Window 7 isn’t yet out of the gate for most consumers, and for as much trouble as Microsoft has gone through to ensure a smooth release, Windows 7 is likely to encounter a few bumps and bruises along the way. What’s most likely to take the fun out of your new OS upgrade? The usual suspects – driver problems, hardware incompatibilities, and memory problems.

Older Hardware May Not Work So Well With Windows 7

Microsoft has been working hard to help ensure that the latest drivers are available and compatible with Windows 7, but users who have older hardware may be in for a surprise. Often, manufacturers don’t support older hardware and may not provide an updated driver. And don’t be confused by the term “older.” “Older” could mean hardware that was made in 2007 or 2008.

Generally, if you’re running Windows Vista and you’ve got all of your driver ducks in a row, you’re not likely to experience much in the way of problems. What runs on Vista should for the most part, run on Windows 7. After all, Windows 7 was built on the Vista platform. If you’re running an older version of the OS – like Windows XP or older – all bets are seriously, completely and thoroughly off. You may be able to find a driver from the manufacturer or you may be able to find a third-party driver that interfaces your hardware with Windows 7. If you’re supremely talented, you might be able to write your own driver, but that’s not something for the uninitiated, so that’s not a realistic solution for most people.

Don’t forget that Windows 7 has a built-in Windows XP virtual machine. You can run Windows XP virtually within Windows 7, and in the virtual environment, your old XP drivers will still work. This is probably the most likely workaround for XP fans who adopt Window 7 earlier rather than later.

The issue of signed and unsigned drivers will also continue to cause problems for people who migrate to Windows 7. Basically, a “signed” driver includes information about the author, who swears on a stack of DOS disks that the driver is authentic, hasn’t been altered since it was released and, in theory, works the way it should An “unsigned” driver isn’t as trustworthy – after all, who knows where it came from, right? The idea behind a signed driver is security. If the driver is “signed” it should be unaltered from the original and should be safer. Windows Vista and Windows 7 want signed drivers. You can turn this desire off in the configuration for the computer, but that disables a “security” feature and will open your computer up to the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. (Or might, anyway.)
Driver availability will be less of a problem. Microsoft has been working hard since July to ensure that many drivers are available on Zero Day. I believe Windows adopters will be pleasantly surprised by Windows 7, at least in this aspect.

Photo Credit: Jim Crossley, via Flickr