Why We All Loved Windows 7
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On July 22, 2009, Microsoft released what many critics would consider to be the greatest operating system ever made: Windows 7. Many critics praised the OS for its slick design, easy to use desktop interface, and its implementation of features that made it much more similar to other competing systems of the time such as Apple’s Mac OS X. However, Windows 7 looks and operates practically identical to Windows Vista, which has been considered one of the worst versions of Windows to ever be released. So, what makes Windows 7 stand out and how has Windows 7 continued to preserve its positive legacy even today?
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We need more bonzi buddy plushie's
The fact that Windows 7 is now considered an outdated OS even to Steam is almost certainly my "Damn I'm old" moment
Yeah and I still have it on a partition on this HP HDX 9000. Was using it until Steam and PLEX said "Nope we're not using this OS anymore." So I made my Win10 partition actually functional with Atlas OS on this old beauty.
@@TheNiteNinja19 watch out with Atlas OS as it was discovered to deactivate and uninstall important security features, and also the fact that you're completely out of security updates too
even though we some users are 15-20 years old😂😂
Finding out that we are getting out of Windows 10 also makes me feel old. No way I'm getting Windows 11 though. I'm waiting for Windows 12 to finally come out and I hope that it's way better than 11 otherwise I'm going to die inside having to choose one.
@@ViroRads that's exactly why you would use Atlas lol
back when there was actual depth in UI's
Before windows 10
actual AND literal
Some Linux UIs have depth.
at least Windows 11 tries
skeumorphism
Things peaked with 7. Some of my office's PC's continue to run it, and its still slick and straightforward by todays standards.
Yup as long as u are smart about what you do online it could run forever.
Huge security vulnerability. I hope they have absolutely no network connectivity
ya, but control is here... you choose which OS you use based of the apps you run.. Nuts to security no matter how hard companies who make the OS try and push you..Even Windows Update has made it hard. to turn off now, which just demonstrates how much pressure Microsoft wants users to be up-to-date. You must bury in registry and/or use multiple techniques to disable updates, but it works (for now) Who knows if MS will loose that ability next OS Its hard to believe people choose the OS outdated. to be 'more popular' which begs the question "Do people really care about security?"
@@PWNAGE703Windows itself is practically a security vulnerability.
I think one thing to note is that with Windows 8 and especially Windows 10, we entered an era of greater OS-level surveillance via telemetry and inking. To me, even though Windows 7 wasn't the first OS I ever used, it definitely feels in retrospect like the last "innocent" OS. (Note: MS tried backporting telemetry in 2019 but this apparently is easily circumvented.)
Yeah just remove the update compatibility tool and reminder
Man, you nailed it. The last innocent OS. The last pure tool. I miss it.
@@firstandlastnames8308 There's Linux now
@@thorlancaster5641Desktop Linux has improved a lot in the last few years yet I can still understand why it's not appealing to the regular user. I think we should use the right OS for the task not choose one for everything and defend it to death.
@@thorlancaster5641Linux is a joke when it comes to usability. Its the computer equivalent of buying a $100 car off Craigslist and coping with "well I LIKE rebuilding the engine every time I want to go out of town!"
I always loved the style of Windows 7, it had this futuristic utopia appearance in my opinion, with all the transparency, bright colors and water-like "flow" of animations.
Frutiger Aero vibes
Vista aero still looked better
I take this as the best description of windows 7, ever.
@@DomaldValefr
Let's put our heads together, rip the code, and reverse engineer it into our own code and submit it to microsoft as an alternative package to windows 11 called Windows 7X. Still has all modern amenities, but it all has the signature windows 7 appearance. Also, we should make windows 95 into a remastered OS
Honestly the Aero Glass theme and styling throughout the system (including the icons and desktop widgets) is really timeless and still looks better than just about anything since!
@@dreaper2087 i use kde plasma, and i still cannot find any good aero or even skeuomorphic theme that is actually good. in fact, i cannot find any good themes at all. i just use Breeze
@@dreaper2087 yeah but they're all either very broken or just uncanny
Idk, I've never been a fan of the aero theme. Don't get me wrong, Windows 7 was darn stable and was certainly better in functionality than the adware that is win10, but I just can't get past its appearance. It just looks way too dated IMHO.
@@dreaper2087 Right now I'm using win11 on my main machine, but I'm also experimenting with a couple different Linux distros on my laptop. I really wish windows didn't turn into adware, but I still need it for CAD software and other programs that rely on Windows.
Aero feels kind of dated to me, but i'll always have a fond nostalgia for Aero. Aero Glass especially was such a brilliant idea, since open apps were already called windows.
Something I love about Windows XP/7 is that they were generally maximalist and stylish. To exemplify this, you'll find "how to turn Linux into Windows XP/7" tutorial videos and have Linux fans fawning over Microsoft's UI design choices of the time. The way XP/7 were designed was to impress you, really get you engaged with the system, etc. Nowadays, modern Windows design is a lot more utilitarian and minimalist, falling in line with today's trends. Everything is minimalist, simple, to the point, etc from Apple and Microsoft's UI designs to corporate logos. Nothing feels "fun" anymore. As a personal ancedote, I never got tired of Windows 7 either or thought it was "old" and resisted the free upgrade to Windows 10 which supposedly came with lots of hardware issues. I used my old Toshiba laptop I got in Christmas 2010 and used it until January 2017, I was so attached to it that my parents kinda had to coax me into buying a new laptop lol. I never was that fond of Windows 10 to be honest. Thanks for the video!
The ironic part of this is that XP and 7 truly are the minimalist OS that give you the feeling that they used every feature to it's greatest potential while new versions are bloated beyond belief. The only thing modern windows is good for is a gaming OS, I would never call it a "productivity" OS.
The sad part is that "to the point" is just the slogan and current OSes are nowhere near that, often just removing features. Like, you literally have windows 7 and windows 8.1 UI clashing in win 10, you can uninstall the programs either through a "modern" (slow) UI or a functional and pretty UI. Not fully sure but I always thought that the 7th UI actually shown you bigger portion of your installed programs than 10th ones, maybe just a placebo but it made me feel more in control of what i have installed.
@@MrBelles104 Funny, over the last five years, I've grown to think of Linux Mint as a gaming OS. There's very little I want to play that doesn't work on it, either natively or thorough Proton (Valve's fork of WINE), regular WINE, DOSBox, or various emulators. If you're into multiplayer games with lazy developers who refuse to update their anti-cheat systems to work with WINE, I'm afraid you're out of luck, but if you're mostly into single-player, you're likely to find most things work just fine.
@@Roxor128 I can't believe I didn't know Valve had their own fork of WINE, but yes, Linux has gotten so much gaming support. Despite that, Windows supports everything out of the box for the most part, and the only case where I'd want to use Windows is for those few multiplayer exceptions. I never got into the multiplayer games though, with the exception of Minecraft :)
i like minimalist and simple designs now because of my fear of computers. it really helped me, but i still love the windows xp/7 look
Windows 7 is my childhood all those hours playing purble place and flash games. What I love most about windows 7 is it's sounds they are all so charming from the start up to the volume bar
And that beautiful log in sound ❤
Angry birds and poggle
Holy cow that's where that game comes from I'd completely forgotten about it.
Yeah exactly. This was the time where i was the most excited about playing video games. It felt like visiting a completely new world.
@@dan.iel_ fr
XP and 7 will always hands down be the best most successful and loved versions of windows. I still use both to this day.
You do? Wtf. What even works on them anymore,?
I still use Win 7 and there is a ton of apps still supporting it.
@@keylanoslokj1806 I also use 7 on most of my PCs, everything still works fine and I get security updates from Microsoft every few days. Even XP still gets updates (if you know where to look!)
@@craigavonvideo 8 doesn't get updates anymore
@@keylanoslokj1806 they literally just drifted 8 apart long ago ☠️
Windows 7 is the last Windows operating system that wasn't a massive pain from the perspective of doing tech support. It never automatically installed bad drivers that would brick the install. It doesn't kill hard-drives with constant reads. Even the worst case of malware on 7 that I had to deal with was less damaging than what 10 has done to itself. I even use it on the only device I still have running Windows.
Sorry, windows 8.1 was better. Nobody even needed the stupid old fashioned start menu. The start screen is much cooler
@@marioluigi9599 Considering the popularity of Classic Shell among Windows 8.1 systems that I worked on I can't say many people liked that feature. I would rather deal with 8.1 than 10 though.
