That’s right! Yours truly spent some time with a Windows-based laptop this week. My galpal doesn’t want a Mac (YET!), so I helped her order a 15.6″ Dell Studio laptop with pretty decent specs. When she got it, there was some configuring that needed to be done, so I volunteered my services.
I hadn’t played with Windows 7 yet. I haven’t used Windows extensively since Windows XP (AN EIGHT YEAR OLD OS!), but I have tinkered with Vista. I found the UI to be much cleaner in Windows 7 than it has been previously. “Better” is a strong word, but it is certainly less cluttered. I’ll sum up my experience like this: I didn’t run into any major issues. That is an improvement as far as I see it.
Sadly, Dell ships their computers with a TON of crap that doesn’t do much. I stripped all of that nonsense out of the computer, and then did some finesse work. I locked it down pretty tightly, and then set everything to automatically update without any user interaction. This was actually much easier than I had anticipated. There has been a lot of movement towards automation in the last few years.
Here is a list of things I added to make her experience better:
- Installed browser plug-ins (Flash, Silverlight, QuickTime)
- Installed media players (iTunes for music, VLC for videos)
- Installed a photo management app (Picasa)
- Installed an anti-virus (AVG’s free application)
- Installed an anti-spyware app (Ad-Aware)
Much to my pleasant surprise, she was already a Safari user. SEE! I’m telling you that there is hope to lure her over to this side eventually! Maybe.
As Mac enthusiasts, we sometimes act very dismissive towards Windows. I think it is important for us to expose ourselves to it from time to time just for the experience. Frankly, I was left with a pretty nice impression of Windows 7. It’s by no means a bad operating system. It just isn’t the one I want to use.
Photo Credit: FelineNoir.com
December 30th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Been using Win7 on my netbook since release and its really nice. What vista should have been. Should be happy with the new os update.
December 31st, 2009 at 12:53 am
My main problem is with Dell, not MS. I hate all of the crapware they put on it.
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December 31st, 2009 at 4:09 am
Sell HD space for low pc cost. Glad my netbook only had one or two things.
December 30th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Macgasm.net: The Flip Side: Configuring a Dell With Windows 7:
That’s right! Yours truly spent some time wit… http://bit.ly/77h350 #fb
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December 31st, 2009 at 4:22 am
The Flip Side: Configuring a Dell With Windows 7: Macgasm (blog)
I hadn’t played with Windows 7… http://bit.ly/8rfFd2 http://bit.ly/18U9e
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December 31st, 2009 at 4:22 am
The Flip Side: Configuring a Dell With Windows 7: Macgasm (blog)
That’s right! Yours truly spent some time .. http://bit.ly/6ue0FU
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December 31st, 2009 at 4:38 am
The Flip Side: Configuring a Dell With Windows 7 http://bit.ly/6aCNOX
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December 31st, 2009 at 5:07 am
The Flip Side: Configuring a Dell With Windows 7 http://bit.ly/4PtBmE
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December 31st, 2009 at 5:44 am
The Flip Side: Configuring a Dell With Windows 7: Macgasm (blog)
I hadn’t played with Windows 7 yet. I have.. http://bit.ly/5WBhRv
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December 31st, 2009 at 6:19 am
The Flip Side: Configuring a Dell With Windows 7: Macgasm (blog)
I hadn’t played with Windows 7 yet. I haven’t used… http://bit.ly/5ufeYp
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December 31st, 2009 at 6:37 am
The Flip Side: Configuring a Dell With Windows 7: Macgasm (blog)
That’s right! Yours truly spent some time .. http://bit.ly/7AnNzQ
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