Did Microsoft Windows reach maturity with Windows 7? (laptop, desktop, games)
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I was an early adopter of Windows and used every version from Windows 3.1 through Windows 7. At this present time, I have not moved past Windows 7 for reasons that I will get to below.
Looking back at the different versions of Windows I have used over my lifetime, every version was a step forward in some way, be it major or minor, until we get to Windows 8. Windows 95 was a major step forward from Windows 3.1, bringing 32-bit multitasking, long file names, and multimedia to the PC in addition to being much faster and easier to use. Windows 98 took what Windows 95 did and smoothed over the rough edges. Windows ME was turd but it gave us System Restore, something considered essential in later versions of Windows. On the business side, Windows 2000 brought multimedia capabilities and plug and play to the NT kernel and was a worthy upgrade from Windows NT 4.
Windows XP finally brought the stability of the NT kernel to the consumer and became the most successful version of Windows Microsoft had produced. That brings us to Vista. Despite its criticisms and problems upon release, it was a huge step forward and is the foundation of all modern versions of Windows. Many of the features we now take for granted were introduced with Vista. Windows 7 was basically Vista SP3, only rebranded in order to shed the Vista stigma, and it was wildly successful.
That brings us to today. As somebody who prefers traditional computing with keyboard and mouse, I see little reason to move beyond Windows 7. Windows 8 was definitely a step backward in terms of usability and interface. I see Windows 10 as being a worthy upgrade from Windows 8/8.1 but I don't see anything it offers me as a Windows 7 user that would really improve my life. As somebody that upgraded every release since 3.1, I think Windows 7 is about as good as it gets and it's where Windows reached the "maturity" phase of its lifecycle.
Does anybody else agree? Do you see Windows 10 as a step forward from Windows 7? I will probably eventually upgrade when I get a new machine but for now, I am in no big hurry.
I was an early adopter of Windows and used every version from Windows 3.1 through Windows 7. At this present time, I have not moved past Windows 7 for reasons that I will get to below.
Looking back at the different versions of Windows I have used over my lifetime, every version was a step forward in some way, be it major or minor, until we get to Windows 8. Windows 95 was a major step forward from Windows 3.1, bringing 32-bit multitasking, long file names, and multimedia to the PC in addition to being much faster and easier to use. Windows 98 took what Windows 95 did and smoothed over the rough edges. Windows ME was turd but it gave us System Restore, something considered essential in later versions of Windows. On the business side, Windows 2000 brought multimedia capabilities and plug and play to the NT kernel and was a worthy upgrade from Windows NT 4.
Windows XP finally brought the stability of the NT kernel to the consumer and became the most successful version of Windows Microsoft had produced. That brings us to Vista. Despite its criticisms and problems upon release, it was a huge step forward and is the foundation of all modern versions of Windows. Many of the features we now take for granted were introduced with Vista. Windows 7 was basically Vista SP3, only rebranded in order to shed the Vista stigma, and it was wildly successful.
That brings us to today. As somebody who prefers traditional computing with keyboard and mouse, I see little reason to move beyond Windows 7. Windows 8 was definitely a step backward in terms of usability and interface. I see Windows 10 as being a worthy upgrade from Windows 8/8.1 but I don't see anything it offers me as a Windows 7 user that would really improve my life. As somebody that upgraded every release since 3.1, I think Windows 7 is about as good as it gets and it's where Windows reached the "maturity" phase of its lifecycle.
Does anybody else agree? Do you see Windows 10 as a step forward from Windows 7? I will probably eventually upgrade when I get a new machine but for now, I am in no big hurry.
Switched to W10 on my W7 Laptop. My Observation. I have not fully explored W10 yet as I only have it on my laptop and not at work or on my desktop or on Mrs5150 business machines. What I do notice is that W10 boots up noticeably faster and the Edge browser, also, works faster and cleaner. I also like that I can have some of the same Apps on my laptop as I have on my iPhone and they can be accessed from my start menu.
The only reason I can see to not switch is either you don't want to or you find trying new things technical difficult-as is the case with my wife. When it comes time for replacement of our home desktop or her business machines, it will be fine. The learning curve is shallow. W7 is fine, but I like W10 and want to be an expert when the time comes to get new machines.
Do you see Windows 10 as a step forward from Windows 7? I will probably eventually upgrade when I get a new machine but for now, I am in no big hurry.
Touch screen technologies makes more sense on Windows 8 and 10, so in that respect, yes, 10 is a step forward from 7. There are improvements here and there that he standard user may or may not appreciate. But, in terms of average, everyday standard use, I don't see a huge step forward from Windows 7. For me, Windows 7 does everything it needs to do.
One thing I'd love that will never happen is for a present version of Windows to give the user an option to "revert" the OS back to an earlier version. Meaning, you can put Windows 10 into Windows 95, 98, or XP mode. It would look and behave like that earlier version, except it's still Windows 10 at the core and would still be compatible with all the latest and greatest. This would probably be a nonsense feature for a lot of people, but I think it would be neat. Especially if you're a person who feels like a certain version of Windows was the best and feels no need to move past that version.
