Upgrading to Windows 7

I recently asked some of my most IT savvy colleagues at SolutionsPT to talk about the benefits of upgrading to Windows 7 and we had a lot of response! 

 

XP was a very popular version of Windows and people liked it because it was robust, with few bugs, and at the time (10 years) ago when it was released was hacker proof. However that was 10 years ago and since then a lot has changed - we now live in a very different world. For whatever reason, whether it was a rushed release, or just not major enough Vista did just not cut the mustard. It was bug ridden, unsecured and Windows took a big blow, when many people chose to stay at XP.

This has been accepted in the market until now, as of 2014 XP will no longer be supported and in the words of our IT Manager ‘in mainstream IT if its unsupported the rule is don’t use it.’ 

 

Different organisations deal with upgrades in different ways. There are the early adopters who don’t even think about the benefits of upgrading they just know it’s the right thing to do, there are the people like me who catch on a year later and there are the organisations that don’t move out of their comfort zones until they have to.

 

 

So are the true benefits of Windows 7 going to tempt people to make the leap?

1. Increased Productivity  -  Windows 7 is faster than its predecessors so users can be more efficient, benefiting from quicker response times

2. Increased Safety - although anti-virus software is always advised Windows 7 has better detection and warning systems than previous operating systems

3. Ease of Use - just like Wonderware, Microsoft listen to customers feedback and develop operating systems in a way that suits how the users want to work

4. Compatibility – New technologies typically only work with other new technologies. Most companies use a variety of software products, keeping these products at current versions should ensure harmony and compatibility between them leading to increased uptime and performance

5. Less Restrictive – New customisation and controllable settings, Windows 7 Features fewer pop-up notifications and permissions windows

6. Easier to Support – New Problem Steps Recorder, everything you do can be tracked with screenshots to assist a technical support representative in troubleshooting your issue.

7. Integration of Upgrades – Running Windows 7 enables you to gain additional benefits as it will support upgraded SCADA software, providing higher productivity and efficiently. 

 

So what is stopping your organisation from running the latest versions? 

 

Helena Finnan, Software Marketing Manager, SolutionsPT