After over 20 years of Windows upgrade snafus, I have been running Windows 7 beta on a duel boot machine, just to be safe. Whenever my friends, colleagues, and clients ask me about upgrading to a new version of Windows, my advice is always, “Wait until it has been out for awhile and updated a few times.” Not once have I upgraded a Windows machine without at least one or two annoying, and sometimes catastrophic debacles. However, after reading all the rave reviews about how easy and stable the upgrade has been for everybody else, I decided to give it a try. My experience, though not disastrous, was not without incident, and certainly not smooth enough to sing Microsoft’s praises.

In Context

Windows 7 is nice–well, nicer than Vista–but hardly anything to get aroused over. Everybody seems to like it, but some reviewers are not overly impressed. Here’s a luke warm preview from Communications Technology Watch with links to several other not-so-impressed reviews:

http://commtechwatch.com/?p=648

However, when you compare Windows 7 to Vista, it truly shines. Check out this review from Engaget:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/12/windows-7-review/

So, if the new OS isn’t wonderful, why bother? In my case, the decision was simple. I wanted to ditch Vista. After a few years of running it, I was still having annoying performance issues, weird crashes, problems with IE, and so on. I figured that even if I did have a few problems with the Windows 7 installation, chances were they’d be worth it. Anything to finally get rid of Vista!

Hardware and Software Compatibility

Like most people, my PCs are mission critical. I run several applications that if, even for a few days, I had to do without them, I’d be dead in the water. My experience with Windows upgrades has been that at least one or two programs don’t work properly, and some of my hardware devices, such as backup drives and printers, are not recognized. (Since much of my work requires my computers to do some heavy lifting, such as Flash, Indesign, and Photoshop, I keep my machines pretty modern, loaded with RAM, hard disk space and the latest video interfaces.)

All of this is to say, that I wanted to do everything possible to make sure my machine was Windows 7-compatible before I upgraded. My first stop was the Microsoft Website to look for known compatibility issues. At the the Windows 7 Compatibility Center I found a link to the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, a download you can run on your Vista machine to make sure all your hardware and software are Windows 7 compatible.

Great! This should make things easier. Right?

Hmmm… Well, no. I tried to download and run the application several times, but kept getting an error that a required component was missing. Frankly, I didn’t try to run down whether the application was faulty or whether it was looking for something in my Vista configuration. What I can tell you is that I was running Vista with Service Pack 2 and all the latest patches. In typical Microsoft fashion, there was no other information–just the name of the missing component, with no instructions on how to solve the problem.

(Ok. Yes, I know how to Google errors and figure out the problem. But I wasn’t about to go to all that trouble to run this utility. Besides, I recalled a similar utility for Vista that I had trouble with, and, once I got it working, it wasn’t all that accurate, anyway.)

My computer is fairly new. It has plenty of RAM and drive space, a recent video adaptor. I figured I was safe on that account. My printers and software are all industry standard. What the hell, I decided to roll the dice.

Ready, Set, Install!

After about 5-10 minutes of churning away, checking my computer for compatibility issues, the Windows 7 installation utility gave me a check list of tasks I needed to perform before the installation could continue. My only option was cancel the installation and perform the required tasks. The tasks were:

1. Decommission my computer from iTunes and uninstall the iTunes program.
2. Uninstall Windows Mobile Device Center
3. Uninstall a couple of Dell diagnostic utilities.
4. Restart Windows

Not so seamless, right? At least it didn’t want me to uninstall all my Adobe and Microsoft Office programs, which was a relief.

Granted, none of this was a big deal. The one thing that baffled me was why I had to uninstall Mobile Device Center (the application that helps you sync your cell phone with your PC). Windows 7 comes with a replacement called Sync Center. Why didn’t the installation utility just upgrade it?

Anyway, I got off easy. Check out this PC World article for some real installation nightmares, just three days after the Windows 7 release:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/174309/Microsoft_Confirms_Windows_Upgrade_Install_Snafu.html?tk=rss_news

And here’s an issue with the student version posted on Gizmodo:

http://gizmodo.com/5389235/microsoft-acknowledges-problems-with-windows-7-student-edition-upgrades

Hurry Up and Wait

After I completed my list of tasks (geez), I launched the install program again and waited for it to do another compatibility check. By now I had about an hour into the install. (Want to make it slicker Microsoft? Just have the checker make sure I did my homework, rather than run this gruelingly slow process again.)

Once the installation process actually started, I got a message telling me that the upgrade “could” or “might” (something like that) take several hours. After a few minutes of watching the progress, I went to bed.

A New Day – A New OS

The next morning I entered the registration key and, bang, I was running Windows 7. So, the upgrade took a while, but it went off without a hitch. Naturally,  I started opening programs and documents to make sure everything worked. For the most part, everything did. In fact, some things work better. IE seems more stable; my RAID tower (which gave me connection headaches in Vista) connected right away; programs open and close faster. So far, so good.

I did have to re-enter the serial numbers on a couple of games I play now and then, but I can live with that.

In Conclusion

After all is said and done, so far Windows 7 is running good for me, and noticeably faster. It was a bit of a pain getting there, but probably worth the effort.

