Windows 7 First Impression

I have been testing Windows 7 for two days now on the only computer I could spare. It's an aging AMD Athlon 64 3200+ running at 2.01GHz (that's a single-core CPU for the young folks here) with 2GB RAM. Internet Explorer 8 is all I've used, and things seem to be much better than Vista's first days. It hasn't broken yet, and I like some of the new visual features - one of which I've been waiting on since Windows 2000.

The system is not slow. At idle, it's only using about 43% of the RAM. Things really do work. I'm blogging this from the beta system now.

The biggest UI change that Windows 7 brings is the behavior of the taskbar. The quick launch is gone, folks. For the three people on Earth who have studied my desktop, the quick launch toolbar is a staple for me.

I think that's one reason I got to liking my MacBook so much - I put every program I use in the Dock.

So when I gained the experience of the Windows 7 taskbar, I couldn't help but feel that I was between the two.

By default, programs aren't there if they're not open, with the exception of the left three (IE8, Explorer, and Windows Media Player). One can, however, leave a program icon in the taskbar by right-clicking it and choosing "Pin this program to taskbar" from the context menu. This is not at all unlike the same dialog in OS X that says "Keep in Dock."

But that's not what I was waiting on. I knew they could fix my one pet peeve, and they finally did. I use a lot of USB-interface storage devices, and I tend to use them simultaneously. I also use good computing practices when I want to disconnect the drive. However, the only piece of information provided to me when I want to release a drive is the drive letter. To figure out which one it is, I have to go to Computer and look. Only then will I know for sure which drive to release. Windows 7 actually puts the drive label in the release menu, so I don't have to change my train of thought or spend two extra clicks. For that I am proud of Microsoft's development team for listening and making sense of something.

So far, I am pleased with Windows 7, but haven't had the opportunity to really put it to use. I have had Windows Media Player playing a solo piano channel from Lucky 7 Radio for nearly the entire uptime of the system and have crunched some movies, but I haven't done any programming, YouTube watching, schoolwork, or much else on it. I will try to use it as if it were my only computer for as long as I can and will tell you all about it if something goes wrong. If I don't write, just assume that everything is okay with Windows 7 and go ahead and dive in when they release it. The only thing that people won't like is the once-again drastic UX change. Maybe more on that later.