Mind the details with Windows 7
Just because it might work better than Vista, it doesn't mean you can be sloppy
Gartner's Stephen Kleynhans has been happy with his initial installs of Windows 7 - but it isn't perfect. That's why businesses must take time to prepare for it.
Since receiving the first Community Technology Preview version of Windows 7 last October, I've installed various versions of the product about 30 times across 15 different systems.
The systems in question have run the gamut from netbooks and an Atom-based net-top, through to several variations of corporate and consumer notebooks, a couple of branded consumer and corporate desktops, and up to a high-end home-brew gaming system.
The installations have been a mix of 32-bit and 64-bit, on processors from Intel, AMD and even Via, and have used both discrete graphics and integrated graphics. The systems have included a seven-year-old single-core Pentium 4, right up to a dual processor, 8 core behemoth, with the most recent being a 64-bit installation on a high-end Core i7 system that has just become my new office desktop.
I've had the opportunity to see the installation process across a very wide range of scenarios including many of the ones our customers are likely to face.
My experience, even from the first tentative install last October, has been pretty good. Sure there have been a few missing drivers here and there but in every case the resulting machine worked and almost always performed better than under Vista and XP.
Until one install with the final code in late August.
That was the day I decided it was time to upgrade one particularly critical machine we use around the house. I had got so comfortable with the install that I clicked right through the warning messages that the installer routine plastered on the screen. Had I read those messages about issues with the graphics card a little more closely, I would have turned back - but alas I didn't.
I won't go into all the gory details but the result was painful and unpleasant.
The warnings would have alerted me to the fact that the particular graphics card would only work with reduced functionality due to its vintage. The issue was related to a quirk of my particular environment and not something that a typical user would ever see.
Once I realised I had a problem, my hasty attempt to fix the problem (again ignoring a warning message posted by the graphics card vendor), just dug the hole deeper.
Why do I bring this up?
Well, it is awfully easy to get so lulled into a sense of complacency that we forget to do the basics. Most Windows 7 experiences will be great but that doesn't mean we can ignore the details and bypass normal due diligence.
For individuals this means running Microsoft's compatibility checker before starting an upgrade (and actually paying attention to what it might tell you). For organisations, this means conducting a formal evaluation and testing process.
Check out the research note I've published on preparing for Windows 7.
By the way, the problem was eventually resolved by replacing the offending graphics card with an inexpensive new card that actually worked far better than the original one. I wish I'd replaced the card sooner.
Stephen Kleynhans is a research vice president with Gartner.
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