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Appeared on: Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Windows 7 RC


1. Introduction

After almost 2,5 years, Microsoft is back with a new operating system that aims to deliver all the things that Windows Vista failed to offer plus many more new features. With Windows 7 being the successor of the very good Windows Vista, it has very stable basis to be built on and some points to be worked on (the file management problems, compatibility and security issues) . In brief, Microsoft's latest operating system will offer:

  • Better performance
  • A new home networking system called HomeGroup
  • Better and even wider compatibility
  • Multi-touch support
  • A redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar

    Let's see if it is indeed so good as it sounds. We will start off by checking what was said to be wrong on Vista and what has changed in 7. Then we will examine each new feature separately. This article will be frequently updated with new information in the following days.

  • 2. Vista problems and Windows 7 solutions

    Since the day that Windows Vista was released, a large number of users have had problems related to compatibility, file management, security, visual issues and more. Let's take a look at these issues and check if Windows 7 is able to do the trick and make them disappear.

    Windows Vista Product Editions issues:

    Microsoft released 6 product editions of Windows Vista (while Windows XP had only 2 at the time of release and another 2 followed shortly). Offering multiple editions of an OS is confusing for the customers because it is harder to understand and choose which edition suits their needs. Even worse, every edition had its own set of applications and features. For example, if a user selected the Premium Edition, he would have Windows Media Center and Windows DVD Maker along with the other features (Windows AERO, Windows Defender and Firewall, Windows Flip 3D) and nothing more. On the other hand, if he were to select Windows Business he would not have Windows Media Center and Windows DVD Maker but he would have access to Windows Backup and Restore Center, Windows Fax and Scan and Remote access.

    Click to enlarge
    Selecting Product Edition in Windows 7 Installation

    Windows 7 Product Editions:
    This product editions confusion is not a case for Windows 7 as the Windows 7 product editions are supersets of one another. With Windows 7 there is a logical progress from one edition to the next. As Windows General Manager Mike Ybarra says "With Windows 7 there will be two primary editions: Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional". As he continues "Windows 7 Home Premium is the recommended choice for consumers. It gives them a full-function PC experience and a visually rich environment in everything from the way they experience entertainment to the way they connect their devices. Windows 7 Professional is the recommended choice for small businesses and for people who work at home but have to operate in an IT-managed or business environment where security and productivity are critical. For those running Windows Vista Business, it will be a very logical move to Windows 7 Professional." The other Editions of Windows 7 will be Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Enterprise, and Windows 7 Ultimate.

    I' m still seeing 5 of them..
    Don't worry, you only need to know just the 2 of them. The Professional and Premium versions are focused on the retail and the consumer markets, something like what we've seen on Windows XP. Windows 7 Enterprise is focused on volume licensing business customers while the Windows 7 Ultimate version includes all the features the Enterprise version has but is addressed to the retail market. Windows Starter and Basic versions are designed for smaller markets.


    3. Windows Vista & 7 installation and compatibility

    Windows Vista & 7 Installation and Recovery Center:
    Windows Vista installation was quick, fast and simple. The procedure hasn't changed that much; first you have to enter all the needed information and then Windows will take command and complete. The only thing you can complain about so far is the Windows experience index score test that will fire up in the end of installation. It seems to be a waste of time because Windows doesn't have the right drivers installed at the time of the test in order to evaluate the performance specific hardware as a graphics card. This evaluation test took about 3-4 minutes to complete. In Windows 7 you have to manually run this test, which makes more sense (Also if you are upgrading from Windows Vista, after the first needed reboot, in the boot menu there is an option to rollback to the previous windows version if something goes wrong.).

    Furthermore, in during the installation of Windows 7 we can see more details about the procedure (check the image below) and after the installation we can configure the wired and wireless network settings along with the computer name and the theme (we will talk more about Windows Themes in the next pages).

