Windows 7 is here, and while anyone can go to a number of places to learn about the technical bells and whistles of the newest operating system from Microsoft, most business owners don't use bells and whistles as a business reason for upgrading. From a business perspective, why would anyone want to plan the move to Windows 7?
1. Support for XP will be ending soon. XP isn't nearly as secure as Win7 and once Microsoft stops patching it, the security differences between the two OS's will only increase dramatically.
2. Vista never really caught on. Like most people, you're probably running a hybrid environment of Vista and XP, and you're only running Vista because it came with new PC's. Win7 is what Vista should have been. Like Windows ME, get rid of it as soon as possible...your users will thank you.
3. SECURITY, SECURITY, SECURITY. Vista had "In Your Face" security and XP really has no security. Win7 has better security than Vista, with much more configurable prompts so it's not so "In your face".
4. Driver Support. Win7 seems to run most 3rd party peripherals (printers, scanners, cameras, phones, etc.) out of the box. I've got Win7 running on 2 laptops and I've plugged 3 printers, a biometric scanner, two webcams, a flatbed scanner, a Pulse Smartpen, my enV Touch phone and my mouse into them and I haven't had to load any extra drivers. I am very impressed with the level of support that Win7 has for all of my devices.
5. Compatibility Mode. Win7 now lets you run older (legacy) software in compatibility mode.
6. Ease of use. Win7 does a lot of stuff itself that you used to have to purchase other software to do (Better software firewall, Burn native ISO images, Complex calculator, etc.)
7. Hardware requirements are not as high as Vista. You would never think to run Vista on a netbook, but Win7 can be found on them already. Some of your older hardware may get a new lease on life with Win7.
8. Upgrade or purchase new? While the initial upgrade cost of Win7 sounds great, the time investment to take an older machine and copy the data off, wipe the old operating system, install Win7, run all the security updates, reinstall all pertinent software, re-establish all network connections/drives, and pull back all the data can make it just as economical to buy a brand new PC with Win7 on it.
9. What flavor of Win7? There are a number of versions of Win7 and per a previous article I wrote, you should purchase the version appropriate for the environment you will be working. For home use, purchase home premium. For business use, purchase Professional. If you want it all, purchase Ultimate. Getting a home premium version for the office will only cause you headaches in the future.
10. Win7 is here. Microsoft will no longer support XP when there is a lighter, stronger, more secure operating system to take its place. Expect to see all new PC's with Win7 and any new computer purchase you make in 2010 to have Win7 preloaded on it. The time to look at your infrastructure is now, because some great deals on upgrades can be had.
Are you ready for Windows 7? Is your hardware Windows 7 compatible? Give me a call to discuss your Windows 7 upgrade path. I'd be happy to point you in the right direction.
Author is Greg Gartland
866.866.3123 x322
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