@@jss2a98aj Well that's only because it was forced on them by Windows 8. And also windows 8 was stupid because they never explained properly how it worked like how to close full screen apps, or how to shutdown the computer. The power options weren't even on the start screen. So people were stuck and got annoyed with it. That's why they wanted the classic back. However windows 8.1 fixed the issues, so at that point, if people had been smart, they could have realised that actually the start menu IS outdated and it's pretty much useless. I mean nowadays in windows 11 it's gone anyway, isn't it? And people don't have a problem with it, so what was the point of bringing it back in windows 10 if you're just gonna take it again?
@@jss2a98aj I think that Windows 8.1 was the ideal compromise. It wasn't for tablets only like Windows 8. And it already had got rid of the start menu, which is gone now. Plus, it wasn't as bloated as Windows 10, so it was actually faster. I guess it was ahead of its time and people didn't know how the handle it. But I would say they only hated it because of being prejudiced by Windows 8. What Microsoft should have done is provide a proper tutorial to Windows 8.1 - that way people could have seen how it works and that it's actually really easy without the outdated start menu, then all their issues would have been solved
@@marioluigi9599 I have not used 11, but looking at some screenshots it appears to have a tiled start menu. If I recall 8.1 occupied almost the entire screen with its start menu replacement. I think that was most peoples reason for not using it. I migrated most of my stuff off of Windows after 7 so I have barely used newer to comment on usability changing.
The aero glass ui was the coolest part about the whole OS. Just being able to see through your title bars or taskbar was incredible back then. It ran fast, was super responsive, and felt modern. While most I knew immediately jumped ship to 8 or 10 at launch, I stayed with 7. There were issues I encountered with the RTM of 10 that weren't there in the technical previews (but I later resolved), so that was another reason for me to stick with what I had. Turns out it was a BIOS update that was required for aero glass to function on a cold boot, and for 10 to boot after installation, even though the board was advertised as Windows 10 compatible. I stuck with XP until 2014, and I stuck with 7 right up to the point where driver support was dropped, about a year after EOL. Now I'm on 10 and I do miss 7. Not to mention I'm stuck here since my CPU and motherboard weren't made in the last 3 years, so it's not compatible with 11. Thanks for nothing, Microsoft.
The translucent windows were useful, too. Having something underneath showing through served as a way to check on another program without having to click it in the taskbar. When EOL for Windows 7 was looming, I planned a move to Linux, rather than Windows 10. Ended up doing it a year earlier than planned due to a motherboard failure. Rather than deal with the hassle of reinstalling Windows for only a year of use, I went and installed Linux Mint instead. Ended up customising the MATE desktop to look like a Frankenstein hybrid of XP and 98.
Id recommend installing a linux distro after windows 10 ends support and install xp or 7 themes if you *really* like it that much
I LOVE Windows 7 and indeed, am watching your video on Windows 7 right now. Last week my wife got a new laptop, also running WIndows 7 - and absolutely loves it after her own experience of Windows 10. The end of support from Microsoft proved to be utterly irrelevant, as 7 still works perfectly without it, provide you install an anti-virus program which still supports Win7 - as many do. I have NEVER picked up a virus or malware of any kind whatsoever on Windows 7. All the software I need still works flawlessly on Win 7, as does the internet. I see absolutely NO reason to change. And at my age (72) I am not going to.
I have a 11 year old Windows 7 laptop and after watching this video, i'm gonna go and hug it. It has been with me through some really rough times and i'm thankful for such a timeless machine 😌
how do you deal with antivirus?
@@dumped_garbage malwarebytes free version and panda free antivirus
@@dumped_garbage I also still run my old laptop with Windows 7. I use some modifications like 0patch and other third party programs to have improved security for outdated system and it works just fine.
@Savvy not against exploits that require zero user interaction... (like the infamous SMB one)
ahh i miss that sleek look of windows 7 (i have a mbp 2011 with windows 7, but still why wouldn't ms keep the aero blur theme i don't really like mica material)
I remember what it felt like to install Windows 7 on the family computer. My dad had been given free access to a license of 7 because he was a professor at a university. My family never bought a computer with Vista and I had always heard how bad people thought it was. So when I finally got to upgrade from the very outdated XP, it felt revolutionary. It was such a sleek experience, everything about it seemed to work, and that elegant bluish hue that is so characteristic of a fresh 7 install is burned into my mind. I wish that feeling of change and functionality could be experienced again with another modern OS, but so far they have missed the mark from what 7 did, whether it's a Windows, Mac or Linux OS.
it's crazy how vista looked super modern and sleek but now it looks like a fisher price os to me
Especially Linux OS! Linuxes are slow as hell nowadays :(
I will always remember windows 7 as the family computer playing on purble place and watching videos on KZhead back in 2011
@@yeppiiprods yeah, what about the command line, it's even faster than Arch. We're in 2023, hello...
XP was far from outdated when windows 7 was current 2009-2012
The idea of someone thinking Windows XP was dated in 2006 when I daily drove it until like 2014-15 completely fine with it, is hilarious to me
Still using Windows 7 September 2023. Never caught a virus on any of my machines or experienced any security risk. Installed only the software I already knew I needed direct from the actual publishers website. Finally started using Windows 10 last month, only because there were no Windows 7 drivers for it. Used OpenShell, WinAeroTweaker, and ShutUp10 to make it look and run as much like WIndows 7 as possible to save my sanity.
Aero Glass was hands down my favorite thing about it. When Microsoft moved to Metro UI, it just felt like we were going backwards. I know "modernization" means minimalism, but some of us would also still like the flashy clear panels and smooth curves. Like I can't stand light mode in 10, however I can more than tolerate white backgrounds in 7 because it just felt like it belongs.
I mean im currently running a windows 10 with aero glass theme and windows 7 start menu. Just have to learn how to customize all that stuff.
Windows vista has a better aero glass
Aero glass was a stinking resource hog just for the sake of a bit of eye candy. And some software refused to work unless that theme was applied. The whole Vista/7 period will be remembered for MS giving people what they didn't need. UAC is about the best thing that came out of that era.
@@michaelmcdonald2348 people hated UAC for no reason, without it you might as well use XP and double click an EXE and have your whole system fucked in the ass
Actually W98 looks better than metro
Windows 7 wasn't my first OS, but it WAS what I used from 2010 to last year. Windows 7 was what I used in 2012 specifically, back when everything in my life was amazing. It really just makes me feel like I am young again.
they are deep throating us with win 11 preinstalled on new laptops
It's not quite feature complete, notably you can't change aero glass colors, but someone has made a "modern" version of windows 7 running on windows 10 1703.
@@cheezyfriez12 Can you send the link of the vide?
@@cheezyfriez12 its more usable than modern day windows.
I still use win7 because all the computers I had where (and will be) old, made out of scraps, so they usually can't run nothing past win 7
If only Apps these days are compatible to install in Windows 7, I'd still be using Windows 7.
One of my earliest computer experiences was my grandpa showing me how windows 7 worked. It brings back good memories.
Your grandpa still doing good right?
@@RohanSanjith I mean yeah hes just kind of dead.
At least man's chiling
@@Frille512 yeah from what i know he died peacefully
good to know he's resting in peace
The thing I love about Win7 the most is transparent windows
well windows are pretty useless if they are not transparent lol...
@@manoz6194 i see what you did there
Shows you were not familiar with Vista, since that feature was identical there.
@@BilisNegra I never use Vista, I jumped from XPSP3 then 7
@@ahha6304 It's OK, a lot of people did, in fact, it was the most common route. Being among those who did use Vista for years (it was plenty fine after the Service Packs), Aero Glass was taken for granted. I did skip 8 and 8.1 though, but as far as I know, 8.1 was not bad at all.
It cannot be understated how well Windows 7 has aged, even to this day, 3 years after it's end of life phase had begun. I remember 2 years ago when I began dual-booting Windows 10 and 7 and almost immediately (and even more so, given some time) I realized just how much smoother the experience of using Windows 7 was compared to 10, and it wasn't just nostalgia speaking either. I've had numerous problems with running Windows 10 that involved performance, stability, and just how user-hostile the experience was overall. It also had seemingly unnecessary additions to the system that the it could've been better off without, *ahem... Shell Infrastructure Host.* The same just can't be said about Windows 7, which is WAY more user friendly, runs smoother, is much more reliable, and it even looks nicer. (Yeah, I still think Aero looks timeless even to this day). I know it probably isn't the best thing to compare a system from almost 14 years ago with one from just about 8 years ago, but good god for me there is absolutely no contest, Windows 7 is still one of the best designed operating systems ever made by anyone.
Agreed.
Actually true. I dual boot windows 7 and 8.1 because i need autocad lol, ft. ubuntu as the actual main driver
i still use Windows 7 and dual boot to 10. still have a laptop with XP and XP Black. last week saw a Lenovo laptop at pawn shop Win 11 and bought it for $150.