Here is a list of what 27 reviewers have to say about Windows 7 from Gizmodo:

http://gizmodo.com/5387822/27-takes-on-windows-7

William Harrel – www.williamharrel.com

Is this Windows Mobile 7? Who knows. Will it be released this spring? Again, anybodies’ guess. Once again Microsoft is secretive and evasive. Don’t try to plan anything. Just wait to see what happens. With the disappointing release of Mobile 6.5, and some manufacturers, such as Motorola, deciding to opt out until next year’s release of Mobile 7, many of us are relegated to holding onto our 6.1 devices, watching and waiting, suffering from iPhone envy while Microsoft  gets its act together. Microsoft either doesn’t get the importance of brand loyalty, or they believe they have such a corner on the market that they don’t need loyal users. This may be true of the Windows platform running on PCs, but not so of mobile devices. Apple and Google are eating Microsoft’s lunch, and more and more users are scampering away from Windows Mobile. What should we do?

Mobile 6.5 – A Feeble Attempt at Placation

The reviews are in. Windows Mobile 6.5 is an ineffective band-aid, hardly worth buying a new phone. Most people will wait to see Mobile 7 (or bite the bullet and change their OS–enough is enough).

The following PC World article, entitled Windows Mobile 6.5 Arrives, Mostly Disappoints, sums up what most people think of Mobile 6.5:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/173186/windows_mobile_65_arrives_mostly_disappoints.html

The following article from Communications Technology Watch, sums up the frustration we’re all feeling over Windows Mobile in general:

http://commtechwatch.com/?p=678

Where is Mobile 7?

Now there’s a good question. Right now, nobody knows. It’s questionable as to whether Microsoft knows. There’s all kinds of speculation around the Web. The timeframe seems to be anytime next year. Helpful, right?

While I have found all kinds of post claiming dates ranging from mid- to late-2009 through early- to late 2010, the latest consensus seems to be 3rd or 4th quarter 2010 before we actually see devices running Windows Mobile 7, as in the following post from the folks over at Windows Phone Mix:

http://windowsphonemix.com/windows-mobile-7-rtm-and-office-mobile-7-release-date-leaked/

Hold the Phone! The folks over at newsoxy.com are saying early next year:

http://www.newsoxy.com/mobile/windows-mobile-7/article11803.html

Earlier articles are touting 3rd or 4th quarter 2009. But it seems pretty obvious that’s not going to happen.

Is Mobile 7 Worth Waiting For?

As Microsoft plugs along on its new mobile OS, iPhone and Android continue to get more and more feature rich and sophisticated. It’s really starting to look like Mobile 7 will be just another version of catch-up. Check out this feature review on Gizmodo:

http://gizmodo.com/341287/windows-mobile-7-details-leaked-+-multi+touch-motion-gestures

Notice that this article was posted back in early 2008. At that time, these would have been ground-breaking features. Now, nearly two years later, they are just me-to’s.

Here’s a more in-depth early review from Pocket PC Central:

http://www.pocketpccentral.net/windows_mobile_7_brief.htm

Looked good then, but today it’s nothing new.

The point is, now we’re waiting for our Windows phones to be as good as the competition. Not a great marketing position, Microsoft.

William Harrel – www.williamharrel.com

We’ve all been watching as Microsoft ’s mobile OS struggles to catch up with Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android. Granted, creating a modern operating system for handheld’s can’t be easy, but Microsoft’s competitors have proven it can be done. The question is, why can’t Microsoft keep up? Windows Mobile 6.5 is definitely a step forward, but hardly a finished competitor. Besides, many of the Mobile 6.1 devices out there are not upgradeable, meaning that a substantial number of Windows phone users will have to buy new devices to take advantage of the upgrade. With Mobile 7 so close to being released (perhaps as early as April 2010, more likely the second half of 2010), why would we bother? Especially since there is a good chance that many 6.5 devices probably won’t be upgradeable, either. Has Microsoft sold us short again? Should we shell out a few hundred bucks for an incremental upgrade? Does this upgrade get us close to iPhone and Android functionality? What are reviewers saying about Mobile 6.5? Let’s take a look at 6.5, compare it to Mobile 7, and decide whether we should wait to upgrade.

iPhone Clone?

Take a look at the homepage on the Samsung phone in the picture above. Look familiar? If not, check out this phone:

Looks pretty similar, doesn’t it? Well, just because it looks like a duck… While there are some things I don’t like about the iPhone, such as the lack of slide-out keyboard and that you are relegated to using AT&T cell service–Windows Mobile 6.5 is still lacking several iPhone key features. Here are a couple of the most notable:

• Multi-Touch technology allows users to move and stretch images and application windows with simple multiple-finger input gestures, increasing ease of use and productivity.
• Shake and Bump features allows users to manipulate and exchange data, images, videos, and play games with other users with simple shake or bump movements of the phone.

If you’ve ever seen an iPhone user say something into the phone, and then shake the device to execute the command, it’s pretty slick. We won’t see either of the above features until Mobile 7. Mobile 6.5 has only the single-touch function, a function that, until now, was only available to Windows Mobile users through overlays built into the device by the phone manufacturer. Multi-touch is still not available.

The Sad Truth

Where Mobile 6.5 is concerned, the real story is what’s missing. The upgrade really is a yawn, as recounted in this Gizmodo post:

http://gizmodo.com/5374876/windows-mobile-65-review-theres-no-excuse-for-this

Now compare this to early reviews of Mobile 7:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/06/is-this-windows-mobile-7/

Granted, this post is old, but it is a pretty good recap of what we can expect from Mobile 7.

Me? Well, since my phone is not yet upgradeable to Mobile 6.5, I plan to wait until it is or until Mobile 7. I’m sure not buying a new phone just to run an incremental upgrade, at best.

[Watch for the release of my book Windows Mobile 7 for Dummies with the release of the Mobile 7 OS.]

William Harrel – www.williamharrel.com