Fear, Excitement and Loathing Seen In Questions Surrounding Windows 7 Launch

Heads-up, PC enthusiasts! Windows 7--Microsoft's self-proclaimed "best OS ever" is launching to the public tomorrow. Tomorrow, junior! It hasn't even been three full years since the launch of Windows Vista, but already Microsoft is looking to put the past behind it and get on with the new. A recent survey by iYogi has taken a look at what the hottest Windows 7 trends are, and what people are talking about.

The most popular topics? Most of it revolves around the fear of the unknown, which isn't at all shocking. Upgrading to a new OS is child's play for experienced PC users and builders, but for the average person, this is a huge, huge deal. Most folks are resistant to change when something seems to be working fine.  Even when they know an upgrade is necessary, it still worries them to dive in to the great unknown.

Topics like "will I need to re-install Office when I upgrade to Windows 7?" and "what's new with the Windows 7 task bar?" are at the top, which means that people are both interested in what's new but scared of what might change. Another interesting tidbit is that a lot of comparison seems to be going on between Windows 7 and Windows XP. In fact, we'd say there are just as many questions from XP users as Vista users, proving that a huge amount of PC users decided not to upgrade to Vista when they had the chance.


Please, just don't break Solitaire...

We'll be taking a deeper look at some of the features that will make Windows 7 tower over Vista as the launch gets official, but for now, we're curious as to what questions you have surrounding Windows 7. Are you worried about the upgrade? Will you be one of the first in line to snag a copy of the forthcoming OS?  What's been the buzz at your water cooler?
iYogi Identifies Top Ten Trends for  Microsoft Windows 7 Launch

Online Conversations Tracking Across Forums, Review and Social Media Websites: Application Compatibility, Migration and New Features Top the List of Topic Areas Discussed Around the Upcoming Windows 7 Launch 

New York, NY, October 20, 2009:  iYogi, the fastest growing on-demand tech services company, announced today the results of tracking tens of thousands of online conversations around the subject of Microsoft Windows 7.  In a look at online discussions over the last week in ten widely used forums, 25 review sites, and four of the largest social networks, iYogi found that application compatibility and migration by far topped the list, followed by discussions around features and performance.  

Top ten issues, along with examples of actual quotes from each conversation topic include:

1.    Application compatibility, portability and migration
“Do I need to re-install Microsoft Office when I upgrade to Windows 7?”

2.    New Features
“Does Windows 7 have the functionality of XP and appearance of Vista?” and “What’s new with the Windows 7 task bar?”

3.    Performance
“Is Windows 7 faster that XP or Vista?”

4.    Getting ready for windows 7
“Is my computer ready for Windows 7 and is it good for running games?”

5.    User interface
“Does Windows 7 look and feel like Mac?”

6.    Windows 7 Networking
“Can I connect with my second computer that runs XP and also share my printer?”

7.    Windows 7 hardware compatibility
“Will I need to re-install software again for my camera and phone?”

8.    Windows 7 Installation, setup and deployment
“How much time will it take me to install Windows 7?”

9.    Price
“Will the price for Windows 7 drop in the future?”

10.    Media center
“Can I make videos and does 7 have movie maker like XP?”

iYogi’s tracking of online topics reviewed discussions in
•    Forums such as MSDN, TechNet, Yahoo Answers, Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, Google blog search, laptop forum, and notebook forums
•    Review sites like Amazon, BestBuy, buzzilions, CNET reviews, epinions, laptop community, Newegg, notebook review, and product wiki
•    Social networks including Facebook, Linkedin, Myspace & Twitter

Polls conducted by iYogi have indicated that nearly 70 percent of users are not entirely comfortable that they will be able to easily move their favorite applications over to the new Windows 7 platform, and nearly half expect to need more tech support help in order to do so. 

Well, truth told it's safe to say that Redmond has likely done their homework on this OS but you can never be too sure.  So, as we've told you many times before, back-up that data early and often boys and girls.  And when in doubt, just procrastinate, at least until the first service pack.