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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
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.
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but it works (for now) Who knows if MS will loose that ability next OS Its hard to believe people choose the OS outdated.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?"
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.)
@@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!"
@@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!)
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.
@@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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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
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 😌
@@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.
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)
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'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.
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
@@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.
_"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
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.
@@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.
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
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.
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.
@@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.
my home laptop is 13 years old and still has windows 7 and is still going strong. i dont use it much these days but when i'm on, it feels like i'm 'home', as it were. i love windows 7. i dont think anything will beat it. it was perfect.
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 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
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.
@@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
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
@@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-cilr2 - 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…
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.
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
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.
@@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.
@@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!
@@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 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.
@@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.
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
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!
@@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.
Yep had a windows 98 family desktop, which got replaced by a XP machine. Laptop had Vista. Then my next laptop had win7. I loved the aesthetic of vista.
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
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!
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.
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 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 TH-cam 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. 🙄
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.
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.
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..
Windows 7 was Microsoft's last great operating system. And for me after Microsoft ended security updates, that was the day I switched to Linux. It was a shame Microsoft could not give the general user the one product that could rival 7. This is why when Microsoft failed to go big, I made it go home.
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
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.
@@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.
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.
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?
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.
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 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.
@@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.
My previous gaming PC was from back in 2009 with WIndows 7. I used that PC all the way up to 2022. Eventually the PC was starting to give me issues and it was time to upgrade. I miss Windows 7,
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.)
I think I used XP until 2018 or 2019 xD. Now I'm on 7 and it will probably be the last Windows for me. after 7 Windows became horrible like 8 or a mess like 10 and 11.
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.
Windows 7 was my favorite operating system of all time, it reminded me of Internet Explorer, Windows Defender, Aero theme, Windows Media Center and more, but even when it ended support on January 10, 2023 I would still use and nothing infected it. Good old times I miss...❤❤😭😭
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.
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.
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
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).
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.
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.
@@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.
My favorite feature of Windows 7 was a more improved Aero interface. When you maximize a window, the UI remains beautiful and transparent. It's what gave Windows 7 a more unique identity. I wish Microsoft still kept it going.
7 was so good in so many ways. It truly was the ultimate user-friendly experience. And honestly, the only reason I could move over to 10 without a weird breakdown, was that it was essentially the same exact system I had learned to love, just repackaged in a boring square theme now. All the new features that I didnt like or didnt want to learn, I could simply hide and never interact with ! However that is absolutely not the case for 11. It just looks.. somehow even more horrible? Its user-friendliness has just dropped to the point where I couldnt figure out how to do almost anything without looking up how to on my phone. In the few minutes I was forced to interact with it on my (now 1 year old) pc I legitimately got so distraught about knowing how to navigate anything that I immediately went to download windows 10 off of edge and reinstall it. Im literally refusing to change past 10 now (the same exact way I felt with my windows 7 when 8 came out) until I know that the unreleased windows 12 feels exactly like windows 7 and 10. You will have to pry this operating system out of my cold dead hands before I ever consider switching to something like windows 11. Lifeless design be damned, windows 10 is good and fine.
10 is totally worthless as it cancels drivers for my up to date one years old Canon printer and destroys my ability to us my SD cards all worked before Windows 10 updates every few weeks, Microsoft is the Windows 10 one and only DICTATOR. I hate with many other user?
You must have gotten into Windows 10 after the start button debacle. Windows 10 was originally designed for touch screen tablets. Meaning large clunky squares for fat fingers that were awkward to use with a mouse and keyboard. And there was no start button. You had to pull up a completely different screen to do anything and it was made up of nothing but the giant squares for fat fingers. Windows 10 was honestly one of the worst OS that I've ever had to deal with. I can't tell you the number of things I had to learn in order to fix the many problems I've had with Windows 10.
@@imabebebebe2496 switching to a Linux OS that has a windows 7 like interface. if I'm ever forced out of my Windows of choice that's what I'll be doing.
Win 10 is a pest. It is the exactly opposite of Win 7. Win 7 is user friendly, does not force you to create a MS account or update the OS if you want it or not. You have the full control over everything while Win 10 is pure spyware.
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.
Check out Aero10, UxThemePatcher and OldNewExplorer. For icons check out something called 7tsp. I made my 10 look like 7, disabled all the telemetry and bloatware.
windows 7 was my first windows ever. i still have a pc that’s running windows 7 and it’s still going strong. just looking at the beautiful aero-themed ui gives me flashbacks.
Pros of Windows 7: - Satisfyingly overtextured - Lovely aeroglass theme - Nice boot screen - Has compatibility features up to Windows XP - A massive range of themes and chimes to chose from - Consistent design, no part of Windows 7 looks older, or newer.
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.
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.
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
What do you mean was? I still use windows 7. Did you forget it's available in 64bit too? It will be around even after the 2030's when 32bit clocks have reset.
I couldn't get rid of Windows 7. I wasn't willing to part with it until I absolutely had to. Eventually I finally had to upgrade Photoshop so I could use new features, and discord stopped working on 7 eventually, so finally, in 2019, I had to upgrade to Windows 10. I was so mad when I couldn't access the recovery options without having a boot USB, and there was so much more things locked down, Cortana was the most annoying thing I've ever had to displeasure of using on my desktop, and disabled it. Anytime I went to a friend's laptop to help them fix something I had to jump through a bunch of hoops to even boot to a USB, to disable smartboot, or whatever the other locked down options were. And I couldn't believe they locked down windows that much. It was much worse when I had to help people fix Windows 8 computers. It was like trying to fix a macbook, the simplest fixes required 20 more steps than I was used to. Obviously now I can do all that without even thinking about it, but it was so much easier once upon a time.
