Windows 7 is sold as a completely new operating system but in actual fact the underlying code is simply an evolution of Windows Vista.

Vista was launched in January 2007 it was not received with open arms in the business world. Vista is a radically different operating system than its predecessor, Windows XP, and so Network ROI were cautious in recommending it to clients. The reaction to Vista in the IT world was rather mixed, it might be compared to Marmite, you either love or hate it! In addition the radical change of underlying code in Vista meant that there were compatibility issues that software developers were slow to react to. As a result Network ROI took the approach that if a client was adding only a couple of PCs then it was best to stick with XP for simplicity and consistency. Where a client was adding or replacing a significant number of PCs then it was worth considering Vista, especially if the client required extra features offered by Vista.

With the release of Windows 7 and now Windows XP is over 8 years old it is Network ROI’s view that it is time to move on where possible. Windows XP has a number of weaknesses that have become more and more evident as newer hardware has been made available. In particular the power saving ‘sleep mode’ of Windows XP is very unreliable.

Windows 7 is a mature operating system due to it being an incremental improvement over Vista. Some pundits have claimed that Windows 7 is “Vista done properly”! It used to be the case that sensible advice was to “wait for the first Service Pack” before moving over to a new operating system. Well in the case of Windows 7 even Microsoft doesn’t shy away from the fact it might be called Vista Service Pack 3 as the underlying version number for Windows 7 is 6.1 (Vista was 6.0, XP was 5.1, Windows 98 was 4.1 etc.). So in summary it is time for Windows 7.

What is the benefit of moving to Windows 7 for your business? To cut through the Microsoft marketing and get to the key points: stability, security and productivity. Compared to Windows XP Windows 7 is much more stable and consistent, it has many more security features and generally it just works. Increased productivity will come once users have become accustomed to the improved user interface, this will not take more than a few days. Of course you may have particular employees, or requirements, where it makes more sense to avoid change and avoid any potential confusion, talk to us and we can advise.

The user interface is quite similar to Windows Vista, so if you have used this, perhaps on your home PC, then you will find Windows 7 very familiar. There are some nice new touches that at first may seem a little confusing but once you have worked them out are very useful. This ‘working it out’ stage is something that Network ROI can help with by means of quick (one hour) training sessions or by referral to online documentation or video training.

There are a number of versions of Windows 7 being made available. Here is a quick summary:

Windows 7 Home Premium – this is the best one for your new home PC.
Windows 7 Professional – this is the minimum required for your business PC.
Windows 7 Enterprise – this includes the valuable ‘BitLocker’ feature which allows full disk encryption of a laptop drive or USB pen drive but obtaining this version is subject to certain restrictions, call us for more detail.
Windows 7 Ultimate – this includes all features of all versions and is the easiest way to get BitLocker for a single PC.

If you would like to find out more there are lots of very brief videos on this page:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/videos-tours.aspx

Or simply search on the web!