Recently I attended a Microsoft convention in my area (10/07/09) so I can learn about the new features of Windows Server 2008 R2 for work. Windows 7 Ultimate was given away to everyone that attended this event and I’ve been playing around with it ever since. Having already reviewed Windows 7 Professional, I thought it would be a cool idea to mix it up a bit and give everyone a Linux users point of view on Windows 7.
Windows 7 Ultimate Exclusives?
Since my RTM experience with Windows 7 was limited to Windows 7 Professional, the first thing I researched was the actual difference between Ultimate and Professional, especially considering Microsoft’s Ultimate Extras were discontinued. From what I read, the only real difference between Ultimate and Professional is that Ultimate has Bit Locker encryption, BranchCache, and 35 language packs available for use. As far as I know, that’s it!
The first problem I have with this is the supposed requirement of buying the most expensive version of 7 just to get language packs. That just doesn’t make sense to me. If I’m not mistaken, this means that if I’m bilingual or multilingual I have to pay extra to switch between languages? I can only imagine the number of lawsuits that might come from this decision! Gouging people just because they speak more than one language is not a good customer service decision. Not only that, Windows 7 Professional is the version intended for businesses, and a great deal of businesses in the tech world have employees that are bilingual. On the Linux side, the latest KDE for is available in more than 50 languages for free, so I just can’t find a way to justify the extra charge. If I’m missing something, please enlighten me.
As far as Bit Locker goes, it’s a non-issue these days to encrypt your home directory in Linux so that feature doesn’t matter to me either unless I’m misunderstanding it. In regards to BranceCache, I don’t think that’s something a typical desktop user would use, but I could be wrong.
Installation
When it comes to installation, Windows 7 handles it just about the same as Windows Vista did. On my machine, it only took around fifteen minutes to install (I’m guessing here, I didn’t actually have a timer) and it doesn’t really seem to be drastically longer than the most popular Linux distributions such as Ubuntu.
I believe that the installation routine for Windows 7 and Linux is about equal, though it may depend on your distribution and CPU, and I have never really paid much attention to the advanced features (if any exist) in a Windows set up routine.
Performance
On my machine, Windows 7 and Kubuntu run just about the same. In both, the OS feels very responsive and fast. Windows 7 itself is slower than Windows XP, faster than Vista, slower than Ubuntu/GNOME, and right on par with KDE4.3/Kubuntu. (Results may vary for you, however).
Unfortunately, the performance boost in Windows 7 is just an illusion. Sure, it definitely runs faster than Windows Vista, though it still uses a ton of unneeded resources. For example, my base 64-bit install of Windows 7 took somewhere between 15-20GB of my hard drive. As a Linux user that has a full desktop (including messaging, email, office, internet, system tools, and games) for around 4GB of hard drive space, I cannot fathom this requirement. Even if System Restore is disabled, it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
Microsoft needs to cut the required hard drive space down. For most people, 20GB isn’t all that big of a big deal, especially considering 1.5TB hard drives are less than $130 in some stores now. However, for those that have netbooks, an installation of Windows 7 can take up your entire disk if you have a solid state drive, so this is definitely a problem that should be addressed.
In the RAM usage front, Windows 7 when idle takes a good 1-2GB of my 4GB of RAM, while Kubuntu takes between 200MB-500MB, and idles at even less than that if I trim the unneeded services/programs. (I think I’ve clocked Arch at 175MB at one time). I may be wrong on the RAM usage for Windows 7 as it’s hard to get an exact number with the way it caches, but it is definitely higher than any Linux distribution I’ve used.
Did Windows 7 Rip Off KDE?
This is a common element of debate, and one I happen to agree with. Windows 7 seems to have borrowed a bit from the KDE4 series. Now days, KDE has changed it’s look to the “Air” theme, so it no longer looks as close. However, the Oxygen theme that was used in KDE around the same time as when Windows 7 was in development is mysteriously similar.
Even the selection of widgets is similar, with both shipping with an analog clock, news reader, sliding block puzzle, and hardware monitor by default. Take a look at this quickly put together collage, with widgets from both Windows 7 and KDE versions previous to 4.3:
Do you think they look similar? You be the judge.
The Superbar
The way Windows 7 sorts applications on the taskbar has changed considerably. For starters, it doesn’t (by default) show text labels anymore, and shows only the icons instead. The icons on the taskbar are very large, about the same size as they were in KDE 4.0. Running programs on the taskbar glow and have a square around them, so you can differentiate between what’s running and the Quick Launch icons. Quick launch icons themselves turn into running applications when you launch them.
For me, this new system is very hard to get used to. Since I’m a college student, I usually have several PDF’s and Word/OpenOffice documents open at any one time. The new way of handling running tasks gives my taskbar in Windows 7 much needed extra real estate, but it gets confusing when I’m doing something such as switching back and forth between a college syllabus, and several instances of a word processor and a browser. On one hand, I like the new taskbar because of the extra room, but I hate it because of the extra confusion.
