One of the biggest problems with Windows Vista was Microsoft changed too much “stuff” all at the same time. These changes needed to be made but Vista was too dramatic and should have not been made all at once. The foundation should have been put into place but we should have had better controls and management tools to ease the transition. Many say: Vista broke new ground, but I think Windows Vista broke many of the legacy things we do on a regular basis.

So the question is: Does Windows 7 suffer from the Vista Legacy?

With Windows Vista the hardware vendors were worried they were going to have excess inventory of systems with Windows XP class hardware since sales stopped dead when Windows Vista was announced. As a result a Vista Capable designation of hardware was created to continue to sell Windows XP machines until Windows Vista was released with the idea they would be able to upgrade. Unfortunately these machines really had no business running Windows Vista as they were terribly under powered for the task of running Windows Vista. Windows 7 will not suffer from the poor hardware fate: Several years have passed and we have hardware vendors have learned from their mistakes and the OS / hardware combination is more capable. Plus Windows 7 has been tuned for better performance with older hardware and software.

Windows Vista also introduced a completely new security model. As a side effect; many poorly written applications did not function properly and those same application vendor’s only solution was to disable the new security features, thus making the systems less secure than before. Microsoft with Windows 7 has made improvements to the security model so it should be less intrusive in addition more compatible. Also the application vendors have learned how to work with the new security model in addition to the fact many of these applications have been updated with newer versions. As a result, most software is now compatible with the new security model. We will all be safer as a result.

Windows Vista looked radically different than Windows XP. Windows Vista introduced a completely redefined user interface with “enhancements” that made the transition more difficult than it should have been (also compounding the problem was many new computers also were installed with Office 2007 that looked / operated differently). Windows 7 shares much of the new interface enhancements of Windows Vista but make the transition from Windows XP much easier with several XP like behaviors. Windows XP and Windows Vista users will have an easy time navigating the Window’s 7 user interface and the learning curve will be rather short.

So I ask, will Windows 7 suffer from the Vista Legacy. I would have to say NO, Microsoft and many of the application vendors have learned their lesson and have done amazing things to ensure Windows 7 will not suffer from the Vista Legacy. I believe Windows 7 is not trying to break new ground, just continue with the refinements that have been made while not forgetting the legacy things we all do. So maybe Windows 7 is ground breaking in that respect.

In my opinion Microsoft Windows 7 will be successful for the following reasons.

• Hardware refresh, the time is right to buy a new PC. Most companies did a big technology refresh starting around the year 2000 time period with those computers lasting 4 to 5 years, The next technology refresh took place in the around 2005 with those computers needing to be refreshed within the next year. The current economy may have an impact on the timing of this but we all know it is due NOW. The price of hardware is as cheap as it is going to get
• Security – It is more secure, really it IS… Microsoft has done a very good job of minimizing the attack surface of Windows 7 by continuing the work that was started in Windows Vista. Many of the 3^rd party vendors have cleaned up their code and it now is operating in a more secure fashion. We will only benefit from this.
• Installation/tight server integration – A fast install process (with clean install taking around 30 minutes to complete). Very tight integration with Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will lead better performance when paired together.
• Performance is much improved over Windows XP and Windows Vista:
  • Faster startup and shutdown times, Applications load faster, consume less memory
  • Demonstrated performance leadership over other OS’s, many 3^rd party media outlets have verified Microsoft’s claims of better performance.
  • coping files, finding information
• Better Administration tools – This will lead to reduced administration costs over time:
  • Powershell integration – Powershell is a scripting language used by administrators to perform tasks on Windows 7 and applications. Many of the tasks we as administrators do on your systems can now be automated, thus reducing your costs.
  • Group Policy control over the OS is much improved. A group policy is a tool to set/control how Windows 7 behaves. Why is this important? It will help establish a common environment ensuring items are uniformly setup, installed and secure. Group policies reduce costs through reduced training and uniform system setup.
• Windows XP has reached End of Life and we have entered into the period of it’s product life cycle called “Extended Support”. During this phase only “Security fixes” will be created and no further development on the core product will be performed. Over time many software applications will cease to support XP as it becomes less popular.
• The User Access Control (UAC) less annoying than it was in Vista – Why is this important? Because in Windows Vista most people turned the UAC off due to the fact it was too sensitive and many poorly written applications did not function properly with it ON. This created a situation where a useful security tool was turned off and many the potential local and internet threat were not identified. Somehow this became the fault of Microsoft and the various application vendors who wrote poor code never got blamed for the great misdeed they caused.
• Better Power Management - Windows 7 will automatically slow down resources and even power them off when they are not in use to conserve power. In my testing I have seen increased battery life of around 20% on several of my laptop computers. Over time this will lead to a lower the Total Cost of Ownership (central control is available, yes through Group Policy).
• Hardware Support for older hardware is very good. Many older systems perform very well with Windows 7. Software and hardware driver support has been wonderful through the beta process and now Windows 7 has been released it should only get better.
• Office 2010 with Windows 7 is a winning combination – More on this in the future blog posts.

This topic was originally presented by myself to the September 2009 meeting of BASBITS, Where I am founding member of a consultants group that supports Small Business technology specialists within the Bay Area. The topic was very well received.