Can't hate Microsoft last desktop oriented OS. Everything after was touch/hybrid oriented full of bloatware (and now ads too). Running too much hidden processes in the background making unusable on a normal hard drive.
Win 10 LTSC works amazingly on HDD. went from 100% usage all the time to 2%. I am honestly amazed by LTSC as the only preloaded app is Edge which can be uninstalled.
I loved the Windows Live software suites, especially Messenger. I would chat and call my friends using that. Movie Maker is still iconic. I remember using the facial recognition features in Photo Gallery and thinking how cool it was that you could organize your libraries like that!
I was the same way... the Windows Live suites were everything to me... I always downloaded them; loved using the Windows Live Writer for my blogger I had at the time!
I've been using Windows since version 3.11 back in middle school, and 7 probably was the version that I learned the most about how to fix things that went wrong on my computer. I became very good at fixing corrupted user accounts on 7 because it happened to my mom's once and mine twice. I also made quite a few of my old youtube videos on Movie Maker both on XP and 7. The best thing was not having to use a Microsoft account to set it up or do a bunch of gymnastics to avoid using one like I had to do for Windows 10. I think it may have been the last version of windows to have the offline versions of hearts, free cell, solitaire, and minesweeper. It also had Media Center, which I never used, but a lot of people did. People got mad when Windows 10 took that away. Even if people who upgraded to 10, decided they didn't like it and downgraded back to 7, Media Center would still be gone on their computer.
Watching from Windows 7. Still use it daily, and will for as long as I can. I have a dualboot with W10 if I really need it. I used Windows 10 exclusively from Nov. 2016 to December 2020, and let me tell you, finally booting up Win 7 gain for the first time in 4 years back in 2020 was one of the greatest moments of my computer life.
@@Guilherme36594 If there's anything I absolutely need 10 for, I just boot into it. But I will keep daily driving 7. Unless Microsoft rediscovers how to make a good UI in the future.
@@agar322 Highly suggest giving a Linux-based OS a try. I switched my main rig to Ubuntu in 2009, after XP. Still kept an XP gaming drive, then a Win7, and soon I'll be force to create a Win10 boot drive to play UE5 and Unity5 games. But since 2009, my productivity work is no longer tied to an OS that tells me what my UI "needs" to look or function like. Nor do I worry about viruses or my OS itself spying on me. Windows has its own use for sure, just like all the other game console OSes, as a toy and nothing more.
@@agar322 Don't listen to them. Windows Users have been ducking and dodging a lot of Microsoft's Privacy issues for years - if you know what you're doing, it'll be fine. You don't have to switch to Linux if you don't want to; if you're happy with Windows 7 and you know what you're doing cyber security wise, I support your endeavor. I was born in 2004, I used Windows 2000/ME (I don't remember which one exactly), Windows Vista (actually a good experience with this since I had the hardware that can support it and I used it after the service patches), and then in 2014, I was on Windows 7 and I used that for about 5 years - I was younger and didn't know shit about computers back then so I always had issues with the computer because I would have virus issues and I wouldn't know why I did. Despite my own misfortune, I loved Windows 7; it was very intuitive, it was fast, it looked nice, it was probably even revolutionary for Windows at the time. If only I had the tech savvy knowledge I have now, that PC would've run way better and I would probably still have it today. Currently on Windows 11 (should've just held out on Windows 10 until at least 12 released), not the end of the world, but I still would much rather be on 10 - preferably, 7. I might change my skin on Windows 11 to at least make it feel more like 7 - it won't be the same but at least ease the pain. I commend your efforts to hold out till the very end. Good luck.
@@Firepulserleave them alone, not everyone wants to jump on the Linux bandwagon. There's so much you have to do in order to get Linux to actually function the way you want it to - starting with the GPU. And even once you get it all to work, you still might not get the experience you truly want as substitute apps may not actually look or be as good as its Windows equivalent. And the sting that will always come back, gaming is better on Linux now yes, but overall, Windows is still better for it - even you kinda admit that. I have Linux on my PC, and even though I like it, it's always a constant struggle, and your Linux geeks are just going to say "get a different distro if you don't like it bro" as if that's actually helpful. Us Windows users have been ducking and dodging Microsoft's Privacy issues for years - a lot of us don't really listen to the Terms of Service - so we're gonna be fine; we do not have to jump ship. It's like how MacOS users that actually know how to use computers have been holding out on Apple's computers for the longest time.
A critical reason Windows 7 was great is the simple fact that it was the last desktop OS. Win 8 introduced tiles (which sucked), and even though Win 10 improved some things, the OS was dumbed down to look more like a mobile OS for the average users.
My favorite feature of Windows 7, that I hadn't even considered a feature until later versions removed it, was the Classic skin. To make it look like Windows 95 to 2000 with the task bar and windows and things. It was present in XP too. Since I've had to switch to 10 for hardware reasons (similar how I only switched from XP to 7 to be able to use more than 3GB ram effectively) I've really really missed the old look and feel that I think win2k perfected. There's third party programs, but they introduce complexity instead of remove it like the Classic theme used to do.