    Click to enlargeClick to enlarge
    Installing Windows 7

     

    Windows Recovery center is also a good addition and includes a lot of helpful tools such as the automated recovery. In Windows Vista, users had to use the Windows Vista Installation DVD for the recovery. In Windows 7 you don't have to use any disc, everything is available in the boot screen.

    Click to enlarge
    A small change but we can see now some more details on the installation procedure

    Compatibility:

    The early versions of Windows Vista were suffering from a lot of incompatibility issues. These were resolved through the released patches and service packs. Windows 7 aims to maintain the compatibility list of Vista and also make it even wider. The Windows Development Blog claims that more than 30 applications that were problematic to use under Windows Vista are fully operational under Windows 7, like QuickTime 7.1.6 player for German and Japanese and Cyberlink DVD Suite v6 for Chinese. Windows 7 also includes new ways to make incompatible devices work. We will see more about this later. For now let's just say that Windows 7 will not have the same bad start in terms of compatibility that Windows Vista had.


    4. UAC problems, visual and other smaller issues

    User Account Control, visual and other smaller issues:

    The new security feature of Windows Vista, the User Account Control, was a very good security addition, but it had a huge problem. It turned out to be quite annoying to the end user. For almost any action (install, uninstall a program, change permissions etc), a notification window would show up and the user's attention was needed. Most of the Vista users, after the installation usually disabled UAC Control. Now this will not be the case, as the new UAC on windows 7 can be customized to deliver fewer notifications and in some cases you will not even notice it. Remember that UAC is a very good security tool that you should never be underestimated.

    Click to enlarge
    The new way of customizing UAC notifications. Even in the default setting, the notifications are very few in comparison with Windows Vista.

    Visual issues:

    Windows Sidebar was another point of dissatisfaction in Windows Vista. Why have a huge bar in the side that allocates memory for some gadgets? In Windows 7, there is no Windows Sidebar, and, instead of this, the gadgets can be installed in the desktop at any point the user wants. Nice addition and a good solution. We will talk more about Windows 7 Gadgets in the next pages.

    Click to enlarge
    The new way of using Gadgets. They are more customizable, taking less memory space because of the lack of the sidebar and are working better with internet live updates.

    Another, smaller, issue that Windows Vista had was the shutdown button in the Start menu. In Windows Vista, the default action was set to hibernation. Now on Windows 7 this button is replaced from a button that has the name of the action. In this case, "Shut down".


    A minor change in Start Menu regarding the shutdown button. Except that and the Search string everything else is almost the same..



    File management problems:

    The first Windows Vista release had some file copy issues which were fixed with some updates. In Vista SP1 everything was working as it was supposed to. Windows 7 has nothing wrong to report here.


    Copying of files in Windows 7. Back in Windows Vista release date, copying files over the network was an issue."


    5. Memory management

    Memory Management:

    Windows Vista used to manage memory resources in a very different way compared to earlier windows versions. Windows Vista introduced a feature called SuperFetch. Windows SuperFetch helps keep the computer consistently responsive to your programs by making more efficient use of the computer's RAM. It also prioritizes the programs you're currently using over background tasks and adapts to the way you work by tracking the programs you use most often and preloading these into memory. This was a nice addition but SuperFetch was really useful only when users had a standard behavior pattern like opening pc, then outlook, then windows media player etc. For anyone else it wasn't very helpful and it would load the memory with stuff that probably they didn't need. In a few words, SuperFetch was actively preloading data that it thought you might use soon.

    Also Windows Vista was allocating a lot of memory every time the user opened even a new window or a program. Windows 7 doesn'tâ??t allocate a fixed amount of memory anymore and so it does not use double buffering like Windows Vista did. In order to understand better what that means, at the Windows hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC 2008) in Los Angeles, Mike Angiulo, General Manager, Windows Planning and PC Ecosystem Team for Microsoft, and Jon DeVaan, Senior Vice President of the Core Operating System Division presented a simple test through a script that opens 70 new windows on Windows Vista and Windows 7. As Mike said on the conference, "On Windows Vista the system could not take it and after a couple of open windows we see a warning that your computer is running slow, and then a message that you've lost Aero." (You can find the full Press Conference here)

    Click to enlarge
    A photo from the WinHec 08 presentation, showing that Windows Vista was having problems to open all the windows while Windows 7 opened them without any issues.

