Windows 7

I've been very impressed with the new Windows 7. They've finally cracked the taskbar and window navigation - they've done such a good job it's worth the upgrade just for that. "Date Modified" is now back in all explorer windows. The accessories (Calc, Paint Brush, etc.) have received their first makeover in 10 years. There's a really great builtin utility for screen capturing. And the whole product feels more slick and well put together.

It takes around 20 minutes to do a fresh install of Win 7. I used the 64 bit version except on my home machine where I need to use a Cisco VPN. Don't install the 64 bit version unless you're sure there are drivers for all the applications you need. Of course even with the 32 bit version you may find your printer's not supported.

With Win7 installed, I then needed to install Visual Studio 2005, VS2005 SP1, Visual Studio 2008 and VS2008 SP1. Each one takes around 22 minutes.



I mean, what on earth can it be doing? And how can the service packs take as long to install as the original products?

Anyway as far as Windows 7 is concerned, I strongly recommend it!