I’ve never had luck in winning anything of substance or monetary value. I’ve never won that candy bar wrapper prize, never found the golden ticket in the Wonka Bar, and I never can seem to collect the right Monopoly game pieces from that golden arch place. Outside of a free 20 oz Coke, something I don’t win anymore because I can hardly convince myself to drop $1.50 on a 20 oz since the 2 liter next to it is $1.75, I don’t win anything or get selected for anything….until now.
Two months ago I was selected as Radiology Associate of the Month with my nice cheesy photo plastered on the wall in a $5 plaque to be displayed for basically ever. That’s never happened before and to be quite honest with you, I felt smitten. I may not wear more than the minimal pieces of flair, but I’d like to think I’ve always made a positive difference in those that work with me and have worked for me. But for some reason, my name was not drawn out of the “employee of the month” hat until now. But wait, that’s not all.
A handful of months ago, I received an email from Microsoft inviting me to sign up to host a Windows 7 launch party sometime on or after October 22, 2009 – the official launch date of Windows 7. I have been a beta tester for quite some time along with millions of others. As much of a shocker that this may seem to the common folk, it wasn’t the party that caught my attention, but instead, it was the chance to win a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate edition. Eff-Are-Ee-Ee that spells free, $320 Windows 7 baby. Wow, what a tremendous opportunity for a guy that hasn’t won anything or get selected for anything worth talking about. I had already ordered a Windows 7 Professional Upgrade edition for $99 based off a previous Windows offer email.
Anyway, longer story somewhat shortened, I get notified that I have been selected to host a launch party and am asked to start planning. Although just over 15,000 people worldwide were selected, hundreds of thousands of others were not. So from this point, I wont bore you with my Windows 7 Party Site URL or about the party that I’m throwing in two days (October 24, 2009) *wink *wink. I mean really, who wouldn’t want to go over to a buddy’s house for an OS party?? It’s BYOC (bring your own computer).
About two weeks ago, I received my Quantum UPS notification from Windows about my ‘Windows 7 Party Pack’ status. Two days later, like a beacon illuminated from the dark sky, it arrived at my doorstep. The angelic, almost ghostly chants from nowhere accompanied it as the UPS truck drove away into the sky. Like Xmas morning, I rubbed my eyes and ran downstairs in a rush to see what the delivery gods had left for me. I opened the door and there it was, like magic waiting to happen, and there I was.
Okay, now for what really happened. I was sitting at work when the wife called and told me that my Windows 7 package had arrived. But that story would’ve been boring so excuse my poor attempt for a little embellishment. But with all that out of the way, it’s time to give you what you came here for. The packaging, the contents, and most importantly, the ease of install and performance.
The Packaging
The package arrived much like packaging of a larger electronic based device, in that, it was not packaged inside standard cardboard but instead, was in its own box with a UPS label. I found this somewhat of a surprise, although I’m not quite sure why. Perhaps cause it screams “Hey, I may have something of value inside me Mr. UPS part time employee. Feel free to pop my cherry and take my inner most valued secret.” However, fear not for once it made it to my door step, I knew it was safe. I live in one of “those” neighborhoods where you could leave a pot of gold on your doorstep and not worry about it.
The Contents
Some might call the entire Windows 7 launch party super geeky and total loser-esque. But I can say that Microsoft was more than generous with the contents of the ‘Party Pack’. I was quite surprised at the lengths Microsoft went on this one, and the gesture alone should be enough for people to try Windows 7 even if they did not intend on upgrading from XP or Vista.
Once I cracked open the lid, the contents were packed inside like sardines. Yes, I know, ‘sardines’ is about as generic as expected but nothing is probably more clear in describing something so tightly packed. Inside I found 10 Windows 7 tote bags (I gave all of them away to the women at work, my daughter, and my wife.). There was also Windows 7 branded napkins, a poster filled with Windows 7 wallpapers, a Windows 7 puzzle, some streamers, balloons, Windows 7 playing cards (wife immediately claimed it) and most importantly for me, a Windows 7 Ultimate Signature Edition with the printed signature of Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer. In fact, they sent a 32-bit and 64-bit version, but sorry, only one license.
The box also contained Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 coupons for a free 1 year license for launch party hosts and guests only, as well as discount coupons for Norton 2010, Nero, free Zune trials, and other special offer coupons to be handed out to each of the party guests. I found the Kaspersky a welcomed bonus since I already had 2009 on my Windows 7 RC build and planned on upgrading to 2010. Only Kaspersky 2010 works with the Windows 7 official build.