    On Windows 7 the script has run smoothly and without any problems. This is because in Windows 7 the memory management for those windows is done through the graphics card. As a result, less memory is used Windows 7 offers a faster-running system.


    From our experience, Windows Vista needed 2GB of RAM to run decently and if you wanted to play high demanding games like Crysis or GTA IV, 3-4GB of ram were needed. From our experience, Windows 7 is using approximately 10-15% less memory than vista. From now on, with Windows 7, even with 1GB of ram you are OK with your everyday stuff . On vista, with 1GB of ram, if you were opening more than 6-7 programs at the same time, windows would have a massive slowdown. Fortunately, Microsoft has solved this with Windows 7. Very good job on that part. Maybe this is the most important new feature in Windows 7 which justifies the better performance in memory and cpu cost. If we also take into account that when Windows 7 will be out, 2GB DDR3 & DDR2 Ram will be very cheap, then memory management will never be an issue any more.

    In our opinion, those were the weakest points of Windows Vista. Of course, we are going to analyze more every new feature and everything else that has changed in Windows 7 in the next pages. Everything you have read so far was in relation with Windows Vista.


    6. New Features in Windows 7 - Taskbar

    We selected to install the Product Edition of Windows 7 and we're all set to see the new features. The Taskbar will be our first subject, as we think that it has improved a lot over the past versions.

    Click to enlarge
    The first screen that we will see after the install.

    Windows Taskbar:
    Forget the Taskbar from any previous Windows release. This new Taskbar makes Windows Vista Taskbar seem just like a virtual folder with shortcuts and nothing more. The New Taskbar is more dynamic:

    First of all, Quick Launch shortcuts and shortcuts from running programs are now combined. You can add a program to Taskbar but when you open it the icon of the program remains there (or expands, it depends from the settings).The default setting for this option is to leave the shortcut as it is. However, i f you want shortcuts to be expanded you have to do the following steps: right-click on the taskbar, then choose Properties. Then, choose "Combine when taskbar is full" next to Taskbar buttons and you are done. As you can see from the pictures, the Taskbar is now more transparent and bigger from the Taskbar in Vista (although, you can make it smaller from the settings).


    The new Taskbar, the Libraries shortcut and every other shortcut can be configured to expand when pressed or to remain as it is.

    Another important change is the way that programs and opened folders are stacked. Every opened folder can be shown one next to the other. For every one of them we have a preview thumbnail that will show us the full screen of the program or the folder with the help of Aero peek (a feature that shows us only the selected folder while hiding every other; we will see all the Aero effects in the next pages) when we hover the mouse over it. We can also close a folder from the preview section while having to maximize it first. Overall thumbnails are working better on Windows 7. In Windows Vista you might have to maximize and minimize a window again to see its thumbnail. In Windows 7 thumbnails are refreshed faster.

    Click to enlarge
    Stacking a lot of opened windows in Windows 7. Notice the close button on the preview thumbnail and the full page preview, with the help of Aero Peek, while hovering the mouse pointer over a thumbnail.

    In Windows 7 Taskbar, every program/folder thumbnail is packed with a close icon and optionally some extra options like in windows media player whose thumbnail is enhanced with pause/play,pervious and next track butons. Furthermore, right-clicking on a minimized program will show us the Jump List. The Jump list has some extra application features. For instance, in Windows Live Messenger you can sign in or out, in Windows Explorer you can see the most visited locations, etc.

    Click to enlarge
    Some programs like Windows Media Player can have some extra options while they are minimized like the pause/ play, next and previous track buttons. In every program,the Jump List will show us the recent tasks or places we visited, change the status message on Windows Live Messenger, sign in or out etc.


