Windows 7 or Windows XP - Which is a better operating system?

It was a revolution. It was fantastic. It looked beautiful and promised excellence. But all those words of Windows Vista failed to deliver the promises inherent to the meaning of the words. Microsoft was speechless and they could not answer the question about why Windows vista performed so bad, why it was slow, why the hardware compatibility problems, why windows xp applications refused to work and why was copying files taking ages. This was not the end. The release of service pack one for windows vista promised to improve but could not do so. Users were being frustrated with the new security feature called UAC (User account control) which kept asking whether to take an action or not, repeatedly. Installing application took ages and was an irritating procedure for windows vista.

Users decided to switch back to windows xp. Companies offered (perhaps for the first time) 'downgrade' plans. Comments on the internet said that after switching BACK to windows XP, users felt they were at their home, sweet home! But that wasn't what was expected. So Microsoft rolled out another operating system called Windows 7 which would have performance of Windows XP, looks of Windows Vista and it won't irritate. While some suspected Windows 7 would fall on its face, just like Windows Vista did while others were expecting that Microsoft would keep their promise this time. And then came the release of Windows 7. Of course the RTM (release to manufacturer) copies were already floating around on the internet torrent networks, they all indicated that Microsoft had finally made the thing it promised to make, although it was late for about 2 years.

Now the question was whether to use Windows 7 or to keep using Windows XP. I have used almost all versions of Windows since Windows 95 and I think that I would favour Windows 7 in this situation. That said, I personally think it is better to use Windows 7. If you are asking for reasons, here they are:

1. New Transformations: Well, maybe that is a wrong point but yes, it is always better to improve your software. Windows 7 is technically a big change since Windows XP. It introduces some really new features in all dimensions of computing. Moreover XP is now almost 10 years old. You would like to use Microsoft Office 2010 now, not the XP version of office. Why? Because it gets the job done well and more easily. It's the same reason why you should use Windows 7.

2. Improved security in Windows 7: Windows XP had lot of flaws in its design when compared to the Windows Vista and hence Windows 7 design. This allowed malicious hackers to create problems on your computer, steal data and risk your privacy. Windows 7 has no default administrator account like it was in Windows XP. So before guessing the password, there is an added problem of guessing the username! Also, when you are using the administrator account in Windows XP, any program you run will get all the access to the system. It is not the case with windows 7. Even when running the computer from an administrator account, the applications (or software) you run will not have access to the whole system. So while you can do anything you want, the software cannot do the same. Hence it makes it tough for the virus writers to alter the system settings. In case the software wants to gain the administrative powers, Windows will come up with a pop up box and ask you whether or not you want to allow the application those privileges. I myself have been save at least 10 times by this feature when viruses coming from USB pen drives tried to infect my system!

3. Windows 7 Administratorship: if you want to run an application with full administrative powers, it is easy. Instead of double clicking the application, just right click it (or its shortcut) and click on "Run as administrator" which usually has an additional icon of a shield with it.



It will come up with the same confirmation box.

In case you are not the administrator then the system will first ask the password of one of the system administrators. If the correct password is not supplied, it won't allow the application to run on (and probably mess up) your system.

4. Windows 7 Compatibility Issues?: The problems in Windows Vista with the hardware and software compatibility have been resolved in windows 7 and it now works well enough to allow your Windows XP applications and your hardware to work with the system. If there are some software application which refuses to run altogether on your machine, the Windows 7 OS now comes with a "full compatibility" mode where you can run a complete virtual Windows XP and then run your application from within in.

5. Windows 7 GUI: The interface has been improved to a great extent and now you can get your job done faster and easier. Right from the flexible address bar in windows explorer to the aero features (they have been explained in another article by me) everything is better looking.

6. Less load in Windows 7: while windows vista was a resource hog, Windows 7 keeps it easy on you. It will not require the RAM as much as its predecessor did and still run almost as fast as windows XP!

7. DirectX 11 in Windows 7: DirectX technologies are used to play games on the computer. Most new graphics cards come with the direct 11 support. But if your software is not prepared to utilize the hardware, what good can a technology be? Only Windows 7 supports direct 11. It will also run on direct 9 but that isn't the way a gamer would like!

DirectX has better architecture to allow really great effects to come alive in the games, making them look almost real-life. And in case you want to see what we mean by 'real-life-like", go search for the "GRID game wallpapers" on google images. Windows 7 / DirectX 11 promises pictures better than what you will see in your search result.

I hope I have convinced you to use Windows 7 over Windows XP up to a great extent. Now please don't ask me where to get it ;)