When it comes to KDE and GNOME, there are quite a few applications that can be added to their respective panels. There are a bunch more available than what Windows offers, and the panels on both are a great deal more customisable as well. Windows has never been able to compete with GNOME or KDE panels, and I don’t predict it ever will at the rate it’s going.
File Management
The GUI tools for file management in Windows and Linux have always been neck and neck in my opinion, but over time, Linux has definitely gained the upper hand. Windows Explorer isn’t bad, but Dolphin and Nautilus can do much better now. Windows 7 has gained “libraries” which have folders for Music, Pictures, and Video which can point to the contents of several folders. While this is cool, I don’t believe it’s very practical because the typical user only has one music, video, and pictures folder anyway. (Does anyone actually use the default share folders in Windows)?
KDE 4.1 has kicked file management up a notch with “Folder View” widgets which can be placed on the desktop and show the contents of any directory you wish. KDE 4.3 has pushed this even further with “contextual browsing”, where you can actually drill down through your file system from your desktop without clicking on anything. Unfortunately, Windows 7 doesn’t have anything that awesome.
This time, Windows Explorer is actually laid out quite a bit like KDE’s Dolphin these days, right down to the preview pane on the right side. To be fair, the preview pane is hidden by default but it’s only one click away. When enabled, the two have a layout that is very similar if you don’t take the different colorations into consideration.
Application Compatibility
From what I’ve used, Windows 7 does a great job with application compatibility. It may not be perfect but all of the applications I’ve tried all work just fine, so I cannot complain here at all.
How does Linux stand here? Very well, actually. Since Windows Vista, compatibility with Windows apps in Linux has moved forward at an exceptional rate. When Windows Vista was first released, I could never get Elder Scrolls Oblivion and several other apps to work on my Linux machine at all. Now, in just a few clicks with the “PlayonLinux”, a great deal of my favorite applications and games work just fine. With tools like PlayonLinux (which can run regular apps too, not just games) compatibility in Linux is MUCH better now, and surprisingly even the Wine API is decent now. Paid tools such as Crossover Office and Crossover Games strengthen application even further.
Conclusion
This was by no means a review for Windows 7 Ultimate, just a collection of my opinions in regards to it’s relevance with Linux and vice versa. Windows 7 has some strengths, and it also has some weaknesses, just as any other OS does. Windows is also still the most dominant operating system currently, even though a great number of features appear to have been borrowed from Linux/KDE.
When comparing Linux and Windows 7, it’s really amazing to see how far Linux has come. There are some paradigms in Linux (such as contextual browsing, scalability, fast boot times, and netbook-specific releases) that Windows just cannot compete with anymore. That is not to say that Windows is a bad OS (though it is ridiculously expensive) it just means that Microsoft will have a harder battle going forward to stay relevant.
If anything, 2010 is going to be a great and exciting year. Here we are near the end of 2009 and the stage has already been set for a great battle. Windows 7 has been released, Ubuntu 9.10 is about to be out in the wild, and Google’s Chrome OS is in development. Also in 2010 the next generation of GNOME will be released, and KDE will also up the ante with version 4.4. Times like these make me extremely happy to be a geek!
Update: I have been made aware of several people taking this article as a review of Windows 7. This article is NOT a review, and is instead a collection of my opinions that may or may not be on par with reality. As usual, check the reviews section of this site for all of my reviews, and if any of my posts are listed as “opinion”, that’s what they are.
Jeremy is a Certified IT Technician that blogs at ITNewsToday.com in his spare time. He has over ten years of industry experience, and studies the IT industry every single day. Jeremy has become an open source enthusiast over time and is studying for his Linux+ certification. He lives in Waterford MI with his wife Krystal and son Alan.
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Good piece !
What a laugh; the bilingual or multilingual stance that take.
Very interesting article… Thanks.
Good post. I’m sure this will be a hot topic in the upcoming months as more go out and guy Windows 7. One thing that people tend to forget is that with Windows you don’t have the freedom that you have with Linux. Microsoft keeps a tight reign on your computer and how you use it. If you are OK with that fact and want to continue to pay Microsoft, great. If you want an OS that can do what Windows can and more, with unlimited freedom, use Linux. Just as the article states, Linux has come a long way. It comes with such a huge list of software with distributions that it is a great solution to replace Microsoft completely.
What you don’t say is what you get with the base Windows 15-20GB.
My Ubuntu enhanced install DVD expands to about 12GB and includes everything any professional power user, programmer, or school kid could need, at least for the first year.
Windows 7 actually comes with less in it’s default install than Vista did, and the drive requirement seems to be a great deal more. Microsoft has trimmed almost half of the previously “included by default” programs. I don’t have an exact list of what is included unfortunately, and I’ll probably be removing Windows 7 soon.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! Goes to show, KDE is great!