That's what VMs are for. You can run your fav Linux distro or Unix flavor as a host. If one of your Microsloth Widows [sic] partitions goes south, just reformat the volume and start over.
I loved the win2k look, too. But Aero introduced a huge feature that I cannot give up - vsync. And actually well implemented IMO. Another feature would be better gfx acceleration. I'm mostly a desktop machine user I must admit (as opposed to a laptop).
Nah, I used "Classic Start Menu" program to give me my XP minimal taskbar back without grouped tabs on Win7. Ofcourse, I used a 64-bit version of XP for 2 years before I switched to my Gaming PC to Win7. And that's only because games (game engines >.>) stopped supporting XP. From that point I had my toyOS (Windows) machine and a separate main productivity rig (ubuntu-derivs)
@@Firepulser of course I used classic start menu as well, set to the win2k look, not that XP two column garbage. As for application window grouping on taskbar, that was a feature one could natively turn off all the way up to Windows 10.
I grew up on Windows XP, and it is one of the best versions of Windows ever released, however even though I never used Windows 7 much, I know that windows 7 is my favourite, since it is so intuitive even to someone who barely used it. (I skipped from XP to Win 10) Windows 7 truely is the peak of Microsoft's design
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!
I rarely comment, but this video touches me somehow. I'm writing this from a computer using Windows 7 as its OS, which I'm going to update to Windows 11 as soon as I have the time to (this summer most likely). I'm 20, I was born in 2003, I have (even if minimal) memories of the first computer my dad brought home in 2008/9 or so, and it was actually already quite old at the time, having Windows XP and being really slow even for the standards of the time. I remember playing 3D Pinball before even knowing how to read, and having my fingers hurt after playing for hours (strange to think about, given that I now use my keyboard waaay more than I used to and haven't had any problem or pain/fatigue in years) and basically treating Flash Games as AAA titles. After 2/3 years we had an upgrade to Windows 7, but at around the same time my parents got me a PS3, and later on I bought my PS4 on day-one (which I still own); I basically only viewed computers as consoles, therefore never really lived the Windows 7 era during its age. School basically forced me to get myself a computer for online researches, so I eventually ended up buying a Windows 8 computer (first PC I ever got with my own money and clearly worst choice of my life, computer-wise) that really got me to discover how much mess had been done by Microsoft for that particular OS (even worse than whatever Vista had done, in my opinion). I would then update it to Windows 10 in 2016, it was clearly better but the computer I had wasn't that good anyways (not that big of a deal, I didn't really do much on it anyways) and as such I don't really have a good memory of Windows 10 either, despite its general approval from the community. Things would change when I would go on to build my first (and current) gaming computer at the end of 2018. Given that this time I was going to spend a lot more money on it (about 1000$, talking about years of savings as a teenager), I really didn't want to mess up like I had in the past, and as such tried to seek help from a more experienced friend of mine, who would go on to suggest me the various hardware components AND would heavily press me to install Windows 7 on it. I honestly thought it wasn't an amazing idea since it was already really old at the time, but I agreed because I didn't have good memories of W8 and W10 anyways, and W7 was still okay for basically every activity, and so it was. Despite getting to know it quite late, I can't fathom how good of an experience I've had with Windows 7 over these 5 years and thousands of hours spent on it, from it simplicity, performance, clarity and yes, maybe a bit of nostalgia for older times I never quite experienced as a console-only kid. When support officially ended in 2020, I tried to stick to Windows 7 no matter what, as I didn't really want to leave such a perfect system no matter what, but problems eventually started to arise. To name a few: -Discord is really messed up, graphical glitches are quite a nightmare, they appear and disappear depending on the day and version, but they've been more constant as time went by; also I have huge problems streaming my screen (others won't see anything most of the time) or watching other people's streams (I'll just see a black screen and nothing more) -What'sApp Web does not offer an installation anymore, you can only use the Browser version (minor problem, as it works basically as much if not even better) -Lesser known software such as MinGW will refuse to install, no matter what -Some games will have disabled functionalities (no full-screen on Cyberpunk 2077, don't ask me why), or downright not start at all (Death Stranding, Mafia remakes, many games downloaded on Epic Games Store that for some reason start in their Steam/cracked versions (had to try for science!)) -Xbox Game Pass and entire Windows Store not being present (Xbox Game Pass on browser should work, but I never tried it so I can't tell for sure) -Google Chrome ending support at the beginning of 2022, had to switch to Firefox because of that ...and to finish, what's caused me to decide to finally upgrade... -Steam ending support at the end of 2023 (as a consequence of Chrome's lack of support, actually, as Steam's browser is heavily dependent on Google's) Games are the reason I've had computers, they're among the reasons I'm now taking Computer Engineering, and as much as I might love Windows 7, there is no purpose to a perfect OS without some actual thing to do with it. I can easily say that I'll never forget the amazing memories I've had connected to Windows 7, may it rest in piece among the best pieces of software ever created. Thanks for your attention if you read thus far
My favorite thing about Win 7 is that I can leave mine running for months on end without a single crash or need to reboot or restart it! And I do not miss the unstable barely tested Windows Updates one little bit!
I recently built a dual-boot Windows XP/Windows 7 retro gaming PC, using carefully curated components for maximum performance and compatibility. It's shaping-up to be my favorite computer that I've built in many years.
