January 14th, 2009 | 
Author: Microsoft has learned from it’s previous experience with Vista and is rolling out a new operating system called Windows 7. Windows Vista has such a bad reputation that Microsoft felt compelled to come out with a new operating system.
Microsoft made sure that Windows 7 will run better on the same hardware requirements than Windows Vista. Early benchmarks indicate that Windows 7 outperforms even the latest version of Windows Vista in all aspects.
The first pre-beta releases of Windows 7 have been handed out to testers in October 2008. That version was missing some of the new features of Windows 7 which Microsoft added in later builds. New features include the rebuild Windows Taskbar which features application previews, popup information and faster application access.
The sidebar which was prevalent in Vista has been taken out and the gadgets show up on the desktop. A new feature called libraries, groups folders together so they can be searched in one location.
Windows 7 can be controlled with your fingers. You can scroll and zoom with flicks and pinches. The drawback here is that many of the icons are too small to use with your fingers. To use this feature use applications that are designed for touch.
Windows 7 will have a hard time adapting to touch, stylus control and mouse, since each one has different requirements.
Also new in windows seven is something called Device Stage. This feature helps device vendors control what happens on connection, a control center specifically tailored for each device.
A metadata update service makes it possible to update the device stage anytime. Some long time Windows software programs have been updated with a new user interface. This includes Wordpad, the Windows Calculator and Microsoft Paint.
Windows Media Player was updated as well. It now comes in a light version and supports many several codecs like divx, xvid, aac or h264 which means that most videos can now be played without codec installation. Another addition is DirectX 11.
Bitlocker To Go is the next new feature. It can be used to encrypt data on removable devices such as USB drives. It also offers a way to use network shares without virtual private networks.
Windows 7 builds up on the security concept that was introduced in Windows Vista. Microsoft optimized the security however and reduced the user interaction level.
They are hoping not to repeat the Vista debacle which had many bugs and code rewrites. Also there should not be any problem with drivers and compatibility of applications that plagued Vista.
The new operating system by Microsoft windows 7 seems to be a more desired release, though it’s conservative approach makes it seem uninteresting in comparison to some of Microsoft’s newer efforts.
Martin runs a daily updated Windows 7 website that has the latest reports about the Microsoft operating system. There is also a Windows 7 Forum on the website.
Article Source: Microsoft’s New Operating System Windows 7
