Windows 7 is Here

Occasionally I like to chime in on tech related items and with Windows 7 now being released for retail use on October 22, I thought I'd donate my two pennies.

First of all I am fully aware of the skepticism that comes with another release of a Windows operating system. I for one was guilty of riding the XP bandwagon for years, mostly surpassing the release of Windows Vista. Like many other people, I wasn't in a rush to warm up to the changes that Vista promised to bring, especially when the changes had a fairly negligible impact on my personal computer experience.

With this new release of an operating system, Microsoft not only has to deal with users questioning why Windows 7 (which is very similar, both in build and look to Vista) is going to be that much better than Vista (which was less popular than XP to begin with), they also have to deal with a much larger demographic of users who have abandoned Microsoft altogether for Mac's operating System Leopard or the newly released Snow Leopard. Mac has continued to stay ahead of the curve as far as security and susceptibility to viruses is concerned, which is why I don't blame the average user for switching to Mac.

(*As an aside I dislike dealing with Macs on a daily basis because since they are scarce in an business office setting and as a result don't usually play well with corporate networking and other PCs. For the average user, though, Macs are great and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend buying one).

Here's the thing though...after I finally gave Windows Vista Ultimate a chance when I installed it on a PC that could handle Vista's specs with a 2.67 GHz dual core processor with 4 GB worth of RAM, it ended up being a really good decision. I am now a fan on Vista because as long as you have the right hardware backing it up, it can be a really solid operating system.

...which brings me to what I'm posting about, Windows 7. If you are a student or at least have a .edu email address, there is no reason why you shouldn't take advantage of Microsoft offering you Windows 7 for only $29.99. If you're interested, feel free and go use your .edu address to go and cop it for that low $29.99 price. The offer is good until January 3rd, 2010, so you've got a few more months to think about.

I can personally say, if you have at least 2 GB worth of RAM under the hood, you will not regret installing Windows 7. I was one of those nerds who downloaded a release candidate of Windows 7 last year and used Windows Virtual PC to test drive it in both 32 bit and 64 bit. I have gradually used it more and more and I think it deserves some more love because as long as you can keep an open mind and get away from that crutch that is Windows XP, you will end up liking Windows 7.

And if you're not sold on the whole $30 for an operating system that will cost regular consumers $199 then go here and download a free Windows 7 90 day trial, license key and all.

And while you're at it, use that .edu address to get a copy of Office 2007 for only $60.