Windows 7 Backup Crippled in Home Premium

Tom's Hardware reported yesterday that Windows 7 Home Premium Won't Have Backup. You'd certainly get that impression from Microsoft's Windows 7 feature comparison, although the reality seems to be more complex with network backup being dropped from Home Premium.

I suppose we should be grateful that Microsoft still isn't providing robust backup out of the box. The reality is though that many computer users either don't understand or just don't get around to putting a useful backup strategy in place. Crippling backup in Home Premium (especially combined with the Windows 7 Action Center deficiencies that I blogged about last month) is a recipe for disaster.

A Harris Interactive poll for Maxtor (PDF) found that only one in ten people were unaware of the need to backup their computer. Despite this only a third used backup at all and the vast majority of that third backed up infrequently.

Why the disconnect? A whopping 44% of respondents found that backup was too technical. Another 20% found that it was too time consuming.

Instead of using backup to differentiate Windows 7 editions Microsoft should take the approach that they've already adopted with firewalls and anti-virus. The OS should warn the user if backup is not configured or out of date, and the Action Center should help users find backup solutions from a range of vendors.

I expect it's too late for Windows 7. It's not too late to tell a friend or family member about Cucku.

posted by Rob on Thursday, July 16, 2009

0 comments | links | bookmark & share |

Comments

Post a Comment | Comment Feed

Links

  <$BlogBacklinkTitle$>  

<$BlogBacklinkSnippet$>
posted by <$BlogBacklinkAuthor$> @ <$BlogBacklinkDateTime$>

Create a Link