    The notifications area has also changed a lot; In Windows 7 Taskbar, hidden tray icons are opened on the top which is quite usefull if you often have a lot of programs opened.

    Window 7 Taskbar also includes the Action Center, a fine new addition :


    Notifications Area. Every hidden tray icon now doesn't expand in the left but opens like in the image. Every message about security, updates and backup are stored in one place called Action Center.

    Action Center notifies you about every security issue you need to take care of, every update you have to install, every answer you seek after sending a problem to microsoft and every backup you forgot to perform for a long time. It's nice to have everything in one place.

    Click to enlarge
    Windows 7 Action Center


    7. Start Menu, Gadgets and Explorer

    Start Menu:
    We have already pointed out some changes regarding the Start Menu, like the new shutdown button. An other important improvement, is that now with "search" you can search in more places like libraries and control panel. Lastly, in the right corner of the start menu, there are displayed specific tasks of some programs.

    Click to enlargeClick to enlarge

    The deeper search of Start Menu and some tasks that some programs may have.


    Overall we like very much the new Taskbar and Task menu. One negative point, though, is the lack of the Quick Launch in some form. If you are used to having many folder shortcuts and programs in there, then you will have to take some time to adjust to the new way things work. For shortcuts about folders, you can pin them in Windows Explorer but if you have, say, 15 programs that you open them almost daily and want them all together then maybe the solution is to make a Quick Launch folder on the Start Menu and put all the shortcuts there.


    You can pin your favorite locations in the Windows Explorer shortcut.

    Windows Explorer:
    Windows Explorer hasn't changed a lot since Vista. Now, the additional details like date, added size, etc have a lighter colour in order to give emphasis to the name column.


    Search now has history.

    Some new shortcuts now appear in the column on the left, like network and computer. Moreover, the search now keeps history and the ability to use search tags like date added etc.

    Click to enlarge
    Small changes in Windows Explorer, you can see that there are more available places in the left menu.

    The View styles now are located in the right corner and there is a new Tiles view.

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    The new Tiles View.

    Finally in the Details view, the name column is shown better because it has a stronger font than the other columns.

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    The new Details view, except the name everything else has a softer colour.

    Gadgets: As we mentioned earlier, Gadgets now work without the Sidebar. Except from this change, some Gadgets can have 2 sizes.


    The bigger size of the Weather Gadget.

    Another change is that now we can be informed if a gadget is outdated when there isn't an internet connection available by a small "timestamp".


    An outdated Gadget. Notice the small text in the right that says "33 min ago" since the last update.

    Only one more gadget that is our Windows Media Center is available in comparison with Vista. Let's hope that this will change in the final release. In our opinion, Gadgets is a nice addition and Microsoft should support it better.


    8. Libraries and New Aero Effects

    Libraries:
    Windows 7 Libraries is a new addition that reminds Virtual folders or Searches on Windows Vista, a feature that was used in order to find for example all of your documents with just one click. Microsoft thought that it was too complex and that's why in Vista searches are located in the User profile folder and not anywhere else. Libraries has a better way of working. Instead of making a search, libraries are a set of folders that are shown as one of them. So, for example, if you have music files in 3 different folders, you can add those 3 folders in the Music library and then you will have all of your songs in one place. A Library can have as many folders as you want.

    Click to enlarge
    Libraries, there are 4 available, documents, pictures, music and videos - more libraries can be added here

    Another reason why libraries works better is that you can select a folder to be the default one for copying files in the library. This was troubling in Vista because people would confuse searches with folders and try to add files in them. Except from the default view of libraries as folders, for every library there are some more "arrange by" options that can help group our files better. For example on the music library we can Arrange our files by Album, Artist, Song, Genre and Rating.

    Click to enlarge
    Ssorting music by album. Every arrange view has its own settings

    Click to enlarge
    Arranging music by Genre

    New Aero effects:
    Windows 7 has some new aero effects in order to support multi touch better and to expand windows experience.

