Using Windows 7

Over the next few months we’ll be sharing our experiences of Windows 7 with you. Several of us on the Shopper team have installed the RC (release candidate) of Microsoft’s forthcoming operating system, and we’ll be posting regular updates as we get to know the OS better.

I’ve just installed Windows 7 Ultimate on a Sony Vaio laptop, and was surprised how painless it was. I decided to format the hard disk rather than upgrade from Vista Home Premium, and see what Windows 7 was able to do with a blank canvas.
After booting from the DVD, I was greeted with a Vista-style installer and just had to choose my language. 20 minutes later I had a fully working laptop. Well, almost. Everything appeared to work except the Vaio's shortcut keys, so I couldn't adjust the screen brightness or volume. WiFi worked, though, so I was able to get online as soon as I’d chosen a wireless network and entered its password.

First impressions

I found it a little odd that the startup sound is the same as Vista's. I already knew that Windows 7 was similar to Vista, but I still wanted everything to feel new, and it doesn't help to have something so conspicuous borrowed from the old OS. The start button and menu are almost indistinguishable from Vista’s, but the application buttons on the task bar are now square icons. I particularly like the way thumbnails of each instance of that application pop up when you hover over an icon. This is especially handy when you have multiple Explorer tabs open. It's also nice that the full-screen window opens up when you hover over the thumbnails, but if you move the cursor off again, the window disappears. It's also fairly nifty that the application icons can show other information. Explorer is a good example again, as a green progress bar shows at a glance the status of a file download - there's no need to switch to the window any more.

I noticed a ‘Solve PC issues’ warning in the notification area for one problem: no antivirus. I clicked on ‘Find antivirus program online (important)’, and was taken to a Microsoft web page which let me choose from a variety of beta antivirus apps from Panda, AVG, Kaspersky and others. Unusually, AVG charges £25 for this, while Kaspersky and Panda offer their beta versions free. The other warnings were to run a Windows Defender scan and to set up a backup schedule.

Now those housekeeping tasks are done, I’m ready to explore Windows 7 in more depth. I’ll let you know in a week or so what I’ve discovered.