I can remember as a kid starting windows 7 on a school computer, hearing the sound effect and going on games like Education City, Skooville / Skoodle (the successor to SCplus or Super Clubs Plus for anyone a little older than me) , Purple Mash, Espresso, Scratch, pivot and more. One thing I remember especially that has likely become lost media by now is the RM Explorer software that was preinstalled on all school computers, it looked quite outdated around that time, it looked like something made for Windows XP. It was a software made for school computers that allowed you to navigate software and files on the computer more easily, we basically always used it over the start menu. I remember it including things such as the Windows genie helper which we always messed around with. RM Explorer was software sold by a company known as RM Education - if youve ever used a school computer in the UK, youve probably used some of their software like RM Community Connect 4, which was used to manage school networks. It also included a few iconic wallpapers with the “4” logo on it, one of which was based on the Windows 10 default wallpaper and another based off of the Vista wallpaper. Skoodle / Skooville is another thing from my childhood thats likely to be completely forgotten in the near future - it was ended just a few years back but it was essentially a simple social networking for kids or something sort of like club penguin, that was managed by your school. you could play games, customize your avatar, review films, games and books, or even create a custom page for your profile using HTML. As I mentioned it was the successor to an educational website called SCPlus or SuperClubs Plus, which ive heard is quite nostalgic for people who grew up in the 90s - 2000s.
I miss the many things we had in Windows 7 that we don't have in Windows 10/11, everything about it, plus the classic theme and aero interface. Plus, a Control Panel that had everything in it, and no Settings application to be found, and none of this UWP stuff.
Such a perfect OS. I used Windows 7 from 2012, up to mid 2019 and still occasionally use it with my dual boot and with VMs. Windows 7 was extremely stable, easy to use and beautiful. I absolutely love (and much prefer) skeuomorphic and frutiger aero design and I am very sad that it is long gone. Windows used to feel like a power tool, something made only for a PC, but now it's so mobile that it has lost its professional feel in my opinion. Love your videos NS! Great videos with deep content, pleasing editing and overall perfect narration!
Simple. Efficient. Reliable. No Internet. No AI. Just You and the Computer as a whole. That's why I loved Windows 7, it will hold a special place in my heart forever. The moment they fucked up Windows was when they added unnecessary features that nobody used which slowed down the while systen just for loading THE FREAKING NEWS FROM THE INTERNET WHICH I DON'T WANT.
I spent plenty of time as a kid on all the major windows versions since 98, but I undeniably spent the most time on 7 because that was on the first computers I owned directly. There never before, and never since has been such a clean and intuitive windows version for personal computers imo. You had everything completely under your control when it came to organizing your files and software, you weren't pestered by noisy notifications, forced updates, or advertising on your start menu, and it looked damn pretty while doing it. I knew that one day I'd be forced into windows 10 or to brave the unruly waters of linux when 7 went out of support one day, and after much time using both, I settled on linux. The exact distro I use changes year after year, but I'm always comfortable enough when it uses KDE plasma due to the fact that I can easily make it mimick Windows Vista/7's visual theming in comparison to other desktop environments.
Windows 7 and Vista are basically sisters, but they took different routes in their lifetime. I miss aero, the classic theme, no bloatware, overall if there was still support for Windows 7, I'd downgrade my computer for it.
We all would.. A customizable installer would be nice, just checkbox what you want installed, and dont check what you dont want installed, and let people CHOOSE what data they are ok with sending MS. Also dont arbitrarily BLOCK older programs from installing... do those things, and youd have a solid os...
@@Sykxezn Yeah I switched to Mint, its the best alternative to 7, but the file structure is a total pain to re-learn, like where program installations are located and all that. I still use Mint sometimes, but i still mostly use 7, and switch back and forth. I still like 7 better, but Mint is the next best thing. Its slightly buggier than 7, but what can you expect from a free os? ha Trying to get mint fully learned before I can no longer use 7, figured id still use 7 while I can, until i cant anymore
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HEYO
Suizel
ok
We need more bonzi buddy plushie's
you are not ugly
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
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.
@PWNAGE703
Unlike Windows 11 that is a trojan itself you mean?
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
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!"
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.
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.
@@DonaldValefr
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
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
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.
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
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)
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
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 TH-cam 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
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.
@@spingleboygle 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.
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
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.
Me too.
Me Too👍.Just Love It
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'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.
_"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.
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
You can easily get around windows 11's weird requirements by using rufas to burn the iso onto a usb drive
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.
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)
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.
I use windows 11 but it is slow because of microsoft defender which scans the harddisk too often and makes the pc very slow...
my home laptop is 13 years old and still has windows 7 and is still going strong. i dont use it much these days but when i'm on, it feels like i'm 'home', as it were.
i love windows 7. i dont think anything will beat it. it was perfect.
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 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! :)
@@RealHyperrSpaced STFU. It sucks. Windows 10 is better
@@RealHyperrSpaced it's even worse
@@hi69593 LIARS THERE IS NO STUPID DUM SHARP CORNERS IN WINDOWS 11
BUT COOL NICE ROUND CORNERS
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
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.
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-cilr2 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-cilr2 - 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 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.
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 made this comment on Windows 7!
You need to upgrade
@MrComputer2016 don't blame him for using peak
@@MrComputer2016 I wish but I’m too poor.
Me Too
I wish I could say the same
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 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.
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
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.
Yep had a windows 98 family desktop, which got replaced by a XP machine. Laptop had Vista. Then my next laptop had win7. I loved the aesthetic of vista.
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.
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
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.
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 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 TH-cam 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
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...