    Aero Snap: With Aero Snap when you drag an open program in the top of the page, it will maximize. If you drag it again it will restore to it's previous size. Also if you drag it on the left side of the screen, it will resize to cover the left half of it. The same happens if you drag it to the right side. Aero Snap is mostly important for the touch features of Windows 7.

    Aero Snap used to maximize a windows in the left side of the screen.

    Aero Shake: When you shake an open program in Windows 7, it will minimize every other running program, and, if you shake it again, it will restore all of them. This happens with the help of Aero Shake.This feature will mostly serve the multi-touch use of Windows 7.

    Aero Peek - Aero Peek help us see the selected program or folder by hiding any other program or folder. In order to fully understand that check the image below. We can find Aero Peek when we are searching our running programs through Alt+Tab, while hovering over the thumbnail of a taskbar icon. Aero Peek also refers to the "Show desktop" button to the far right of the new taskbar.

    Click to enlarge
    Showing the Desktop with the help of Aero Peek. This also happens when you are using Alt+Tab to browse your open programs or while hovering your mouse pointer over a thumbnail.

    Some other Aero changes are the Touch support and the fact that maximized windows remain glassy instead of becoming opaque.


    Windows remain glassy in full screen

    When hovering over the taskbar button of a running program, the button glows the dominant RGB color of its icon. Also, a shiny effect follows the mouse in the taskbar as it is moved across the icons of running programs.


    A shiny effect in the taskbar


    9. Network

    Network:
    Network on Windows 7 is quite different than in Windows Vista. There is a new feature called Homegroup that will simplify the tasks associated with sharing music, pictures and documents within your home network and Windows 7 computers. Homegroup also helps sharing your printers. So, if you have a printer in one computer that is shared it will be shared and installed automatically on every other homegroup enabled computer. Also, for sharing files, Homegroup works with the help of Libraries. You should first configure your Libraries and then start a network using Homegroup. Homegroup will allow you to select which Libraries you want to share.

    Click to enlarge
    Homegroup settings: You can select which Libraries to share and other connected devices.

    Of course Homegroup is only available on Windows 7. After selecting your sharing options, a password is required to join a Homegroup.


    Passwords are needed in order to set a Homegroup

    Furthermore, Network structure has changed in the following manner: In the User Profile Folder you have the following folders: Personal Documents, Personal Downloads, Personal Photos, Personal Videos, and Personal Music. (While on Vista we have Documents, Downloads, Photos, Videos, and Music). The naming also changed in the Public User Profile: Public Documents, Public Downloads, Public Photos, Public Videos, and Public Music. These folder structure changes were made in order to work better with the libraries. Sharing libraries helps a lot to share the files you want without having to share it's individual folder. If you want to share another folder and for a reason you don't want to add it in any Library you can share it with only one right click, like in the picture below.

    Click to enlarge
    Sharing files and folders in Windows 7 with the help of Homegroup. If you don't want to use libraries, sharing files is still fast and easy.

    Windows 7 also includes a new View Available Networks interface that appears as a Jump List-like window above the network tray icon. You can access a network by clicking on the connect button. If a password is required, you will enter it in this window, in-line, nice and fast.


    The new View Available Network interface. You can access a network without having to open more windows with only one click.

    As a small last note, The Network and Sharing Center link in the Network folder now opens in the same window. A nice change, which eliminated something that was pretty annoying in our opinion. Overall, Network in Windows 7 is much more solid and fast.


    10. Control panel

    At this point we will analyze the components of the control panel. Let's start with the first screen:

    Click to enlarge
    Nothing special about the Control Panel's first screen, it's identical to the respective screen in Windows Vista

    As you can see it's almost the same as it was on Windows Vista. In this version, the classic view of icons has been replaced with small and large icons view style.

    Uninstalling Program or feature: The uninstall window is the same as it was on Windows Vista with the exception that now the user is able to uninstall almost any program or feature of Windows.


