Making the switch to Windows 7

BY CLAIRE MCENTEE

Windows 7 software will go on sale on October 22, and Microsoft is crossing its fingers for a successful debut after its predecessor Vista was panned for its incompatibility with third-party software and excessive hardware requirements.

To smooth the way, Microsoft has announced an upgrade programme for people who have recently splashed out on Vista software or do so in the next few months.

Vista Home Premium, Business and Ultimate software – including that installed on PCs – may be eligible for a free or low-cost upgrade to Windows 7, depending on when it is bought and what model the PC is.

The software can be ordered from Microsoft or PC manufacturers before the end of December or January, depending on the manufacturer's deadline.

Hewlett-Packard personal systems group marketing manager Warwick Grey says it will charge Vista owners US$19.95 to install Windows 7. Those who buy the software between June 26 and January 31 next year will be eligible. Dell will upgrade Vista PCs bought between June 26 and December 31 for free.

Microsoft will upgrade Vista Home Premium, Business and Ultimate software for about $30, says Windows business group manager Ben Green. Customers must apply online before the end of January.

Microsoft testing has revealed that some "in-place" upgrades from Vista – when existing data and applications were retained – could take more than 20 hours to complete, but that is an extreme case for "super users" with a lot of data and applications, he says. "I don't think I've ever met someone who's that super a user."

Medium users – defined as those with 70 gigabytes of data and 20 applications, could expect the process to take between an hour and 40 minutes and two hours and 50 minutes. "Clean" installs, where all existing data and applications were wiped, would take from 27 to 46 minutes.

Upgrading from Vista should be a smooth experience but migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 will require people to completely wipe their hard-drives and reinstall their applications, he says. "That will take a long time. They will first need to look at the minimum specifications of Windows 7 and say, `does my machine have that or does it not?', and if it doesn't it might be time to get a new PC."

Computers bought in the past two or three years should be able to support Windows 7, he says.

Windows 7's minimum hardware requirements are roughly similar to those of Vista Home Basics – both require a one gigahertz processor and 15 to 16 gigabytes of hard-drive space, although Windows 7 demands at least one gigabyte of memory while Vista Home Basics needs only 512 megabytes. More advanced versions of Vista require at least 1Gb.

Despite the similarities in requirements, PC World editor Ted Gibbons says Windows 7 users can still expect better performance from their PCs. "Vista is such a hungry operating system. If you want a good experience you need two gigabytes of memory, but one gigabyte of memory was the norm when Vista PCs came out.

"The average hardware specifications have moved on and they're all pretty capable now. I don't think you'll have any problem running Windows 7 on any of the hardware in shops today."

Vista "burnt out" on performance-light netbook computers, but Windows 7 runs smoothly on those machines, he says.

Some manufacturers are launching new computer models along with Windows 7. "In terms of your bog-standard desktop PC or normal laptop the space won't be that different. But there will be some new product in the netbook space.

"Windows 7 is only a few weeks away now. If you're not desperate I would wait to see what happens."

Noel Leeming Group merchandise general manager Jason Bell says it will not be looking to clear out Vista PCs but because the Windows 7 launch coincides with the next wave of new PCs, there may be some discounts. "Bond and Bond just had a 5-to-20-per-cent-off promotion for PCs, but it does depend where the particular PC is in the product life-cycle."

The group's Vista PCs are now selling for $799 to $4500, he says. The new range of computers with Windows 7 installed will have slightly "tweaked" specifications and dimensions.

"There's no radical change in technology from the old PCs to the new ones."

Windows 7 is not a big step up from Vista, he says. "It's got a much-simplified interface with all the niceties of Vista. It's got a lot of subtle improvements that are going to make life easier."

Vista PC sales have held their own, despite Windows 7's impending debut. "The computer category in general has had reasonable growth in the last few months.

"General feedback from customers is they don't seem too concerned that there's a change in operating systems – that's part of the computer industry now. The noise compared to the Vista launch is a lot less."

Dick Smith Electronics computer buyer Tim Gunn says the hardware due out this month will be the same as that in stores now. The store's Vista PCs – priced between $600 and $2200 on its website – may be more attractive to customers as they will be comparatively cheaper, he says.

Harvey Norman national business manager Matt Rummel says customers are not yet asking about Windows 7 and Vista sales have been steady.

Windows 7 has improved home networking features and allows people with PC tuners to pause, rewind and watch TV on their computers, he says.

Microsoft ceased mainstream support of Windows XP this year but will offer extended support – which includes security updates but not free incident support – for it until April 2014.

All support for Vista Home Basics and Home Premium software will expire in April 2012. Mr Green says Microsoft's policy is to support business products for 10 years after launch and consumer products for a minimum of five years.

It extended support for XP in response to customer demand, and will consider doing the same for any product if the loss of support would greatly affect customers, but this is unlikely to be the case with Vista, he says.

- © Fairfax NZ News