It seems unbelievable now that during my 8 years of using win7 a windows related app or process has NEVER gone wild and started occupying a lot of memory or cpu.
Microsoft switched to the Adobe model, 7 on the other hand was self contained and didn't bloat. It ran the systems it needed to in order to work and that was that, wasn't spying on you to give as much info as possible about you to interested parties, didn't throttle the hell out of your CPU as often as it could due to background programs. It was just a piece of software that did it's job
I love Windows 7 so much that I’d still use it if it was supported and Sims 4 would run on it. It truly was the best.
I always loved the customization of it. Most things now lack that ability, which is what makes me nostalgic for a lot of "old" tech imo
agreed windows 7 is extremely customizable
Windows 7 was a masterpiece. Beautiful, easy, reliable, my childhood. I can’t say the same for Windows 10 because at least on our pc and in my opinion it is a little boring-looking, not as easy to understand (we always accidentally open that one news panel at the bottom), not as reliable (just crashed last week again while browsing the web), but still kind of a part of my childhood. But Windows XP and 7 are true masterpieces in my opinion.
in _our_ opinion, my friend.
@@spungbopscarepans haha 😂
My windows 10 is SO SLOW meanwhile my windows 7 is reallly fast
There’s just something about windows XP and 7 that makes them so fucking nostalgic, and that’s a good thing
Exsactly you have failed to evolve. Started on DOS. My first company started in the window 98 time period. Stability of windows 10/11 out matches it in every way. If you need to repair its also so much easier. Just disable the telemetry and its as good as M$ has put out.
_"Why We All Loved Windows 7"_ You did an excellent job of explaining how and why Win7 was better than its predecessors. _"Why People Still Love Windows 7 Today"_ This part is missing. Some people still prefer Win7 and still consider it better than later versions. Newer is always an opportunity. But newer is not always better.
Preach! W10 and W11 might be part of the new era of computers to compete with iOS, but this era kinda sucks. We're being pushed to always online features and hardware that people are tossing away every two years since feature creep of the OS makes the system unusable. At this point, I'm rooting for systems like the Steam Deck to show that computers don't need to scare you every minute about "missing out on important features if you don't sign up for MS+ pro 365 Gold for 120 a year"
Same. I make a point to always be a vanguard of new technology, but even then I can argue that Windows 7 is just objectively better than 10 or 11. I'm using 11 not necessarily because I "prefer" it over 7, but because at this point I pretty much "have" to.
Same boat. New build is definitely going towards a long term win 7 project. Anyone else have people in their lives who get irritated at you for being a windows 7 die hard?
@@Solinaru You're right on everything modern windows has way too much consumerism like windows 10 even comes bundled with third party apps such as amazon prime and tiktok
@@SolinaruI love my Steam Deck. I’m currently playing Elden Ring.
Windows 7 also unironically created (or at least inspired) a generation of chess players. Oh, and mahjong players as well. Even if it was repetitive, I never felt tired playing Solitaire or Spider Solitaire on W7. But I hardly touch W11's version of it (which added leaderboards and all that unnecessary bloat - I tried it for like 5 times and then never tried it again). And W11 right now does not feel like Windows anymore to me with the Start menu at the center. Part of the Windows identity for me is that it has its Start button at that small corner of your screen.
I confess I'm a weird one. I stayed on Windows ME for far longer than I technically should have. I didn't see the need to upgrade to XP because it offered me nothing that ME didn't. It took the release of the game The Battle for Middle-Earth for me to finally make the jump. The same thing happened with both Vista and 7. I didn't hate either operating system but they didn't offer me anything at the time that XP wasn't also doing. Then I got an email from Microsoft offering their new Windows 8 for £24.99 and I took it. I really liked Windows 8, the full screen start menu was a bit of a pain but soon apps like Classic Shell were released to give me back an actual start menu. With the Spring and .1 updates Windows 8 became the OS I moved to. It just worked for me in a way that 7 never did and I really couldn't explain why. I could have still been on Windows 8.1 now if my hardware supported it. When I upgraded to a Ryzen based platform I discovered that the motherboard had drivers for 7 and 10 but nothing for 8. I had no choice but to move to Windows 10, though I confess that Marvel's Spider-Man finally releasing probably would have made me switch.
Windows 7 was the peak of the OS's design. I have fond memories of using it in the IT classroom at school during Media classes when I was invariably using it to design things on Photoshop. I was so fond of it that I still use the Classic Shell Start Menu in the Win 7 design. I couldn't get along with the 8, 8.1 or 10 design Start menu and the 7 Start Menu just had everything where I could find it, hence I still use it to this day with Windows 10.
Classic shell is the only thing keeping me on 10, eol 10 is when I go to Linux
Windows 10 is the best version yet, cause it’s the most stable. Windows update in Windows 7 was straight trash, in Windows 10, it works without issue, at least on an SSD, nobody should be running and OS from an HDD in 2023/2024.
rip control panel and compact UI 😭@@alexanderbaker4900
@@ncard00 Weird, I constantly get errors from Windows own settings. I use GPedit to stop update from downloading drivers and it just errors and doesnt update anything.
@@ncard00 Linux runs perfectly from an HDD.
I miss how professional old UIs felt. Windows 10, 11, and recent Mac Os just feel like a toy.
Windows 8 and 8.1 felt like a major step backwards with its tile-based design, because Microsoft was assuming that the future was tablet-like computers. Fortunately, Microsoft came to their senses and released Windows 10, which had a user interface very much like Windows 7.
Ah yeah, Luna was really a peak of professionalism.
Yep. Also the old Australis UI of FF, the old school websites where there's more content on webpages than useless animation and effects. A lot of those good things between 05 and 2010.
@@Sacto1654 i love windows 8.1 though i think the tiles are cool, while yes it was a step in the wrong direction i think they are very nostalgic from the 2010 fruitiger metro aesthetic
wait what? Luna felt like a toy, Vista/7 just copied macOS transparency effects (not as good mind u), windows 11 is really clean, windows 10 was fine.
Windows 7 had a free preview version in July 2009. I installed it and immediately loved it. It was fast and clean, looked great compared to XP. I suspect this had something to do with its success.
the fact that I used windows 7 for so long... it is indeed part of my memories and thus, I'm still stuck to the PC as my primary tool
Fun fact, Windows 7 was first shown to the public, in person, in a village in Serbia by the name of Melenci. One developer that worked on 7 decided to showcase the public build there because it is his hometown. All techies and geeks from nearby filled the Incognito cafe, owned at the time by my uncle, to a live demonstration of something they had only seen online, and they were informed they were first in the world to see
serbias my home country of main ancestry
I can't find any info on this on the internet though I hope it's true since I'm Serbian
im half serbian@@laz3664
@@laz3664 it's true. It was a prepremiere, rather, which makes it the first public showing ever
Source? (Im serbian and this is rpob fake)
One thing people always seem to overlook is the fact that Vista had no software compatible with it, but when Seven came out, it ran all of the brand new Vista-centric software without a hiccup. The biggest complaints I got regarding Vista at the time was that it couldn't run software designed for Win9x and XP, which, I mean... Of course it couldn't. Games really struggled, because those were all developed with WinXP in mind, and the higher system requirements meant games had poorer performance. Two years later, newer games were targeting Vista, older games had been patched to work with Vista and Windows Seven swooped in and took all the glory. Also, I know I'm mostly referring to games, as it's what I'm most experienced in, but this was true for other software as well. Cellphones and Palmtops had XP-centric software that would act up on Vista, for instance. It was printer hell as well.
Big issue with Vista was UAC. Every app or game before was written assuming an "admin" account would be full access to the computer. The new security model UAC introduced broke every app and game that made that assumption.
Excellent points, guys. One could almost say Vista was just a preview for devs to get used to the new OS philosophy. Then 7 was the actual product for the masses (not that I think MS actually meant it to be this way)
Vista and 7 ran most software of Windows XP. The main problem was: XP 64bit Edition was straight up trash, but computers went from 1GB Ram to 4GB Ram by default during 2001 and 2010 and SYSWOW can only do so much...
