more, reports tell us that Windows 7 is less bloated than Vista, runs on more humble spec machines, is somewhat more secure, and runs faster too.

So, in summary: this is the first version of Windows I’ve seen that I’ve seriously considered actually using. And until Apple finds that string of DNA that enables it to make cheap, low-power computers, it will remain an option I’ll consider.

Or maybe I should just get a Linux-based netbook (and optionally install OS X on it regardless) and save myself the bother.

(Picture used under CC license: thanks to adKinn.)

34 comments »

About the author

gilest

Giles Turnbull is a freelance writer in England. He writes for the Press Association and The Morning News. He has a website you can ignore and a Twitter account you needn't follow.

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Posted in Opinions, Software, Top stories |

  • Steve

    Windows 7 is probably going to cost you around US$150-200. Add to that the cost of your netbook.

    For significantly less (well at least as much as not buying Windows) you could get yourself a cool little EEE-PC, run Ubuntu-EEE and do everything you said above without selling your soul.

    Thats what I’ll be doing when I get an EEE :)

  • Mike

    As an equal diehard Apple user, I must agree with you that Win7 is looking attractive. I’m thinking about replacing OS X on my Hackintosh server (didn’t have the cash for a Mac mini) with it, since all it really does is share my media collection to my Xbox 360 and run my downloads.

    I think I actually like the new Taskbar more than the Dock, as it provides at minimum all the functionality (except, perhaps, running applications without open windows?), but indicates if there are any active windows of the program running, and allowing you to switch to just one window without bringing them all to the foreground (something you can do with Exposé, too, but if you have a lot of windows it can get confusing). As well, the “floating but attached” nature of the Dock always annoyed me, I prefer full-width bars for anything that is always on the screen (like the Menu Bar).

  • http://torley.com Torley

    No need to defend yourself from flames when they’re empty vapors! I simply believe in using what works for you, and if that means Windows has to grow more Maclike to be usable, then this is good.

    I may check out Windows 7 on virtualization to see what’s up. Glad to hear the “less bloated” part, that’s very important to me.

    I’m hoping to see a Mac Mini refresh, too. I look forward to what you end up doing!

  • Keith

    I’m interested in Windows 7 too. However, if one was going to get a netbook, why not one that runs Ubuntu?

  • Mac

    Hey, to each his own, but have you thought about Linux? An Ubuntu or OpenSUSE distro would certainly do the trick for what you’re looking for.

    My advise is to buy a netbook running on Linux. Try that out for a while. If you’re not satisfied, try the Windows 7 public beta when that arrives. I imagine that it should be able to run on an Atom processor.

  • Al

    Windows 7 is really Vista 1.5. or Vista SP 2.0. Microsoft has promised many things with Windows 7 but, like Vista, many things will not make it to the final product.

    Do yourself a favor. Get a Linux based net book. When you have a few days to kill, attempt to install OS X on it.

  • smallerdemon

    Frankly, you should just suck up and buy one now and put Ubuntu on it and configure it the way you want it.

    Given Apple’s recent decline in customer service and quality control, a non-Mac computer is almost certainly in my future as well.

    I like my MacBook, but I don’t love it. The screen has dark corners. Apple wanted to charge me to fix it after claiming I damaged it. They claimed to have repaired it but it returned with exactly the dark corners I sent it in with. The enclosure was already starting to show dark staining (I made them replace that too) after just four months of use. Top that off with the hard drive starting to make the little drive access noise only four months into the life of this laptop and you have someone who is ready to explorer other options and slowly remove the ingrained 19 year old habit of being a Mac user. Frankly, the best part of this MacBook has been the free iPod Touch I got with it.

  • s dot

    I’ve tried the beta that was leaked last week in VMWare Fusion, and, I can say that as it is now it’s going to be a lot better than Vista ever dreamed. They have cut a lot of bs out of the system and it does seem to run much better. On Vista, my system usage would be about 25-30% with only IE open. Now, with 7, the usages was down in the teens. Not too bad. It definitely looks like it’s worth trying out if you need it – as I do for work since our system unfortunately only runs on IE. Ugh!

    Anyway, that being said, I’m not leaving OS X for Windows any time in the near future. But, it is good to have options and legitimate competition as opposed to MS’ usual sitting on their asses collecting money for their ill-gotten monopoly!

  • http://www.rewdy.com andrew

    ditto.

