February 5, 2009

Unleashing Windows 7

Microsoft’s newest baby is taking its users to a new level. Yup, though Windows 7 is not yet available for the general public, those who were able to download it experienced a faster and tighter Vista. Or even way better than Windows Vista.

Looking back, I remember how annoyed I was when I first encountered Vista. But it turned out ok after sometime. And though Vista received a lot of criticisms from users all over the globe, its purchase rate is higher compared to that of XP.

And now with the (pre) launch of Windows 7, can it erase the early sins of its predecessor? Microsoft promises that the OS can enable users to “work the way you want” and it can “make everyday tasks faster and easier”. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft (and one of the world’s richest) described the next version of Windows “more user-centric”. And it seems that the product is living up to its promise.

By initial performance tests, the new OS has beaten both XP and Vista in several key areas, including boot and shutting down time, working with files and loading of documents. Windows 7 can be installed in around 35 minutes with 2 to 3 restarts and it prepared itself for initial launch without much difficulty. It also retained the sleek Vista interface.

Unlike the 2007 release of Vista where it was surrounded by much media frenzy, Microsoft is now carefully releasing information on its new product which is currently in beta phase. The release date isn’t set up yet since product quality is still being tested.

So what’s the good and bad with Windows 7? Alex Wolfe of informationweek.com narrowed that to the following.

Good: