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Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Cyber Cynic

The big Windows 7 lie

169 comments

TAGS:desktop linux, Linux, Mac OS X, Vista, Windows, Windows 7
IT TOPICS:Emerging Technology, Linux, Macintosh & Apple, Open Source, Operating Systems, Software, Windows & Microsoft

You've read the early reviews with comments like Windows 7 is a big improvement over Vista and Windows 7 is wicked fast. Sounds great doesn't it? On closer inspection though Windows 7 M3 (Milestone 3) is being revealed as being just a "slightly tweaked version of Vista."

When I said recently that early Windows 7 reviews based on handpicked bribes, ah high-end laptops, to reviewers and bloggers could only give results that were not a lot different from those of a rigged demo I was more right than I knew. Randall Kennedy put the Windows 7 engine on a real test-bench and discovered that, at the kernel level, "When viewed side by side in Performance Monitor, Vista and Windows 7 were virtually indistinguishable."

In case you haven't used Vista, that means you can expect Windows 7 performance to be lousy. Kennedy ran the same application performance tests comparing XP and Vista and found that Vista ran 40% slower than XP. I've said it before, I'll say it again, if you must run Windows, run XP SP3.

Application tests underlined Windows 7's more than skin-deep resemblance to Vista. Kennedy found, "In a nutshell, Windows 7 M3 is a virtual twin of Vista when it comes to performance." There are also peas in a pod when it comes to being resource hogs. Microsoft can talk about how Windows 7 will work great on netbooks and some people can claim that Windows 7 will run desktop Linux off netbooks, but Windows 7 is no more suitable than Vista is for a netbook.

I can't say that I've looked at Windows 7 nearly as closely as Kennedy has, but I've looked at Windows 7 enough to know that it's no real improvement on Vista. Ironically, the best things I can find to say about Windows 7 are the ones that make it look more like XP. UAC (User Access Control) is being loosened up, so you'll no longer have to give explicit permission every time you want to swipe your PC's nose. And, the user interface, while based on Vista Aero, locates commands in a way that has more in common with XP than it does with Vista.

What's really going on here is Microsoft's same old, same old. Microsoft is trying to pull the wool over our eyes by making Windows 7 look great in staged events and by bribing reviewers with expensive laptops. They're also trying to freeze everyone's purchase plans by making Windows 7 sound like the next great thing, so why would you want to consider say Ubuntu 8.10 or a new Mac?

The answer is that if you're sick and tired of being jerked around by Microsoft, and after Vista I would hope some of you would be, now is the perfect time to considering move to Linux or the Mac. Of course, you can keep hoping that Windows 7 will be the next great thing, but, based on what those of us who are taking a real look at what's coming, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

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What People Are Saying

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Mac Os SnowMonkey = windows

Submitted by Bill Gates on February 5, 2010 - 6:32 P.M.

Mac Os SnowMonkey = windows 3.1

Come join us in the real computer world

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Hate it, hate it hate it. I

Submitted by Anonymous on February 1, 2010 - 5:15 A.M.

Hate it, hate it hate it.

I have bought a Mac and Snow Leopard is so much more than Windows will ever be. I had to put a version of Windows & on a partition but HATE to go across to it. Complicated crap.

Total crap!!!!!

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I have Windows 7 loaded on

Submitted by Ridelights on January 28, 2010 - 5:18 P.M.

I have Windows 7 loaded on several PC's and the performance is outstanding. I even have it loaded on an old Pentium 4 PC and it runs circles around the same PC with XP Pro.

I can't say enough good things about this OS.

Although Microsoft really doesn't have any competition to speak of, it should regain nearly all of its lost market share with this product.

Nice job.

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The big lie

Submitted by Shane on January 21, 2010 - 2:40 P.M.

I agree with your findings entirely, over xp the eye candy is appealing but the application for reorganizing files is badly implemented just like a Mac it always tried to do it different to what I am used to... I can work way faster in xp than EVER I could in the current version of 7.
Linux next, I think!

