Company migrating from XP to 7- Use default setting?

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KapsZ28

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So I work at a company that is on XP and even still had users on 2000 up unit a few months ago. Most clients are used to using the classic view and also have shortcuts to everything on their desktop.

When they go to Windows 7, probably early next year, the company decided to use the default Windows 7 layout with the exception of a custom background image. So there won't be desktop shortcuts, no quick launch, all taskbar icons will be combined with no text telling you what they are. Basically, Windows 7 out of the box.

How do you think this will sit with clients? Will they mind the dramatic change overnight? Will many of them be resistant to using Windows 7? Will they be bugging Desktop Support to make it look more like Windows XP?

If you had to migrate clients from XP to 7, would you leave all the default 7 settings?
 
Your gonna get SOOOOO many phone calls!!!
People get used to things, and even in smaller clients they can kick up a right fuss.

If the powers above have said "this is how it should be, and that should be for everyone" then by all means enforce it since it will make life easier for you guys too. But I would consider setting up some workshops etc for people to get to know it better and be more accepting.
 
Sounds like adding icons to the desktop would be the thing to do. Maybe allow the users to do it provided that doesn't run afoul of your security policies.

What kind of training are they planning for the users before they sit them down in front of their new machines?
 
get management to do a mandatory training. Even if it's only a 30 minute thing on the basics of Windows 7. It will greatly help the employees transition.

Granted, some will still fight no matter how much you try to help; that's inevitable.

But if a quick overview/training can even keep 50% of them "happy" then that would certainly be good.

No, people will not like that huge change overnight. They will be bugging the help desk. They will be lost and confused.
 
Even if it just keeps them quiet, let alone "happy".
If management wants it that way make sure the users all know that is where the desicion has been made and do not make any exeptions.
 
They are definitely having training, but I don't know how extensive it will be. I think the main training is going to focus on Office 2007 since almost all clients are still using Office 2003 and that is a big change.

The problem I see in the office I work in is that there are 3 Desktop Technicians supporting about 700 users. So besides all the typical issues, the techs will have to help all the clients that aren't familiar with the new OS and want to make changes. At least if they locked down the settings and said that clients would have to get used to it, that wouldn't be so bad. But they are allowing clients to make changes to the way it looks and if a client needs help making the changes, they will be bugging Desktop Support. I think the volume is going to go through the roof. Especially with Office 2007.
 
Snufykat said:
Even if it just keeps them quiet, let alone "happy".
If management wants it that way make sure the users all know that is where the desicion has been made and do not make any exeptions.
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I wish that was the case, but unfortunately here they always make exceptions. Management just doesn't have enough control over the enviornment and let the end users get away with way too much. Right now everyone still has Admin rights too.
 
KapsZ28 said:
The problem I see in the office I work in is that there are 3 Desktop Technicians supporting about 700 users.
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Those are going to be some VERY busy guys. Windows 7 and office 2007 at the same time is going to be painfull.
 
We have moved over almost all of our staff to windows 7 and the number of question was a lot lower than we expected. I think we get more questions about office 2010 than we do windows 7. We even had people ask for windows 7 as we were designing the migration process. A thing that I would make sure to do is to customise what is pinned by default to the task bar to contain things that everyone uses. We have ie, outlook, explorer, word, excel, and acrobat pro on the bar by default currently.

edit:

As for your questions directly.

How do you think this will sit with clients?
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For our users it went over very well. Some didn't like it, but they got used to it.

Will they mind the dramatic change overnight?
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The change is happening, only thing you can do is tell them in advance and give them training before or right after deployment.

Will many of them be resistant to using Windows 7?
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I would say around 10% of our users were pissed that we changed everything. Gave the usual why did you have to change what worked / the man is always bringing me down type speech.

Will they be bugging Desktop Support to make it look more like Windows XP?
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We had a few users ask if we could make the new task bar like the old one. We did not help them in this regard, just told them to give it time.

If you had to migrate clients from XP to 7, would you leave all the default 7 settings?
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Yes to default settings (minus lockdown and company settings). They are going to have to learn these changes sooner or later.
 
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I personally hate the default "Always Combine, Hide Labels" setting for the task bar.

We are just starting to consider our Windows 7 roll out but IT has been on it for a bit.
I have a GPO called Windows7UIUser applied to the OUs where I customized a lot of things for the eventual roll out.

If you wish to change the Task Bar to "Combine when taskbar is full" add a registry entry under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced, DWord called "TaskbarGlomLevel" and set it to 1.
 
Some of the default settings I don't like are the lack of icons on the desktop. No "Run" command in the start menu, (many clients use it for network shares and don't know the keyboard shortcut." The taskbar and pinned icons. Lack of File menus in Explorer and IE8. The non-expanded Navigation Pain.

Also, they don't want clients using their computers for personal use, but yet they left Windows Media Center on it.

