Windows 7 : Vista Reborn

Microsoft's latest OS on the block WINDOWS SE7EN is out in beta version. But does it answer to all the questions asked about Windows last offering VISTA ?

Performance

Well, every one called vista resource hogging. Lets see how windows 7 performs here. When i started up my pc without any application my pc took 536mb RAM (total of 3gb) and vista took around 950mb and XP around 520mb. Some of my friends are running Windows seven on their Pentium 3 with 512mb ram without any problem. The min. requirements are 1Ghz processor and 512 mb ram, 16 Gb HDD (i allocated only 13Gb) and a DVD ROM. The Windows takes less time compared to vista under 45sec it took me. The windows application are responsive and i was amazed to see its quickness though i was using XP SP3 earlier.

(Screenshot of my desktop while writing this post with windows live writer, using new snipping tool :D)

The Taskbar

The first noticeable change in windows 7 is the new taskbar which has gone under change first time since windows 95 came out. The taskbar now shows only the icon of the application that are open or pinned to the taskbar. Multiple instances of same program are grouped together. When you move your mouse over to the icon it shows all the instances in a preview window which you can click upon to select a window.

Gadgets

The Windows 7 has done away with windows sidebar (virtually) and the gadgets are now scrambled all over the desktop as the user wants. You can even resize gadgets which wasn't possible earlier. The taskbar contains show desktop icon which you can click to show desktop and all the gadgets. If you just move your mouse to right corner of the screen over Show Desktop icon than it makes all the windows invisible to show the Desktop and the gadgets for you in case you just want to take a look..

Multi touch and Handwriting recognition

Well i never got a chance to test this feature as it requires some hardware also. But it seems great and i hope it works out well

Jump Lists and Device managers

The OS also has new features like jump lists which shows the recently opened file for programs without any need to actually open the application which can come in handy.

It also assembles all the device like USB device , printer etc to one place which make managing and troubleshooting easier. Also let me mention the inbuilt improved driver support. I didn’t need to install any Driver including for my Bluetooth or WIFI.

Other Features:

Windows Media player and Windows Media Centre

Internet Explore 8.

Theme Packages.

Parental Control.

Windows Live tools.

UAC :

This is also one thing that people didn't like about VISTA(i wonder why people didn't turn it off in Vista). But this time Microsoft has made it more flexible and adjustable at four different levels of security.

Battery Life :

The battery life improves. In my laptop it showed more batter time remaining than compared to vista or XP.

Parental control

and other small tools use it to know them.

Overall

Overall this is a great product although still in BETA but it seems great and could help windows fight back and take its market share from MAC OSX which got a chance with Vista. This is a must try if you have spare 16Gb HDD. I can wait for the final version. Microsoft bring it on.

PC Requirements

Processor : P4 - 1 Ghz.

Ram : 512 mb , 1Gb (recommended)

HDD: 16Gb

Download your copy of Windows 7 from here.