I think it's slightly more complicated. Windows 7 ran better, and user interface was more polished, than Vista. Part of this was because of the MinWin project, which started during Vista's development. Microsoft had gotten themselves into a mess, with various bits and pieces of the Windows source code depending on _other_ bits and pieces of the Windows source code, until a dependency graph of all the bits and pieces started to look like a ball of yarn. This made changes to any one part complicated, as it would affect many other parts, and nobody would really know whether those changes would break something. So, they started classifying all the source files into layers, and worked to remove dependencies of lower layers on higher layers, so that everything started on a smaller, self-sufficient foundation. This made it possible to do things like Server Core, where you could install Windows Server without requiring things like Explorer, printing support, or DirectX -- which often are not needed on a dedicated server, and just increase the potential attack surface if someone is trying to compromise the machine. Ultimately, this stripped-down core of the essential components of the Windows kernel got down to 25MB of disk space, and 40MB of RAM. This became the foundation of Windows 7. Everything else was built on top of MinWin, and architected to rely on services provided by the base OS. Windows 7 felt agile and lithe, while Vista felt sluggish and bloated. Yes, part of this was the fact that hardware had advanced (*). But it was also just a very inefficient product built over time by piling code upon code. MinWin served to detangle that mess, and clean up the source in a way that probably hadn't been done since Windows 95 was released. The result was a better-performing OS. (*) Personal anecdote: When Vista shipped, I had a Pentium 4 laptop with 512MB of RAM that I borrowed from the spare laptop inventory at work. I installed Vista on it to test the new OS. My main work computer was a Sun workstation running Linux, and I think I had XP running on another laptop, or SFF PC, or something like that. Anyway, Vista ran like a dog. It chugged along in a way that I hadn't experienced since my first test-run with Windows 2000 on a Pentium II. I experimented with it for a while, but it wore my patience thin, I would avoid using it because I knew it would be tedious, and so I -- like everyone else -- just stuck to XP for my production computers. Later, I got the Windows 7 beta. I ran that on my home laptop, a DVD-player sized Sony VAIO with a Core Solo CPU, (IIRC) 1GB of RAM, and one of those tiny iPod-type hard drives. It barely met the spec for 7, but it actually ran alright most of the time. I used that beta until well after the full version dropped. I still have a Windows 7 box with something like an i7-2700, running on a 1TB SSD. It flies. I also have a Vista machine on a Core 2 Quad 2.4GHz. Granted, that's installed on a 7200 RPM SATA drive. It runs well, but it does not "fly." And, the UI changes have some rough edges that were rounded off in 7. To this day, I definitely prefer using 7 over Vista, even on hardware that is, relative to the OS, quite powerful.
it’s basically considered a fact now that vista struggled because it was too early, and 7 just rode the wave to glory. but i’m here to tell you that i still use both on a daily basis and on a level playing field vista just feels a bit horrible to use. 7 really is just better in terms of responsiveness, and look & feel. that rework of basic interactions is the critical factor in the success of 7, imo.
I definitely think vista's UAC was the biggest downside for me in terms of usability and annoyances
I'm 68 and retired. I've experienced the whole of personnel PC history. Windows 7 is still my daily machine of choice and the end of the line for me with Microsoft. I've transitioned my laptop over to Linux Mint and will fully adopt it when Win 7 becomes unusable as an internet machine. There's far too much intrusion (spying) for me to continue with Microsoft.
Amen, Tiger. I went from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 to Windows XP to Windows 7. Going to ride it into the ground. Hate Big Brother watching us. Wife has Windows 10 on her computer and I hate it. Had a Blackberry Phone until they switched it off and AT&T sent me another 💩box phone. Am 56 going on 86. Frack society and change.
@@sartainja I went straight from MS-DOS 7 to Win95, before climbing the social ladder of suck cess.
I totally disabled Windows update and only use powershell to install updates, another channel finally released how to make 11 appear like 7, all that is left is to Remove all items from settings, disable settings and restore everything back into the control panel
@@shadowopsairman1583 Atlas and StartAllBack ?
@@sartainja I avoided XP for so long. I liked Win2k so much better. It wasn't until 2005 when I bought a new laptop that I finally started using XP on my own device.
I think our nostalgia skyrocketed when Windows 11 got released. I miss the Aero Glass. Edit: When did these replies become an argue fest?
it seems like it would even work better now with computers being much more powerful
yep and funny enough they even started working on windows 12 right after they fully released 11
When I first upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11 I was not a fan of it and there were a bunch of bugs happening, but with time it's satrted to grow on me.
Also the lack of ads and bloatware, giving the Win7 the "ultimate premium Windows experience"
@@billyhatcher643 They were most likely working on 12 well before 11 got released, just like how vista was worked on before XP, ME, and even 2000 was released
My first experience is when my family got an all-in-one gateway computer back in 2010. The computer was expensive as it had an touchscreen and big HDD for the time as it was 750GB. However they did skimp on GPU/CPU. Which means SimCity 4 is about all you could play with an ok frame rate and most of the games I played came from Pop Cap games. I used that gateway until the display broke back in 2015 and at that time it had Win 10. I don't miss that gateway PC especially after I got win 10 as it took about 10+ minutes plus to get to the desktop from a fast boot. I'm a patient person but that's above my tolerance level. My grandad has an HP all-in-one that was from 2013-14 one last to support win 7 and that is his newest computer he's got the other 3 all run windows XP. I
Windows 11: it's evolving, just backwards... I really miss my App List instead of this dumb start menu.
I'm an XP kid, but 7 feels so good to use even in 2023.
Always envious of those who never had to suffer the _Windows Me_ phase.
@@Ometecuhtli Windows 2000 and ME feels like the same computer, because they both have the same log on/shut down music and the Windows logo being trapped in squares.
@@kootunesscrewy That was somewhat of a problem back in the day, people installed Windows 2000 (thinking it was the same thing as Millenium) for gaming and discovered that the support for Direct X wasn't exactly perfect since that OS was designed for business and not gaming itself. Plus Millenium wasn't good on that front either since stability wasn't its main porpuse, therefore despite the criticism over XP's early release, most of it right on point since the OS was ropey, it ended up taking both 2000 and Me's place in the home consumer market in a very short time. Kinda the same that happened between Vista and 7.
@@PointReflex Except Vista introduced a beautiful Windows design and sounds.
@@kootunesscrewy For sounds, yeah I agree, although my favorite OS startup sound is by far the one used in Windows 98, period. But the UI design wasn't my coup of tea, specialy the abuse of transparency on the menus. Granted one could roll back to Win 98/95 UI design (except in Win10 because... reasons) but still, that era in both Win and Mac OS was filled with transparency, glossines and graphical bollocks that eated away the aviable RAM and GPU power.
Though I'm most nostalgic for Windows 2000 and XP, I find Windows 7 to be nostalgic too, as it came out when I was about 13. It may have aged gracefully and still seem quite new, but I can definitely see how it's nostalgic. The visual aesthetic that Windows 7 and Vista had with the Aero theme was a huge part of a popular aesthetic at the time called Frutiger Aero (often contains clear crisp visuals, glass, water, trees or plants, a sunny sky) that was very prevalent from around 2004-2014. Because that era was some time ago, the nostalgia for it is increasing. But if you ever wondered what that certain aesthetic was, now you know!
Unfortunately By 2014 flat design was prevalent..2012 or early 2013 was last year for the old actually good designs.
@@9852323 You're probably right. I still saw some frutiger aero in 2014, but it was being transitioned out for that minimalistic crap that still thrives today
@@alexthetiger7806 at least a lot of people are quite happy to share their negative opinion on that flat stuff that i'd argue can barely even be considered design at all. who knows, maybe someday companies will figure out how to use their ears again and listen
@@noxxyy Agreed. I hope it dies as soon as possible. It's so lazy and boring. You could do the designs in MS Paint quicker than you can say the name of whatever product it's for
I switched to linux around 2006 and came back to windows when I bought new laptop 2011. I kept using for few years the stock Win 7 it came with just because it was so damn good. Many good memories ❤
i just want microsoft to go to the simple glass designs of Windows 7. It was the best for a reason and microsoft is trying to "innovate" when it clearly hasnt worked for win 10 and 11.
The last like 5 mins made me sad, thinking of all the old memories I had with win7, and the times that I went into VirtualBox to go back, after it died, due to security
The best part about Windows 7 was the stability. Sure, the aero glass theme was very slick and awesome (still the best to date, and I hope it can return someday) and beautifully crafted, but the OS was so stable that sometimes you’d just forget that you could encounter any bugs. Unlike Windows 10 where a problem is hidden around every corner and update. Aero glass just added to the experience. Nowadays practically every OS has some form of transparency, whether it’s just the Notification Center in the case of mobile OSes or the context menu in case of desktop OSes, but something about Windows 7’s transparency makes it stand out from others. I can’t quite tell what it is, but it’s there.