    Almost any program can now be uninstalled on Windows 7 and Windows Live programs are not preinstalled.

    We could comment that Microsoft has finally started to listen to the customers' opinions (Don't forget that Office 2007 with SP2 now supports odf and Windows Media Player 12 support iPods at last). Also notice that Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Live Messenger and other programs that belong to the Windows Live package ( http://download.live.com/ ) will come in an installer.

    Devices and Printers: Windows 7 has a section called 'Devices and Printers' where you can find all of your devices like web cameras, printers, keyboards etc.

    Click to enlarge
    Devices and Printers. You can troubleshoot any device from here

    It's a nice way to find and fix every problem that your hardware might have. Notice that the first icon is about the whole computer. From there you can check for any problem that Windows 7 is able to detect and change any settings you need. The exclamation mark that you see on the screenshot is because a driver is missing. For every device you can use a new feature called troubleshoot that will automatically search for any problem and it's solution . If the problem can't be solved this way, it will give you a number of alternative options.


    The troubleshoot option from Devices and Printers.

    Windows Updates: Windows updates has some small changes too. When you turn your computer on or after your install Windows Update, it will immediately search for new updates. Despite that, you can now see more details about every update you would like to install (you can do that in Vista too by pressing the right mouse button on an update and by selecting to view the details).

    Click to enlarge
    Windows Updates

    Personalization: Personalization page from now on has some pre configured themes. Windows 7 use themes in order to control desktop background, sounds, screensaver and color settings. Themes consist of a number of wallpapers that can change after a pre configured time, some sounds, a windows color and maybe a screen saver, all saved together under one specific theme. Of course you can create your own themes if you like. Display settings can be accessed from the desktop right click menu.

    Click to enlarge
    Personalization and themes

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    Some screenshots of 4 themes


    11. New and updated Accessories

    New and updated Accessories: With Windows 7, Microsoft has updated some of it's standard accessories like Calculator, Paint and Wordpad and also has introduced some more. "As you get to try out these applications you'll see that while showcasing the Windows 7 platform innovations, we have also added some commonly requested features and functionality," says the Engineering Windows 7 blog. "Some of them are: check and correct, calculation modes and templates in Calculator; new brushes, shapes and multi-touch support in Paint; Open standards support in Wordpad and Ink; and text, taskbar and search integration in Sticky notes. Maybe we won't wait 10 years to update these again :-)" We hope the same too.

    Calculator has been updated after 10 years since the last update. The reason that Microsoft decided to update the Calculator application is to make it easier to use it with the touch feature. Now it supports 4 view modes, standard, Scientific, Programmer and Statistics.



    Calculator now has 4 views

    In Paint and Wordpad, appart from those mentioned above, the biggest change is of course the integration of the Ribbon interface, that has also become a feature of Microsoft Office, which according to Microsoft provides: "a rich, graphical user interface for all commands in a single place, without the need to expose various functions and commands under different menus or toolbars."

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    Wordpad with the ribbon interface..

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    ..and Paint too.

    Math input Panel: Math Input panel is a new toll that will help us to write easily mathematical equations the natural way.

    Clcik to enlarge
    With Math input Panel we can write equations with only our mouse

    Those equations can be transferred easily to other programs that support MathML format like StarOffice, OpenOffice, Opera, Maple etc.

    Math Input Panel is designed to be used with a tablet pen on a tablet PC, but you can use it with any input device, such as a touchscreen, external digitizer, or even your mouse.


    12. IExplorer 8, Windows Media Center 6.1 and WMP 12

    Internet Explorer, Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player have been updated too. There is no reason to go for a deep review of every program,but we will give you a taste of what to expect and maybe on another review we will talk more for every program.

    Windows Media player 12: WMP has undergone some very interesting changes that can improve the user's experience with the program and have also made WMP require about 5% less cpu along with a faster opening time. First of all, The main window has changed to a lighter version than WMP 11 and the now playing view has been separated completely. You can switch to now playing view anytime by pressing a button in the bottom right corner.

