Windows 7: What the Reviews Say

Microsoft is unleashing Windows 7 to the masses on Thursday, and momentum for the new operating system has even put it ahead of Harry Potter on Amazon this week, set to break retail records.

By Daniel Ionescu
Thu, October 22, 2009

PC World — Microsoft is unleashing Windows 7 to the masses on Thursday, and momentum for the new operating system has even put it ahead of Harry Potter on Amazon this week, set to break retail records.

[ For complete coverage on Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system -- including hands-on reviews, video tutorials and advice on enterprise rollouts-- see CIO.com's Windows 7 Bible. ]

But Windows 7 is anything but new: for more than ten months now, brave users have been testing pre-releases of the new OS. There are dozens of reviews online, some positive, some negative, and some skeptical of Windows 7's potential to become as widespread as Windows XP did back in the day.

Slideshow: The Top 7 Roadkill Victims on the Journey to Windows 7
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I had a look at some of the mainstream reviews, and before you throw your own Windows 7 launch party, you might want to have a look at these.

As always, a good place to start is PC World's review of Windows 7 from Harry McCracken. He calls Windows 7 "hardly flawless," and mentions that Microsoft's new OS "isn't radically different from Vista," and that the company "took far too long to come up with a satisfactory replacement for Windows XP."

Bottom line: Windows 7 is "the unassuming, thoroughly practical upgrade you've been waiting for -- flaws and all."

On Wednesday, New York Times tech columnist David Pogue gave Windows 7 the thumbs up as well, despite the fact that "it's still copy-protected, it still requires antivirus software, and its visuals still aren't consistent from one corner to another." His bottom line: "looks like 7 is a lucky number after all."

Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal had an early review on Windows 7 a couple of weeks back, and his bottom line is that "Windows 7 is a very good, versatile operating system that should help Microsoft bury the memory of Vista and make PC users happy."

CNET also looked into Windows 7 with a skeptical eye, noting that "strong design and Microsoft don't always go together, but they do in Windows 7." However, they say "performance is still hit-or-miss in Windows 7," concluding that "Windows 7 is more than what Vista should have been, it's where Microsoft needed to go."

In a review released on Thursday, the folk over at IT Pro had a look at whether Windows 7 is fit for business. Their verdict: they are "more than happy to recommend Windows 7 ... for business," especially as "the user interface is attractive and good for productivity."

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