Oh yeah w10 is less stable than trying to stand on your hands, launch steam? Explorer crashes,Play some game? Bluescreen sometimes,Less ram than 16 gigs on newer updates? 50% of 8gb of ram (although only 6.9 gb usable) used WHILE IDLE WITHOUT ANY APP OPEN Windows 7 was the most stable and most usable os microsoft has ever made
@@Damian-cilr1 That sounds like you've got something else wrong
@@MultiYippee I haven't run into issues like that recently but problems like that did plague early Windows 10. Windows 7 was stable no matter what I threw at it. Once I moved to 10, I couldn't do a simple Google search without crashing my OS. Over time Windows 10 got more stable though. My biggest issue with 10 and onwards is how many background resources there are. With Windows 7 clean install I would have 800MB of RAM being used in the background. Windows 10 clean install would be around 1.8 GB. I know RAM is cheaper than ever but that doesn't necessitate wasting resources
@@Damian-cilr1 - Agree. I get more random blue screens on 10 than I ever got with 7. I used the same Windows 7 install for 6 years and it was perfectly stable that whole time, and I was much less organized with my files and general usage habits back then than I am now, and 7 still was more stable. Everytime Microsoft fixes something in 10 and 11, they break something else.
I completely agree. Windows 7 was absolutely magical and made you feel cozy and at home. It was gorgeous AND reliable. And you mentioned windows 10, what about windows 11? That thing is a full downgrade and it’s even buggier! Good thing I’m on Fedora Linux though, but even still I miss Windows 7. Makes me so nostalgic…
I used Windows 7 for 10 years (2010-2020) and it was by far the most sorted out OS ever. I got my Second New PC after completing my 12th grade and I was literally amazed by how awesome and bright it looked and I was also impressed by how much it was smooth and faster than its predecessors Windows Vista and Windows XP. Now I am using Windows 10 and it works fine but I miss Windows 7
Luckily , i have something even better. I Have Windows 11! :)
@@GD_Deepspace STFU. It sucks. Windows 10 is better
@@GD_Deepspace it's even worse
@@hi69593 LIARS THERE IS NO STUPID DUM SHARP CORNERS IN WINDOWS 11
BUT COOL NICE ROUND CORNERS
I miss the simplicity of Windows 7. It was a very easy to use and intuitive operating system. It wasn't filled to the nines with bloatware, I could modify it all I wanted without having to circumvent built-in restrictions and walled-gardens. It was the perfect mix of flashy features and utilitarian design. The last operating system that I felt was just software instead of some vast ecosystem of orwellian targeted marketing
Win 7 was a pretty good system but I love win 98. 95 is also good, but 98 . Yes! My favorite feature was the ability to customize the living daylight out of the look and feel by making my own themes from scratch. I'd change the fonts, the colors, the sounds, the wallpapers, almost monthly. I even experimented with a plug in for changing the mouse, till that plug in had security issues, and I deleted it. But everything else was built in and easily changed without digging into the registry.
I've daily drived almost every mainline version of Windows to date (before recently switching to Linux). I agree.. I remember those wild screensavers and wallpapers! My fondest memories of Windows may have been with Windows 95 and Windows 98... It was completely surreal updating to those from Windows 3.1!
Moving from xp to 7 felt like transitioning to the future in a way no other os has since. I love the aero theme, and the utility and the customisability of the taskbar was really convinient. Windows 7 was easy to use. When I go back to it now, I do feel some things lacking, like the windows 8 task manager, but it is a more cohesive os than any later windows version, and what has been added hasn't made up for what we've lost along the way. I'm transitioning away from windows now, it doesnt really offer what I look for in an os, but when I evaluate an os/de, I still compare it to windows 7, and I think I will for a long time.
I grew up in an interesting period where Windows 98 was installed in the family PC in the living room, my laptop had Windows Vista, and later down the line, Windows 7. As someone who basically grew up using all three of those operating systems, all of them have a strong feeling of nostalgia for me. Windows 7 however has the most due to the amount of times I used it. However, the main reason why I loved it was because it reminded of Vista. I actually loved Vista as a kid. So having to say goodbye to Windows 7 really struck some confusing emotions in me. Very nice video!
Im not lying but it was just like this at my home! My mom's pc bad windows 98, my dad had windows vista and I had windows 7.
@@delta2426 Really? That’s awesome! It’s so nice to look back at those days. This is particularly why I enjoyed this video so much. Sparked so many memories for me.
I have used all of them bar windows 1.0. started with windows 2.0, right up to windows 10. going to build a new system for windows 11 though i think.
Great video, and backing up an opinion I always had about these two operating systems. I bought a new laptop in the late 00s with Vista and I thought it was awful - It looked dark, it ran poorly, it was just a depressing experience coming from the bright and fast Windows XP. A year or so later I upgraded to a decent laptop with Windows 7, and I loved it. It looked similar to Vista, but I thought it seemed more bright, user friendly, and certainly ran better on my new laptop. I really enjoyed Windows 7 and I used it for years up until that laptop finally died after spilling beer all over it one night in 2019-ish. I spent a lot of money replacing it with a new top-spec laptop with Windows 10. I don't mind 10 so far, it has grown on me a bit, but I don't yet have the same love for it that I did 98, XP and 7. But I expect I'll end up skipping Windows 11 and likely end up with whatever is released in the future when it's time to finally upgrade and I'll end up missing what I had with Windows 10... just a hunch!
I remember using my sister's laptops. Once it was Windows Vista and then Windows 7. Those were very pleasing and interesting to my eyes. I even played that iconic game called Purble Place. In primary school thry had Conputers with Windows XP but they had their own backround so I didn't know the original and iconic backround with the sky and green grass until not long ago. Many years later I earned my own money and I bought myself a gaming PC. I had Windows 10 Pro on it and I used it until Windows 11 came out which was fast, seems like an upgrade for Windows 10. I like how it looks but sometimes it's a bit too similar to it's predecessor since if you put your nose much deeper you find a virtual keyboard with Windows 10's logo, Windows 10's Taskbar behind the Windows 11's Taskbar. Behind it you can find much older Windows versions, it's like they layerd it. I am not an expert but I can imagine that this can take up some space. I hope that Windows 12 will be much cleaner with less bloatware. I got Windows 11 Pro for free so that's cool!
When I was a little kid, Every school computer had windows 7 in the classic theme, even into the Windows 8 era. The general look it had is so Nostalgic
I remember back in 2012 - 2015 even years after windows 8 and 8.1 my primary school still used windows 7
@@Youcican my primary school used windows 98 2 years ago, the pcs were rarely used i think
@@Youcican mine used 7 too and some even had xp.
Mine uses windows 7 today
@@Youcican My high school still used Windows XP I think until it went out of service in 2014.
I still find Windows 7 slick and modern. It's our last taste of the Frutiger Aero era before Windows 8, which started the flat design era that I honestly disliked (and still do). That said, I do appreciate bits of Aero glass in the form of the acrylic and Mica effects on Windows 11. Being less flat than 10 (yet still looking minimalist) is also nice.
How does the new aesthetic in the new decade make you feel?
@@hufficag Personally I really love it. It feels like we've learnt from the strengths and shortcomings of both flat design and more "extreme" skeuomorphism/realism and found a comfortable middle ground in elegant and stylish UI's that are also built to be non-distracting and engaging. A lot of skeuomorphism during its peak in 2011 or so was quite extra and over-the-top at times, and flat design was a kneejerk response to this attempting to eliminate every single distraction and focus purely on content, sometimes ironically to the detriment of usability. But flat design being... flat meant there was no more shading to spend time on or distract designers, and this had the effect of forcing the fundamentals of your UI to be good, so an increased focus was put on motion, typography and layout/spacing, and as a result, the standards for those aspects of interfaces have gotten significantly higher during the flat design era than before. Nowadays, even with UI's getting more shaded and flashy again, these same standards are following us into this new era and some of the recent designs I've seen are honestly extraordinary.
Regardless of how good other OS's are, Windows 7 was my first, and it'll always hold a special place in my heart.
Ahhh to be 12
I would like Microsoft to create a common security layer for all its operating systems, from Windows XP onwards, to which they could connect according to an established protocol, in order to communicate securely with the outside world. In this way, only the security layer module would require continuous updating, and each of us users could choose the Windows operating system that we like best (I like Windows 7), without being periodically pushed to adopt the latest version.
The "security" updates are for Microsoft's financial security.
This can be done, but it would need a massive rearchitecture of Windows to be more similar to Android update mechanism (Project Treble) and a stupid amount of workarounds that would make Windows development quite the hell (Containerization, Virtualization). That is not what Microsoft does, they create new UIs but applications should work mostly fine after an update. There would be apps and features that would need to have new features too, and old systems may not have the required feature to run those. There's a lot of things to explain why this would be hard and expensive to maintain, but for now I'll just leave it here.
