The other day, I got a new computer at work (dual core Intel 2.6GHz, 8GB RAM, 80GB HDD) to replace my aging XP box (single core 2.6GHz, 768MB RAM, 40GB HDD). I really didn't want a new box to be honest, this one ran everything I did perfectly fine. If anything, give me a new box with the latest and greatest hardware, just put XP on it (too bad new hardware drivers are becoming rare for XP)! But, I noticed the old box was slowing down and when I checked into it, many caps on the mobo were puffed and some even started leaking electrolyte. Certainly not good for stability.
So anyway, back to Windows 7 topic. Let me start off by saying that I
don't like it! "Hate" is a strong word, but it's pretty darn close. Here is my take:
I like Windows 7, I skipped Vista for obvious reasons of intrusiveness and being resource heavy.
This OS is great for grandma/grandpa, Mac users (
), and anyone else who has no freaking idea how computers work, and nor do they care. They
need something that prevents them from accidentally messing things up. And they don't
care where their documents, pictures, etc are as long as Windows can serve them up wherever they might have been stuffed. Personally, this encourages disorganization since Windows takes care of that for you. Me, I like knowing exactly where things are and the nuts and bolts of how things work.
I don't understand this point 
, as you can just as easy organize all your files and folders just as easy in W7 as XP, it just has the added benefit or file indexing search feature.
Like Vista, it's needlessly "pretty". I don't want a bubble-gum interface with semi-transparent windows. All that means is more CPU and memory resources are being used for the base OS. Sure, you can get the shell to look like the old classic style, but it really does nothing for increasing performance.
You can turn off Aero and make it 'Windows Basic', however I don't notice a difference either actually but I am also running an OC'ed e8400(3ghz) at 4.2ghz, along with a good graphics accelerator. I have found though, that it runs faster than XP and is easily adaptable to different systems, as far as power is concerned.
No "up-directory" button in windows explorer. OK, that doesn't seem like a big deal to many, but I
really miss it! So, I either use a keyboard shortcut to do it, or use the left navigation pane to click where I want. Easy enough I guess, but the "up directory" button was easier and more intuitive IMO.
I too miss this. But I have just started using my mouse 'back' button.
The Start Menu. Hmmm, I guess it's tolerable now that I have my common programs pinned to the main menu. Being able to type programs into the search bar works, but I feel it's too simplistic.
I too don't like this, why not just have the classic setup like XP, I would be happier with that. Sometimes I really don't like the bottom task bar.
Many dialog boxes are much more "wordy". A perfect example is the dialog box you get when copy a file to a location where a file with the same name exists. WinXP is simple and to the point, Win7 explains things more for the less-than-knowledgable user.
Come on Brian, I have three words for the explanation for this: 'DUMB AND DUMBER'
The Start Menu and Explorer can be returned to the XP format via a plug-in called ClassicShell, but it's just one more program running eating resources for nothing.
Does it take resources? I am not sure on that one.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind "change"; I
gladly welcomed XP after dealing with Win98! But to me, an Operating System should be just that: software that operates the system. Period. And 99% of the resources from all the fast hardware I get should go to applications. The OS taking ~1.1GB of RAM to run for around 40 base processes is ludicrous, not matter how cheap memory gets.
You have a 'brand name' PC (I assume), which has more resource hungry apps and useless garbage than a custom built PC does, my PC for instance takes 22% of 4GB, my install is about 1.5 months old now. Still runs great
But it's not all bad I guess. It does boot faster than similarly equipped (hardware-wise) systems I've seen, and does not have nearly the amount of annoying "Are you sure you want to do this?" messages.