Three critical issues to consider before upgrading to Windows 7
elan asi
Three critical issues to consider before upgrading to Windows 7
Whether you upgrade every time there's a new version of Windows or you're still clinging to XP, the release of Windows 7 later this fall means you've probably started thinking about what it will mean to you and your organization.
We can think about some of the major concerns -- from hardware requirements to upgrade paths and driver compatibility.
As with any OS upgrade, before you even start to consider hardware requirements, driver compatibility, or which version of Windows 7 to deploy, you should always ask the question "Does my organization really need Windows 7 to begin with?"
Because each organization's specific needs are different, I can share a few reasons IT Pros should consider upgrading.
First, if you're still running Windows XP, you should know that Microsoft ended mainstream support for XP on April 14, 2009. Although critical security updates will still be provided at no cost until 2014, additional support is provided only to customers who pay for a support contract with Microsoft.
Second, both Vista and Windows 7 provide much better security that Windows XP, even with the multiple XP service packs. Furthermore, Windows 7's implementation of User Account Control (UAC), which is the bane of many an end user and IT pro alike, is far less in your face and more user-configurable than in Vista.
Third, Windows 7 offers new administrative tools such as PowerShell v2, improved Group Policy, and Virtual Hard Disk image management and deployment.
Lastly, Windows 7 offers several user-centric enhancements, such as: improved search, built-in support for touch screen monitors, new keyboard shortcuts, a streamlined GUI, more sophisticated versions of Paint, Wordpad, and Calculator; easier windows management with snap-to docking, and new built-in troubleshooting tools.
Once you've decided that Windows 7 offers enough improvements over XP and Vista to at least consider a migration, there are still several critical issues to consider.
So let's look at the first consideration -- hardware requirements. Traditionally, each new version of Windows has needed more disk space and memory than its predecessor. Now as of this taping, Microsoft hasn't released the official Windows 7 hardware requirements, but we can get a good idea of the requirements from the Widows 7 Release Candidate. For the Release Candidate, Microsoft recommended a 1 gigahertz or better processor, at least 1 gigabyte of RAM, DirectX 9.0 support, 16 gigabytes of free disk space, and 128 megabytes of graphics memory if you plan to use Aero.
Those requirements are pretty similar to the system specs for Vista with the only difference being that the Vista requires 15 gigabytes of free disk space. On a positive note, many beta testers have reported that Windows 7 runs faster than Vista on their low-powered machines (like those with out 512 MB of RAM).
Basically, if your computer is powerful enough to run Vista acceptably, Windows 7 should run just as well, if not better. If you re currently using XP on a computer with less than 512 MB of RAM or a processor that's slower than 800 MHz, you'll need to upgrade your hardware.
Second on our list of considerations are the available upgrade paths to Windows 7.
Since so many people resisted the move to Vista, many will be asking, can I upgrade directly from Windows XP to Windows 7 without losing all my preferences and settings? The answer is, well, sort of.
Microsoft is not providing a direct upgrade path from XP to Windows 7. If you're running XP, you'll have to perform a clean install, which is often best with major OS upgrades, or use the User State Migration tool, which is part of the Microsoft Deployment Tool 2010. This handy utility will let you transfer your user settings for the desktop and applications to the new Windows 7 installation.
If you're running Windows Vista with SP1 or SP2, you can do an in-place upgrade to Windows 7. If you're not running SP 1 or SP2, you'll need to install at least SP1 before moving to Windows 7.
If you've been running the Windows 7 beta successfully, your preference might be to upgrade directly to the final release. Officially, Microsoft does not support such a path and recommends a clean install to ensure stability.
Last on our list is driver compatibility, which is always a big issue when upgrading to a new operating system -- Windows Vista.
Seriously, Vista was the cause of so many driver nightmares for a several reasons -- not all of them Microsoft's fault. First, it introduced a new display driver model, WDDM, which required video card vendors to write completely different display and video miniport drivers. Second, security enhancements in Vista changed how the operating system handles drivers. And third, even though Vista was in development for five years, many hardware vendors did not have Vista drivers ready for all of their products when the OS was released.
Now that Vista has been out for more than two years, most hardware vendors have updated their drivers to work with it. As Windows 7 uses the same driver models, the vast majority of hardware devices that work with Vista will work with Windows 7.
For Vista drivers that won't install on Windows 7, you can usually solve the problem by installing them in Compatibility Mode.
Regardless whether you're migrating from XP or Vista, you should check the Web sites of your peripheral vendors to ensure their devices will be compatible with Windows 7 and download the latest drivers -- before migrating.
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Regards,
Elan
Thanks: IT Dojo