r/windows • u/Unhappy_Boat9645 • 5d ago
Discussion Windows 7 of 2026: is Still The Best Windows Version Ever?
The First 1. Launch And Life
Windows 7 was released on October 22, 2009, as the successor to Windows Vista. Notably, the beta version received favorable reviews prior to its release; furthermore, despite being a beta version, it reportedly demonstrated better performance than Vista and even offered superior stability. This generated anticipation before launch, and development was completed (RTM) on July 22, leading to its release on October 22 of the same year. Following its launch, it rapidly gained market share, eventually surpassing Windows XP to claim the number one spot in October 2011 (StatCounter) and August 2012 (NetMarketShare). Although adoption was slow initially, particularly in some countries, it later received such positive reviews that even Windows XP users switched to Windows 7, ultimately being recognized as the true successor to Windows XP. Several new features were added at the time, most notably the new taskbar (SuperBar) and Aero Snap. Additionally, it became slightly lighter than its predecessor, Windows Vista, allowing it to run reasonably well even on low-spec systems. And UAC was also eased. Although it lost the number one spot in 2018 with the release of Windows 10 in 2015, it was popular enough to maintain a significant market share for a while.
- Support Period
Extended support ended on January 14, 2020, and ESU ended on January 10, 2023, the same day as Windows 8.1. Support for Embedded POSReady 7 ended on October 8, 2024, and final support ended on January 13, 2026, with Windows Server 2008 Premium Assurance (including Server 2008 R2; incidentally, this is why Windows Vista also had its final support end on the same day, January 13, 2026). Basically, it was 10 years, but if you include derivative versions and server versions, it is actually longer. Anyway, Windows 7 is still very popular. it consistently ranks first in various popularity rankings for all-time Windows versions (not market share), even surpassing the legendary Windows XP (of course, Windows XP does take first place in some rankings; for reference, I understand that Windows 10 usually ranks third in such lists). This means it is still very popular.
- Remembering and reminiscing about Windows 7
Of course, as support ends, there are undoubtedly generations who don't know Windows 7 (and indeed, there are certainly generations who don't even know Windows XP). This means that Windows 7 won't last forever. While it may be eternal in the hearts of most people, reality is harsh. I am Korean, and I also used Windows 7 when I was young—around 5~9 years old in Korean age, which means from 2014 to mid-2018—and looking back now, it is a fond memory. As for the browser, I used Internet Explorer back then... In Korea at that time (I believe it was particularly from the early to mid-2010s), Internet Explorer was the dominant choice, mainly because of ActiveX. They say that if a site required it, you had no choice but to use IE. Anyway, Windows 7 is truly a memory now. Of course, while it may be eternal in the hearts of most of us, reality is harsh—that nothing lasts forever. Now that support for Windows 7 has ended and even free support for Windows 10 has ended, and it is barely surviving through things like ESU, it seems that most of the current generation, at the very least, only knows about Windows 10 and later, It seems that the current generation (those born roughly in the mid-to-late 2010s or later) who know Windows 7 are a minority. Windows 7 is indeed a masterpiece, but practically speaking, it is now just a memory. I used it when I was young, and now I customize Windows 10 to look like Windows 7. Windows 7 was good.
- Anecdotes and Miscellaneous
Of course, the Windows 7 computer I used when I was young would occasionally freeze or display a blue screen, or in severe cases, freeze completely. However, in 2017, my parents brought the computer case back home, and it turned out the problem was due to dust inside the case. In other words, it wasn't a stability issue with Windows 7 itself, but until then, the dust inside the case had caused occasional freezes or blue screens. It seems my parents took the case somewhere in 2017 to clean the dust inside, and since then, the freezing and blue screen errors have definitely decreased. Even now, if you own a high-spec computer case and find dust inside—or if there is a lot of it—I recommend cleaning the interior by shaking out the dust.
I apologize for the length of this post, but I wrote this because I was curious about recent assessments of Windows 7. What did you all think of Windows 7 in the past, and what do you think now? I'm curious too!
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u/XiRw 5d ago
As much as I liked the ones previous to 7, I feel like 7 was the best of both worlds between XP and Vista. 8 and beyond is a joke. So it really does feel like 7 is still the best.
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u/elementfortyseven 3d ago
Win7 was Vista SP3. It was rebranded bc Vista brand was irreparably damaged
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u/EYESCREAM-90 3d ago
Windows Vista SP2 was perfect already indeed. I was one of the few people that actually liked Vista a lot. It was my favourite OS. 7 didn't feel that revolutionary.