  • Wally Reems II

    Gotta love the snipes. “Given Apple’s recent decline in customer service and quality control”. Funny, that’s not what the press has been reporting. As a matter of fact those two measures of customer satisfaction have gone up if anything. But I guess its OK to say anything, when they don’t give you a new computer when you whine.
    1. Stop throwing your computer around.
    2. Wash your hands occasionally. The case is white after all.

  • Amir

    At the risk of being flamed me too, I would say Vista is actually not as horrible as some people in the blogoshpere would have it. Any computer sold with Windows pre-installed, be any version of windows, is gonna be slow as hell, bloated, badly protected for malware and such…

    My Vista is a 1 year old Dell of rather modest performance at the time of buying, and believe it or not, it is faster that XP on many points (I got a free upgrade CD from Dell around last June). I just sanitized it by removing the crappy OEM software, (although I have to admit that Dell is not that bad on this point), removed all the stupid boot-time programs like QuickTime quick launch, iTunes helper, Ipod services, bonjour services, (see a trend here??) . It boots faster that xp, even faster than hibernation (2GB of ram…)

    Running the standard Windows firewall, AVG and Firefox (even IE7 if you’re careful), I’ve had no malware, no virus, no slowing downs. And it does have a standard search bar in the start menu to quickly launch programs or open files à-la spotlight.

    Now I also have to admit that I’m leaving a trail of drool behind me every time I visit an applestore. But Vista is not so horrible that it would make me throw away a very good computer to buy a luxury item like a MBP. Sure it’s cheaper that a equally equipped Dell or Compaq( I mean, a maxed out top of the line Dell or Compaq)but my wallet just can’t take that sort of punishment.

    For the time being, I will simply continue watching old Keynotes with Jobs in them on my not-so-bad-actually-good Vista pc

  • http://dougitdesign.com/blog.html Doug Aghassi

    Apple already has a netbook, its called the MSI Wind…!

    http://dougitdesign.com/blog.html

  • Sunil

    I am a Mac user. But to be fair, Windows Vista search is system-wide already from which you can launch applications and preferences (options) too. This was announced by Microsoft even before Apple announced Spotlight.

  • http://www.cyclelogicpress.com Partners in Grime

    THING THE SIXTH: Mac OS X is available today and it’s still 3 better than 7. :)

  • imajoebob

    I think you need an external keyboard for your iPod touch. Except for a small screen, that covers all your needs. Though an iPod “max” with a 6- or 7-inch screen might be an idea, and it’d also sell a butt-load of videos on iTunes.

    As for Win7, I’m just going to say is “Z2K.” (That the new Zune looked pretty darn good to a lot of us, too.)

  • Blaine Chaffin

    I noticed you commented on the Air’s battery life. I haven’t seen any netbooks yet that advertise a battery life much greater then two hours with the stock battery. But really the Air is not in the same category, it’s screen for one is much larger then any netbook. It’s also a much better panel. This alone sets it outside the netbook spectrum which should be obvious. If not, the price, which really seems to define this product category is way too high as you noted. So as far as Windows 7 goes, I am also VERY interested in it. And also Ubuntu. But that’s par for the corse for any geek. Windows 7 will only be a targeted refinement of a platform with technologies that MS has been sitting on for a decade. I seriously doubt it will offer anything new to the industry (personal computing as a whole).

  • attidude

    Or, you could do like the thousands of others who have given up on waiting for apple to get their stuff together and buy a copy of OSX and put it on a cheap netbook. Here’s a compatibility chart to help you start your selection:

    http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/12/17/osx-netbook-compatib.html

    Personally, I love my Lenovo S10 running 10.5.5 and dual-booting winXP. There’s a great community of users on: http://www.s10lenovo.com/viewforum.php?f=15

    The S10 wifi works without any hardware swapping. There’s an ExpressCard 34 slot that works with USB-based cards, and hope for future luck with getting PCIe working too. Sleep and fans work. The ethernet doesn’t have a driver, although it works booted into XP. The built-in camera works like an iSight. And the hard drive is easily upgradeable/replaceable along with RAM through a slot on the bottom (some netbook designs require considerable disassembly, but the S10 is even easier than a MacBook).

    Just to summarize the big foibles in OSX, the Acer Aspire One doesn’t sleep correctly, which would be inconvenient on a netbook. The HP1000 uses slow 1.8″ ipod hard drives. The MSI Wind (until recently, I believe there might be a driver now) required switching the built-in wifi card to work.

    Some netbooks such as the Wind, Samsung NC10 can be purchased with 6-cell batteries which are good for 5-6 hours of battery life, and most other models have 6 or more cell options available as aftermarket/OEM addons.

