I'm reviewing specifically the upgrade process, as well as first impressions of Windows 7. Once I use it more, I'll be able to give a more complete rundown of how it works. Through some finagling of an old EDU email address, I was able to score a student copy of Windows 7 Home Premium. I upgraded from XP Pro, and the process was...as smooth as I'd expect from Microsoft.

So I downloaded their upgrade application. Nothing on the website told me what to expect. I tried to research what would happen, but apparently there are a few different kinds of upgrade packs, and which one you get depends on unseen forces humans are not meant to know about. It turns out I got the "download files and do an in-line install" version. After downloading nearly 4GB of data, the Windows 7 installer popped up and began altering my system. As this was an in-line upgrade, I expected a few hours of clicking "next" followed by a slightly dirty installation of Windows 7 with my apps in place. Instead, what I got was a completely fresh installation with NONE of my apps in place. Everything had been moved to the windows.old directory on the main drive. If I had been warned that my files would be moved/gone, I would have taken extra steps. As it was, I had to dig through hidden application folders to find my old bookmarks and whatever. (Side note, a clean install also wipes the master boot record, so if you dual-boot you'll have to re-do GRUB or whatever it is you use)

So once I got past the part where I was annoyed that it had done a clean install, I got to work. Boy was I surprised at the changes. People keep saying Vista/7 is a whole new OS, and I didn't understand just how deep that ran until I tried to change my power management settings. There's no longer a "desktop preferences" you can click on, and the control panel is subdivided into this impenetrable tree of pseudo-related applications. For an XP user, it may as well be a different OS entirely.

One of the many "grumble grumble Microsoft grumble" features that I ran afoul of right away is the list of features that are turned off in Windows 7. Things like remote desktop and location-aware printing are disabled in the "home" version of the OS, in order to prod you into spending more for the "professional" version. I don't think Windows 7 is worth the price as-is, I certainly don't think 8 new features are worth the additional price of the upgrade. For anyone that uses remote desktop, it's possible to get VNC working on Windows 7. Here's how:

1. install VNC and do not register it as a service
2. add the user-mode app (winvnc4.exe) to the safe applications list in windows firewall
3. add the ports also (5800, 5900, 5801, 5901)
4. add it to the safe applications list in windows defender (may not be necessary)
5. Start VNC server in user mode AS administrator

From what I can tell, though, Windows 7 is pretty good, especially for novice users. All the "hard parts" like power management, network configuration, and process management are hidden behind ever-growing walls of text and dialog boxes. You can no longer run processes in service mode (which is good for security, but bad for, you know, running processes in service mode), it's difficult to break your network settings, even on purpose, and the firewall and windows defender both default to "over-protective." However, for a power user the whole thing feels like a daycare. Everything is overly walled off and childproofed so the little girl on the commercial can send her digital photos to grandma. For someone trying to do WORK it seems like the OS would get in the way more than it would help.

I do like the new task bar. Many people say it's difficult getting used to, but anyone who used NexT or OSX is going to feel right at home with the icon-based groupings. I even like how the icons are given shadows to indicate the number of applications that's running. The rest of the dock features, like "pinning" a shortcut to the dock are pretty good as well. The taskbar also works like the Firefox bookmarks bar, in that pressing Win+1 will select the first button on the task bar, Win+2 selects the second, etc. If you're confused as to why I mentioned Firefox, try Alt+2 right now, it will select the second tab in the bar.

So I like the task bar. That's great. I don't like the start menu or the explorer menu. The start menu is this series of lists, far too much data to be useful. The left list contains tools, recently installed programs, shortcuts, and recently accessed programs. The right list contains shortcuts to various places the OS thinks are important. Clicking on "all programs" brings up a sub-window that overlays the start menu containing all your programs. You can't hover-expand on the list anymore (for touchscreen support, I'm told) so you have to actually CLICK the folder, which expands it into the same window. It's like they took the Windows 98 start menu and tried to cram it onto a 4 inch screen. Again, though, it's because I need to get to EVERY app that I'm having problems. I don't keep shortcuts on my desktop or in my quicklaunch, I use the start menu for everything that I won't be using EVERY time I turn on the computer. My quick launch generally consists of: Firefox, IE, Chrome, terminal, PuTtY, Text Editor, Show Desktop. When I want my SQL browser, I find it in the list. Windows 7 makes that more difficult.

The new windows explorer is just as frustrating to use for a professional. Like previous versions of Windows, the Explorer window has two panes. However, I always preferred the left pane to be the folder tree. From what I can tell right off the bat, it's impossible to show the folder tree in the left pane in Windows 7. Instead, you're given a list of folders the OS thinks are important. They're different from, but similar to, the folders given in the start menu. When you open Windows Explorer, the left pane usually consists of:
Your Username
Documents
Downloads
Movies
Pictures
Sounds
Favorites
Computer
Network
Control Panel

You have to click on "Computer" to actually access your files. If I were to bow to the Windows ideal and start storing all my stuff on the main drive along with the OS, I guess I'd be happy to have my files in one-click folders like this. However, as I've been using Windows for longer than a MONTH, I understand full well the consequences of leaving your personal documents on the same drive as Windows. EVERYTHING I have except for Program Files goes on my secondary drive, so the entire Windows Explorer interface is useless to me except for the "Computer" tab, which allows me to actually go to my files.

In closing, the upgrade process was quick, but had too little information on what was happening. Once into the OS, the interface was confusing (which is understandable) and prevented me from getting to the settings and files I needed to get to (which is NOT). Overall, the OS is VERY fast, almost as fast as my XP install was. The UI decisions are good for the basic stuff (window management, task bar, widgets) and terrible for the complicated stuff (start menu, file browser, control panel). Overall, the OS is between MEH and WIN, but on advice from a fellow reviewer I knock all such reviews down to MEH.

Here's my upgrade recommendations:
Existing Windows Vista User: UPGRADE! DO IT YESTERDAY!
Existing Windows XP User, Gamer: Upgrade, but back up your save games and patches.
Existing Windows XP User, non-gamer: Don't upgrade, consider a switch to MacOS or Ubuntu
Existing MacOS User: There's nothing in Windows 7 that you don't already have, other than the byzantine menus and susceptibility to viruses.
Existing Linux User: You're just reading this for fun, aren't you?