Finally, an OS to celebrate?

I'm now using Windows 7 RC after trying many of the previous builds for many months. Now that something almost resembling the final product is in our hands it seems pretty safe to comment on what we can expect.

The most striking improvement has to be performance, as it is noticeably faster than a fully patched Vista machine in every aspect. I don't know how they have achieved this considering much of the core code is the same, but it feels like my computer has had a hardware upgrade. Boot times and responsiveness are fantastic.

Interface improvements are fairly major and will be one of the things that attract people to the new OS. I'm not fully convinced by the superbar, but I expect MS know what they are doing so I'm going along with it for now.

It seems like they have listened to users for the first time in a while and delivered a truly excellent operating system. Lighter, faster and more customisable. Vista had its flaws, but Windows 7 is an excellent improvement in the Windows series.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things that can be improved upon and I'm no fanboy, but MS seem to have worked hard behind the scenes to get everything done properly. Backwards compatibility with XP is much improved over Vista, which you wouldn't normally expect!

Good work Microsoft, I look forward to seeing the final product.

hey i noticed you said your using the RC version how did you get it. Are you a member of those specific sites, torrent website. I was under the impression the general piblic couldnt get it till the 5th of may?
I agree by the way about the considerable performace.
And do you know if you can upgrade install, from beta to the RC?
your help is truly appreciated.

yes i agree with the headlines ! we might celebrate the comeback of Windows product as in vista we are very disappointed in al aspect....can't wait to have the final one..

Windows 7 feels more refined compared to Vista, and runs very well. It's the best bits of XP and Vista combined, but with the added bonus of more useful features and improved 64 bit support.

It's the speed that I like, plus it looks much nicer!

That's right, the only way you can get it is to use torrent sites, unless you are a Technet member in which case you can download it today. If you don't use torrents and aren't a Technet member, you need to wait another 5 days until the 5th May 2009 until you can download it directly from Microsoft.

thanks for the reply, only four more days! do you know if you can upgrade install with the RC

Yes, you can upgrade install, but there are some limitations. If you are running Vista, you need SP1 installed in order to upgrade. XP-to-Win7 is not supported.
See this post on my blog for some more info: http://windowstalkblog.blogspot.com/...-7-rc-faq.html

so you cant upgrade install from windows 7 beta?

It depends which build of the W7 beta you have. According to Ed's post:
I'll look for the workaround he mentions.

EDIT: found it here.