Windows 7
Windows 7 is here. So what do I think? I think this is a very good operating system and it is the one I prefer to sell now. First off, it is Vista done right. It has most of the advantages of Vista while minimizing the disadvantages. It had 8 million beta testers and is really ready to run and run a business on.
In general I don't believe in upgrading your operating system, so unless you have an overriding reason to do so, wait until you buy a new computer.
There are 3 main consumer versions: Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate. Some Netbooks will come with Starter, but that isn't expected to sell retail. Enterprise is available for larger corporate purchases only. Each of the three consumer versions are available in both 32 and 64 bit versions. In general, you should check out your specialty software to make sure it will work. Be careful of external devices like printers, scanners, digital cameras etc. The Professional and Ultimate versions have a virtual XP mode that will handle most compatibility issues, but at a steep memory price.
Best version comparison I've seen it from Winsupersite.com.
Windows7 is a little faster than Vista, but much slower than XP. Lots of people think it is as fast or faster than XP, because they took their 3 or 4 year old XP which had slowly accumulated sludge and upgraded to Windows 7 which wipes everything out and starts clean. The clean Windows installs always run much faster than old installs. Windows 7 handles multiple core CPUs much better than its predecessors.
In general this should be a more stable and more finished Windows. The people who have been using it for the last few months are overwhelmingly happy with it.
Unless you are forced by compatibility issues to get the 32 bit version, I recommend the 64 bit version. The world is moving to 64 bit.
Date: November 2009