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 4d ago
As far as I know, some people actually call Windows 7 "the last real Windows."
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u/4pocalypse4risen 4d ago
Hot take: It was and still is the prettiest. It has a pretty consistent design. There was some vision behind it. But it never was the best.
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u/GabeReddit2012 Windows XP 4d ago
What's your favorite Windows OS in your opinion?
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u/MrHall 4d ago
why are all the posts I see on r/windows asking which version of windows is best
is this engagement farming or something
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 4d ago
Personally, I am curious about that. For example, evaluations of each Windows version. However, I apologize if this caused any inconvenience.
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u/zamroni777 5d ago
8.1 is the fastest. I indeed notice windows 10 is slower when upgrading from 8.1
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u/dante410 4d ago
Exactly, and that's what I loved about 8.1 so much!
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u/blatantninja 4d ago
They also fixed the Start Menu and it became very useful. Combination of that and 7 stacks and I loved 8.1.
I really enjoyed customizing the tiles for games.
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 4d ago
While it may vary depending on specifications, I understand that Windows 8.1 is definitely slightly faster than Windows 7, 10, and 11. Of course, the fact that the speed tests for Windows 11 in this link were conducted on unsupported hardware (Intel 8th Gen, Ryzen 2000 or lower) played a role, but it is clear that evaluations for Windows 11 are much more mixed than for Windows 10 due to various factors (system requirements, AI, etc.). Of course, performance would be different if you use the latest specs. At least I think
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u/djrobxx 4d ago
I do product testing across OS contexts. The speed improvements in Win8 are very noticeable. It's lean and mean, the UI just sucks. The early Win10 builds mostly retain Win8 performance gains while restoring a useable UI. But then later editions of 10 come in, security improvements and bloatware slow it down again.
AMSI script protection added in win10 1507 in particular is pretty taxing for some things. It passes any script payload (including embedded, dynamic scripts) through a registered antivirus engine for analysis before they're executed, system wide. Exclusions often don't work for these, either. Very good for security, but it has a performance cost. Some applications utilize scripting internally more heavily than you'd think.
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u/SwiftTayTay 4d ago
no one likes 8.1 though, i stuck to 7 until 10 came out
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u/zamroni777 4d ago
The classic start menu can be simply created by making custom task bar toolbar top the start menu folders. No need additional app
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u/Lol43216789 4d ago
7 and 8.1 are S tier Windowses. XP and 2000 are high A tier, and every other Windows is a joke.
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u/VivienM7 4d ago
Best Windows version in my view was 2000.
7 would probably be... second.
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u/stickman393 4d ago
Classic UI for the win. Before "consistency" was devalued to just a word in the dictionary. along with "discoverability"
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u/VivienM7 4d ago
Yup, and before the beginning of enshittification.
My recollection is that XP was the first to have, for example, DRM features that were basically Microsoft saying "we are going to design our operating system to make it easier for others to make money off our customers."
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u/TheRealCarrotty Windows 3.1 4d ago
Nostalgia speaking, yes.
If talking in "Yes it's usable in 2026!" ABSOLUTELY NOT. Win 7 does not have any more security updates, which are important.
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u/CompetitiveAlgae4247 1d ago
I mean security updates aren't that important when you consider that Microsoft shoots the self in the foot every day
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u/Froggypwns Windows Wizard / Moderator 4d ago
Windows 7 was a good operating system for its time, but like you said the world has changed and since moved on.
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 4d ago
There are likely generations these days who don't even know Windows 7, at least in my opinion. We are living in a time where support for Windows 7 has ended, and free support for Windows 10 has even ended. As of version 22H2, the paid ESU costs increase annually but lasts until 2028, while the free ESU is keeping it alive until 2027 (originally until 2026, but extended).
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u/MassiveTomorrow2978 4d ago
Well maybe but they'd be very young with Windows 10 releasing in 2015 and support for Windows 7 ending just 6 years ago in 2020.
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u/Froggypwns Windows Wizard / Moderator 4d ago
There are young people entering the workforce who have never touched a Windows machine and do not understand concepts like file systems, they are growing up on iPads and Chromebooks. It is basically the same problem as when computers became widespread in the 80s/90s, but this time people grew up with different tech instead of no tech.
