Microsoft is leaving no stone unturned to roll out Windows 7 early & feature-loaded in order to overshadow failure of Windows Vista
Windows 7 beats Vista by several measures. Boot-up and resume times are pretty good as compared to that of Vista. Switching from an application to another is easier and faster. Security features are impressive and easy to use and the Wireless connections are quicker.
Some features of Windows 7 are Device Stage, Windows PowerShell, less obtrusive User Account Control, screen shots, multi-touch, videos, improved window management, Windows Live-integration to-do lists, homegroup networking, multiple thumbnails for combined taskbar buttons, and better power management for notebooks.
Windows 7 boasts of many new features also, like Aero Peek, new Taskbar and Jump lists. Users can easily reorganize opened windows and attach them to the Taskbar. Windows 7 will be generally available on May 5, but Windows 7 beta version can be downloaded from Microsoft’s site from April 30 itself.
The beta version of a software release has all the standard features, but is not yet ready for general public to use.
Though, it is rumored, that Windows 7 Beta was already leaked onto the Internet via Bit Torrent in December 2008, itself. On the downside, there are going to be some hiccups for Windows XP users regarding Windows 7. First, Windows 7 won’t install over Windows XP. It can be installed over Vista or afresh over XP. The data and settings have to be migrated from XP.
Second, Windows XP Mode, that which runs virtualized Windows XP for application compatibility purposes is not included. It may be available later for download for certain versions only. Over the cost effect, there is still speculation on how much Windows 7 would cost as Microsoft hasn’t announced pricing for Windows 7.
Although, Home Premium and Professional editions are expected to be priced closely to Vista Home Premium or Enterprise. This new outcome of Microsoft looks elegant to eyes and sounds lovely to ears. It provides Aero Themes, cool backgrounds and new audio themes to name a few.
Looks like, Windows 7 is going to wipe the bad name Vista brought along, while giving tough competition to Apple Mac OS X.