@@theparadoxbox174 i havent got a bluescreen in a while but explorer seems to like crashing,and just straight up not restarting sometimes
@@Damian-cilr2 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..
Windows 7 was Microsoft's last great operating system. And for me after Microsoft ended security updates, that was the day I switched to Linux.
It was a shame Microsoft could not give the general user the one product that could rival 7. This is why when Microsoft failed to go big, I made it go home.
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
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.
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
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
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 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.
@@pavanraj4125 Oh, please no. The UI was utter crap.
It is nowhere near "the best operating system". It was ugly and slow.
My previous gaming PC was from back in 2009 with WIndows 7. I used that PC all the way up to 2022. Eventually the PC was starting to give me issues and it was time to upgrade. I miss Windows 7,
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.)
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
I think I used XP until 2018 or 2019 xD. Now I'm on 7 and it will probably be the last Windows for me. after 7 Windows became horrible like 8 or a mess like 10 and 11.
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.
Windows 7 was my favorite operating system of all time, it reminded me of Internet Explorer, Windows Defender, Aero theme, Windows Media Center and more, but even when it ended support on January 10, 2023 I would still use and nothing infected it. Good old times I miss...❤❤😭😭
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.
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.
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.
Window 7 is able run anything unless the software developer blocks it in the software forcefully
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
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!
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.
My favorite feature of Windows 7 was a more improved Aero interface. When you maximize a window, the UI remains beautiful and transparent. It's what gave Windows 7 a more unique identity. I wish Microsoft still kept it going.
7 was so good in so many ways. It truly was the ultimate user-friendly experience. And honestly, the only reason I could move over to 10 without a weird breakdown, was that it was essentially the same exact system I had learned to love, just repackaged in a boring square theme now. All the new features that I didnt like or didnt want to learn, I could simply hide and never interact with ! However that is absolutely not the case for 11. It just looks.. somehow even more horrible? Its user-friendliness has just dropped to the point where I couldnt figure out how to do almost anything without looking up how to on my phone. In the few minutes I was forced to interact with it on my (now 1 year old) pc I legitimately got so distraught about knowing how to navigate anything that I immediately went to download windows 10 off of edge and reinstall it. Im literally refusing to change past 10 now (the same exact way I felt with my windows 7 when 8 came out) until I know that the unreleased windows 12 feels exactly like windows 7 and 10. You will have to pry this operating system out of my cold dead hands before I ever consider switching to something like windows 11. Lifeless design be damned, windows 10 is good and fine.
how will we stop microshaft from ruining our lives?
10 is totally worthless as it cancels drivers for my up to date one years old Canon printer and destroys my ability to us my SD cards all worked before Windows 10 updates every few weeks, Microsoft is the Windows 10 one and only DICTATOR. I hate with many other user?
You must have gotten into Windows 10 after the start button debacle. Windows 10 was originally designed for touch screen tablets. Meaning large clunky squares for fat fingers that were awkward to use with a mouse and keyboard. And there was no start button. You had to pull up a completely different screen to do anything and it was made up of nothing but the giant squares for fat fingers. Windows 10 was honestly one of the worst OS that I've ever had to deal with. I can't tell you the number of things I had to learn in order to fix the many problems I've had with Windows 10.
@@imabebebebe2496 switching to a Linux OS that has a windows 7 like interface. if I'm ever forced out of my Windows of choice that's what I'll be doing.
Win 10 is a pest. It is the exactly opposite of Win 7. Win 7 is user friendly, does not force you to create a MS account or update the OS if you want it or not. You have the full control over everything while Win 10 is pure spyware.
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.
openshell, winaerotweaker, shutup10
Check out Aero10, UxThemePatcher and OldNewExplorer. For icons check out something called 7tsp. I made my 10 look like 7, disabled all the telemetry and bloatware.
I'll keep all this on mind to install it later
Still On 7..It,s The Best
Me too.
windows 7 was my first windows ever. i still have a pc that’s running windows 7 and it’s still going strong. just looking at the beautiful aero-themed ui gives me flashbacks.
I had Windows XP as my first Computer OS
@@algret132 that’s another one of my favorites. never had it as a kid, though i’d like to experience it someday.
Pros of Windows 7:
- Satisfyingly overtextured
- Lovely aeroglass theme
- Nice boot screen
- Has compatibility features up to Windows XP
- A massive range of themes and chimes to chose from
- Consistent design, no part of Windows 7 looks older, or newer.
Cons of Windows 7:
- N/A
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 yes the OG operating system, one of everyone's favorite successor to Vista, thanks NationSquid appreciate it!
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
What do you mean was? I still use windows 7. Did you forget it's available in 64bit too? It will be around even after the 2030's when 32bit clocks have reset.
Windows 7 was my childhood along with XP. I miss them so much
Same. 🥲
me too :_)
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
I couldn't get rid of Windows 7. I wasn't willing to part with it until I absolutely had to. Eventually I finally had to upgrade Photoshop so I could use new features, and discord stopped working on 7 eventually, so finally, in 2019, I had to upgrade to Windows 10. I was so mad when I couldn't access the recovery options without having a boot USB, and there was so much more things locked down, Cortana was the most annoying thing I've ever had to displeasure of using on my desktop, and disabled it.
