It's no secret that Windows Vista, the long awaited follow-up to Microsoft's venerable Windows XP operating system, is not wildly popular. While people have many different reasons for their dislike, some common ones include: Vista's seemingly endless hunger for memory and CPU cycles, UAC (User Account Control--the annoying window that comes up every time you try to do almost anything in Vista asking for your permission to go ahead), and driver issues.

Love it or hate it, Vista did do a few things right (Aero was just one!).

Windows 7 takes the right things, improves them and also eliminates or greatly improves many of the wrongs. I installed Windows 7 on my computer when it was first released (October 2009). So far, I am impressed. I also have a Windows XP machine and a Vista machine, but I think Microsoft got it right this time.

Like Vista, Windows 7 comes in different flavors: Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate. The Enterprise edition is for large firms and is not available through retail or OEM. Other versions are available in different parts of the world. Your needs will drive the choice of the version, and you will have to choose whether or not you want the upgrade (cheaper) version or the full.

Windows 7 comes with both a 32 and a 64 bit disk, so either way you'll be covered in that respect.

Here's the rub: if you want to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, or a 32 bit version of Windows Vista to a 64 bit version of Windows 7, you can't do it without reformatting your hard drive.

This means you will lose all your programs, drivers, and data.

There are a few ways to get around this. Microsoft did not design Windows 7 to be upgraded from XP without a clean install, but you can back up your data before you do the clean upgrade. Of course, you have to know what to back up, where to find it, and how to restore it. What's worse, not all programs that worked in Windows XP will work in 7 (more on this later).

All is not lost though; a non-destructive upgrade to Windows 7 from XP or Vista CAN be performed and it will save you the hassle of worrying about backups, reinstalling drivers, and the time intensive act of reinstalling all your programs. Windows 7 can also be set up to run Windows XP within Windows 7 so you can still use your legacy apps (Some of these will need to be reinstalled)!

A few things to note: Microsoft has minimum requirements for Windows 7. These are: 1GB RAM (2GB for 64 bit versions), 1GHz processor (if your processor is slower than this please buy a new computer), and 16GB free hard drive space (20GB for 64 bit).

Keep in mind that this is the MINIMUM they recommend for stability and decent performance; your situation may differ, and the list may not be all-inclusive.

Running Windows XP in Widnows 7 requires an additional feature: hardware based virtualization (i.e. Intel VT), and the use of Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate (Windows 7 Home Premium does not support this feature). Microsoft's Widnows 7 Upgrade Advisor (do a search) can determine if your computer can run Windows 7 (and the optional XP add-in), and let you know what upgrades you'll need to get it there if need be.

Copyright 2011, Brian Jenkins. If you want to use this in a blog or forum, go for it. If you want to copy this verbatim, or use large parts of the preceding writing, please email me and ask. I can be reached on the Contact Us page.

Software - Microsoft Windows 7