Introduction
This Sunday I upgraded my DELL Latitude | D830 from Windows Vista Business 64 bit to Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit.
The build version is Windows 7 Beta Build 7000. I ran an upgrade to test how well the setup would play with my currently installed applications and configuration settings. My expectations we met and in some cases exceeded. For example, soon after launching the setup a compatibility checker was launched. This screen scanned my current OS (Vista) to make sure all installed applications were compatible with Windows 7. Next, the upgrade checked if any updates were available and downloaded one small patch. The remaining upgrade steps were essentially automated. The upgrade was very complete but did take some time.
Experience
Reduced Annoyance – There is now a flag in the bottom of the task bar (See Screen Shot Below). Clicking this flag launches the Action Center which allows a user to review operating system issues when they choose. There is an up arrow (See Screen Shot Below) located to the left of the flag which displays a list of currently running applications that have been minimized to the task tray such as Bluetooth.
Window Manipulation – Dragging a window to the top of the screen will automatically expand the window to full screen. If several windows are open shaking the window with current focus will clear the screen.
Send Feedback
To the left of the minimize button on Explorer and Internet Explorer Windows is a Send Feedback link. The Send Feedback link opens the screen below where users can send feedback directly to Microsoft.
64 Bit Support and Application Compatibility
All my existing applications such as Firefox 3.x, Microsoft Office 2007, Mindjet Mind Manager Pro, Live Writer 2009, Live Messenger 2009, Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2005, News Gator Inbox, and Xobni are all running fine under Windows 7. Previous, to the upgrade I was having some compatibility issues on Vista 64 with the Windows Live Applications and News Gator Inbox.
Issues
I’ve noticed that the screen seems to not refresh sometimes. However, this could be a video card driver issue.
Note: Video Card = NVIDIA Quadro NVS 135M Driver = Prerelease WDDM 1.1