Windows 7 Annoyances
12-5-09
Well,
I have had a chance to get some more time in with Windows 7 running
exclusively on my main pc. It has been mostly smooth sailing, but
some small bugs do seem to keep turning up in Microsoft's new baby.
This is to be expected with any new OS which has not had a ton of
Service Packs released for it. But during this part of Windows 7's life, it really does make you wish that
Microsoft had stuck to the XP formula a little more than they did.
When they make major changes to the OS like they did with Vista and
7 it makes everyone, not just the techies feel like they are in beta
testing hell. One example, which I have experienced first hand and
have also read tons about on the internet is the problems with large file
transfers from 7 to an XP or a 2000 network share. This is really
another problem that I cannot understand how Microsoft could have
missed. And it seems that it does not exist between 7 and Vista
machines, only when you add in XP or 2000. Does Microsoft really
expect everyone to replace all of there current running OSs with 7
or Vista? They really need to make sure that the new versions of
windows will play friendly with the old ones. Another problem is, by
default 7 assigns your network as public, which makes it so you
cannot see the rest of your network. This makes it so most
inexperienced users cannot figure out why their network
settings do not work as expected. This is not really a bug however,
it is a security feature. I think Microsoft needs to remember that
people use windows because of its ease of use and they need to keep
it that way. The best way to do this is make sure they don't confuse
a ton of users, and they did this by dramatically changing where and
how you change settings in windows.
Windows 7 First Impressions
11-13-09
Windows 7 has finally been released into the wild. And I do have to admit that I personally was filled with a sense of both excitement and skepticism for the new Windows on the block. I was previously very disappointed with Windows Vista when it came out, and may still be a little traumatized by it. But at the very least, Vista gave me a good reason to upgrade so I could justify jumping on the x64 bandwagon. And yes, it was sweet increasing my usable memory passed the 4gig limit imposed by the x86 platform. But back on to the subject of Windows, I was happy with most of the new changes to Windows 7. The new interface was much like vista so if you are an XP user there is a slight learning curve getting used to the new layout. But once you get some time in the new OS it really does become like second nature. Windows 7 also adds some interesting shortcuts some of which can be found here. The main thing it really does right this time was its speed. It doesn't seem to bog down your pc like vista did. I did really seem to have a noticeable increase of speed on my system. This really does tell you that vista is pretty bloated when you have a system with 6gigs of ram like mine and upgrading the OS actually gave me a speed boost. Overall the upgrade was really smooth from Vista to 7. I first upgraded my existing Vista Ultimate x64 to 7 and ran into no problems. After getting my new hard drives in a RAID setup, I decided to do a clean install of 7. Both installations worked flawless, and I have not ran into many compatibility problems. Although, I would have to say that 7 did give me one strange little problem that was kind of hard to track down the cause. It seems that when you try to access a share on an XP system whose date is set incorrectly, 7 will give you an error telling you your password is wrong. This error is very strange and misleading! After it told me multiple times that both of my logins were incorrect, I went to the XP machine and noticed the date was wrong. I changed the date and bam suddenly all of the logins worked fine. This really is a problem that no one should have to experience. But that was my only negative experience with 7 thus far. Overall it is a good upgrade.
What is new
12-18-09
I sat for my second CompTIA A+ on the 15th and passed, so I am now a certified IT Technicain! Now I just have to pick my next certification.
11-13-09
Well, everyone I finally put down the cash to take my first exam for A+ Certification. Overall I was very happy with my score. The test really was not as difficult as I had previously expected. So I am now only one test away from being certified!
11-13-09
My new design for Goldnrodgraphix.com is now complete. You can check it out here.