For someone used to Linux, Windows will never be an alternative. The price and the features doesn’t matter so much. What matters is, I can just go to http://www.distrowatch.com, get a Linux of my choice, download it and install it on my computer and do what ever I want with it.
One last question, when will MS put virtual desktops into the system? Maybe with Windows 11.
I can’t imagine them putting that much effort into it any time soon.
This is an interesting article indeed. But even as I like linux so much, the only thing that works against it is driver support, I don’t like the way it handles sound but well you can’t complain much if its for free. Just that all this take over the world of PC’s is too much hyped. Better still if only they go for stability rather than a 6 month scheduled release.
I think that the Linux sound architecture is near perfect. The problem is implementation and how distributions choose to integrate sound. I don’t agree with how Ubuntu chose to handle it in recent releases.
I have installed Mandriva on several computers for friends and family. The install has always been a no brainer with web cams, wireless, sound working out of the box unlike windows !
My suggestion is to find the distro that works for your hardware without a lot of trouble. The *buntus are good but there are also other great distros out that like Mepis, PCLinuxOS and many other.
To compare hardware requirements – my Arch Linux has very few services running and starts KDE 4.3 at 115 MB when there are no programs running !
I have never exceeded 4Gb of install even with a lot of documentation for python, qt, KDE docs installed.
With Amarok for music, surfing using Konqueror or Arora, digikam I rarely go above 500 MB.
I don’t understand this “look similar?” stuff. The only similarity I can see in that screenshot is they’re both black, which was the color for Vista but isn’t even the default color for Win7.
The other thing I can see is that the KDE version just looks much poorer, with no nice glass effect, a horrible, barely-readable font with awful kerning, and cheap icons.
Oh and those gadgets were in Windows since Vista too.
I agree with a lot of your opinions – yet again the Linux community innovates and Windows follows. Why do the Linux desktop community innovate – for whatever desktop technologies they innovate – they always leave us mere mortals with a bunch of concepts and ideas – but very little dependable.
To give you an example… I have spent nights on end with buggy Linux software which on the surface looks really good (KDE 4 being one of them) – only to be disappointed badly by the most simple of actions… This while Windows XP (and now 7) gives very little hassle.
Sure – there is still a lot of small things that even Windows 7 can improve upon – but comparing ANY linux or Mac distro (I do have an IMac at home as well) to Windows is like comparing a dishwasher to a dishcloth. The one makes you work very hard and a master at dishes, while the other, for a little bit of extra resources just take the sting out of the day (and frankly, who wants to be an expert at washing dishes).
Someone with an A+ certificate should be expected to be a little more knowledgeable when it comes to Windows.
“The first problem I have with this is the supposed requirement of buying the most expensive version of 7 just to get language packs. That just doesn’t make sense to me. If I’m not mistaken, this means that if I’m bilingual or multilingual I have to pay extra to switch between languages? I can only imagine the number of lawsuits that might come from this decision!”
In other words, I’m not sure what I’m talking about but how dare they do that and they’re going to get sued so bad.
Or how about the clocks? They’re clocks with hands. Why are they going to look totally different? Linux is an innovator when it comes to standard clock design?
I also like the part of the article where you say Windows 7 app support is fine so then you launch into Vista having problems instead as something to compare to linux.
That doesn’t sound like someone that studies the industry everyday.
I use both operating systems because they both have uses. As an IT professional, I also want to know both so that I don’t sound as ignorant as some of the things in this article. I’ll be the first to admit when someone can have a better time using linux or windows.
If I ever come off sounding like this article when it comes to talking about Windows and linux, just shoot me because I must be suffering from Alzheimer’s or some other disease that attacks the brain.
I think you’re taking things a bit too seriously. I said (and I quote) “you be the judge”. You don’t need to be condescending. My point about the language packs is valid though. As far as you saying that I would be expected to know more about Windows by having an A+ Certification, you don’t know enough about me to make that determination. Finally, if you know a lot about the IT Industry yourself you would also know that the A+ certification is vendor neutral.
In short: Take it easy.
Someone reviewed your ‘review’ at http://piestar.net/2009/11/03/reality-check/ and he does make some good points – surely he’s right, your opinion can’t be worth anything if it contains bias and an inability to judge things on their merits?
Also the claims about plagarism in 7 when in reality KDE ripped off Vista casts serious doubts upon your knowledge.
Well those points mean nothing to me, because first of all (as I said before) this is NOT a review. Second, when I was mentioning the simularities between KDE and Vista, I never stated it as anything other than just my opinion, and I also said: “You be the Judge”. My article was never advertised as anything other than opinion. Look at the tags, it’s tagged as “opinion” for a reason. Taking it as serious as that person did is just trolling.