Windows 7 - why pay for a bug fix?
aturner | January 18, 2009
Microsoft admits that Windows 7 is little more than Vista with the bugs ironed out, so why on earth should Vista users be expected to pay for it?
I say anyone who paid for Vista should get a free upgrade to Window 7, not to mention a personal apology from Ballmer and his cronies over at Microsoft. The fact that Windows 7 has been fast-tracked just proves that Vista is one of those mistakes that Redmond would rather forget, just like the woeful Windows ME.
Vista was the best thing that ever happened to Mac OS and Linux, giving frustrated Windows users the excuse they were looking for to break away from Microsoft. Last year saw me ditch Windows XP for Leopard and ditch Windows Mobile for an iPhone. Both Apple solutions had their teething problems, but nothing compared to the frustrations of many Vista users. I know plenty of other people who've abandoned Windows in the last 12 months, and plenty more who are thinking about it.
At least Windows XP was relatively stable, after seven years and two Service Packs, so why would I want to go back to being an unofficial beta-tester by upgrading to Vista? It was time to get off the Microsoft merry-go-round. Whether it's Vista, Internet Explorer or Windows Mobile, Microsoft is always promising that the next version will fix all the bugs and deliver an amazing new user experience - just cough up some more money and everything will be fine. Now Microsoft has the gall to expect people to pay for just the bug fixes.
Early reports are that Windows 7 beta is looking like everything Vista should have been. I've taken it for a spin and so far I don't mind what I've seen.
The login screen, windows, start menu and Aero user interface all have a Vista-esque feel, and I'd say it's certainly the version of Windows that looks most like its predecessor. The fact that the boot screen describes it Windows 7 Ultimate is an ominous sign that Microsoft intends to inflict multiple versions on us, Vista-style.
So far the biggest change to the user experience in this beta is the revamp of the taskbar. It's slightly taller and uses larger icons, with the "Show Desktop" feature integrated into the far right of the taskbar. Hovering over this makes the windows transparent so you can preview the desktop. The quick launch and open window sections have been combined, which is a little confusing at first but has the potential to be useful. You can now "pin" things onto the taskbar or the start menu, including folder and files.
Taskbar icons are still grouped, but when multiple windows are grouped under the one icon the icon looks like a stack. The pop-up list of windows now lets you kill a window. There's also still Vista-like thumbnails, but you can now click on them to switch to that window or look at the different tabs in applications such as Internet Explorer. You can right-click on icons in the task bar to call up "jump lists" - contextual menus listing items such as recently opened documents. You can also pin items to these jump lists.
There are lots of other handy little touches - but none that justify paying for a new OS. I really like that fact that you can drag a window to the top of the desktop and it will automatically maximise to take up the entire desktop. If you drag it to the left or right, it automatically expands to take up that half of the screen, making it easy to tile windows side-by-side. If you hold and drag the top of a maximised window, it automatically reduces to it's former size, so you can drag it around the desktop.
This is by no means a full review, just my initial observation of Windows 7. So far, so good. Does this doesn't mean I'm going to run back to the Windows camp? Not bloody likely. Who is to say that the final release of Windows 7 will be any good? Even if it is, who's to say Windows 8 won't be another dog like Vista?
What's really interesting is that the next version of Apple's Mac OS, code-named 10.6 Snow Leopard, is expected to be released this year and is also more focused on stability than new features. Considering Mac OS 10.5 Leopard is already very reliable, it's hard to see how Apple is going to encourage people to cough up the money to upgrade. Whether it's Windows or Mac, why should I ditch an OS that works just because a vendor feels like releasing something new? At least it looks like Vista users shouldn't need to upgrade to hardware or replace peripherals to switch to Windows 7. I guess Microsoft knows even the Windows faithful have their limits after the Vista debacle.
The moral of the story: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, you shouldn't need to pay them to fix it.
http://digihub.smh.com.au/node/232
aturner | January 18, 2009
Microsoft admits that Windows 7 is little more than Vista with the bugs ironed out, so why on earth should Vista users be expected to pay for it?
I say anyone who paid for Vista should get a free upgrade to Window 7, not to mention a personal apology from Ballmer and his cronies over at Microsoft. The fact that Windows 7 has been fast-tracked just proves that Vista is one of those mistakes that Redmond would rather forget, just like the woeful Windows ME.
Vista was the best thing that ever happened to Mac OS and Linux, giving frustrated Windows users the excuse they were looking for to break away from Microsoft. Last year saw me ditch Windows XP for Leopard and ditch Windows Mobile for an iPhone. Both Apple solutions had their teething problems, but nothing compared to the frustrations of many Vista users. I know plenty of other people who've abandoned Windows in the last 12 months, and plenty more who are thinking about it.
At least Windows XP was relatively stable, after seven years and two Service Packs, so why would I want to go back to being an unofficial beta-tester by upgrading to Vista? It was time to get off the Microsoft merry-go-round. Whether it's Vista, Internet Explorer or Windows Mobile, Microsoft is always promising that the next version will fix all the bugs and deliver an amazing new user experience - just cough up some more money and everything will be fine. Now Microsoft has the gall to expect people to pay for just the bug fixes.
Early reports are that Windows 7 beta is looking like everything Vista should have been. I've taken it for a spin and so far I don't mind what I've seen.
The login screen, windows, start menu and Aero user interface all have a Vista-esque feel, and I'd say it's certainly the version of Windows that looks most like its predecessor. The fact that the boot screen describes it Windows 7 Ultimate is an ominous sign that Microsoft intends to inflict multiple versions on us, Vista-style.
So far the biggest change to the user experience in this beta is the revamp of the taskbar. It's slightly taller and uses larger icons, with the "Show Desktop" feature integrated into the far right of the taskbar. Hovering over this makes the windows transparent so you can preview the desktop. The quick launch and open window sections have been combined, which is a little confusing at first but has the potential to be useful. You can now "pin" things onto the taskbar or the start menu, including folder and files.
Taskbar icons are still grouped, but when multiple windows are grouped under the one icon the icon looks like a stack. The pop-up list of windows now lets you kill a window. There's also still Vista-like thumbnails, but you can now click on them to switch to that window or look at the different tabs in applications such as Internet Explorer. You can right-click on icons in the task bar to call up "jump lists" - contextual menus listing items such as recently opened documents. You can also pin items to these jump lists.
There are lots of other handy little touches - but none that justify paying for a new OS. I really like that fact that you can drag a window to the top of the desktop and it will automatically maximise to take up the entire desktop. If you drag it to the left or right, it automatically expands to take up that half of the screen, making it easy to tile windows side-by-side. If you hold and drag the top of a maximised window, it automatically reduces to it's former size, so you can drag it around the desktop.
This is by no means a full review, just my initial observation of Windows 7. So far, so good. Does this doesn't mean I'm going to run back to the Windows camp? Not bloody likely. Who is to say that the final release of Windows 7 will be any good? Even if it is, who's to say Windows 8 won't be another dog like Vista?
What's really interesting is that the next version of Apple's Mac OS, code-named 10.6 Snow Leopard, is expected to be released this year and is also more focused on stability than new features. Considering Mac OS 10.5 Leopard is already very reliable, it's hard to see how Apple is going to encourage people to cough up the money to upgrade. Whether it's Windows or Mac, why should I ditch an OS that works just because a vendor feels like releasing something new? At least it looks like Vista users shouldn't need to upgrade to hardware or replace peripherals to switch to Windows 7. I guess Microsoft knows even the Windows faithful have their limits after the Vista debacle.
The moral of the story: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, you shouldn't need to pay them to fix it.
http://digihub.smh.com.au/node/232