Review: Windows 7: Up and Running

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Author: Wei-Meng Lee
Format: Paperback, 208 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1st edition (October 1, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0596804040
ISBN-13: 978-0596804046

Review by James Pyles

Like a lot of people, I skipped over Windows Vista when it was released. Just too much bad press, plus bad reports from folks who actually tried Vista (such as my son). Also, the time just wasn't right for a new computer in my budget (and Vista would never have run on my old XP machines). However, I recently came upon a significant project that required I have access to a 64-bit Windows 7 Professional machine and, managing to budget the expense, I purchased it about a month ago. Now what?

Having previously avoided most Microsoft interfaces that used "the ribbon", it remains relatively new to me. That, and with all the changes between Windows XP and Windows 7, I needed a bit of help. Not that I can't Google for information as needed or figure out things for myself, but a little organized assistance would be appreciated. Enter Windows 7: Up and Running.

OK, why didn't I just go straight for Windows 7: The Definitive Guide which is also published by O'Reilly and be done with it? As a matter of fact, I own that book, too (which will be reviewed soon). However, I don't want to have to look everything up in a 992 page tome just to get my feet wet with Windows 7. It seemed like Lee's book was probably the better place to start.

Right off the bat, Chapter 1: Installing Windows 7 didn't apply to me. I bought a customized Workstation from Dell because I had very specific needs. As I previously mentioned in referencing Vista, my two old XP machines just weren't built to handle today's operating system and application software demands, so I absolutely needed a whole new everything. I also didn't have time to build a computer myself and then install Windows 7.

Of course Lee and O'Reilly would have been remiss if they hadn't included an installation chapter, and readers and reviewers (such as myself) would have howled at its absence, so Chapter 1 really belongs. It's just not relevant to me or to the army of home and business users who'll purchase Windows 7 "pre-installed".

Chapter 2: Getting Around Windows 7 is more like it. Sure, you can figure out more or less how to get things done by clicking around, but it's also nice to have concrete instructions telling you how to pin applications to the taskbar or describing what a jump list is supposed to do. I typically call Documents, Music, and Pictures folders "directories" but they've been renamed "Libraries" in the GUI, probably to be more descriptive of function. The book also pointed me to a few features such as Gadgets that reminded me somewhat of items you can add to a panel in the open source desktop of Gnome, used on Linux machines. I suppose most Microsoft fans would prefer not to hear the comparison, though.

The file sharing chapter was particularly helpful because Windows 7 security makes it that much harder to share stuff, even with other computers on your own home LAN. There are sections of the chapter that offer help in sharing files with Windows XP and Mac OS X devices, but being who I am, adding Linux to the mix would have been even more appealing.

Reminding myself that I'm reviewing a book and not an operating system, I pressed on. I really think you make a special point of reading Chapter 7: Using Windows XP Mode, because it may not be clear that the "mode" is really a virtual machine. The dark side (at least for me) of buying a Windows operating system prior to the release of Service Pack 1 is all of the stuff the computer will not support. There are plenty of apps that run well in XP that Windows 7 will not play well with or play with at all.

Installing XP mode is installing (for free) a virtual Windows XP machine on Windows 7. No, it gets better. You can then run the application from the Windows 7 Start menu without ever actually opening the virtual machine. I noodled my way through this out of necessity, but Lee was right in adding a chapter devoted just to this Windows 7 feature. It's very, very handy, but not 100% intuitive, particularly if you aren't familiar with the concept of virtual machines, let alone working with them.

The last chapter is a tips and tricks section. It's one thing to Google for a feature you know exists in order to understand how it works, but there's plenty about Windows 7 that you probably wouldn't even know is there (I know I didn't). For instance, you can use Windows Explorer to navigate to a particular directory and, if you want to work in that directory on the command line, just Shift-right-click the folder and select "Open command window here". Of course, this is only cool if you like working in the CLI.

If you want a comprehensive, one-stop-shopping book on Windows 7, look elsewhere. That's not the purpose of this text. If you're looking for a Windows 7 book to cut through all the features and confusion and to get you started with some of the more commonly used aspects of the OS, you've come to the right place with Windows 7: Up and Running.