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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Jack Schofield

Is it worth waiting for Windows 7?

My laptop has had it and I would like to replace it. Should I buy now or wait until the end of October to get a computer with Windows 7 pre-installed?
Jonathan Moshinsky

It depends how urgently you need a new laptop. It now appears that Microsoft will ship a European version of Windows 7 complete with browser options that will upgrade Vista in exactly the same way as the rest of the world, and this works well. This means you can buy a Vista laptop now, get a voucher for a free copy of Windows 7, and upgrade it without doing a "clean installation". However, a clean installation is usually better, so if you are not in a hurry, it's better to wait.

When buying a PC to run Windows 7, the points to watch for are: (a) a 64-bit version of Vista; (b) full support for DX11 graphics; and (c) a processor that supports Data Execution Prevention and hardware virtualisation, for Windows 7's XP mode. Running GRC's SecurAble will tell you about these.

But, as always, it will take time for the market to move on from XP-level hardware to PCs specifically designed for Windows 7.

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