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Windows 7 is a piece of crap

Submitted by nikschmenga on January 31, 2010 - 3:46 A.M.

I just bought a new laptop with windows 7 and it's been an absolute nightmare; microsoft should be ashamed to foist such garbage onto their long suffering customers.

W7 worked on the first day, but after the first reboot IE8 would not open and every other program opened had to be forced to close with the Task Manager which then also stopped responding, making a sound every time I clicked on it but doing nothing, tried to run system restore, and of course, nothing happened.

After shutting down, booted on safe mode and restored the system, which got it working again, but after windows installed some updates, on reboot, a message "preparing to configure windows, don't shut down your computer" appeared sitting there forever. After some research I found the patch to solve the "preparing... windows" but windows is still stuck with opening IE and programs not responding, which Restore only fixes temporarily, since going back to a previous configuration just leads it to the same problem over and over again.

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Do you know why Steve Balmer

Submitted by Anonymous on January 22, 2010 - 4:18 P.M.

Do you know why Steve Balmer is still running Microsoft? How does a company with so many resources and so much talent never seem to get anything right? It's as though Microsoft tries to fail. I am very confused.

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win 7 slow peace of crap

Submitted by PC guru on January 15, 2010 - 6:09 A.M.

windows 7 is Ok i guess but i cant say they have done anything special. i have top noch intel based motherboard win7 compatible and it crashed once already. drivers work but even with newer model ati graphics card cant do some things i can on xp. and fresh install was 13GB or so compared to winXP 2gb. i have it running on 2 solid state HDD runing raid0 and its still taking a while to load. i dont like it one bit. its still slow and crap in my opinion wouldnt even get it for directX11. not worth it. tryed to teather my phone keeps cuting out but not with XP. again win 7 is total shit just another moneymaker for microsoft making you an even bigger looser if you buy it. hell, even if you download it you still loose cause its crap!!!

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These are just operating systems

Submitted by Anonymous on December 22, 2009 - 10:26 P.M.

Keep in mind these are just operating systems.

I've read many reviews of XP vs Vista vs W7 and the basic theme is similar in all.

XP - Stable, good drivers, fair speed, and tons of mature compatable software. This is why big business is sticking with it.

Vista - Bloated, crashes a lot, slow, poor driver support, some mainstream software has issues.

W7 - Vista the way it should have been released, good speed, not too bloated, but drivers? compatabilty? stability?

Again these are operating systems and are supposed to make your computer a good place to store and retrieve files, run software, and play a few games. If the operating system gets in the way, makes your system run slow, crash, unable to adequately run your hardware. Then is this really such a great thing?

Microsoft has lost sight (as if they ever had it) of the end user and gone with the attitude, You'll use what we give you and drop support for the stuff that works, and you'll like it.

I've been a Microsoft certified professional for many years and never seen such a poor opsys as Vista and friends. As long as people use Microsoft software I'll never be unemplyed.

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windows 7

Submitted by manny on December 15, 2009 - 6:55 A.M.

I have to disagree with the comment of the person writing bad about windows 7,my first and second vista really drove me crazy one was a desk top and the other was a lap top I am not a computer nerd but I am pretty good ,but let me tell you I bought me a windows 7 2.50 processor and 6GB like 2 month ago I havent had one single issue with it once the desktop appears is ready to go, I bought my girl a laptop
windows 7, 3 weeks ago and the same not one single trouble I also got her a good processor 2.50 thats pretty good for a lap top now when she comes home for christmas i will take her to a computer store and put 6 to 8 GB on her she only has 4 I do recommend it dont know much about apple but this windows 7 so far is great.

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Christian Symbology?

Submitted by Anonymous on November 25, 2009 - 2:58 P.M.

I'm curious about the Christian symbolism that appears on the logon screen of Windows 7. I've a computer that has separate logins for each of my family members, and to the right side of the login screen, although stylized, the clear images of a dove and an olive branch appear, both symbols of Christianity. Has Microsoft taken upon itself the role of converting the world to Christianity?

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