Having worked at Microsoft (though not in the Windows group) during the period of time both Vista and 7 came out, I remember the history a bit differently from what you stated. Vista/Longhorn were major overhauls to the architecture including 64-bit, a new driver model, much richer graphics support (for animations and transparency), and the .NET framework. The most controversial feature was WinFS - a file system built on top of SQL server that was supposedly Bill's pet project. It died with Longhorn and never saw the light of day. There was indeed a restart and the devs were under strict orders to not copy bloated code from Longhorn and not to use .NET in the OS itself. We were also told that the Vista install was image-based because almost no-one upgrades their OS, they just buy a new PC. So, why optimize for the piecemeal upgrade experience? I definitely agree with your conclusions, though. Windows 7 was a refined version of Vista. After a major tech overhaul of a product, it's not uncommon for the first version to stink. This happens with non-Microsoft products as well. Very often, the 2.0 (or 3.0) gets it right and becomes well loved. But I think point #3 is more than just nostalgia. As you touched on, Windows 7 (and MacOS Snow Leopard) were the last OSes to be built for personal computers. From that point forward, mobile crap started creeping into both platforms, which I think has left them fragmented and confusing. Perhaps someday I will be able to speak about Windows 8, but I am still recovering from the trauma of having to use it :-)
Vista was just way too rushed and unfinished product with Win 7 getting things right... Except for few bad points like removal of cascading menu from All Ppograms of Start menu. After 7 all started going to hell with dumbing down of PC OS to toyphone and breaking Microsoft's own GUI design guidelines. Those advocating all this flat UI and change for the sake of change should get their face crushed flat, because that 3 dimensional face is so outdated!
The reason why vista was pretty much hated forever was because of the system requirements that were too high and the minimum couldn't run aero
One thing people don't ever talk about, but what I really liked about Windows 7 was the Help and Support feature. It was basically a manual for Windows. I learnt about most of Windows features there, most importantly being the keyboard shortcuts that made my we experience much more quicker than using the mouse mostly. Mouse is good, but keyboard is just faster. While on windows 10, it just does the Let Me Bing That For You.
I should reinstall 7 on a separate partition just to read up on all of that lmao I never did before
I'll add this as a reason for Windows 7 to be more popular than Vista: driver compatibility. I had access to cheap Vista keys because of MDSN program my university was enrolled in. I installed it as an upgrade on an Inspiron E1505 over XP, and... it was a minefield of driver issues. The only one that I could not resolve over a weekend (with full course load, mind you) was the audio driver. It took about a week of bickering with Dell tech support to get a Windows XP reinstall disc just to go back. 3 years later, the upgrade to Windows 7 Pro on that laptop went much better. That's why I really appreciate that version of Windows. All the drivers just worked, and it felt fresh coming from XP. Also, there was this cute Windows 7 theme pack from Microsoft Japan's mascot for the OS, Nanami Madobe, which had music artist and voice actress Nana Mizuki voice her. 😅
Still use win 7 today and with only one small amazing program that defeats any viruses old or new with ease, and without needing any windows updates as well. And yes before finding that I was constantly reinstalling win 7, until finally making a live backup that could reinstall everything. That works too as you don't have to go through the full setup again, then reinstall each program every time. Comes with Windows 7 called Backup and Restore (Windows 7) in settings. Takes a separate drive to save it on, but puts it back on the drive your using the way you already had it setup. Saving lots of time for sure. Tried 10 and 11, but didn't care for all the added bulk and garbage on those.
Glad you decided to get in front of the camera, added a touch of personability & humour! Windows 7 was on my main PC until 2020, so yes, happy to see it was a favourite for many others haha
it feels weird seeing his face on camera
I was going "who the heck is this. "😂
@@billyhatcher643 IKR?
face reveal without any "get to x subs"? what a legend
The best thing, for me, about Windows 7 was its stability. After using XP and Vista it was like a dream come true. XP was great but it definitely had issues that taught me the necessity of having to regularly image my system disk. I had to restore it many times. Vista also liked to freak out especially if it wasn't shut down correctly and we all know that's not always possible. But, in all the years I used 7, I think I had a total of two blue screens and I never had to restore from a disk image.
That's incredible that you only got two blue screens on 7; on Windows 11, I've gotten at least five in a year...
@@theparadoxbox1744 i havent got a bluescreen in a while but explorer seems to like crashing,and just straight up not restarting sometimes
@@Damian-cilr1 Not restarting? I've had it not start on login before. Windows 11 is a mess.
Forced updates is what changed the game, with 7 you had service packs and you could select the relevant updates to your system and the knowledge base was actually what its name implies. I know you need to have patches and regular fixes (Lastpass breach comes to mind) but Microsoft still doesn't get the right way to do it or, as some security experts have suggested, as they work with the US government which you'd be surprised to know spies on its citizens (shocking news!) it doesn't really want a 100% secures OS in the beginning, but only pretend that they work on it.
I remember it as stable as well. My current setup with windows 10 have never bugged out on me once i think. My laptop with win 11 tho, thats a different story..
I noted your Leslie Nielsen Airplane reference, good job!
I used windows 7 from 2015-2017 and it was great mainly because it was bright and not dull like windows 10 I also remember using xp and that was cool to
I love the aesthetic, the freedom, and the control you have when using windows 7. It's perfect in my eyes.
Agreed. I still use Windows 7 for professional work with CG animations and VFX and it just works every single time. Everything runs faster on it than on my two late model workstation laptops on the latest versions of windows, even with hacks and registry tweaks. My older laptop outruns them in almost everything but in rendering speed, In fact thinking of selling my new laptops and buying a couple older P50s that do support Windows 7.
@@leplane_ what laptop do you use if you don't mind me asking? The one with windows 7 that is
@@AyazHamid i dont get why microsoft wont follow the design aesthetic of windows 7. Its like they are still following the tablet era with their recent windows OS. There are many people with good PCs now and they all would appreciate the simplicity that windows 7 had.
I held on to my Windows 7 PC for as long as I could, 11 years, but inevitable hardware failure and obsolescence led me to 11. 7 was the last OS that felt like my own computer out of the box. When I started with my 11 PC, it felt like I'd paid a hefty price to be a guest on Microsoft's system, what with all of the intrusive advertising and other notifications. It's not a very intuitive system, either. I took me a while to adjust settings, with a lot of help from KZhead videos, to get the thing to stop being so annoying. It does weird things, too. Example: It keeps changing the desktop icons from green circles with white arrows in them, to brown circles, to blue ones, etc. What the heck is going on?
some low life prick of an intern at microsoft, thought that people would like that extra feature being included. as the spend most of their time glued to their smart phone. because....everybody has a smart phone.....right. 🙄
Its quite annoying to be fair. I stick to windows 10 until it becomes obsolete because there at least i can make it almost as clean as windows 7.
I just built this new machine based around a Ryzen 5900x 12 core. Runs sweet on Windows 7 just fine.
Wee11 is easily THE most dangerous operating system I've ever tried using since the Windows ME days. Uninstall that piece of shit, and install either a Linux distro of your choice (ie. Mint) or W10 IOT LTSC edition. OOSU10 + Classic Shell, and it will stay quiet and kinda look and work like the W7.
Why didn't you go to 10? It's honestly not THAT different from 7. But i have no plans on touching 11 lol
My faves were the UI and the last video editor that had most of the "current day" codecs & formats . It was clearly an OS that wanted you to do things . Win 10/11 may want you to know things (?) , but they're a lot less friendly in the wanting you to do things . Even their folder system / task bar is a major step back -- which is the simplest thing in a Windows environment, all the way back to Win 98 .
I run windows 11 on my work pc and all that OS wants me to do is work
I went (mostly) trough them all...Windows 3.1, 95, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, 7 and 10. Looking back at this history, I can confirm for myself, that indeed Windows XP and 7 were the "best" Microsoft operating systems. Also Windows 2000, as an successor of Windows NT, was a good one and paved the way for XP. However, I switched to Linux about two years ago as my daily driver for gaming, programming, multimedia, etc. and never looked back to Windows (besides two specific applications running under Windows 10 in a virtual machine). So far I haven't regretted the decision.
Windows 7 Media Center was amazing. I had a TV card connected to an antenna and my PC also would stream to our living room TV. It was easy to get up-to-date channel guides and Media Center became our DVR as we would set up the schedule to record. It played DVDs from the optical drive as well as video files on my hard drive. I upgraded to Windows 10 and almost went back because of the loss of the Media Center.
Pretty sure there's a way to get it on 10, actually.
I Am Still Using Win7 In, And On My Older Custom-Built Computer Here, Mainly Because It's Much Better Than Any Of The Later OS's, And Because I Have 3 Sony VAIO VGP-XL1B's Here, With The Firewire Connections, Wherein I Need Windows Media Center In Order To Watch All Of My 470 + DVD's Inside Them . . . I Have A Newer Windows 11 Computer As Well, But It Doesn't Have The Media Center Program, Since Microshit Removed It From Their Previous OS . . . :-(
You can still add Media Center to Win10. I don't see why anyone would though...I never used Media Player or Media Center...always used VLC instead...better in every way.
