Microsoft Windows 7, a worthy upgrade from Vista

In late 2006/early 2007 Microsoft released what they deemed a revolutionary operating system called Widows Vista. Plagued with compatibility, stability and performance issues and greeted by the technology community with a big “no thanks,” most would agree it was a flop.

After a rough launch of Windows XP in 2001 and nearly three years of delay combined with many dropped features originally planned for Windows Vista, many were wondering if the tech giant had lost its edge.

Certainly over the past few years competitors have moved in, allowing Apple’s Mac OS X to gain market share with Windows dropping below 90% for the first time ever, according to Net Applications Inc.

Later this month on October 22, Microsoft will release the next version of its popular Windows operating system called Windows 7. Those who experienced a bad transition to Windows Vista may be hesitant to upgrade or to buy a new computer with the operating system pre-loaded, but Windows 7 has come a long way since its Vista roots.

Developers and IT professionals were given early access to the Windows 7 release, planned for October 22, and I have been running Windows 7 on one of my two primary systems since July. Overall, the experience has been great and I discovered a number of useful new features.

The most obvious change Windows 7 delivers is a redesigned task bar. The task bar is the application bar that runs across the bottom of the screen and shows which applications are open, gives quick access to applications in the application tray, and provides a place for the Start menu from which the rest of your computer’s resources are accessed.

Historically, Windows has been developed around one block of the task bar designated for each open application window. With Windows XP, we saw the addition of application grouping when a single application had many windows open, allowing a user to simply click a single taskbar icon and be presented with a menu of windows to select to open.

Windows 7 brings a new approach to the task bar. First, it is slightly taller to accommodate better use on touch screen computers, although a smaller taskbar is available. In the past, a Quick Launch bar was used to hold application icons that could be quickly opened directly from the task bar. Windows 7 eliminated this feature and now allows you to “pin” an application to the task bar. When pinned, the application icon will remain in the same place on the task bar. When the application is running, it will be shown with a boxed glowing frame.

As a Mac user, this new task bar feels more like OS X than anything else. It is unclear if that was the intent, but once you adjust to the way the taskbar works most will find it more intuitive.

The new task bar notification and application tray areas group together and streamline the system notifications that are presented to the user. No more endless balloon popup messages on the bottom right of the screen; instead there is now an alert area where these are managed from.

For more modern computers, Windows 7 inherits a feature called Aero originally found in its predecessor Vista. Aero is a visual user interface feature that adds “eye candy” to the Windows experience. Features include transparency for windows and menus, a more interactive way to rotate and sort through open windows, quick access to items in the task bar and better font rendering that make reading text easier on the eye.

Aero requires a more powerful or modern computer due to the demands placed on the system by this feature. Also, if you are running a laptop on battery it is suggested that Aero be disabled to maximize battery life.

As has been the trend over the last several releases from Microsoft, the option for a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system has been given to the user. While the underlying differences are highly technical in nature, 64-bit is certainly the future. It allows single applications to access more system resources and allows the system as a whole greater system memory. But be careful when selecting a version, however.

If you have an older computer and are upgrading rather than buying new pre-installed, you may want to consider 32-bit. Also, if you have older, legacy hardware such as an old printer or scanner, you will need to check with the device manufacture to ensure it is supported in 64-bit mode.

For example, I use an old HP laser printer. Admittedly, it is over a decade old but it prints black and white like no other. It was only after I had Windows 7 up and running that I found out this printer is no longer supported in 64-bit mode.

Overall, the Windows 7 experience has been a good one. Many in the industry are saying Windows 7 is what Windows Vista should have been, and I certainly agree.