I am so pleased with Microsoft Windows 7 that I sometimes find myself wondering why more people aren't talking about it. I guess that's probably because Vista helped to pave the way directly to Apple for many customers.....but the difference between Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7 is so extreme that Microsoft should have dumped the "Windows" brand and created something fresh.
There is basically no comparison between Vista and anything Windows 7.
First let's start with my upgrade. As I wrote a few days ago I updated my HP Blackbird 002 with VoodooDNA to the latest specs. I then proceeded to blow everything away. (by the way, I would do this on any new system...blow the factory software away and start again...)
1) I started from scratch and installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 Ultimate
2) I installed the latest drivers for everything, including my video card (I settled on an Nvidia Geforce GTX480).
3) I installed Microsoft Security Essentials, a free but very powerful and very light-weight anti-virus program. Prompted by some people in the Palm community I decided to re-test the performance of this compared to other anti virus packages. It's pretty clear that this is the lightest and most efficient security package available (and did I mention it's free!).
4) I then installed the latest Microsoft Windows Live Essentials Beta which I highly recommend to everyone. Here a couple of reasons why you need to get Microsoft Windows Live Essentials as soon as possible.
Messenger
The new Microsoft Messenger is a must have for those of you who still use an MSN instant messenger account. It's more than just an instant messenger, it's a central place for all your social tools. It brings Facebook Chat (and actually makes it usable) and updates into one place and combines it with a newspaper tabloid style social management tool. Hotmail was also recently updated with much better spam management, and general features are improved.
Movie Maker
For years I was jealous of iLife and iMovie. It's nice to see Microsoft finally figured it out with Movie Maker. This software is arguably one of the best free software packages available today. It's easy to put together clips, edit them, and turn them into fantastic movies using Movie Maker. This is the kind of software your mom could pick up fairly quickly.
Sync
Forget backing up your data on USB drives. With Sync you can setup multiple PCs to sync data to a cloud storage drive. Sync makes it very easy to copy photos, video, music, and all your documents to secure folders online.
Family Security, Live Writer, Live Photo Gallery, etc...
There are a few other packages included with Microsoft Live Essentials Beta including a family security package which I installed on all of our home PCs. It basically helps keeps the kids out of places they should not see on the internet.
I just thought I'd say it - go download Live Essentials Beta and experience what you've been missing.
