Windows 7 Migration
Will 2012 Be Your Year of 64-bit Windows?
It's time to reap the benefits of 64-bit computing, and we've got some tools that will help with the upgrade process.
Think back about three years to the time when 64-bit machines were first coming out and you asked your friendly local tech guru whether you should upgrade Windows or not. You may remember them saying something like “I wouldn’t if I were you,” or “not yet, wait for them to get the bugs out.” Nobody was in a rush.
Today, of course, 64-bit computers are well established, and most everything runs well on them. Most everything. There are still utilities that won’t run with the 64-bit version of Office, but that doesn’t stop you from running 64-bit Windows!
William R. Stanek, writing in the November 2011 edition of Technet Magazine, tells us, “You’ll find that 64-bit Windows 7 performs better than its 32-bit counterpart.” He adds that drivers were, at one point, a hindrance to adoption, but that we are now in the “sweet spot” for 64-bit technology. Since better performance is always a goal, this is good news! Right?
Well, yes, but he also warns that software may not quite be keeping up with hardware, so those considering a migration should “read the fine print.”
Stanek also advises that you pay careful attention to which upgrade paths are available and which are not. For example, you cannot upgrade directly from Windows XP to Windows 7. You could do a two-step first from XP to Vista and then from Vista to 7, but who really wants to do that? And the Vista-to-7 upgrade is limited to same architecture, language, and same variant edition or higher.
One of the workaround options is the User State Migration Tool (USMT) 4.0, which lets you migrate from 32-bit to 64-bit, and Windows 7 now includes Windows Easy Transfer, which makes it easy to transfer settings and files from XP or Vista to 7.
USMT is your choice if you have a lot of computers to transition, but be prepared to do some extensive planning. USMT 4.0 will help migrate OS settings, application settings, user data, desktop appearance settings, menus, keyboard and mouse settings, folder options, Internet options, and mail settings.
As with most migrations and upgrades, there will be work involved, but the payback in tremendously enhanced performance makes it well worth the effort.
