I’m a Mac guy or maybe I should say I’m not a Windows guy. That said, the legal world is still very much under the thrall of Windows and, for that matter, Microsoft. Unlike some individuals, I have nothing personal against Microsoft the company. In fact, if they were to produce a decent product, I would be more than willing to pay for it (as necessary and probably never for purely personal purposes).
Given, then, that most law schools have followed the legal profession as a whole into the jaws of the Beast of Richmond (like I said, nothing personal) it follows that the law student should, if nothing else, be acquainted with its products. This is easy enough to justify with products like Microsoft Office because of its sheer ubiquity. Ever try to open a .docx document in OpenOffice.org and you will understand what I mean. Simply for dealing with the great unwashed masses, therefore, it pays to own a copy of Office.
The law student faces another reason to pay for her software, though, except this time it is in the name of computerized exams. Most law faculties, like at Western, give their students a choice of how they would like to write their exams, but only if they have a copy of Windows installed (disclaimer: this statement is made from my recollection of an off-hand comment made by my tour guide at the Western Law Welcome Day back in March). Now, I have yet to have the pleasure of writing an exam on a computer, however, it honestly cannot be any worse than writing them by hand, at least if your handwriting looks anything like mine. On compassionate grounds alone (whether for your prof or your mark I’ll leave up to you), therefore, I would strongly suggest you ensure that you are compatible with the test taking software at your institution.
Windows 7: A Decent Product
This brings me to the heart of the post, Windows 7 is actually (note the surprise) a pleasure to use (on a MacBook Pro, at least). Whether or not Windows 7 is simply what Vista should have been I will not get into here. What is worth considering, though, is whether or not you should upgrade or dual boot your machine (for you Mac and Linux users out there).
This issue is a little more pressing for the Windows users among us as they only have until July 11th to receive a special offer of about half price off the regular price of an upgrade DVD. Similarly, if you buy a qualifying PC you will receive free upgrade media when it becomes available. If you are a Vista PC who has installed the second Service Pack and you are happy with your performance, then you can probably sit out the upgrade. If you are an XP PC, however, I would seriously suggest you take advantage of the deal. Not only is XP approaching its end-of-life, but it simply cannot compete with the feature set of Windows 7. You will want to ensure, however, that your computer meets the minimum requires and such in order to avoid a Vista-like fiasco.
What kind of features am I talking about? Well, for a complete list you’ll have to visit the website, but the feature I found most impressive was the ability, as a laptop user, to have Windows 7 detect when I have an external display attached and automatically refocus to said display when I close my laptop. Now, I can sort of do this in OS X, but it has to sleep in between which is, frankly, kind of annoying. Windows 7, on the other hand, does it without missing a byte (yes, that’s meant to be a pun).
Non-Windows Users: Dual Booting You Say
For the Mac (or Linux) user, however, the picture is not as clear. To start, we cannot take advantage of the limited time offer (unless you already have XP or Vista installed) as it is merely for the upgrade DVD. As a result, we’ll have to wait and (surprise) pay full price in October. For that matter, if you already have Windows installed, you don’t really need to worry about the upgrade anyway. You probably don’t use it as your everyday operating system (if you do, you kind of went about it backwards, didn’t you?) so the features are not of paramount importance and you are already in a position to avail yourself of the exam software at your institution.
For the rest of us, it will mean waiting until October, paying full price, and dual booting. There are plenty of detailed, step-by-step instructions available on how to dual boot your Mac or Linux machine, so I won’t go into details here. I will caution you that it does take some time and may require you to reinstall your primary operating system as well. My main piece of advice, then, would be to allow at least a day or, perhaps, a weekend to ensure you don’t end up needing your computer while it is in an install-induced coma. Windows 7 is still worth the wait, though, as there is no need to install an about-to-be last-generation product for essentially the same cost in terms of blood and treasure.
What To Do?
While Microsoft is not likely to win any Best Loved Company of the Year awards, it is getting better at giving people what they, and not what Microsoft’s overlords, want. If you are an XP, Mac, or Linux user, I would suggest you strongly consider setting aside some cash to commit to an upgrade this November. If you are already on Vista, you can save yourself some time and trouble and forgo the upgrade. At the end of the day, I’m a pragmatist and if that means dancing with the devil, then so be it.
Cross-posted on LawIsCool.com.
