All excited about Windows 7? Wait a minute!

Windows 7 is, in fact, the spiffiest version of Windows yet.  But besides the catches you've already heard about (like not being able to upgrade XP or 2000 directly to 7), there's a couple more.

First of all, if you were running the betas or the RC, you were likely using Windows 7 in the Ultimate incarnation.  So now you've gone out and gotten your hands on Home Premium or Professional - well, just like with Vista, you can't downgrade once you upgrade.  This was something I bumped into while trying to upgrade to the release version of 7 Professional on my EEE 901 netbook.  An upgrade involving changing editions?  Nuke & pave.

The other scenario is if you want to go from x32 to x64.  In the Apple world, the base OS is capable of both modes of operation (in fact, 64-bit apps run fine even when the kernel is in 32-bit mode) but in Windows 7 you'll need to pick an edition right away.  And the bad news?  You can't upgrade from x32 to x64.  It's a clean installation.  In my case, I wanted to go from Vista Ultimate x32 to 7 Ultimate x64 on a fairly high-spec PC - no such luck.  Another clean install required.  Boo hiss.

All this said, Windows 7 is worth it if you have the hardware, and if you run Vista today.  Compatibility has been good in my experience with the RC version, and most of the things that made Vista infuriating have been cleaned up effectively.  If you use Vista now, upgrade.  Just do it.  You won't regret it.  If you use XP, hold tight for the time being - I expect third parties to quickly make the migration easier for you (since upgrading requires a clean install).  If you can't wait, make sure you have all your software installation discs handy - or think about getting yourself a Mac instead.