    Click to enlarge
    Windows Media Player 12 lighter main window. No Now Playing button anymore.


    The Now Playing view, you can still have the controls and the playlist if you like.

    We have already mentioned on page 6 that WMP12 supports Jump List and something like a miniviewer that lets you pause, play or skip tracks while the WMP is minimized.

    Click to enlarge
    The WMP 12 mini player.

    The basic operations are the same as in WMP 11 except from some small improvements. One of them is the automatic preview of a track which lets you hear a 15-second preview of a song that you are hovering your mouse over.

    A common problem with media player is when we don't have the right codecs in order to play a video and while High Definition content is getting more popular in our days this is becoming a serious problem. WMP12 includes support for H.264 video, AAC audio, and both Xvid and DivX video, in addition to all the formats supported by WMP11 in Vista (MPEG2, WMV, MP3, etc). That means WMP12 will pretty much be able to play almost every format you want.

    As long as network resources are concerned , you can browse the libraries of other users on the local network and not only WMP libraries but iTunes libraries too (as long as the format is supported). Apart from streaming to other computers on your network, WMP12 also includes support for controlling Digital Living Network Alliance v1.5 devices. For example you can play back on the HTPC device you have connected or stream audio to a Sonos box and for every device you stream content, a small window will open especially for this device. WMP12 will also transcode the format automatically on the fly if it's not supported from the device.

    Those changes may look very few but the final result is very rewarding, especially the support for iTunes which is widely used.

    Internet Explorer 8 : A major update has been introduced for Internet explorer 8 and is without doubt one of the fastest browsers on the web. Let's see some of it's main features.

    Click to enlarge
    Internet Explorer 8

    Accelerators: Accelerators let you map directions, translate words, email your friends, and more in just a few mouse clicks. For example if you have an accelerator about emailing with hotmail, when you highlight some text, from the right click menu with one click you can use your accelerator to go directly to your mail and be ready to send your text.

    InPrivate Browsing: InPrivate Browsing is a feature in order to browse the web without saving your history. This would be very usefull for those who work on a shared computer like at work or an internet cafe or when for some reason users don't want to leave any trace from their work

    Web Slices: Web Slices help you get the changes of the sites you care most, fast without having to visit them. Add a Web Slice and you won't have to go back to the same website again and again for updates on news, stock quotes, online auctions, weather, or even sports scores. Web Slices will inform you if the page you are interested has been updated. When the content from a web slice is updated the name of this web slice will appear bolt in favorites.


    A common Web Slice, ESPN Headlines.

    Some other features are: Visual previews and suggested content topics while we type in the Search box, a new SmartScreen filter that will protect us against deceptive and malicious websites which can compromise our data, privacy and identity and a more customized Browser.


    Customizing of IE8. Favorites and tools have been removed, refresh and cancel buttons are on the left side and common pages from a certain place are highlited under the same color.

    Also, the opened pages can now be accessed as a group of thumbnails directly from the taskbar. A very handy feature.

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    Internet Explorer 8 pages are grouped in the same way as the opened folders.

    Windows Media Center 6.1: WMC has some small improvements from the previous versions, in most cases visual. Like in Windows Media Player 12, H.264 video playback is supported.

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    Browsing photos on Windows Media Center 6.1

    The way videos are displayed in video library has changed to include thumbnails and names for each video. You have the ability to create slide shows for your pictures with music, a new touch friendly on screen keyboard and a new details view which lets you view information about photos, videos or albums without having to launch a whole new window. Furthermore, if you don't have album artwork available, WMC will create multi-colored backgrounds for your albums. Another nice feature is the Turbo Scroll which lets you scroll your libraries very fast by holding down your left or right button.

    Click to enlarge
    Turbo Scroll is very helpfull when you have thusands music files.

    After the assessment of those 3 final yet important features, it is time to close this review. Head in the next page to read our conclusion about Windows 7.


