Windows 7 is the new Microsoft Operating System that will succeed Windows Vista. Currently Microsoft has released a beta version of Windows 7 for people to try and give them feedback on. Today I will give my review of Windows 7. Keep in mind that I have not given Windows 7 a whole lot of time so I am mostly just going on first thoughts.
Overall Windows 7 is a very good, attractive, and apparently stable operating system. They have introduced a new task bar that may take some getting use to for some people. For me, I love the new taskbar. Overall the desktop (including the taskbar) looks very much like the KDE desktop in Linux. Microsoft also packed in some very attractive desktop backgrounds that I believe many people will love.
Another good thing is they removed all those annoying security warnings that annoyed anyone who ever used Vista. No more having to give yourself permission to do whatever it is you want to do on your computer. Yes there is still some warnings that will popup now and then, but so far its pretty even with what you would expect from Windows XP.
One very bad thing about Vista was how slow it ran. This was mostly because it had so many graphical enhancements that you were using all that valuable CPU time and RAM to make your computer “pretty”. Windows 7 has returned that computing power to where it belongs, your applications. Windows 7 runs much faster that Vista and you will notice it right away if you upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 when it is released.
Microsoft also claims they improved the boot time for the operating system. This means when you turn on your computer, it should be ready for use quicker than in the past. From my testing, on a fresh install, this seems to be the case.
Microsoft has also introduced a new type of networking into Windows 7. They call it HomeGroups. This is sort of like a workgroup, except with added security. This should allow inexperienced computer users to share their pictures, music, and other files with other computers on their network in a secure environment. This is a great feature for those who do not understand networking, but for those who do it is probably not needed.
Overall Windows 7 appears very stable. An Intel employee actually thinks the beta is so stable that he has it running on his desktop and said he would install it on desktops throughout Intel if company policy did not have a rule against using beta software. This is a very high praise for Microsoft. I expect Windows 7 to be the most stable operating system ever released by Microsoft.
One thing is for sure, Microsoft seems to have picked it back up after the utter failure that was Vista. Vista was actually so much of a disaster that the future of Microsoft operating systems was unclear. Microsoft even had to “rename” Vista to just get people to try it “again”. Windows Vista was basically a repeat of Windows ME.
Now that Windows 7 is on the doorstep, Vista will die a quick and silent death in the computing world. Windows XP will probably also now start to slowly fade away and be replaced by Windows 7. Keep in mind that Windows 7 will eventually get a name and won’t be called “Windows 7”. My suggestion: “Windows Savior”.
