Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Windows is Back!


As a long time Windows user, I remember the early versions - Windows 3.1 was a real breakthrough not only for Microsoft, but also for the industry. It brought a visual interface within reach of ‘the masses’ and spurred on the software industry. Four years later another giant step forward was made with the multi-tasking and ultra stable Windows NT 3.51/4.

Since then the progress has been down right disappointing. Microsoft got side tracked into pointless products, trying to compete in every market space imaginable, and as a result its core products got neglected.

Windows XP was OK, Windows Vista was disappointing. Enter Windows 7…..

Windows 7 feels fast, stable, looks good, is functional. Windows 7 can confidently and proudly walk in the footsteps of its revolutionary ancestors, Windows 3.1 and NT. Windows 7 is far ahead of its competition in terms of looks, compatibility, and manageability. It runs on any half decent computer. I even installed it on a 6 year old notebook and it runs fine.

Microsoft critics might talk about ‘open source’ and free Linux, or the expensive and proprietary/closed Apple (in the sense of API's and control by Apple). No chance.

Windows 7 will re-establish Microsoft leadership as the consumer and desktop OS of the future. I wrote a post about the danger of Chrome OS for the future of Microsoft and calling them to action. I believe Windows 7 is a good response to the Google Chrome OS threat. Sure, Google Chrome might do well on Netbooks, but I don’t give it much chance in the corporate world, as well as with consumers who want more then a browser.

I like Windows 7. I’ve decided. I will be holding on to my Microsoft shares :-) !

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Nick! Thank you for a nice post. Windows 7 is a good system both for enduser and admins. But in reality we have a huge base of installed Windows XP machines (and lot of software on them!). My company supporting many users and we not see a way to move this large base on new system. Another problem - corporate standards. If some company was installed Win XP for 10 years, it will be problematic to start implementing Win 7 from some point. All corporate users must work in the same environment. Also, as admins, we have to learn a new system. The question - is all this efforts worth the advantages of Win 7...
Engineers says "if it works well - do not touch it" :-)

Nick Galea said...

Hi Igor! Definitely moving to Windows 7 will not be something companies will be doing right away, Windows 3.1 and 95 remained in corporations for many years after XP was released.

But in time they will move to Windows 7 and not another OS in my opinion....

Bruce G. Kreeger said...

Nick, awesome commentary as usual. I have personally been running W7 on an older PC at home since Beta. We have migrated my laptop (HP8730w) to W7 Ultimate and other than a few driver issues on older peripherals, it hums. We have no been using it in the office on three Acer Veriton machines with Intel Processors and maxed out ram. Again, a real winner. Our staff loves it and again only a few driver issues.
Lastly, but most importantly, we have several client 3CX PBX systems running on W7 and they run flawlessly. So I am confident to say that W7 is in my opinion the best operating system ever developed by Microsoft.

Nick Galea said...

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for your nice feedback - Yes i think Microsoft is on to a winner here!

And good to hear 3CX Phone System runs well on Windows 7 - for many customers the non server version of Windows will do just fine...

Wayne Hewitt said...

Moving to Windows 7 for XP users should not be an issue anymore (as it was for legacy XP applications incompatability with the Vista flop). You can run your old XP application in XP mode on Windows 7 or buy your Windows 7 within the next 18 months and downgrade to XP until you feel comfortable enough to move to Windows 7.

There is a catch with XP mode though, it's called hardware virtualization; the machine needs to support it... so better check this out first before planning to deploy Windows 7 running XP mode for your legacy CRM, EDI, ERP etc application.

See http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/windows-xp-mode for further reference.

As for the rest Windows 7 looks awesome; at least so far, so good.

Nick Galea said...

Hi Wayne,

You are right, XP app support is one of the great things in 7. I used it on some old apps that i still use and it worked great after running some compatibility wizard - and these were apps developed some 8-9 years ago. Microsoft did a good job there!

Diana and Mike Deerfield said...

Hi Nick - I've also been testing / running Win 7 - and I agree with your assessment, that the OS is finally enterprise grade again. However - my main concern is for upgraders. Microsoft still has not provided a seamless way to migrate Windows from one computer to another. Also the installed base of XP is huge, and there is no "in place" upgrade from XP to 7. Oddly enough - you can upgrade from Vista to 7 in place, however that universe is really small compared to XP users. Transferring data and re-installing all programs from original disks is not a manageable solution. Fix this - is my call to action to MS.

Nick Galea said...

Hi Mike - thanks for the view point - I agree in place upgrade would be nice. But i do think after a few years use of Windows a clean install is probably best. That said it is extra work for the user/admin. Overall though, its pretty good, a big step forwards for Windows and Microsoft...

Stefano said...

I like Windows 7 (and Vista Sp2 is not so bad...) but I think that XP Pro is still a good choice for professional use and maybe Microsoft could continue to sell it.

Nick Galea said...

Hi Stefano - Thanks for the comment - I think Microsoft wants to push the move to v7 and the easiest way to get that process underway is to stop selling XP/Vista :-)

Peter Briffett said...

Nick,
Interesting blog. Presumably you are waiting for MS to knock at your door to buy you out? Do you fear OCS becoming a fully fledged PBX this year will put pay to this dream? Either way, I hear your product is good so I guess the fight is on.....

Nick Galea said...

Hi Peter, thanks for your feedback.

No, not waiting for MS. They are too stingy :-) We have a head start over OCS and because we can focus on PBX and Voip, we can compete. Microsoft has bigger things to deal with and its unlikely that MIcrosoft will dominate the space. Have a significant share yes, but not be the dominant player. Look at MS ISa server, CRM - yes they have market share but plenty of other big players doing well because of their focus!

ZXT said...

I got 7 on my MSI Netbook and it runs perfectly all the time.

Philippine Outsourcing said...

Interesting post. Windows 7 is an Engineering master piece, it takes your computer to the ultimate level, and most computers can upgrade to it without upgrading hardware (first vista's problem).
Windows 7 is actually going to be faster than XP, because it has Direct2D design which is similar to the one that uses Linux. Using this feature, your computer doesn't have to worry that much for graphic issues on your destkop. The kernel on windows 7 was modified from the one on vista to be able to run more stable and better specially with multi-core computers. If you are in the case where you bought a laptop with dual core 2 like me but had XP, no problem! just buy windows 7 and BOOM your computer will run faster and smoother. - Jaime