hi,
codeblocks[
^] is a better option if you are opting for open source IDE. It supports multiple compilers and is well maintained with bug fixes etc. and is kept up-to-date. Also has helpful features like code completion and importing projects developed using other IDEs. It runs on windows 7 very well and on linux also. The website has a forum also.
If you are totally new to embedded development then you can google out for "code blocks starting with embedded development" .
There are articles on code project itself like
this one[
^]
hope this was helpful.