R. I. P.'s guide to Windows 7
R. I. P.'s guide to Windows 7
Today marks the final day before Windows 7 support ends. I’m feeling inclined to relax in my room and let it all out. Still, how significant was Windows 7 in your experience? For me, it’s likely just another thing to leave behind compared to Windows Vista. But while many are moving to Windows 7, I chose a different route—Linux, specifically Ubuntu. I haven’t really used Windows 7 much myself. Let’s celebrate the positive moments and share all the wonderful memories Windows 7 brought us. May it end on a sweet note for such an impressive operating system.
I initially encountered Win7 and believed it was a rebranded version of Vista.
I never used any Windows installed on my devices personally. I was just the person who kept the computers running for friends, family, and then their contacts. It’s like having a Windows 7 that’s long dead—similar to old versions of WfW3.1x, Win98, XP, or even Vista. I’m not sure it will become common for many people.
I experienced Win 7 as significantly improved compared to XP, especially since I enjoyed XP. But after Gates stepped down and Ballmer took charge, the situation worsened. When Ballmer was eventually replaced by Nadella (though not immediately), MS began a steep decline. The transition wasn’t smooth; Nadella’s policies for Win 10 started affecting Win 7, introducing issues like spyware, nagwars, and frequent broken updates as users were treated as test subjects. As a result, my trust in MS evaporated—I stopped updating my system two years ago due to the frustration. Now I’m moving away from MS entirely, embracing Linux Mint (version 19.3). I’m already using it, though learning curves remain, and I haven’t connected my Windows machine to the internet for about two weeks. I only start it up to gather data for migrating to the Linux machine, a process that’s slow and tedious because I need to filter out Windows-specific information. I’ve also given up on Adobe due to its similar downward trend. The turning point came when MS shifted to a cloud-based, subscription model and added ads to their services.