News Post

Windows 7, Microsoft’s latest operating system, went on sale today. While people are not lining up around the block to purchase a copy, many lawyers may be wondering whether it would be worth their time, money and trouble to upgrade from XP or Vista. Like most questions raised in the law office, it depends.

I’ve spent the morning reading multiple articles and reviews, and the concensus seems to be that Windows 7 is beautiful, has a some great new features, and is a huge improvement over Vista.  If Vista is your current operating system – go for it!  The install is reported to be relatively easy and there is lots of information on how to handle the transition.  But, if you are currently using XP, unless your computer has lots of memory and a very fast processor, you’ll be better off to wait until you purchase a new PC to take advantage of Windows 7’s improvements (although there are 7 days of deals available on the new operating system and hardware).  For one thing, you cannot simply upgrade from XP to Windows 7.  You will need to perform what’s called a clean install – removing all your data and programs from your hard drive, installing the new operating system, and then moving everything back.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve got better things to do today.

If you’re interested in learning more about Windows 7 and whether it’s right for you now, Windows Secrets has a good short article on The Pros and Cons of Switching to Windows 7.   PC World‘s Windows 7 Review lays out what’s new and what it can do for you. David Pogue covers some of the neat new features in his New York Times Personal Tech column Windows 7 Keeps the Good, Tries to Fix Flaws.  And PC Magazine has a good article on whether Windows 7 is right for your business.