While I love the appeal of free-open source operating systems like Linux, and love the polish on MacOS (but not the associated hardware costs), I am still a Windows user at heart. Since 1993 when I installed DOS 5 and Windows 3.1 onto a generic 486SX based PC, I have grown comfortable (in a love-hate kind of way) with Windows over the years. Where it was a hassle to mold Windows 3.1 into a multimedia PC (with the addition of DOS and Windows sound and CD drivers, yuk!), Windows 95 actually knew about CD drives, sound cards, and had easy TCP\IP networking. Then Windows 98 came out with the new USB support (yes, you other old timers know Windows 95b had USB support, but Microsoft quickly made changes to the Windows 98 USB support and forced hardware companies to drop support on Windows 95). Then Windows Millennium Edition (ME) came out….wait….let’s just continue to forget that version!
I quickly switched to NT 5.0, er, Windows 2000, shortly after it came out, and I used that for about 6 years before finally moving to Windows XP. I have been happy with XP, as have most users, and never even considered moving to Vista (ME 2.0?). Delaying or avoiding new versions of Windows is easy when you build your own computers like I usually do, but many of my friends and family are not so lucky, and my lack of experience with the new Vista layout and features, such as a user access control, make it difficult to provide phone support.
So, when I saw an opportunity to purchase an HP computer with Windows 7 for what I had expected to pay to upgrade my current PC, I decided to go for it. And even though I am writing this while running Ubuntu Linux, Windows is close by in a virtual machine (more on this another time).
So, while my first impression of Windows 7, coming straight from Windows XP, was not very good (Why does Microsoft think that hiding options makes Windows easier to use?), I have grown accustomed to the interface, and like the glass look of the windows. The Office 2007 ribbon bar drove me crazy until I figured out how it was partitioned (my Office 2002 would not install on Windows 7, and both my wife and I agree that the ribbon is NOT easier to use than the old menus).
The bottom line is that with Windows XP support winding down, Windows 7 will now be my Windows version of choice for as long as I remain using Windows – not because it is better than XP, but because it does not annoy me TOO much.