I’ve written quite a bit about Windows 7 over the last 12 months. Some of it is practical how-to stuff, some review, some comment. I started trying to round it all up then realised there is too much, believe it or not what follows is not complete.
Why so much? The reason is the level of interest. Although Microsoft is the company we love to hate, many of us use its stuff day-in, day-out and want to track what it is up to.
Windows 7 early promise- Passes the Vista test October 28 2008 in The Register
Windows 7 may be less than a year away 29 October 2008 good prophecy on ITJOBLOG
Windows 7 preview, October 30 2008 in The Guardian. “this release promises to be one users will actually enjoy.”
Should you wait for Windows 7 before buying a new PC? 8 Jan 2009 “Yes, you should – even though the suggestion will dismay PC manufacturers and retailers who would prefer that you buy something now to help their sales.”
How good is Windows 7? I argue that, well, it is still Windows. On ITJOBLOG
First Windows 7 beta puts fresh face on Vista The Register 8 Jan 2009
Apple Dock vs Windows 7 taskbar 12 January 2009
Review of Beta 1 in The Guardian, 15 Jan 2009
New in Windows 7 RC- Windows XP Mode, Remote Media Streaming 25 April 2009
Windows 7’s XP Mode — Virtually worth the effort The Register 1 May 2009
Windows 7 XP Mode dialogs confuse virtual with real 4 May 2009
Windows 7- why you should keep User Account Control at the highest level 5 May 2009 still good advice
Review of RC1 in The Guardian 7 May 2009
One thing that is not better in Windows 7- Movie Maker 12 May 2009 Live Movie Maker is now much improved but some still miss the Vista one
EU responds to questions on Microsoft’s plans for Windows 7 25 June 2009 my dialog with the EU on browser bundling
Microsoft’s limited Windows 7 offer a lesson in how to annoy customers- 23 July 2009 bet there are folk wishing they’d snapped up Microsoft’s £49.99 offer back in July
Microsoft’s new EU Windows 7 proposal – will IE now be the default- 24 July 2009. We’ve not yet seen this for real.
Windows 7: the challenge for developers July 27 2009. On ITJOBLOG
No more Windows E – Europe will get full Windows 7 plus upgrade editions 1st August 2009 sighs of relief all round
In-place upgrade adventures with Windows 7 8 August 2009 – the in-place upgrades worked so well I’ve left them alone since
Windows 7 tip- use Group by to merge and manage library views 10 August 2009, could be helpful for those puzzling over this strange UI
It got boring saying nice things all the time so
Hands on Windows 7 multi-touch – will Apple get this right before Microsoft- August 17 2009
Getting picky about the Windows 7 Taskbar – real-world flaws- 21 Aug 2009. Ed Bott disagreed!
Windows 7- Microsoft’s three missed opportunities The Register 25 Aug 2009
Hope for old PCs with Windows 7 26 Aug 2009 about surprisingly good results on old PCs
and the inevitable Windows 7 vs Mac comparison
Windows 7 vs Snow Leopard – The Poison taste test The Register 2nd September – the fun bit about this one is in the comments
Windows 95 to Windows 7- How Microsoft lost its vision The Register 22 October – I argue that Microsoft has gotten conservative with Windows, some of the comments misunderstand but at least it sparked a discussion
A Year with Windows 7 – my launch day piece. Today. Although I’ve cooled towards some ideas, like the hiding of notification icons, my overall feeling about the OS hasn’t changed radically over the year. I’m not sure if that is good or bad, but at least it is consistent.