  • ronin ronin

    Congratulations. Your “controversial” title and topic got you a few more eyeballs and pennies.

    If all you want to do have the least expensive machine with a keyboard for web and word processing you would just get a linux netbook. Why would you spend an extra hundred or two to have a an MS or Apple OS.

    And if Windows 7 is as close to MacOS as you say, Apple will sue Microsoft to kingdom come. They’ve learned their lesson and the MacOS is patented incredibly well.

  • grimdeath

    I am typing this from a MSI Wind netbook which I bought for $350 on newegg.com. I am running OSX 10.5.4 (though I could update if I wanted). It takes a little work, especially if you dont have an external optical drive but it is fairly easy to install Mac OSX on here. I you own a retail copy of OSX there are instructions on msiwind.net for installing from a retail copy. Their is also a torrent floating around in the usual places called msiwindosx.net which is a customized installer for installing on the wind with several tweaks already made to help everything run pretty much out of the box. I would still recommend people go out and buy a retail copy though, I did and its the right thing to do.

    The main thing that had not been working on the Wind in the past was wifi but realtek was kind enough to release a wlan Mac driver for the Wind (let that sink in). This leaves only the internal mic and headphone/mic slots requiring a little extra effort still to have a perfect mini macbook. All the fuction keys work perfectly and so far i havent found anything that doesnt work like a normal Mac. Performance is GREAT, no slow down or pausing. I have even run Photoshop CS3 on here. Ive not had a single crash this week I have been running it.

    Honestly there are solutions for those who care to put in a little effort :) Again check out msi.net’s forums for full instructions and get a real picture of what it takes to run.

  • nizy

    Gotta say, surely Win 7 will cost a small boat load of cash (like very Windows version to date) and therefore will make any netbook a lot more expensive!

    The only reason you get XP on netbooks is cos its old and now cheap. I can’t see Win 7 coming to netbooks anytime soon or if it does, they’ll start reaching notebook prices!

  • Matt Gayetsky

    Just a few sidenotes to consider. I’ve been running the Win7 beta on an old laptop of mine (2.0ghz Dothan chip, 1GB ram) and it consumes on average between 250-300MB less to run. Vista was sluggish on that laptop, but 7 seems to zip around, even when running aero at 1440×900 resolution. Given that the average netbook should have specs above these (while also supporting a much lower resolution) makes me believe that it will work wonders on a netbook. Security seems about as secure as vista, although they’ve played around with the UAC stuff so you are allowed to determine how annoying you want it to be.

    The pricing could be something to think about, but if you go to any PC mfg right now, they’re selling XP pro with the operating system at the same cost as Vista Home Premium. Given that you can get a netbook now with XP, why would anyone expect that a new OS will jack up the cost $150-200? At worst, it would be an extra $50, but the nature of the market forces it to keep costs down to force out the Linux market share (plus, the $150 figure assumes you buy the box at a retailer, not an OEM version from the PC maker).

  • http://none whdf

    WTF is going on here. Who cares how fast 7 is? Have you forgotten all about windows updates, viruses, device driver issues, etc.? You guys sound like a bunch of 5 year olds.

  • http://lifecrapetc.com Bilal

    I refuse to touch anything by Microsoft. I just don’t have the patience for little glitches, applications malfunctioning, viruses and stuff like that. I’m a recent Mac convert, about three years .. and am on my fourth MacBook .. (two MBPs, 1 MB, and 1 MBA) .. they just never die!

  • PC-PieceOfCrap

    TEN.

    Doesn’t that sound so much more advanced than… “seven”?

    The “curious appeal” seems to be in part because it more resembles the MacOS, but articles like this are trying to contrast a FUTURE WindOS with the PRESENT MacOS.

    Of course ! a pared-to-the-bone Beta will “run faster” ~ else the poor Microsaps might not take it up… (the usual place). When 7 eventually ships (once an hysteria has been whipped to the zenith) it will ship Fat, with all the stuff that will slow it, including the built-in malware that it needs so things like ‘iTunes for Windows’ can perform badly.

    By then, Windows 7 will be up against Snow Leopard…
    … which will bite it in the ass.

    {{{ They are both looking up, and The Other Steve says to Bill:
    “Gee! ~ What is that?!”
    Bill replies with that Microsmile, “That’s ‘THE CLOUD’…”
    “Yikes! What does it mean, Bill?”
    “Well… that’s the end of the world ~ as we knew it” }}}

  • http://amoebaos.com Jason Miller

    The various netbook Linux distros are absolutely the best option.

