With the release candidate now out and Windows 7 launching before the end of the year, I thought I’d summarise why I think it’s worth upgrading your PC, give details on some features that should not have been pulled and talk about where there are still problems.  This is by no means a definitive list of features, just the ones that stand out to me the most.

The good

There’s an awful lot to like about Windows 7, most of which is in the speed of it.  I’ve had a system that installs in twenty minutes to a working desktop with all the drivers in place.  It can shut down in as little as three seconds, and that’s not standby, it’s a full shut down.  Installing additional drivers takes a fraction of the time it used to and the overall feel is significantly faster than Vista.  It even gives Windows XP a run for its money!

Windows 7 is more user customisable than ever, which can only be a good thing.  Most users never customised XP, but there was very little you could do other than change the theme to silver or an awfully yukky green.  Vista was even worse in this respect, who wants pink thansleucent windows?  Finally there are some good customisation options, let’s see what use people make of them.

Libraries are a fantastic way to organise your files and folders.  I have created one for my photographs in which I’m able to view stacked thumbnails of photos sorted and arranged by their subject, regardless of what folder they’re in (see below).

Unfortunately this  feature still won’t allow you to select, for instance, only certain types of files (PDF etc.) to be visible in libraries.  Also, the time required to tag all of your photos with metadata can be considerable.  Microsoft need to release, and still can seperately from Windows 7, a tool that makes this easy.  This could be done because Microsoft is famous for making complex jobs simple through using wizards.

There’s far better integration with devices, MP3 players and phones etc., now and with device stage, a good opportunity for manufacturers to deliver better product support simply, seamlessly and right to your desktop.  There’s also improved connectivity with other devices around your home including media streamers and players and the Xbox 360 and I’m sure more will be added.  Homegroup, a useful feature that allows you to share files and folders between PCs will come in very handy for a lot of households.

Aero snap, the new feature that allows you to quickly and easily see two windows side-by-side, is enormously useful, especially for moving files between folders and drives.  It’s one of those features that makes you wonder why nobody thought about it before.

The accessibility options for Windows have also been vastly improved, which is good news for everyone who will need them.  There’s still some work to be done to overcome some technical problems which will make them even better, but I’ve been told directly by a Microsoft vice-president that it’s something they’re working on.

Security is also much better and, now the bugs have been sorted out form the beta, user account control (UAC) is considerably less annoying than it was in Vista.  You’ll really like it this time.  I believe that Windows 7 is as safe and protected now as you need an operating system to be.

The bad

I’ve talked about the new taskbar at some length in the past, and it’s still not good enough.  Opening multiple instances of programs is fiddly, and most users will have no idea how to do it.  Also it still lacks a “never combine, hide labels” option, to give you multiple icons without the excessive text that would normally go alongside them.

The fact that it’s been slimmed down, with more programs now downloable rather than being part of the OS is also a blessing.  However there’s still much more to be done.  We don’t need DVD maker and the average user will never need features such as powershell.  While I understand the in-place upgrade options that allow you to change to a better edition of Windows 7 simply by entering a new product key, most people will never do this.  Do we really need these unused, and in some cases, uninstalled features taking up space on our hard drives?

There are some niggles about windows explorer still.  Why do we still need to be looking at drive letters, and Microsoft need to change the default view of files as lots of files of mixed types sorted alphabetically is simply messy.

The missing

When Vista was in beta there was one feature that everybody was talking about, WinFS, a new relational database-backed file system that would make indexing and searching of files and folders significantly faster.  Unfortunately, it was pulled from the final product.  Windows 7 is no different with having potentially invaluable features pulled.

One such feature, PC Safeguard, would have been a blessing for every parent, library and internet cafe everywhere, it was that good.  This feature enabled you to set up a user account that would wipe all changed settings and files from any protected drive or partition, for instance the one on which Windows was installed, when the user logged off or shut the machine down.  This essentially reset Windows to an earlier time, minimising any damage that could be done and  greatly reducing the need to fix any problems with the operating system.

Virtualisation options are coming along but there’s still need for more work.  The boot from VHD (Virtual Hard Drive) option still needs support for legacy versions of Windows like XP.  The new XP mode, essentially a bolt-on Virtual machine, is a good step towards this, but it’s still got somewhere to go to become truly a killer-app.

Also where are the improvements to Windows Media Centre we were expecting two years ago?  It’s still a half-way house between the Vista and XP versions and the new start-up sound is awful.  It’s like Microsoft commissioned three different themes and decided to use them all.

The verdict

I’ve been resisting giving an actual verdict for Windows 7 until I saw the release candidate.  I can safely now give this OS a score of 95%.  Sure there are things that I don’t like, things that I absolutely hate and things that should never have been removed.  Generally though it is a mammoth leap over Vista and makes XP look like the software you’d use to drive a pocket calculator.

Windows 7 is the first version of Windows that I would ever recommend people go out and buy even if they’re NOT getting it with a new PC.