Anytime I went to a friend's laptop to help them fix something I had to jump through a bunch of hoops to even boot to a USB, to disable smartboot, or whatever the other locked down options were. And I couldn't believe they locked down windows that much. It was much worse when I had to help people fix Windows 8 computers. It was like trying to fix a macbook, the simplest fixes required 20 more steps than I was used to. Obviously now I can do all that without even thinking about it, but it was so much easier once upon a time.
Discord is still fully supported on Windows 7...
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
Can't hate Microsoft last desktop oriented OS. Everything after was touch/hybrid oriented full of bloatware (and now ads too). Running too much hidden processes in the background making unusable on a normal hard drive.
yes, and don’t forget mcafee! that piece of junk deserves it’s own episode entirely.
Well windows 11 I think is designed to run on ssds although HDDs can run it's not like 2009 anymore
@@WaltuhD So what you're saying is HDD's have become useless or outdated?
Win 10 LTSC works amazingly on HDD. went from 100% usage all the time to 2%. I am honestly amazed by LTSC as the only preloaded app is Edge which can be uninstalled.
@@olegpetrovic yes
I loved the Windows Live software suites, especially Messenger. I would chat and call my friends using that. Movie Maker is still iconic. I remember using the facial recognition features in Photo Gallery and thinking how cool it was that you could organize your libraries like that!
I was the same way... the Windows Live suites were everything to me... I always downloaded them; loved using the Windows Live Writer for my blogger I had at the time!
I've been using Windows since version 3.11 back in middle school, and 7 probably was the version that I learned the most about how to fix things that went wrong on my computer. I became very good at fixing corrupted user accounts on 7 because it happened to my mom's once and mine twice. I also made quite a few of my old youtube videos on Movie Maker both on XP and 7. The best thing was not having to use a Microsoft account to set it up or do a bunch of gymnastics to avoid using one like I had to do for Windows 10. I think it may have been the last version of windows to have the offline versions of hearts, free cell, solitaire, and minesweeper. It also had Media Center, which I never used, but a lot of people did. People got mad when Windows 10 took that away. Even if people who upgraded to 10, decided they didn't like it and downgraded back to 7, Media Center would still be gone on their computer.
My favourite feature from Windows 7 is the Windows Media Center and the File Explorer!
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!
Watching from Windows 7. Still use it daily, and will for as long as I can. I have a dualboot with W10 if I really need it. I used Windows 10 exclusively from Nov. 2016 to December 2020, and let me tell you, finally booting up Win 7 gain for the first time in 4 years back in 2020 was one of the greatest moments of my computer life.
get zorin os
@@Guilherme36594 If there's anything I absolutely need 10 for, I just boot into it. But I will keep daily driving 7. Unless Microsoft rediscovers how to make a good UI in the future.
@@agar322 Highly suggest giving a Linux-based OS a try. I switched my main rig to Ubuntu in 2009, after XP. Still kept an XP gaming drive, then a Win7, and soon I'll be force to create a Win10 boot drive to play UE5 and Unity5 games.
But since 2009, my productivity work is no longer tied to an OS that tells me what my UI "needs" to look or function like. Nor do I worry about viruses or my OS itself spying on me. Windows has its own use for sure, just like all the other game console OSes, as a toy and nothing more.
@@agar322 Don't listen to them. Windows Users have been ducking and dodging a lot of Microsoft's Privacy issues for years - if you know what you're doing, it'll be fine. You don't have to switch to Linux if you don't want to; if you're happy with Windows 7 and you know what you're doing cyber security wise, I support your endeavor. I was born in 2004, I used Windows 2000/ME (I don't remember which one exactly), Windows Vista (actually a good experience with this since I had the hardware that can support it and I used it after the service patches), and then in 2014, I was on Windows 7 and I used that for about 5 years - I was younger and didn't know shit about computers back then so I always had issues with the computer because I would have virus issues and I wouldn't know why I did. Despite my own misfortune, I loved Windows 7; it was very intuitive, it was fast, it looked nice, it was probably even revolutionary for Windows at the time. If only I had the tech savvy knowledge I have now, that PC would've run way better and I would probably still have it today. Currently on Windows 11 (should've just held out on Windows 10 until at least 12 released), not the end of the world, but I still would much rather be on 10 - preferably, 7. I might change my skin on Windows 11 to at least make it feel more like 7 - it won't be the same but at least ease the pain.
I commend your efforts to hold out till the very end. Good luck.
@@Firepulserleave them alone, not everyone wants to jump on the Linux bandwagon. There's so much you have to do in order to get Linux to actually function the way you want it to - starting with the GPU. And even once you get it all to work, you still might not get the experience you truly want as substitute apps may not actually look or be as good as its Windows equivalent. And the sting that will always come back, gaming is better on Linux now yes, but overall, Windows is still better for it - even you kinda admit that. I have Linux on my PC, and even though I like it, it's always a constant struggle, and your Linux geeks are just going to say "get a different distro if you don't like it bro" as if that's actually helpful. Us Windows users have been ducking and dodging Microsoft's Privacy issues for years - a lot of us don't really listen to the Terms of Service - so we're gonna be fine; we do not have to jump ship. It's like how MacOS users that actually know how to use computers have been holding out on Apple's computers for the longest time.
Good job for the subtle face reveal. No announcement or anything.
A critical reason Windows 7 was great is the simple fact that it was the last desktop OS. Win 8 introduced tiles (which sucked), and even though Win 10 improved some things, the OS was dumbed down to look more like a mobile OS for the average users.
