OK, are you ready for the next generation of Microsoft Windows OS (operating system) Windows 7? The Vista OS has had its share of issues and there are some of us that have been very pleased with continuing to use XP (I for one) although XP’s OS end of life was officially July 08. Then there are those who were bold and went with Vista and seem to be OK in using it. I can say, from the folks that I talk with, a high % are still using XP and have had no interest in going to Vista due to the buzz of the problems in using it.
Many of us are hopeful that the new OS, Windows 7, will be stable and have XP features as well some new ones. From what I am hearing, Windows 7 OS should fit the bill. It went into beta January 09 and from the buzz out there, it seems a good stable OS version with some very cool features. But the telling will be when it is released and being used in the real world.
Here are a few highlights of some of the added features per Wikipedia:
Windows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, a new version of Windows Media Center improved media features, the XPS Essentials Pack and Windows PowerShell being included, a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion. Many new items have been added to the Control Panel, including ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, just to name a few. Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (WindowsHealth Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds) which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer. Very cool features.
The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with pinning applications to the taskbar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons. These buttons also enable the Jump Lists feature to allow easy access to common tasks. To the far right of the system clock is a small rectangular button that serves as the Show desktop icon. This button is part of the new feature in Windows 7 called Aero Peek. Hovering over this button makes all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop. These are just a few worth mentioning features. For a more detail, please check out for all of the upcoming features: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7#Features.
Be on the lookout for Windows 7. My hope is that it will be a version that will be robust, stable, and provide features
that help make using our computers less complex, run more efficiently, and provide the tools needed for the everyday user.
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