High Tech Household

The next major version of Microsoft’s desktop operating system is being released into the wild soon, October 22nd to be precise. This will be a very important release for Microsoft, who have experienced increasing pressure recently from Apple on the high-end and Linux netbooks and nettops on the low-end.

So, whether you’re upgrading from Vista, you’ve been holding out since XP, or you’re thinking about jumping (back?) to Windows from Mac or elsewhere, there’s a lot to take in about this latest OS from Microsoft.

A Little History

There’s a wide perception that Microsoft dropped the ball on their last major release, Windows Vista. Whether this perception is justified or not (I don’t think it is), it’s out there, and quite prevalent, so Microsoft has had to address it. You might say that Windows 7 is Microsoft’s main effort in this regard.

Microsoft completely redesigned how hardware interacts with Windows Vista, so there were understandably some growing pains. For instance, at one point, crash statistics from Microsoft indicated that almost 30% of Vista crashes were caused by one vendor’s poorly written video drivers. Despite that initial instability, the hardware layer in Windows Vista is widely accepted as far superior and more secure when compared to XP. Good thing, because of all the changes in Windows 7, that part of the OS has remained unchanged. In fact, in most cases, you can use the same drivers in 7 that you used in Vista.

The name is perhaps a little confusing. Windows 7? This is the seventh one? Well, apparently by somebody’s count at Microsoft, it’s #7. I can’t complain too loudly, though. What the heck does “Vista” or “XP” mean? At least Windows 2000 was released around that year. There are definitely worse names than “7″.

So What’s New?

From the perspective of the guts of the operating system, i.e., how programs run and how hardware interacts with the system, little has changed from Vista to 7; it wouldn’t be entirely unfair to think of 7 as a minor update to Vista. The big changes have come in the interface

The Taskbar – This is probably the most noticeable interface change in Windows 7. The taskbar was polished up a little in Vista compared to XP, but the Windows 7 taskbar is a new animal entirely. Microsoft has sort of made the QuickLaunch toolbar (shortcut buttons on the taskbar) the central idea, and taken a few logical steps. You can now “pin” shortcuts to the taskbar, like you could with QuickLaunch, but now, when you start a pinned shortcut, it just highlights that button on the taskbar. Any subsequent instances of that program you start are all collected under that button.

So, if you have 7 Mircosoft Word documents open, there’s just one button on the taskbar for them all.

Windows 7 thumbnails

Hovering your mouse pointer of the button will pop up thumbnails of the windows associated with that program, and you can switch to those windows by clicking the thumbnails (like Vista). Just hovering over a thumbnail, though, brings that window to the forefront, making all other windows on your desktop transparent but leaving their outlines in place (referred to as “glass”), without actually switching to that window. Move your mouse away, and your windows all fade back to their prior state. It’s a little hard to explain, but it truly makes life easier if all you need to do is look at another window quickly. It’s much faster than switching to another window, and then switching back.

Using Aero Peek with "Glass" effect

Another use of the “glass” feature is functionally similar to the old “minimize all windows” button (or Win-D). Instead of minimizing all windows, you can just hover over a button at the the right end of the taskbar, and all non-minimized windows go “glass” so you can see your desktop. Since gadgets are now free on the desktop (rather than being confined to a sidebar in Vista), getting a clear, quick view of the desktop has some utility. Clicking that button does the same old “minimize all windows” trick.

Windows Live Essentials – Not exactly new features, but updated software. Perhaps for anti-trust reasons, Microsoft has opted to remove several pieces of software that used to come standard with the OS. They’re now available separately, but still for free. Windows Live Essentials is that collection of software, including Photo Gallery and Movie Maker. Also included is software called Family Safety, which allows parents to control access to certain websites, including email filtering for Microsoft’s webmail, Hotmail.

There are, of course, many many more new features, but I’m just trying to point out those that would be quickly noticeable. The best list I’ve found is the wikipedia article on the topic.

Still Using XP?

As you might expect, if you’re upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7, it will be quite a shift for your regular computing tasks. As for a family PC, not much has changed from Vista to 7, but XP users will welcome features in 7 that were originally introduced in Vista to make family and multi-user computing easier.

Not only is there a Parental Controls control panel item in 7 (and Vista), but you can also choose which games rating system to use (i.e., ESRB in the US, , and you can restrict individual users from playing games with certain ratings. You can set time limits and maintain a list of dis-allowed software, all on a per-user basis. The game ratings restrictions are quite fine-grained, but I would say that the approach of the list of allowed programs is a little cumbersome. To block programs, it looks like Windows basically finds all .exe files, and turns it into a check list. Would everyone remember to allow explorer.exe? I think this could use some work. A little guidance and helpful default settings would go a long way.

Also, trying to have a limited user account, as opposed to an administrator, wasn’t very workable under XP. On that operating system, software would try to do administrator-only tasks with a limited user account, and just crash or cause some other issue. Vista and 7 can very easily elevate to administrator permissions (with a password, of course), or just cancel the whole operation. Actually, it’s as much a matter of the software as the operating system, but with Vista, software developers finally got on board with the multi-user and limited user paradigm.

Worth the Upgrade?

I don’t want to recommend or not recommend Windows 7. If one of the features discussed above or in an article linked from here sounds like a deal-maker to you, go for it. I personally think this is a compelling upgrade from both XP and Vista. Do keep in mind, though, that if you’re coming from XP, you’ll be able to buy the Upgrade package, but you will still need to do a complete install, so get ready to back up your data. Coming from Vista is an easy decision, though. 7 is basically Vista++.

If you’re happy with your current set up, whether XP, Vista, or something else entirely, I would suggest waiting until you purchase a new computer, and get the operating system preinstalled.

Windows 7 is released at retail on October 22^nd, 2009. I’m basing my review and opinions on the Release-to-Manufacturer version, widely released as a preview by Microsoft.