"The definitive word comes in Thursday's Wall Street Journal and All Things Digital from Walt Mossberg, the diminutive dean of tech journalists and a man who takes his software reviews seriously."...Brainstorm Tech

Mossberg's reviews:
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  • On a couple of these machines, glacial start-up and reboot times reminded me of Vista.
  • On a couple of others, after upgrading, key features like the display or touchpad didn’t work properly.
  • Windows 7 still requires add-on security software that has to be frequently updated.
  • It’s tedious and painful to upgrade an existing computer from XP to 7
  • The variety of editions in which Windows 7 is offered is confusing.
  • Microsoft has stripped Windows 7 of familiar built-in applications, such as email, photo organizing, address book, calendar and video-editing programs. [They can be downloaded free of charge.]
  • Windows 7 still isn’t quite as natural at networking as I find the Mac to be, but it’s better than Vista.
  • In my tests, [a new feature called HomeGroups] worked, but not consistently, and it required typing in long, arcane passwords.
  • The Mac still started and restarted faster than most of the Windows 7 PCs. But the speed gap has narrowed considerably, and one of the Lenovos beat the Mac in restart time.
  • In the name of security, Vista put up nagging warnings about a wide variety of tasks, driving people crazy. In Windows 7, you can now set this system so it nags you only when things are happening that you consider really worth the nag.
  • The system for upgrading is complicated, but Vista owners can upgrade to the exactly comparable edition of Windows 7 while keeping all files, settings and programs in place.
  • Unfortunately, XP owners, the biggest body of Windows users, won’t be able to do that.
  • They’ll have to wipe out their hard disks after backing up their files elsewhere, then install Windows 7, then restore their personal files, then re-install all their programs from the original CDs or downloaded installer files.
  • Then, they have to install all the patches and upgrades to those programs from over the years.
  • Microsoft includes an Easy Transfer wizard to help with this, but it moves only personal files, not programs.
  • This painful XP upgrade process is one of the worst things about Windows 7 and will likely drive many XP owners to either stick with what they’ve got or wait and buy a new one.