Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 03 November 2008 17:52
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 3
The buzz over Windows 7 is everything Microsoft clearly wished for
Vista, with illegal downloads racing across the Internet as curious
computer users want to see if all the Windows 7 reports match up to
reality.
With the Windows 7 pre-beta
only officially available to those who went to Microsoft’s Professional
Developer Conference (PDC) in the US late last month, the main way
users are getting Windows 7 is via the Internet and illegal BitTorrent downloads.
As
a member of the media, I gave Microsoft locally a call, and while they
don’t yet have copies yet for the media, they are promised to “come
soon”.
So I made some calls and found a friend of a friend
that had gone to the PDC, and got a copy that way, saving me from
having to make a 2.75GB download.
Having read on the Internet
that a Vista RC1 beta key would activate Windows 7 build 6801 on up to
10 computers, and having downloaded the RC1 beta at the time and
received such a key, I decided it was time to see what Windows 7 was
like for myself, especially after having watched the PDC video clips
showing the new OS in action.
I formatted a 160GB SATA Seagate 2.5-inch hard drive, took the 80GB hard drive out of my Core Duo T4210 Fujitsu Tablet PC, popped the 160GB hard drive in, inserted the Windows 7 pre-beta 6801 DVD into the drive, and went through the installation process.
The
installation process is almost identical to Vista, and as with Vista
only seemed to take about 20 minutes, although I didn’t have the
stopwatch on.
Still, it was fast, and soon Windows 7 was on my desktop! Having already read (and written
an article) that the Windows 7 “superbar”
in the December or January was hidden within the 6801 build, and that
Avast Free anti-virus worked with Windows 7, I tried both – and they
worked!
The new “superbar” is like a cross between the Mac OS X “dock” and the standard Windows taskbar Windows users have known for years, and coupled with the Aero Glass capability is a much nicer way of managing your open windows and programs.
Windows 7, even in its “pre-beta”
mode loads faster and seems to run faster and more smoothly than Vista,
and so I’m running an experiment that many others are too: living and
working in the new Windows 7 environment.
I’ve installed Office 2007, Google Chrome, Firefox 3, Skype, CutePDF writer, Adobe PDF reader and all is working smoothly.
I
like the new “system tray” and the way Windows notifications can now be
suppressed or individually activated, as desired. The new Windows
Explorer has all the enhancements I’ve read about, like a “preview
pane” icon in the toolbar and the new “libraries” folders to
consolidate all kinds of files in a more intelligent manner, among
others.
The wireless networking icon in the system tray is
much more intuitive – just click it and you’re immediately shown a list
of wireless networks to choose from, rather than needing to click into
another window and go from there.
Gadgets are no longer stuck
in a “sidebar” but can live anywhere on your desktop, too, while
“docking” open windows to the left or right hand side (taking up half
the screen, letting you easily put two windows side-by-side) or
“docking” a window to the top of the screen which then automatically
maximises it is a very simple yet cool feature.
So, what else is new, and how did Windows 7 fare on two different netbooks I'm using? Please read on to page 2.