@@Skulllywag Can you use VLC with a TV Digital TV card and have VLC update local channal guide and schedual to record TV so you can watch the file later?
@@jordansparkes754 no, it was unsuported and only came with Windows 7 Media
My first ever computer as a child had Windows 7 as it's OS. I'll never forget the time that I'd always spend playing Purble Place and the Puzzle game, just enjoying my childhood with no worries. Just, pure, sweet bliss. Thank you NS for this beautiful video, and thank you Win 7, for making my childhood a wonderful one 🌹
I miss those times when you could entertain yourself with offline games on your computer instead of spending your time on the internet with watching videos or arguing with someone. Nowadays games must have internet connection and everything is behind a massive paywall. Another era has ended, Ig.
@@gergom.8310 Honestly Microsoft Solitaire Collection, the successor to the stock solitaire games, just makes me sad because it's full of ads and somehow ugly. I say "somehow" because Microsoft have clearly figured out what they're doing with Windows 11's design and Fluent is pretty much my favourite design language of all time, yet Solitaire Collection looks like some bootleg game you'd find in an unskippable advert or something. The older stock games had no online connectivity, no ads, no upsells, nothing, they just felt so innocent and pure if that makes sense. (I have to say I love TriPeaks though.)
earned a subscriber, great content!
The little windows for the programs at the taskbar always amazed me, also windows updated were so easy
During my childhood I grew up mostly using XP and Vista but I still have many fond memories of 7, I still can't believe it's been over a decade since its release. The interface is both nostalgic and timeless, I still prefer the Aero glass to the minimalism that Microsoft adopted later. I admit I still use Win7 on a 2008 laptop of mine and it feels just as fresh and beautifully designed as it did to me growing up.
i grew up on 2000 and XP, and we spent a good 7 years before buying a new pc, just upgrading the same but still on XP then i remember i went to my grandma's house to spend the summer break and when i got back, not only did my parents changed the house and repainted and stuff, it was the same house but totally different, but also bought a new PC, with an LCD monitor instead of CRT, and when i turned it on it booted windows 7, it looked SO FANCY! i will never forget how blown away i was that the windows actually looked like they were made of floating magical glass it felt like something out of minority report or power rangers and the sounds, the new stuff, purble place, everything, i loved it.
I remember making a fresh win vista install on my pc every end of the month, since the system couldn't work properly for longer than 4weeks. Sometimes it bluscreened or completely collapsed even before that. Ohhh the good ol' vista...and xp, and 98, they all had the same problems.
My dad still has Windows 7 installed on his work computer and whenever I go visit him and I play around with it I'm still so fascinated and intrigued by it it was ahead of its time and it ran so great and just the fact that he still running it without upgrading it to Windows 10 or 11 cuz if it's not broke don't fix it and I agree, it just doesn't get supported anymore by windows or get any of its patches
Who cares? The best defence against hackers and viruses is an up-to-date antivirus and best security practices.
Aaaah Windows 7... So much memories. An OS that literally never failed to me, always stayed stable as a king, and the "love" I have for this OS never fainted since I discovered it in 2012 in the Computer center of my city that allowed me to freely access computers that had this OS when I had XP at home. I remember me in 2013 requesting my mother to get Windows 7, and she downloaded the "Transformation Pack" instead just to make me kinda happy with a thing that looks like 7 despite in fact it wasn't. So I continued to go to the Computer center during their "free access" hours to using the real Windows 7. It was a real pleasure to using it. I'm a big fan of the Aero UI and when I discovered Windows 10 in 2015, I was a bit disappointed to see that blurry and transparency effects gone. At home, 2014-2016 was my Linux period, despite I continued to use XP sometimes until late 2015 and I only being able to get Windows 7 at home around the end of 2016, which I finally replaced it by Windows 10 in June 2017. Despite the move, I was missing Windows 7 so I installed a VM and continued to do so until December 31, 2019. A PC change happened on November 2018. On this date, I was using Windows 10 on my "current" computer since 14 months, and the overall experience was a nightmare (disastrous stability, updates crashing during installation, feeling of slowness, etc.) and the install got "bricked" after an update. I got fed up, so I installed Windows 7 instead on January 1, 2020 and this remembered how stable this OS is, and how the feeling of freedom is huge when using it. This phase was initially planned to last only for two weeks, just to let me the time to restructure my PC by cleaning all the accumulated crap, my useless data and to reconfigure of my programs, but by January 12, I revised my plans and postponed the "comeback" to an undefined date and continued to use Windows 7, as I noticed I regained something I lost during so many years : a purely real and non-forced pleasure of using my computer. And to this day, the "undefined date" still remains to be defined, as I still don't want to move from it (I know one day I will end by doing it, but for the moment I plan to stay on it, until at least October 2024 (POSReady 7 ESUs end date) or even further, who knows...). -- The end of support in 2020 really did make me sad, as the OS was technically still able to live something like 2 or 3 more years (XP lasted for 12.5 years, 7 only 10. I'm still certain that it was technically capable to last for 12-13 years like XP did and even today, despite programs that are slowly dropping support for Windows 7, it is still a surprisingly capable and reliable OS, which is incredible for a 14-year old piece of software). Aero Glass still has the "modern", "professional" and "timeless" feelings for me that I had from day one and YES, I still prefer that to the flat, soulless designs we have now (I'm not saying that modern designs are awful and unwatchable, but Aero remains my favorite). In brief, Windows 7 will stay in my heart as one of the best OS I ever used in my life. (Comes close to asking to place the Windows 7 installation DVD in my coffin for the day I will die).
underrated comment!
I am still using Win7 because I sadly still use hardware of that era. I may be able / forced to switch once I change my rig, but until then I hope I get to see the next "Win7" so I can change my OS of preference without worries.
I'm definitely one of those odd balls who, did in fact love Windows 7, but didn't have any issue with Windows 8. and found 8.1 to be fantastic. Coming from XP. I did notice and like the cleaned up design of Windows 7 and found the aero theme to be very pleasing to look at and modern. When Windows 8 introduced the tablet style start menu, i enjoyed it. i liked only having the programs i needed off of the desktop but not in a list of programs in a menu. I also dont like pinning anything to the taskbar so having this large customizable menu was nice for me. this is why even to this day i still use the large full screen menu in Windows 10, and why i havent switched to 11, (among other things). Windows 7 was a nice OS, but i guess I have more nostalgia with XP. I guess im just a little older.
FYI. I'm still currently using win7 on all my 3 desktops. Both have 64 and another 32 bit ver to run my older games. I have win10 on my laptop and another on my just purchased motherboard for my incoming designer desktop that I'm setting up (to run simulator/gaming/web server software, etc.). However, I can't seem to get rid of my windows 7 as many of my programs (office, old games, social media, design and web progs) run on them and they run so perfectly. Too bad it's support was discontinued. It's not that I'm nostalgic about using windows 7 its just that its so very dependable through the years. I was disappointed with vista as it was supposed to resolve the limitation issues of XP but in itself it had its own issues just the same. I kinda liked the functionalities of XP better but given its limitations, it needed a newer replacement and soon with the release of win7, this became the miracle solution to what vista could not accomplish. (I don't use any other windows version save for win10, given they weren't popular so just my take)
i am still a proud user of windows 7. its very detailed and easy to find things about my computer that let me customize it the way i want. windows 10 is a nightmare that is so intertwined with the internet it makes it nearly impossible to use while still feeling secure. now, i have to buy a new computer, because everything is turning away from it. i hate windows 10. my drawing program wont work in windows 10. obsolescence is the bane of my existence. this is a good video! i am going to miss using windows 7, but i will keep doing it for as long as i possibly can.
I still have 7 going on one system. I never used 10 on anything for long due to the staggering number of severe issues it caused with systems I worked on.
Maybe you can use your old computer for drawing alongside a new one for web, etc. If you get a kvm switch you can quickly switch keyboard, mouse, and keyboard between two computers at the same desk; I use one to switch between my personal and work PCs. Set up a network share to move files from old to new pc, and there you go. Once you're forced to upgrade though, I've heard Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC is decent as far as lack of bloat, and you can certainly get it feeling a lot closer to home with a start menu replacement like open-shell. On my work pc, after removing all the crap from the taskbar and installing open-shell it feels fine for daily use. Many of the default apps still suck, but for the most part they can be replaced. (photos -> imageglass/irfanview, videos -> vlc, etc). The spyware is another issue though. I'm not sure it can be completely removed in stock 10, though I know there are some apps out there that can mitigate this if not completely remove it (until a windows update re-adds it that is). For total spyware and bloat removal I went with windows 10 ameliorated for my brother's pc, but there were several minor issues I had to work through to get various things set up properly, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you're technically minded and patient.
