Windows 7: Not Enough Value For The Price

I’ve been using Windows 7 since the first release candidate, and I’ve been itching to get my hands on a copy of the final code so I can see how good Microsoft’s next OS has turned out. Unfortunately, my opinion has not changed since the release candidate. While Windows 7 is a step in the right direction, the astronomically high cost and lack of any must-have features cripples its value.

First, let’s talk about the value Windows 7 does have. It’s fast, stable, and runs better overall when compared to Windows Vista. In fact, I will go as far as to say that it’s everything that Vista should have been. It just feels so much more responsive and looks cleaner. There is even a completely redesigned taskbar, which manages to save a lot more room by eliminating the titles from the running applications. It starts up faster, and shuts down faster. I haven’t even had it crash on me a single time, even while it was in beta.

It’s no wonder that it’s an improvement over Vista. Microsoft had no choice but to do everything they could to try to win back their audience. Although Windows Vista’s sales numbers can be infinitely debated, the fact remains that it is the second most hated Microsoft operating system in existence. I remember the Vista slogan “The Wow Starts Now”, but unfortunately there was no “wow” to be found. It slowed down any computer that it was put on, had ridiculous hardware requirements, and introduced unnecessary compatiblity issues. In that regard, Windows 7 is a blessing because I have found none of those problems. (Except the hard drive requirement, but more on that later). There are actually a good number of improvements all over the place in 7.

Unfortunately, Windows 7 is not perfect. The first problem is the price. Windows 7 is freakin’ expensive. For a full retail copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, it will set you back around $319.99. For Windows 7 Home Premium, expect to pay $199.99 at retail. Upgrade prices are $219.99 and $119.99 respectively. (Source).

That’s the first strike against the value of Windows 7. All of its new features and improvements are all good, but nothing in this new OS is worth what Microsoft is asking for it. Keep in mind, Microsoft is asking $319.99 for a full copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, and a new Dell netbook these days only costs $299. This means that Windows 7 would become the most expensive part of your computer. That’s not to say that Windows 7 doesn’t have any value at all, as a matter of fact it will make your computer faster and more responsive than it was with Vista, and that is the primary reason why anyone will upgrade to 7. However, even Vista runs perfectly fine on the right hardware, and a good hardware upgrade would cost you just a fraction of what it would to buy a new Windows 7 license. Couple that with the fact that there are no must-have features in Windows 7, and you’ll see just how irrelevant it really is.

Another problem that Vista had was software bloat. I was very happy to hear around the blogosphere that Microsoft would finally be doing something about this and would stop installing everything AND the kitchen sink by default. Unfortunately, this problem (or tradition) continues in Windows 7 and has not been fixed, despite what any other blog may tell you. From a quick look at Windows 7′s start menu, the following apps were found: Internet Explorer, DVD Maker, Fax and Scan, Media Center, Media Player, XPS Viewer, Sync Center, Sticky Notes, Wordpad, and Remote Assistance. I never asked for any of those things, so it looks like Microsoft didn’t lower the bloat too much afterall. There wasn’t even a set of options during the installation to give me a chance to choose which components I wanted overall.

Speaking of Bloat, Windows 7 can easily take up 15-20GB of your hard drive for the OS alone. That may not seem like much to any of you that have terabyte hard drives, but an OS install size that big is completely unacceptable. An operating system is there to manage your resources and launch applications, not to consume a large amount of resources by itself. Also, it’s important to keep in mind that Microsoft’s goal is to circumvent Linux on netbooks, since Windows Vista was too bloated to run on them. A lot of netbooks out there don’t even come with a 20GB hard drive, so how the heck does Microsoft think they are going to capture the mini computer market with an install size so big? It just doesn’t make any sense. On my test machine, Windows 7 wouldn’t even allow me to select a 20GB hard drive for installation, regardless of whether or not it would have fit.

Taking all of that into consideration, Microsoft is clearly over-exagerating the value of its operating system. On one hand, Windows 7 Premium alone will cost you almost $200 for a retail license, while Linux is completely free and Apple gives away Mac OSX with every Apple computer they sell. Upgrading your Mac to the latest OSX whenever it comes out only costs around $30 the last time I checked.

So, not only does Microsoft think that Windows 7 is worth the entire contents of your pocketbook, they also think it should steal up to 20GB of your hard drive too, when no other operating system has that big of an install size. All of this would be acceptable if Windows 7 had some amazing features, but it doesn’t. It’s basically Windows Vista polished up, made better, and released in a new package. In my personal opinion, an OS that costs up to $319.99 better have at least one thing in the package that’s gold plated, but I highly doubt that’s the case.

Overall Windows 7 is a wonderful OS with a lot of great improvements all over the place. It’s fast, runs great, and is a wonderful asset to the computer of any Windows user. Unfortunately, the astronomical cost kills any relevance it has in retail. If you do use Windows and your new machine comes with Windows 7, you’ll love it. If you’re thinking about rushing to the store to buy 7 as soon as it comes out, please don’t waste your money. It’s just not worth what Microsoft is asking for it. Your money would be better spent on a memory or processor upgrade, and you’d save a ton of money by doing that instead. Even worse, there just aren’t any must-have features here.

Screenshots
Click on any of the below images for a larger view:

About Dialogue:

Desktop:

Action Center:

The Good

• Faster than Vista
• Looks cleaner
• Redesigned taskbar

The Bad

• Way too expensive
• Not enough value for the price
• Completely irrelevant at retail

Overall: 2/5 (Bad)