Windows 7 is likely Microsoft's best tested operating system to date, thanks to a wide spread public beta and release candidate testing period. But that doesn't mean that the new OS is without teething issues.
According to data collected by consumer helpdesk firm iYogi, the most prevalent problem new Windows 7 users encounter deal with the install. The next most popular problem is missing applets or components (such as the change from Windows Mail to the Windows Live version), followed by a missing Aero theme.
Of course, the prevalence of install problems for Windows 7 is easily explained by the fact that the OS is new and that all new users not buying a machine pre-loaded with the OS have to go through the install process. Couple that with the lack of an upgrade option for Windows XP users, and then add in all the variations of an in-place upgrade from Windows Vista, and one can imagine all the problems that might crop up.
As listed by Ars Technica, these are the top ten problems reported to iYogi:
- Problems with installation: 31 percent
- Missing applets or components: 26 percent
- Aero theme is not running: 14 percent
- DVD drive not found (this happens despite the drive being visible in the BIOS and the standard driver is working): 8 percent
- Hidden extensions (Windows Explorer's default setting in all the versions of Windows is to hide file extensions, as well as system files and folders): 6 percent
- Too many minidumps (By default Windows 7 keeps the last 50; minidumps are the memory images saved on the system when your PC crashes): 6 percent
- Aero snap problems (Windows 7 has a handy new ability to move and resize windows, all in one movement, but sometimes it does not work as expected and can become annoying): 3 percent
- iPhone won't sync with Windows 7 (usually with the 64-bit edition, the iPhone sometimes get recognized but then iTunes returns with the error 0xE8000065): 2 percent
- Custom icons get changed with new theme (When a new Windows 7 theme is applied, custom icons can be lost): 2 percent
- Taskbar problems (In Windows 7, it's difficult to tell at a glance whether an icon is a running application or a pinned shortcut): 1 percent
Have you been having the same problems?
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