I just think it is kind of odd for a computer to use an OS right out of the box. We had many custimizations in XP, and none in 7.
 
But what would you even change? I am sure they will be adjusting default profiles for application settings relevant to your environment and other similar things like that. But every thing you listed is really just personal preference (minus then run command) which should always be left out when doing large scale deployments where opinions will differ across the board.
 
Teach them about the improved windows search feature; that being Start -> *Type in whatever it is you want* and it instantly pops up. I think with something that's as responsive as this - you don't really need desktop icons anymore.
 
There are a lot of settings that can be changed. Although mostly everything can be done with a GPO. With Windows XP we tried keeping a standard build so the look and feel is the same no matter what computer you use. Also is makes it easier for helpdesk techs and desktop support to troubleshoot. Using the default settings and then letting clients modify it however they want is annoying for technicians. Personally all work computers should be setup the same. The clients don't on the PC, so why are they customizing it the way they want?

I've been using 7 since it was in BETA, but I use my home PC way differently than my work PC.
 
TheApothecary said:
Teach them about the improved windows search feature; that being Start -> *Type in whatever it is you want* and it instantly pops up. I think with something that's as responsive as this - you don't really need desktop icons anymore.
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That search box also doubles as a Run box unless you need to do a Run As Admin.
 
TheApothecary said:
Teach them about the improved windows search feature; that being Start -> *Type in whatever it is you want* and it instantly pops up. I think with something that's as responsive as this - you don't really need desktop icons anymore.
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This is true, but you'll still have clients that prefer to just click on items to open them. Depending on the computer I am using, I could have anywhere from 5-10 items in the Quick Launch bar. :D
 
Sulphademus said:
That search box also doubles as a Run box unless you need to do a Run As Admin.
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Also true, but with the Run window you get the drop down list with a history of items you have typed in before. Very useful for network shares that you don't keep mapped, but may have forgotten the path.
 
KapsZ28 said:
Personally all work computers should be setup the same. The clients don't on the PC, so why are they customizing it the way they want?
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I totally agree that all work computers should be setup the same. And from what you are saying they still will be. Obviously the user is not an administrator so there will never be new apps, and they will all start with the same default profiles minus things that get migrated in whatever your migration progress does. So when it comes to things that they can customize does it really matter? We asked the same question when we designed our windows 7 settings. In the end we decided we don't really care if their they can change their window borders to pink or their background image to their kids or change their taskbar to have whatever they want. Because in the end cosmetic changes will never effect our ability to help them and it wont prevent them from doing their job.
 
KapsZ28 said:
There are a lot of settings that can be changed. Although mostly everything can be done with a GPO. With Windows XP we tried keeping a standard build so the look and feel is the same no matter what computer you use. Also is makes it easier for helpdesk techs and desktop support to troubleshoot. Using the default settings and then letting clients modify it however they want is annoying for technicians. Personally all work computers should be setup the same. The clients don't on the PC, so why are they customizing it the way they want?

I've been using 7 since it was in BETA, but I use my home PC way differently than my work PC.
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What's a GPO?
 
Digital-Vortex said:
Your gonna get SOOOOO many phone calls!!!
People get used to things, and even in smaller clients they can kick up a right fuss.

If the powers above have said "this is how it should be, and that should be for everyone" then by all means enforce it since it will make life easier for you guys too. But I would consider setting up some workshops etc for people to get to know it better and be more accepting.
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+1

When i moved to Win7 from XP. It was a while before i finally found where the functions were (A lot of things got moved around).

Also include how the new interface works and how it's supposed to be used. I hated the group similar icons in WinXP, so i was dreading the Win7 one, but the new one is actually easier to use.

It's those minor things that add up to make this a great OS.


PS: I still hate the search function, i still can't get it to find my files.
 
Moving from Office 2003 to 2007 generated a lot of complaints for us. After using drop down menus for a decade, people simply didn't know where to begin looking for features on the ribbon. Moving someone form XP to 7 doesn't seem to cause the same problem, you've still got your start menu, task bar, quick launch(through pinned programs), system tray and everyone knows how to make desktop shortcuts if they want them. Odds are, people have already had 7, or at least Vista, at home for some time now.

KapsZ28 said:
Also true, but with the Run window you get the drop down list with a history of items you have typed in before. Very useful for network shares that you don't keep mapped, but may have forgotten the path.
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The start menu search box will kind of do the same thing. As soon as you type in the \\ that precedes a network share, it lists all of the previous addresses you typed in. Not as obvious as a scrollable drop down, but it's the same function.:)
 
TheApothecary said:
Teach them about the improved windows search feature; that being Start -> *Type in whatever it is you want* and it instantly pops up. I think with something that's as responsive as this - you don't really need desktop icons anymore.
Click to expand...

If I have to touch the KB to do anything other then type in a document the UI is a failure.
 
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