Windows 7 Options

[Saffy]

Does anyone here use Windows 7 yet? What are your opinions of it?

I've been used to Windows Vista for the past few months, and I was definitely excited to upgrade to Windows 7. It was the first time I had ever gone out to purchase an upgrade - instead of waiting to get a new computer. While there are some new features about that I quite like, such as the new taskbar or some updated programs, it sort of bothers me at the same time. I've only had Windows 7 installed for about two weeks yet I've already encountered a ton of problems. My fault for being an "early adopter"? Perhaps. Some of these issues are Windows 7 specific while others are to do with HP having not created patches for those who have upgraded. Overall, I don't feel the upgrade was worthwhile and I've begun to miss Windows Vista.

Here's some problems that annoy me even if they are small.

MSN almost always crashes when I first login to my computer and start it up. I'm sorry, but Windows Live Messenger on Windows 7 doesn't work without first crashing? It's one of your key programs on your own operating system. How could you not have it work properly? This has happened ever since I installed the OS.

In order to use the audio control buttons on my laptop I must first open a program called HP Mediasmart. The program needs to just run in the background, but instead it gets launched whenever I start up my laptop. Sure it's just a simple click to hide it, but it's the fact I have to.

On that note, my buttons still mess up whenever I do anything with my microphone, it appears. Suddenly I can't mute my sound until I restart my computer.

Clicking "Include in Library" sometimes crashes Windows Explorer (i.e. folder view) for no particular reason. Windows Explorer doesn't even work? I can understand if I had Windows 7 installed for a few months and errors began to appear, but that's a tad pathetic.

The folder list pane no longer automatically horizontally scrolls. There's also no horizontal scrollbar. This means that if you go deep enough into your folders that eventually you cannot see what you're looking at. Useless.

Windows 7 came only with outdated screensavers from the nineties. Hells yes, I can do pipes and 3D text! There wasn't even a default Windows 7 logo screensaver.

Alright, so I've definitely had quite a rant. I was excited to upgrade to Windows 7 but in the end it feels I spent $150 for more problems and a downgrade. I will admit the new taskbar is nice but most certainly not worth the price and newfound problems. I truly hope Microsoft will release some significant patches shortly.

Your thoughts? Any problems with it?