@@Nathan_Woodruff Kvm switches are useful, but my system with 7 has it because of some old software and games that do not yet work on Linux and will not work on later Windows versions. I do appreciate the suggestions though. I will be trying a LTSC build next time I setup a Windows 10 system for someone.
One of the things that was dropped when Win7 moved to 10 was the Color Chooser tool. What that allowed was you to set the color of all of the attributes of the interface in my case particularly to adjust the background color of windows client areas (including directories) for example. Some of this capability persists but you have to do it through themes which isn't nearly as convenient.
Release date of Windows 7 was October 22, 2009, not July. I teased my wife about it a lot (as it overlapped her birthday).
Windows 7 is the best system ever built. I still running windows 7 and windows 7 has a special place in my heart and always will be there. I hope someday they will create a new version of windows 7 , the next generation Windows 7.
I love Windows 7, I still use it today and I have no problems using it, it is and always will be the best operating system
I wish Microsoft would just copy win 7 design to future versions. Its UI was cleans and simple and didn’t have all the dark and clutter that win 10 has. Win 11 obviously has changed a slight bit from win 10 but only a slight bit. Windows 7 needs to make a comeback in someway if they want to have me as a customer for a long time.
That's what they said about XP and 98 prior to that.
@@pavanraj4125 I wish they'd make it at least an option as a theme but that won't happen. Windows 7 is ancient history as far as MS is concerned. To revert to a previous product even if it's only in aesthetics would be to admit a failure.
You are vulnerable to multiple simple hacks and most software is abandoning Windows 7 finally.
@@pavanraj4125 Oh, please no. The UI was utter crap.
Good job for the subtle face reveal. No announcement or anything.
I am writing this comment from a Windows 7 OS. I have been using it way beyond recommendation and always simply just ignored the end of support and disregarded the missing security updates as "not so important". It is only due to my current university that I cannot connect to the local wifi anymore, no matter what I do. So this is what eventually forces me to slowly change to Windows 11. If this would not have happened, I would have probably used this system for the next two decades to come. I am refusing to give up on it and have decided that I will do everything I can to make whatever Windows to come look like Windows 7. This bond between the system and me has grown too strong to give up on it. Just like you don't divorce from your wife when you love her. When you love her you stay with her. That's it.
You could switch to Linux and make it look like Windows 7.
18:00 i kinda sus that pin to taskbar is a new feature in win7. in win98 for example, in my memory there were those buttons that were called something like quickbar or something. a bit like today we have the running applications on the right side of that bar, on the left side to the right of the start button, there were those icons you could click on to essentually run any app that was added there. imo some apps could during installlation be set to appear there along with in your start menu and the desktop....
My first windows experience was with 7 and i love it so simple and clean yet beautiful and no one can forget the sound it makes when you unlock it
How old are you now? 🤣
My first was dos I definitely don’t remember the windows 7 login sound 😂
The clean Ui and aero theme alone makes windows 7 still more appealing than newer windows versions.
This is such an underrated channel, you really add the mood at the time to every topic bringing the nostalgia back. Keep up the good work!
w11 is bloatwre mixed with asware. 7 was peak windows.
"club penguin coin hack" omg the memories I'm getting rn
Honestly it was the last windows operating system I enjoyed. I'm glad it was there for a lot of my time exploring the internet and PC world in general but like all good things it had to end. And I'm glad it did. I ran 10 for a short time but the windows chapter of my life really ended with 7. And leaving it opened my mind to form a new view on how my operating system should function. I now run a custom build of Linux with my own qtile desktop. Not the way Microsoft envisioned the future of desktop operating systems, because they clearly don't at this point, but the way I do. Windows 7 was really the last operating system for me that felt like magic.
Yeah I still use 7, but I think Linux is the future, cause MS is NOT going in the right direction.. like at all..
Linux gang, I switched to EndeavourOS with KDE Plasma after distro hopping quite a lot and I will never ever use Windows 11, it's absolute garbage, already bad enough I have to dualboot Windows 10
I switched to Fedora. Once you get the hang of it, it's way better. I was an advanced user on Windows and could also code, and on Linux being advanced and being able to code is far better rewarded as it let's you do anything and customize ever which way. At the same time, if you're a complete noob, there are many distros specifically built for you, dozens of times easier to use than Windows (basically like an Android tablet with the added functionality of a full desktop PC). Don't pay attention to all those "Linux tutorials" you find talking about command line stuff etc. It's because there are a lot of advanced users. In the last 3 or so years Linux has gotten criminally good, as long as you're willing to accept it's a completely different OS and are willing to do some things differently, it should be a smooth transition. Most apps are available and you'd be surprised how many free and open source alternatives there are to the ones that aren't.
It's a shame that Microsoft will never read OUR opinions and feelings about how an OS should function and what we like and don't like....
@@michaelshrader5139 Yeah for real. Instead they just want to make a basic OS, that is designed from the ground up to harvest peoples data. Honestly MS isnt even a software company anymore, they are a data collection company.
To me the most noticeable difference was with device management. I am into music and recording as a hobby. When changing audio devices it was so smooth. Also using multiple displays and other things just worked better. It was Vista proper to be sure. I kept it until 2020. Ten is ok but they are already trying to push us off of that
Yeah they completely redid the sound engine in Vista, in quite an impressive way
My local library, Palmer Public LIbrary, in Masschusetts, had this version, it was great!
Started with limited late MSDos/Win 3.1 experience, first personal computer was Win 95. Upgrade to 98, then 98 SE (for stability). Luckily stayed there until XP Pro, skipped Vista, went to 7 Pro. Skipped 8 and 8.1, now on 10 Pro. Of them all, combining usability and stability, 7 Pro was the best. Despite being on 10 Pro for years now, there is simply too many things you have to do to make it streamlined (and, I don't even do all of them that should be done). Just reinstalled my primary machine with 10 Pro 22H2, despite support ending in two years; I won't be going to Win 11 until I absolutely have to. Even the simplest of things you want to do in it are behind multiple clicks for experienced Windows users. I can only hope that Windows 12 takes some experience from 7 during its true development. But, ultimately, 11's requirements and the pending end of 10 support will be an issue for Microsoft. (Just like Vista was.) Many PCs simply are not configured for Secure Boot, and Microsoft limiting CPU compatibility on 11 for no reason... will end up with many people staying on 10 out of having no (Microsoft) path forward.
I'm gonna be honest, towards the end of the video, when you were talking about the nostalgic element of Windows 7 that's starting to develop over time, I started to tear up. I remember that 7 was one of the first operating systems that I ever used. I used it in school, and on my family computer. Once I got my first computer a while later, it came shipped with 8.1. I hated it and it made me miss older versions of Windows that I learned how to use a PC on, like Vista and 7. Now, here I am years later, on Windows 11, which I really like. However, I'll always have that nostalgia and soft spot for Windows 7.
Ah Windows 7 my beloved. I've been using it since 2010 all the way to early 2022 and I wouldn't have upgraded if it was still supported
It's really just a downgrade. If you want an upgrade, move to Linux. Windows 10/11 is nothing but bloatware and spyware, and planned obsolescence.
Im still using it in 2023 on my desktop. I have no reasons up upgrade from win 7 on there. People be saying , Aren't you worried about hackers, im like No because they all moved onto hacking win 10 and 11 user instead.
There are extended security updates, but they're kinda hard to get, as they're meant for businesses.
Exactly, at this point its secure through lack of market share. I sympathize with the "support" issue though - it isn't that Microsoft isn't supporting it, its that hardware isn't coming with drivers for it, internet browsers aren't working for it, newer versions of software aren't supporting it... The list goes on. To keep 7 on my PC that I built in 2019 I had to remote in from another PC just to install motherboard drivers because I had no USB support. I installed it on a laptop later that year and never could get the touchpad to work. Software developers and hardware manufacturers might as well be in league with Microsoft to force 7 into obsolescence.
@@killerdeamonking will windows 11 and 10 and every windows is based on the previous version of windows so if a hack was made it would work on every windows except the ones that get update to fix it except for a couple of small stuff that change and I don't think anything in the core has changed between windows 11 and 7
1) Windows 7 is much more compatible with old programs and games. Even if the program has issues, Windows 7 would still try to run it. ON TOP of Windows 7 having Microsoft Virtual PC for any old programs and games it can't run. 2) Windows 7 doesn't try to collect data about you. 3) Significantly less notifications. 4) "My Computer" shortcut is where it should be. I might be too old, but what was the point of removing it in Windows 10? The 10 minutes of stress Windows 10 caused me after the first launch are... impossible to forget. XD