While the Windows 8 start menu / tiles were a step backward, I personally never found them to be much of a hindrance to using Windows on a desktop without a touchscreen (this is especially true on 8.1).
8 brought some noticeable improvements in boot speed, file transfers, task manager, etc. and IMO did little to hinder power users (even the start menu didn't bother me much, as I stopped using it once the Win+Search feature was introduced in Vista).
IMO 10 really is a step forward from 7 and 8 (the sole exception being the loss of Windows Media Center for the HTPC market). The Start Menu is more usable than either 7 or 8 (it's a nice hybrid of the two), the Action Center is nicer, Quick Access in Windows Explorer is an improvement over the Favorites section introduced in Vista, native multi-monitor taskbar, etc.
I agree with you bawac34618. Truthfully I was content with XP. I was "forced" to move to 7 when my XP desktop croaked. Sure, I could have finagled to install and run XP on my new desktop, but 7 wasn't all that different from XP to suit my needs, so I just learned it and put up with it. I do wish it was 32-bit not 64 because I had to leave behind some important software as well as some games and such that I enjoyed. In general for me, computing life has not been overwhelmingly improved since XP.
Mr5150 "The only reason I can see to not switch is either {1} you don't want to or {2} you find trying new things technical difficult" - {1} yes, correct; {2} not it at all!! It's my philosophy that technology serves me in whatever way I want to conduct my life, and not the other way around. The learning curve going from DOS to Windows was steep, but not insurmountable. Same thing all the way up the Windows improvement ladder. The leap to 7 had the steepest curve. But all along the way the software was still doing what I wanted it to do and basically in the way I wanted it to work for me.
The learning curve from 7 to 8 is not shallow. Shallow was going from Win 95 to XP (I skipped 98 and ME) - in a day's time I was confidently computing - still had a lot to learn, but I was getting along swimmingly. A month with Windows 8 and I was still floundering and drowning.
Why should I jump the Windows 7 ship anyway since neither Windows 8 nor 10 offers me anything in the way of improvement. In fact, most of the features and the user-interface are hindrances even if I was an 8 or 10 expert. skinsguy37 is right in my opinion that "in terms of average, everyday standard use, I don't see a huge step forward from Windows 7. For me, Windows 7 does everything it needs to do." And I'll add that 7 does do it in the speed I need, so for me the "benefit" of so-called increased speed of Win 8 or 10 would not be any reason to dump 7.
While I've been writing this, others have been chiming in ...
Skunk Workz " ...did little to hinder power users..." I'm not a power user, so improvements in "boot speed, file transfers, task manager, etc." are negligible and unnoticeable enhancements in my usage. I completely disagree that the Windows 8 start menu / tiles were not a hindrance on a non-touch-screen desktop ... for me, definitely a giant problem and hindrance. There was a lot more mouse movement required.
I'm not a power user - I'm just a basic and traditional computer user. And for basic traditional users Win 8 and 10 are too full of gobblety-gicky-gucky features. I will admit that for many computer users this "garbage" is not garbage at all and does vastly improve computing life for them. I'm not a dinosaur refusing to go extinct ... I do have an iPad ... so it's not that I refuse nor can't learn new stuff, it's just that I have no need to when it comes to leaving a perfectly-fine Windows 7 just because Windows 10 is now available.
Windows XP remains the best for me. I realize it helps that I used it for a long time but from the very beginning it was the easiest to navigate. I have had a little experience with 7 and I suppose it is also simple but I do not like it somehow. It's slightly more complicated to me and being someone who regularly uses the machine that would make a difference.
8..what can I say? It took a little time to get used to it and I'm a computer whiz. I still have a few things that bum me out so I wish I can get a better experience. The boot time and the speed of Firefox bothers me. However, until I can be sure that my files are safe it's too risky to go to 10. If you're doing a fresh install go to 10 but if you have files that you don't want to risk losing don't. I realize a lot of the horror stories are created from paranoia but I still don't want to take that chance. With the lack of privacy it's a logical conclusion that it would be easy to lose files. It is most likely not worth it just to speed up the boot time and it sounds as Firefox is not optimized in 10. While the Edge browser sounds nice I probably wouldn't use it as much as Firefox.
While the Windows 8 start menu / tiles were a step backward, I personally never found them to be much of a hindrance to using Windows on a desktop without a touchscreen (this is especially true on 8.1).
8 brought some noticeable improvements in boot speed, file transfers, task manager, etc. and IMO did little to hinder power users (even the start menu didn't bother me much, as I stopped using it once the Win+Search feature was introduced in Vista).
IMO 10 really is a step forward from 7 and 8 (the sole exception being the loss of Windows Media Center for the HTPC market). The Start Menu is more usable than either 7 or 8 (it's a nice hybrid of the two), the Action Center is nicer, Quick Access in Windows Explorer is an improvement over the Favorites section introduced in Vista, native multi-monitor taskbar, etc.
Me either. Although I just simply pin my most used app shortcuts on the taskbar. I do like Windows 10 search bar being right on the taskbar. I use that a lot to find whatever apps I need (that I didn't pin to the task bar.) Or you can also use it to bring up a web search. That's pretty useful. Kind of reminds me of the old Google search app that I used for a little bit in XP.
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