The Install and Performance
Although many have reported the installation as a plug and play application, I had some difficulty initially. One of my first complaints isn’t with the actual final release, but with the RC edition I already had. I felt a little deceived by Microsoft as I was testing the beta Windows 7 when I received an email offering me a discounted upgrade from the RC to the actual Pro edition for $99.
What I found when I tried to install the new Signature Edition, is that none of the RC’s are able to be upgraded. This means if you want to upgrade using a Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade disc, you must have Vista, XP, or an older OS of Windows. This was only a minor annoyance as experts always suggest doing a fresh install anyway. I guess my question is “Why sell an upgrade if it’s best to do a fresh install?”
Anyway, like I previously stated, it was just a minor annoyance. The big problem I had, that I couldn’t initially figure out without hitting the web forums, was that the installation kept running into errors when picking one of my five hard drives to install the OS on. I even wiped out a few of them and reformatted them over and over using the built in Windows 7 tool as well as a third party program I keep handy. I started getting very frustrated because installing the beta versions including the RC version was easy. I came across several suggestions on the internet and tried most of them, at least the ones that made sense. Fortunately for me, we have three computers in the house and my iPhone if I need to look up information on the internet that badly in troubleshooting an operationally inept system.
Here’s what ended up working for me. I disconnected all my hard drives except for the one I wanted to install Windows 7 on. After that, it installed flawlessly. Total installation time after my huge hurdle was less than 15 minutes. Compare that to 45 minutes for Windows XP. Once installation was complete, I reconnected my hard drives and fired the system up.
Some small annoyances
For most laptops and some desktop systems, Windows 7 conflicts with your CD/DVD ROM drive. What you will see, is what you will no longer see. Your CD Drive disappears and you have to jump through hoops and edit your system registry to make it come back. I am hoping Microsoft releases a hotfix for this soon, and there is no reason to believe they won’t. Vista apparently did the same thing and there was a fix for it. Which kind of begs the question of “If it happened with some Vista systems, why not ensure it didn’t happen with Windows 7?” You may also find missing hard drives. This is something you will have to manually configure in control panel à administrative tools à etc….
Another small annoyance is setting up your Homegroup in Windows 7. Your Homegroup allows you to share printers, photos, music, and anything else you want shared on your own private network (for those that have more than one computer in the house). What I found is that Homegroup does not cooperate between a FINAL version of Windows 7 and the RC version. I had previously installed Windows 7 on my wife’s laptop a few weeks prior because I get a copy free from my school as a technology field major. I’m not bragging though. And just in case you are keeping track, I did call Microsoft and cancel the $99 upgrade because I get a copy from school and the free Ultimate Edition from Microsoft anyway.
Some cool things
If you are a desktop widget person, Windows 7 has just as many if not more than Vista. The entire wallpaper/desktop properties interface is greatly improved over previous Windows versions and you can even use a folder of images for your wallpaper. I have my Texas Longhorns images shuffling every 10 seconds, how cool is that? It works like a screensaver, except you can do whatever you want while it’s shuffling through images.
Another really cool and useful function is Windows 7 allows you to do a split screen between open applications. If you drag your browser window to the edge of the screen, it automatically resizes it to take up only half your screen. This is great for doing homework or just two things at once. You can have Word open on the left, and Firefox open on the right, all without having to manually resize either of them.
If you really enjoyed the Vista docking program or others such as Stardock, they are not utilized in Windows 7 and you will find no need for them really.
Final Verdict
Windows 7 has worked really well for me and is a huge improvement over my wife’s old Vista and the other XP systems in the house. The only driver issues I ran into were with the beta versions but none so far with the official released version of Windows 7. The interface is much more user friendly, and the OS itself comes with all sorts of nice little features including a well overdue upgrade to the basic MS Paint program and other programs you can download from Microsoft like the Windows Live Photo Viewer; a program that lets you tag photos and be better organized. As a gamer, I have had zero issues with Windows 7 and I doubt I will ever see the blue screen of death again.
In my opinion, Windows 7 was well worth the wait and every person I have spoken to that has used the beta version and or retail version has said nothing but good things. Even the hardcore Mac users out there that experiment with Windows have raved. If you can buckle down and buy a copy of Windows 7, be in retail or MSDN discount, then do it. My only experience has been with Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate, so I can’t give you anything on the Home versions.
By Jhae Pfenning // Tuned Perception Guest Blogger
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