No, I am definitely not going to write about the lucky number! I’ll talk about the most anticipated operating system of the year, yet to be released from the stables of Microsoft. Welcome to the new Windows 7.
I already have 7 questions on my mind. What shall be the minimum hardware requirements for this OS? Will the support for drivers be better than the previous releases of Microsoft? Will the new OS beat Vista and rival operating systems on performance issues? What about security? Phew!
Microsoft claims that 7 include “hundreds of improvements based on your feedback” and it runs smoothly, is more reliable and responsive. To some, these promises from Microsoft wouldn’t really matter because of the fact that one size won’t fit all. Though the company is in the process of making high claims about the OS, you simply cannot satisfy each and every user. Moreover, on a lighter note, hundreds of improvements are gateways to a hundred more bugs. I guess Microsoft has taken care of that. We’ll just have to wait and watch.
A fresh OS always brings about fresh thoughts on driver support. If you have been successfully using certain hardware in Vista, it will work on Windows 7. Yes, Vista and 7 drivers are compatible. This might be good news for users who are thinking about migrating from Vista to 7. But if you are using Windows XP, then your hardware vendor must explicitly provide drivers specifically written for 7, for your hardware to properly work.
I had played around with the release candidate some time back and only came to the conclusion that it is slightly more stable than Windows Vista SP1. The UI and the overall navigability of 7 are not strikingly different, but quite similar to Vista SP1 with a few changes thrown around. However, the boot up time and shut down time was quicker than Vista SP1, a statistic that wouldn’t bother me much; I would be more interested in performance. I wouldn’t prefer to comment on that unless the full stable release is on the stands.
Simplicity is sarcastically apparent with 7. The problem is that experienced XP users (in some cases, Vista users too) will have to bear with a few extra mouse clicks to reach to their destination. For example, the “run” option is no more on the Start Menu. You have to search for run, and then click on it from the search results to open up the run window. Moreover in the control panel, you have to put in a few extra mouse clicks to actually select what you would want to do.
4 gigs of RAM is a recommended hardware requirement for Windows 7. Now that’s where things hurt. Anyway, enthusiasts would go in for the required upgrade, I know. The free release candidate had expired on 1st June. Don’t worry if you’ve missed out. You still have the beta version to download and test.
Let’s see if the guys at Microsoft get lucky with the version 7 this time!