    Plus, you’ll probably be computing in the cloud, which means your OS needs to be as small and cheap as possible.

    For me, I will be using amoebaOS (the online operating system – amoebaos.com), running in Firefox fullscreen. That way the host OS doesn’t need a window manager and I won’t even be using permanent storage.

  • Cowicide

    I’m looking forward to a solid Windows 7 OS so all my aquaintances/clients who use Windows can quit wasting my time with troubleshooting problems when we’re trying to get some basic business done together. The more Microsoft blatantly rips off Apple’s OS X operating system (and general business strategies for that matter) the better it gets for everyone, really.

    It’s nice, I still get to use features that are years ahead of Windows people (and LINUX.. yes, I said it.. LINUX) and therefore have a clear advantage in productivity over my competition. But, at the same time having Windows slowly catching up to years-old OS X iterations makes my life easier in dealing with Windows users because their OS doesn’t fight them as much when we try to get work done together. Best of both worlds for me.

    But, let’s get real…. Microsoft is STILL Microsoft and Apple is STILL Apple.

    Face it, Mac-hating Windows users. When you switch from XP (or Vista) to Windows 7… you are merely switching to an older version of OS X for the most part. Apple is already neck-deep into its next revolutionary iteration for Microsoft to copy and finally implement only years later. You are behind the curve in productivity if you run Windows (and Windows 7 won’t be any different).

    As far as all this talk of switching from Mac OS X to Windows 7? Not very likely. I love after having Apple rock your world over and over (and over and over) over the years… you Apple users are getting complacent, totally writing off Apple’s history and thinking Snow Leopard is just going to be some mere “fixes” and (oh, yawn) maybe a bit more “stable” and stuff… Oh, fuck… You guys are in for some shit… (jaw-dropping shit)

    Why? SPEED and Apple’s bleeding edge engineering and design. What many of you (Apple and Windows users) aren’t considering is the massive implications of Grand Central, Open CL and Apple’s implementation of 64-bit technology (using their superior engineering) into Snow Leopard.

    When hours of work is cut down to minutes or seconds… then maybe you’ll “get it”…

    When hardware running Snow Leopard is running circles around Windows 7 boxes that are roughly the same class and making said Windows boxes look like children’s toys… Maybe then you’ll understand?

    Maybe then you’ll start to understand why this crazy Cow thinks all of you are missing the point.

    Will Windows eventually catch up? Yeah, years later. Think of the business implications of that.

    Apple users… I plead with you. If you are my competition. Switch to Windows naw! Hahahahaha

    And one more thing…

    Have all of you also completely forgotten Apple’s other time-honored tradition? Secrecy? Can you imagine what features (yes, FEATURES) they are going to chuck into Snow Leopard before its released? Remember how Steve vehemently denied they were working on an iPhone before they revolutionized…. phones?

    Man, you people have short memories.

    All that said, if Linux ever solidly trumps Mac (or by some miracle, Windows)… I’ll switch to either one. But, I’m not going to hold my breathe.

    DISCLAIMER: Yes, yes… I know Linux handles multi-processors and more RAM pretty good now. But that doesn’t help with Photoshop, does it??? And I know Windows 7 will have better support for multi-processors and more RAM, etc. but it’s a completely half-asses approach compared to Snow Leopard. I’m sure Windows 8 years from now will give it a run for the money, though… when I’ve already got great use of Snow Leopard and Apple is already neck-time into the “next best thing”… Hahaha..

    You think Steve Jobs is smug now? Wait till his machines are blowing away Windows machines in speed (again) on top of having a superior interface (again). Oh gawd…har! har!

  • Safe&Stable

    “WTF is going on here. Who cares how fast 7 is? Have you forgotten all about windows updates, viruses, device driver issues, etc.? You guys sound like a bunch of 5 year olds.”

    This kills me. Im a PC. Ive been a PC for close to 17 years. Ive tried the MacOS on several occasion through the years but never cared for it. Ive run Vista since the day it was released and to this day have not had ANY of these “issues” perpetrated by the media, Apple advertising and know it all blogging Apple fanboys. Its not your fault youre a sheep though, Apple breeds them. I love that most people would rather buy into advertising and opinionated writings of the popular media instead of trying something new and have a truly open mind about it.

  • TRhoades

    Hey Cowicide, do you get your check from apple on the 1st or the 15th?