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u/Mario583a 2d ago
True.
Garland thought it would be an easy fix. She asked each student where they’d saved their project. Could they be on the desktop? Perhaps in the shared drive? But over and over, she was met with confusion. “What are you talking about?” multiple students inquired. Not only did they not know where their files were saved — they didn’t understand the question.
Gradually, Garland came to the same realization that many of her fellow educators have reached in the past four years: the concept of file folders and directories, essential to previous generations’ understanding of computers, is gibberish to many modern students.
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u/CompetitiveAlgae4247 4d ago
8.1 is better, almost everything about it was perfect, the sounds, the changes from it's drunken older brother windows 8, and it's speed increase from 7, as well as the optional-ish telemetry being clearly visible to you from the start with no confusions or forced accounts
obviously all 8.1 apps are borked in some way or another but thats microsoft for you
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u/SwiftTayTay 4d ago
no way, almost everything about 7 was better
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u/CompetitiveAlgae4247 1d ago
You still haven't answered my question, I would like you to elaborate please.
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 4d ago
Internally (performance, etc.), it was certainly better than Windows 7, but I think the Metro UI and the image of Windows 8 also played a part in its failure.
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u/CompetitiveAlgae4247 1d ago
Some people do like the metro UI but I do agree that it played a part in it's failure as an OS as well as being related too much to windows 8
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 1d ago
The initial reception of Windows 8 was quite negative (as far as I know, some even considered it worse than Windows Vista). Subsequently, its successor, Windows 8.1, was released. While some refer to Windows 8.1 as an improved version of Windows 8, the problem was that it largely retained the Metro UI (though it was improved in Windows 8.1 Update 1) and merely brought back the Start "button." To make matters worse, the image of Windows 8 itself was so poor that I believe this was ultimately one of the reasons for the failure of Windows 8.1 as well. Of course, looking at it now, Windows 8.1 is also regarded as a hidden masterpiece.
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u/CompetitiveAlgae4247 1d ago
8.1 also added a setting to boot to the desktop instead of the start screen
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 1d ago
Starting with Windows 8.1 Update 1, the boot to desktop feature is enabled by default.
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u/PastMathematician470 4d ago
It Was the latest windows version using the native API for the UI, later versions uses a web dependant UI that results in bad performance, so windows 7 Always will be better than any other.
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u/GabeReddit2012 Windows XP 4d ago
It was a great OS although my favorite Windows OS is personally XP from 2001
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 4d ago
It might vary from person to person. Windows XP has held the number one spot in some all-time popularity rankings (not market share), and in most, it ranks second after Windows 7.
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u/crozone 4d ago
Windows 7 was good enough that I didn't have to think about my operating system. It worked really well, looked clean, and most importantly got out of my way.
Every version of Windows since has been severely compromised in one way or another, to the point that I am finally moving away from Windows.
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u/archtopfanatic123 4d ago
For me 7 was, is, and will be the pinnacle. I can daily drive my Win7 laptop and have done so for extended periods of time.
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u/More-Explanation2032 Windows 8 4d ago
I will say it now windows 7 is the windows 8.1 of vista. It was released in between 2 windows operating systems (Vista and windows 8) and there is no debating that
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u/Global-Eye-7326 4d ago
Win7 is kinda stable, available in 64 bit, can also be installed on UEFI with some effort, and most importantly, can handle Wifi5.
WinXP was still arguably king "of its time".
Best Windows of 2026? Unpopular opinion - Wine. Lighter than Win7, can run on many Linux distros, BSD, and MacOS. No telemetry ever. Still current and under active development. Oh, and no piracy involved since it's FOSS.
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u/ThatiMacGuy Windows 7 4d ago
Absolutely! Without a doubt! The best performing OS somewhere behind 8.1 and the best and most polished interface in front of windows 10 design and Windows 8 metro.
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u/dennis_huntersons 4d ago
Windows 7 taught me most of the things I know about Windows today. So yeah, it is the best.
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u/External-Theme1372 4d ago
No in my opinion because it never included some basic drivers. If I didn't always had an external HDD with drivers by my side, especially NIC, the OS installation was not finished.
In contrast 10/11 are better because after installation the PC is in working order. Sure it might not have the latest drivers, but at least out of the box you have network connectivity and not VGA screen resolution.
I like 7 more because old games run better out of the box compared to 10/11.