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
My favorite feature of Windows 7, that I hadn't even considered a feature until later versions removed it, was the Classic skin. To make it look like Windows 95 to 2000 with the task bar and windows and things. It was present in XP too. Since I've had to switch to 10 for hardware reasons (similar how I only switched from XP to 7 to be able to use more than 3GB ram effectively) I've really really missed the old look and feel that I think win2k perfected.
There's third party programs, but they introduce complexity instead of remove it like the Classic theme used to do.
That's what VMs are for. You can run your fav Linux distro or Unix flavor as a host. If one of your Microsloth Widows [sic] partitions goes south, just reformat the volume and start over.
I loved the win2k look, too. But Aero introduced a huge feature that I cannot give up - vsync. And actually well implemented IMO. Another feature would be better gfx acceleration. I'm mostly a desktop machine user I must admit (as opposed to a laptop).
Nah, I used "Classic Start Menu" program to give me my XP minimal taskbar back without grouped tabs on Win7. Ofcourse, I used a 64-bit version of XP for 2 years before I switched to my Gaming PC to Win7. And that's only because games (game engines >.>) stopped supporting XP.
From that point I had my toyOS (Windows) machine and a separate main productivity rig (ubuntu-derivs)
@@Firepulser of course I used classic start menu as well, set to the win2k look, not that XP two column garbage. As for application window grouping on taskbar, that was a feature one could natively turn off all the way up to Windows 10.
I didn't like the classic skin. The Windows Aero glass is so beautiful that is what keeps me from going to Windows 10.
I grew up on Windows XP, and it is one of the best versions of Windows ever released, however even though I never used Windows 7 much, I know that windows 7 is my favourite, since it is so intuitive even to someone who barely used it. (I skipped from XP to Win 10) Windows 7 truely is the peak of Microsoft's design
Lol wut
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!
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
I rarely comment, but this video touches me somehow. I'm writing this from a computer using Windows 7 as its OS, which I'm going to update to Windows 11 as soon as I have the time to (this summer most likely).
I'm 20, I was born in 2003, I have (even if minimal) memories of the first computer my dad brought home in 2008/9 or so, and it was actually already quite old at the time, having Windows XP and being really slow even for the standards of the time. I remember playing 3D Pinball before even knowing how to read, and having my fingers hurt after playing for hours (strange to think about, given that I now use my keyboard waaay more than I used to and haven't had any problem or pain/fatigue in years) and basically treating Flash Games as AAA titles.
After 2/3 years we had an upgrade to Windows 7, but at around the same time my parents got me a PS3, and later on I bought my PS4 on day-one (which I still own); I basically only viewed computers as consoles, therefore never really lived the Windows 7 era during its age.
School basically forced me to get myself a computer for online researches, so I eventually ended up buying a Windows 8 computer (first PC I ever got with my own money and clearly worst choice of my life, computer-wise) that really got me to discover how much mess had been done by Microsoft for that particular OS (even worse than whatever Vista had done, in my opinion). I would then update it to Windows 10 in 2016, it was clearly better but the computer I had wasn't that good anyways (not that big of a deal, I didn't really do much on it anyways) and as such I don't really have a good memory of Windows 10 either, despite its general approval from the community.
Things would change when I would go on to build my first (and current) gaming computer at the end of 2018. Given that this time I was going to spend a lot more money on it (about 1000$, talking about years of savings as a teenager), I really didn't want to mess up like I had in the past, and as such tried to seek help from a more experienced friend of mine, who would go on to suggest me the various hardware components AND would heavily press me to install Windows 7 on it. I honestly thought it wasn't an amazing idea since it was already really old at the time, but I agreed because I didn't have good memories of W8 and W10 anyways, and W7 was still okay for basically every activity, and so it was.
Despite getting to know it quite late, I can't fathom how good of an experience I've had with Windows 7 over these 5 years and thousands of hours spent on it, from it simplicity, performance, clarity and yes, maybe a bit of nostalgia for older times I never quite experienced as a console-only kid.
When support officially ended in 2020, I tried to stick to Windows 7 no matter what, as I didn't really want to leave such a perfect system no matter what, but problems eventually started to arise.
To name a few:
-Discord is really messed up, graphical glitches are quite a nightmare, they appear and disappear depending on the day and version, but they've been more constant as time went by; also I have huge problems streaming my screen (others won't see anything most of the time) or watching other people's streams (I'll just see a black screen and nothing more)
-What'sApp Web does not offer an installation anymore, you can only use the Browser version (minor problem, as it works basically as much if not even better)
-Lesser known software such as MinGW will refuse to install, no matter what
-Some games will have disabled functionalities (no full-screen on Cyberpunk 2077, don't ask me why), or downright not start at all (Death Stranding, Mafia remakes, many games downloaded on Epic Games Store that for some reason start in their Steam/cracked versions (had to try for science!))
-Xbox Game Pass and entire Windows Store not being present (Xbox Game Pass on browser should work, but I never tried it so I can't tell for sure)
-Google Chrome ending support at the beginning of 2022, had to switch to Firefox because of that
...and to finish, what's caused me to decide to finally upgrade...
-Steam ending support at the end of 2023 (as a consequence of Chrome's lack of support, actually, as Steam's browser is heavily dependent on Google's)
Games are the reason I've had computers, they're among the reasons I'm now taking Computer Engineering, and as much as I might love Windows 7, there is no purpose to a perfect OS without some actual thing to do with it.