    13. Final words

    In order to develop Windows 7, Microsoft has taken each and every bad aspect of Windows Vista and improved it all the way forth. The result is an amazing OS that stunned us with its looks and performance. Lets talk a bit more about Windows Vista. Despite what many people think, Vista is a very good operating system, set aside the bad start and the problems before the first Service Pack. Sure memory managment is very bad compared to Windows 7 but just that is not enough to make it an awfull OS. The fact that Windows 7 is an improved version of Vista justifies that.

    Many would say Windows 7 is what Windows Vista should be in the first place. This is not true, though. Windows would never be able to deliver an OS like that so fast for obvious reasons like compatibility. Vista was a neccesary step. Because of the fact that Vista looks so much like 7 (except that it is in almost every aspect worst), it will dissapear so fast after the release of Windows 7, that we can compare it to the way Windows Me was forgotten.

    Windows 7 is a very impressive OS. It starts and shutdowns faster that any other OS, amlost any program you work on Vista will work fine, memory managment is excellent with the help of the memory from the video cards and UAC and any other issue of on Vista is gone. It works as it is supposed to work. The only thing that it leaves us to complain about, is the default setting for the Taskbar buttons, but this is just our own opinion and can be changed easily.

    We have been using Windows 7 since the public beta and we have never encounter any problems. Any applications we needed to use work fine in PCs that are even 3.5 years old. Windows 7 was able to run perfectly on a 3,5 years old system: AMD 64 3,5+ @ 2 Ghz, 2GB DDR1 ram @ 400Mhz and ATI X800XL without stopping us from opening a lot of programs at the same time, or even enjoying HD content without having to install any codecs. It's amazing how stable this OS is in the RC state and it will surely be even better when the final RTM version is complete. We can't recall of any other OS since Windows 98 to be able to achieve so many.

    For those who are still using Windows XP, now seems a good time to upgrade. There is no reason to keep using Windows XP except of course if you can't afford the price of Windows 7. (At the PDC 2008, Microsoft informed the press that Windows 7 will cost the same price as Windows Vista did when it came out.) At first you will need a while to get used to it if you haven't used Windows Vista before and you should try to learn and use any new feature Windows 7 has in order to gain the full benefits from it. Use the aero effects, the new taskbar with the JumpLists, use Devices and Printers page from the Control Panel to fix any problem you have, organize your library and use the search from the StartOrb and everywhere else and use less shortcuts from desktop. If you use Windows 7 in that way we can guarantee you that your productivity will raise up.

    In the Computex exhibition on Taiwan, Microsoft announced that the RTM verison (Release to Manufacture) will be avaliable on the end of july and consumers will see it in the stores on October 22.

    The estimated retail prices for upgrade packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:

    And the estimated retail prices for full packaged retail product of Windows 7 in the U.S. are:

    Unfortunately, Microsoft will not offer upgrade versions to customers in Europe, forcing them to do clean installs. While customers elsewhere in the world will be able to run a simple upgrade install, preserving their data, settings and programs, Europeans will have to make manual backups and reinstall software after installing the new OS.

    Microsoft will not have a separate upgrade SKU for the packaged retail product versions of Windows 7 at GA (General Availability). However, the company will be offering upgrade pricing on their full licenses to make sure that European customers who want to upgrade have the pricing options available in the rest of the world.

    Microsoft is also offering people in select markets the opportunity to pre-order Windows 7 at a more than 50% discount. In the US, this will mean users can pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium for USD $49.99 or Windows 7 Professional for USD $99.99. Users can take advantage of this special offer online via select retail partners such as Best Buy or Amazon, or the online Microsoft Store (in participating markets).

    This program begins June 26th in the U.S., Canada and Japan. The offer ends July 11th in the U.S. and Canada and on July 5th for Japan or while supplies last. Customers in the UK, France and Germany, can pre-order their copy of Windows 7 starting July 15th and will run until August 14th (or supplies last).

    Feel free to post your comment, suggestions and questions about this review and Windows 7 on our forums here.



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