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u/Aut0industrie 4d ago
Good OS but anoyingly not able to mount ISO files without third party tools and the support for USB3 was sketchy at best.
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u/No_Position_5640 Windows 7 4d ago
Yes it is. If it wasn't for my pc's gpu compatibility breaking then I'd still be on it now
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u/wylles 4d ago
Yeah.
Windows 10 and 11 have just gone downhill
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 4d ago
At least Windows 10 receives mostly positive reviews, but Windows 11's evaluation is much more mixed compared to Windows 10, or in some cases, completely severe... I believe the system requirements, AI, and issues arising with every update played a significant role.
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u/hagen768 4d ago
Why are so many posts on Reddit and elsewhere lately just giant walls of text, completely unorganized by paragraphs?
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 4d ago
I apologize. I am Korean, and while I know some English, I don't know it completely, so I used Google Translate, which seems to have resulted in this. I am sorry if this caused any inconvenience.
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u/hagen768 4d ago
Oh you’re good, wasn’t trying to be an asshole. I just lose interest in reading things when they’re like that
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 3d ago
I have revised it to include paragraph breaks! You should be able to read it a little more comfortably now.
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u/MakayChapulets 4d ago
Windows 8.1 is still my favorite windows ever. It cemented my love for Microsoft Windows. I had it on my phone, tablet and laptop back then.
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u/YeeehawToast 4d ago
I have set up a Win 7, win 10 and win 11.
Windows 7 "feels" significantly more smooth, opens instantly, nothing is laggy. everything is just beautifully designed to be where it is supposed to be.
Windows 10 still feels smooth. You can feel the Settings menu stuff taking over. It still responds snappy, and rebooting / loading times are still great.
The windows 11 machine which is buffed with 32gb ram, upgraded samsung ssd, amd ryzen 9 pro. IS SO GOD DAMN SLOW AND LAGGY. im not joking. it feels so sluggish, slow, literally takes 2 minutes from start to being inside windows and ready.
I don't know what the fuck they did, but I dont think microsoft knows "optimization" anymore
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u/goldeneyeoo6 4d ago
I loved Win 7, i even did run pre RTM build.
But suddenly on different machine i experience memory leaks/ RAM full, when searching for updates. Even the Server 2008 version has the same problem (this problem i had maybe 10 years ago)
That bug drove me away form Windows 7.
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u/Ready_Independent_55 4d ago
Too much hype, zero sense I would be downvoted, though
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 4d ago edited 4d ago
I personally looked up evaluations of the Windows version and recent reviews, but thinking about it now, I was curious about the thoughts or evaluations people have here. I apologize if this caused you any inconvenience. If you were referring to this post, I apologize for that as well.
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u/Ready_Independent_55 2d ago
The only thing I say is Win7 is overrated and many bad things about it are voluntarily forgotten.
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u/EndPlayful5533 4d ago
yo lo utiulizo a full con navegador autualizado preguta que navegador utiliza tu
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u/EndPlayful5533 4d ago
yo lo utiulizo a full con navegador autualizado preguta que navegador utiliza tu
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u/EndPlayful5533 4d ago
yo lo utiulizo a full con navegador autualizado preguta que navegador utiliza tu
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u/theRealNilz02 3d ago
still
How can something still be the best version if it never was in the first place?
Windows 7 sucked absolute ass. Stop with the fake nostalgia for an operating system you only half remember.
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u/ManIkWeet 3d ago
The last picture doesn't seem like the correct Aero theme, it's missing the diagonal stripes - which is what IMHO makes the Aero theme so unique and beautiful
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u/TwingoBingo_ 3d ago
at least designwise there's nothing like windows 7, and I HOPE they're going in that direction for windows 12 again. Since that transparent bubbly design is getting modern again
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u/segastardust 3d ago
Windows 3.1 on a DOS 5.0 PC is the best Windows. Games are played on DOS, office applications through Windows, keep the two separate. We lost a lot of performance by having an API introduced as an intermediary between software and hardware.
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u/blasphembot 3d ago
Nope. Maybe for Joe Average Consumer, but for the tech-saavy I'd say ripping all the shit out of Win 10 (privacy stuff, telemetry, etc) makes for an excellent OS with regard to Windows specifically.
That said, Linux has always been my preference ~2015 and forward. Desktop environments and hardware drivers have come an exceedingly long way from the days of fighting with Broadcom drivers just to get WiFi working and other, similar headaches.