  • Vinitlee

    Er…. weren’t those points just:
    THING THE FIRST: I wanna netbook.
    THING THE SECOND: I wanna netbook.
    THING THE THIRD: I wanna netbook.
    THING THE FOURTH: I wanna netbook.
    THING THE FIFTH: I wanna netbook.
    Windows 7 can run on netbooks (and I wanna netbook).

    ??

  • http://mac-bargains.com Bilal

    I don’t see “netbooks” working out, for most people. Yes, you might get one for the weight, size and simplicity. But, inevitably, I’d say most users would need more than just email and the web. I can’t really say .. I don’t think they’ll really kick-off until internet access is more universal/easily available. Not to mention till those “online” OS systems become really mainstream.

  • http://mac-bargains.com Bilal

    P.S. I’ve tried living with a Vaio TX .. (for like two days) .. thought it would be useful for travel and all .. the screen was amazing .. but the size .. just not workable .. if you spend more than an hour on your computer, you need at least a 13″ screen. I then got a Vaio SZ .. and returned it a week later .. because the OS (VIsta) was just driving me crazy .. fans blaring, etc.

  • awmawm

    “This kills me. Im a PC. Ive been a PC for close to 17 years. Ive tried the MacOS on several occasion through the years but never cared for it. Ive run Vista since the day it was released and to this day have not had ANY of these “issues” perpetrated by the media, Apple advertising and know it all blogging Apple fanboys. Its not your fault youre a sheep though, Apple breeds them. I love that most people would rather buy into advertising and opinionated writings of the popular media instead of trying something new and have a truly open mind about it.”

    You must be one lucky VISTA user! I WAS living in the PC world for 20+ years and recently switched to a MacBook Pro. Our home machine still runs on XP and does a good job running my kids’ games. Once you load XP and particularly VISTA with your various work-related productivty softwares, it will eventually slow down to a crawl. Loading, switching and closing apps with Mac OS X is much faster. And, one of my key issues with VISTA: You never know how your notebook behaves once you awake it from “sleep mode”. If you are lucky, you can work after just 15 seconds (with my MacBook Pro, it takes 5 seconds to be ready, including WIFI); most of the times, it takes more than one minute and the awakening process is often so screwed up that you have to reboot the machine. All my past three VISTA notebooks took at least 3 minutes to boot – compared to less than a minute with the MacBook Pro.

  • KenJr

    A cheap windows laptop is good. I bought one (Vista). Just don’t use it on the internet. Use your Mac for that.

    Take it from one who used MS PCs right from the time of birth of the PC. Finally, in 2005 I bought an iMac. That was after my final bout with MS stress (I was screaming at my PC), the last straw so to speak.

    Since joining you Mac folks I haven’t spent that annual money outlay on anti-virus software; I haven’t experienced a single worm or virus; I’ve not seen a single pop-up; I’ve not been interrupted in the middle of my work with an announcement from Microsoft about an anti-virus patch that must be installed now; I haven’t had to go to great lengths to address a worm or virus problem (very time consuming); and my stress level has dropped to what one might even call normal.

    So if you want a laptop to use on the internet, spend the money and buy a Mac, maybe a used mac from someone who just bought an air, but buy a Mac. No matter how much armor (new level OS) MS places on its basic OS, there will always be hackers out there who will glory in profound happiness each time they find a new chink. On the other hand, if you’re one of those who relish the adrenaline rush that follows from high level stress, indeed buy that Microsoft laptop, and don’t forget to use it freely on the internet.

  • Jon

    Wait a second… all of the features you claim to like about Windows7 already exist in Vista…

    “it removes unnecessary icons from the Desktop. It makes the Task Bar more Dock-like. It adds a system-wide search box to the Start Menu, from which you can launch apps, open files, access preferences (sorry, options), much in the manner of the Spotlight menu”

    1. There are no unnecessary icons on the desktop in Vista– there haven’t been since Windows 98– you can customize your Vista (or XP) desktop to remove any icons.

    2. System-wide search exists in Vista, in fact it’s one of Vista’s great features.

    Your comments about speed are good but not great. 7 *will* run faster on slower hardware, but generally speaking, the real limiting factor in real-world use is the RAM… most netbooks will come with 2GB, which is more than enough for either OS. My Vista machine runs at ~800MB, Windows7 runs at ~550MB. Yay an extra 250MB! Honestly, the speed is a great improvement, I don’t doubt that, but speed was *never* a dealbreaker on Vista.

    Frankly, anyone who says Vista sucks and Windows7 is awesome is confused. Windows7 is heavily based on Vista. if Windows7 is good, Vista is only slightly worse.