Windows 7

This week saw the release of Windows 7 Release Candidate by Microsoft.  This is the latest version of Microsoft’s desktop operating system, scheduled for full release later this year and the replacement of the much maligned Vista operating system.

I downloaded Windows 7 RC as soon as it became available and I’m currently running it on my main laptop which I use all of the time.  So far, I have to say that I’m very impressed and my system is running significantly quicker than with Vista.  I’ve also installed 7 on an older low-spec netbook computer and performance is perfectly acceptable – I would have to say that it seems quicker than XP too! 

A couple of our clients have enquired about the new OS and we’ll be installing 7 for a couple of them to try out the RC.  If you would like to try it out, see the Microsoft Windows 7 site for more information.

Aside from the speed improvements, application compatibility will be far better than Vista when it was released.  Microsoft say that almost all applications that run on Vista will work on Windows 7.  There is also an “XP Compatibility” mode that will run older XP applications in a virtual machine, transparent to the user.

The lower hardware requirements of Windows 7 should mean than many users will be able to upgrade without having to fork out for new hardware.  Clients with Open Value Subscription Licensing or Software Assurance won’t even have additional licensing costs.

Windows 7 brings a whole load of improvements over previous versions in the areas of search, the taskbar/start menu and UAC whilst delivering useful new features such as encryption of removable drives, aero-shake, stacking and gamma-curve.  We’ll be bringing you more information about these in future blog articles.