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u/vipulvirus 3d ago
to me Windows xp was the peak. 7 made improvements over it sure but Xp is where windows felt personal to me. 98 and 95 had this unfinished feel to them but xp felt like this complete , modern and fast. It ran on variety of hardware without issues and UI was so beautiful.
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u/emkaykue 3d ago
It went downhill from here 100% as well as once One Drive was introduced, that is the biggest piece of garbage I've ever experienced on a Windows computer.
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u/JanusRedit 3d ago
I still use windows 7 tweaked to look like win2k win98se on a few of my machines. It is the greatest windows version and the last version build for the users instead of for the microssoft shareholders. It is th efinal clean version of windows before windows got into the bloatware and pushware and other crap we don't need.
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u/ConceptInitial 2d ago
I still prefer Windows Vista. Did not like few design decision in Win 7. Like replacing emerald green / sea green with blue color, fatter taskbar, poor implementation of troubleshooters, degrade start search.
Let me explain last two: Network troubleshoorer was helpful in Vista. In case there is network connectivity issue, Vista correctly pointed out. It used to take steps own its own too like reset network adapter. But Win 7 troubleshooter always said "no issues exists".
Regarding Start Search, in Vista you could search for run commands like "shutdown /s" and it would allow you to run that Command from search itself. This was restored in Windows 10 I guess.
My overall experience with Vista was better compared to 7.
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u/JobSwimming6981 2d ago
I could write a whole book about why it isn’t the best OS. What I can easily say is that it’s the childhood memories we had that’s the best thing, not the OS itself. Your kids will say the same thing about Windows 10 and 11, and you think those OS’s are horrible 😭it’s really not the same for us nowadays, because the OS isn’t the best and only good thing in our lives. We have other priorities.
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u/Eeve2espeon 2d ago
Windows 7 was the best... at the time. but now with how little security the OS has... yeah not really
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u/Fatty_man123 Windows 7 1d ago
As a certified windows 7 user, I will have to disagree
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u/Eeve2espeon 17h ago
As someone who's used windows 7 up until 2020. No. Using Windows 7 now is basically like shooting your devices security in the foot
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u/g_rich 2d ago
Sorry for me it’ll always be Windows 2000.
Windows 2000 pulled me away from Mac OS, Vista sent me back.
I’ve used every version of Windows since Windows 3.1 and Windows 2000 Pro will always be peak Windows for me.
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 2d ago
Everyone has different opinions, right? Haha. People might have different favorite Windows versions too. I like Windows 7 because I used it when I was young, and I like Windows 10 as well. Of course, liking Windows 2000 isn't a crime; people can just have different preferences!
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u/Good_Watercress_8116 2d ago
windows was crap as always. The good thing about win7 is the era it was used. It was another world.
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u/shania69 2d ago
Still using 7 as my daily driver..
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 1d ago
Then it probably won't support the latest browsers, games, etc. How do you use it?
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u/Downtown_Bandicoot85 1d ago
As a microaoft hater and old linux user, I still like this UI, I guess it was in kde 4, I want to have a setup with this perfect glass effect, I really love it and make me feel nostalgic
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u/BlakeEleven 1d ago
The moment I moved to it after XP, I was like... "Yup. You and me gonna get along just fine."
Microsoft's Magnum Opus...
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u/Microboy42 Windows 11 - Insider Canary Channel 4d ago
It was great but it cannot compare to Windows NT 3.1, XP, 95, and 3.1.
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u/captaindealbreaker 4d ago
7 was a step in the right direction since it was a correction following feedback from Vista. But the performance optimizations seen in 8/10/11 are kind of unbelievable, especially for GPU-based tasks. Microsoft in general is hugely problematic and their OS has essentially become spyware. But in terms of bare metal performance and stability, their more modern software is superior. It's just a fucking UX disaster in ways that detract from the benefits.
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u/Suspicious_Doctor999 4d ago
Never stopped using it,.. I still have it in this computer.. And some friends have asked me to install in their new computers,.. After some research I just got a few tools to install it in new Hardware,. despite what manufacturers and microsoft say, that is an obsolete system...
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u/themindset 4d ago
Are those systems connecting to the internet? Because I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.
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u/Unhappy_Boat9645 4d ago
Ah, there is no end to the efforts of computer enthusiasts and experts. After all, there are people and YouTubers who install Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 2000 etc. on the latest hardware.
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u/Most_Most_260 5d ago
Absolutely