I can easily say that I'll never forget the amazing memories I've had connected to Windows 7, may it rest in piece among the best pieces of software ever created.
Thanks for your attention if you read thus far
Brother used chat gpd to write this 😂😂😂
@@mindofvirtuoso3358 long text = chatgpt
quite a comment...
Microsoft informed me that I need to buy a new computer in order to run Windows 11 I still pray to0 use Windows 7 till Death Do us Part???
@@77.88. my pc never got the windows 11 update. I did it forcefully old style with a cd
My favorite thing about Windows 7 was the nostalgic screen and the opening sound, it was amazing...
My favorite thing about Win 7 is that I can leave mine running for months on end without a single crash or need to reboot or restart it! And I do not miss the unstable barely tested Windows Updates one little bit!
I recently built a dual-boot Windows XP/Windows 7 retro gaming PC, using carefully curated components for maximum performance and compatibility. It's shaping-up to be my favorite computer that I've built in many years.
I can remember as a kid starting windows 7 on a school computer, hearing the sound effect and going on games like Education City, Skooville / Skoodle (the successor to SCplus or Super Clubs Plus for anyone a little older than me) , Purple Mash, Espresso, Scratch, pivot and more.
One thing I remember especially that has likely become lost media by now is the RM Explorer software that was preinstalled on all school computers, it looked quite outdated around that time, it looked like something made for Windows XP. It was a software made for school computers that allowed you to navigate software and files on the computer more easily, we basically always used it over the start menu. I remember it including things such as the Windows genie helper which we always messed around with. RM Explorer was software sold by a company known as RM Education - if youve ever used a school computer in the UK, youve probably used some of their software like RM Community Connect 4, which was used to manage school networks. It also included a few iconic wallpapers with the “4” logo on it, one of which was based on the Windows 10 default wallpaper and another based off of the Vista wallpaper.
Skoodle / Skooville is another thing from my childhood thats likely to be completely forgotten in the near future - it was ended just a few years back but it was essentially a simple social networking for kids or something sort of like club penguin, that was managed by your school. you could play games, customize your avatar, review films, games and books, or even create a custom page for your profile using HTML. As I mentioned it was the successor to an educational website called SCPlus or SuperClubs Plus, which ive heard is quite nostalgic for people who grew up in the 90s - 2000s.
I miss the many things we had in Windows 7 that we don't have in Windows 10/11, everything about it, plus the classic theme and aero interface. Plus, a Control Panel that had everything in it, and no Settings application to be found, and none of this UWP stuff.
Such a perfect OS. I used Windows 7 from 2012, up to mid 2019 and still occasionally use it with my dual boot and with VMs. Windows 7 was extremely stable, easy to use and beautiful. I absolutely love (and much prefer) skeuomorphic and frutiger aero design and I am very sad that it is long gone. Windows used to feel like a power tool, something made only for a PC, but now it's so mobile that it has lost its professional feel in my opinion.
Love your videos NS! Great videos with deep content, pleasing editing and overall perfect narration!
Simple. Efficient. Reliable. No Internet. No AI. Just You and the Computer as a whole.
That's why I loved Windows 7, it will hold a special place in my heart forever.
The moment they fucked up Windows was when they added unnecessary features that nobody used which slowed down the while systen just for loading THE FREAKING NEWS FROM THE INTERNET WHICH I DON'T WANT.
I spent plenty of time as a kid on all the major windows versions since 98, but I undeniably spent the most time on 7 because that was on the first computers I owned directly. There never before, and never since has been such a clean and intuitive windows version for personal computers imo. You had everything completely under your control when it came to organizing your files and software, you weren't pestered by noisy notifications, forced updates, or advertising on your start menu, and it looked damn pretty while doing it. I knew that one day I'd be forced into windows 10 or to brave the unruly waters of linux when 7 went out of support one day, and after much time using both, I settled on linux. The exact distro I use changes year after year, but I'm always comfortable enough when it uses KDE plasma due to the fact that I can easily make it mimick Windows Vista/7's visual theming in comparison to other desktop environments.
Windows 7 and Vista are basically sisters, but they took different routes in their lifetime. I miss aero, the classic theme, no bloatware, overall if there was still support for Windows 7, I'd downgrade my computer for it.
Actually the same, 7 is the vista after tweakings. They share the same kernel.
Vista suffered more from bad drivers than old hardware.
Vista is a beta of 7
a lot of their developmental periods overlap
I would pay good money for Microsoft to create an OS that's pure and doesn't have tons of junk baked in
Ugh I know right? I actually loved Windows until they started getting really pushy with things and telling you what you need.
They already did: Windows 7. People should have kept using it instead of opting for downgrades like Win10 or 11.
@@goldbullet50 Ending security updates and support for newer CPUs kinda forced majority to downgrade.
We all would.. A customizable installer would be nice, just checkbox what you want installed, and dont check what you dont want installed, and let people CHOOSE what data they are ok with sending MS. Also dont arbitrarily BLOCK older programs from installing... do those things, and youd have a solid os...
@@Sykxezn Yeah I switched to Mint, its the best alternative to 7, but the file structure is a total pain to re-learn, like where program installations are located and all that. I still use Mint sometimes, but i still mostly use 7, and switch back and forth. I still like 7 better, but Mint is the next best thing. Its slightly buggier than 7, but what can you expect from a free os? ha
Trying to get mint fully learned before I can no longer use 7, figured id still use 7 while I can, until i cant anymore