This morning I got Win7 installed on my PC. Other than the UAC crap, the OS is a thing of beauty. Since I am still on a 32-bit processor for the time being, I obviously went with the 32-bit install. That's why I bought the retail version, so I could move up to 64-bit when I build a new computer in about 6-8 months.

Even on my old PC (Pentium 4 3.0 GHz), I believe that Win7 runs BETTER than even Windows XP does. Hell, it even installs faster too. (Judging by last week's temp-XP install: 25 min to 15 min). Speaking of CPU usage, to be honest, I haven't seen Windows 7 hitch up or 'freeze in place' one bit yet, even when it's supposedly using lots of my CPU. This thing is optimized like no other Windows version before it. Smooth sailing no matter what you do. Wow. RAM usage CONSTANTLY returns to its startup levels, which is a sign that memory leaks in the OS itself are almost non-existent. This isn't even "just-installed OS that hasn't had time to break itself yet" talk either. I just had to reinstall WinXP temporarily so I got about a week's worth of time on a new XP install for comparison. The 64-bit install uses more memory because of its extra addressing necessities, but going from 32-bit WinXP to 32-bit Win7 I haven't seen ANY increase in memory usage whatsoever, and likely even a slight reduction!

Task Manager now has columns for Working Set Memory and Private Working Set Memory. I had to look those terms up as coming from WinXP those are new to me. (In WinXP there was only Memory and Virtual Memory.) Private Working Set Memory is a true indicator of just how much memory your applications are hogging for themselves. That is RAM which is being reserved for that application and just that application. Normal Working Set Memory is memory that an application is using but is allowed for grabs by any application that needs it. For example, even after opening and closing several tabs in Firefox, I'm only at 115mb of Working Set and 99mb of Private Working Set. Acceptable. Basically, all those old myths of the Firefox developers claiming that it is only using extra RAM because it is available and most of that used RAM is available to be taken away by other apps if need be is true.

When I installed my video drivers for the first time and Win7 didn't even make me reboot, I was like, "WTF?", lol.

It's good that Win7 comes with built-in codecs to handle lots of video formats, but they actually use quite a bit more CPU than the codecs I've been using all along (custom installation of the K-Lite Codec Pack). Regardless, it's still not as much CPU that would bring the system to a halt and the quality with either option is high.

I like in Windows 7 (probably the case in Vista too) that Windows Explorer is actually given a taskbar shortcut right off the bat. I never understood how older versions of Windows ignored doing that, considering that it's the default way to find your way around your damn computer drives in the first place. No wonder the casual user never understood windows pathnames! I always had to copy/paste Windows Explorer onto the desktop from the Start Menu.

I have an old 512mb thumb drive sitting in my computer drawer so I tested out the Windows 7 ReadyBoost feature. Windows came right up with a prompt that asked me if I wanted to use that drive for storage and/or for ReadyBoost cache speed increases, and it also gave me the option to specify how much to use for either (and even suggests an optimal value). Pretty neat that it's not an all-or-nothing feature. I don't have any real cpu-hogging things installed just yet so I couldn't test it out thoroughly, but it's good to have the option I guess.




All in all, thus far I can say that Windows 7 is a great OS and all of the praise I see given to it is well-deserved. Glad I took the plunge early, even if I have to live in 32-bit land just a little bit longer.

For anyone who still has WinXP and is on the fence, I suggest you put this OS in your future plans.




BTW, still installing stuff, so Guild Wars will have to wait another day or so.

Yea, I fell in love with Windows 7 once installed. Of course, I was coming from Vista rather than XP, so there's that. You obviously know a ton more about computers than I do, but it's an extremely easy OS to use. One neat feature that is purely cosmetic is that you can rotate your desktop like your screensaver. I love that I don't have to see the same damn desktop background all the time. I have mine set for 10 minute intervals. Enjoy. I know I am.