Mobilitechs

Should I upgrade to Windows 7? That's one of the most common questions I get from friends and family as well as home users and business clients.

Windows Vista has suffered from bad PR and a negative reputation since it was released. I think much of that was undeserved. I used Windows Vista without problem for over a year on my primary PC. I think there were some initial problems with driver support that were resolved before they would have affected most users, but Vista's reputation never recovered from the initial negative reports. On the plus side, there were a lot of security and usability improvements to Vista that were really great, if overshadowed by some of the more vocal dissatisfied users. It was more secure than previous versions of Windows and the ability to search from the Start menu is a feature I've used daily since I discovered it.

Some say Windows 7 is little more than a Vista Service Pack 2 and is what Vista should have been in the first place, which is a defensible position. Regardless, it's here now and is definitely ready for prime time. It was well tested and is demonstrates much improved performance and security over previous versions of Windows including Vista. There is a learning curve because things are not exactly the same as they were in XP. But I think most people will feel comfortable quickly and will soon not be able to imagine stepping backward.

So, should you upgrade to Windows 7? If you're running Windows Vista now then absolutely yes, you should upgrade to Windows 7. If you're a home user buying a new PC or laptop then yes, you should buy it with Windows 7 pre-installed.  If you're a business buying a new PC you should seriously consider buying it with Windows 7 pre-installed, but you'll want to check with your vendors to make sure it's supported and test for yourself. Many vendors will still say it's not supported because they don't want to invest in testing, but you won't find any problems. And Windows 7 Ultimate has XP compatibility via virtualization if all else fails. If you're running XP at home, you can upgrade if you want to, but I'd definitely recommend getting Windows 7 with your next new PC purchase. If you're a business running Windows XP I definitely recommend not upgrading, but take a serious look at Windows 7 the next time you need to order a new computer.