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Windows 7 is here. After the big failure with Windows Vista, Microsoft has redeemed itself. Faster, slicker and more features than ever, it is by far the best operating system ever produced. Even die hard Mac users will be impressed with Windows 7. Windows users have always been disappointed on how slow it was to boot up and start Windows. This is no longer the case, as there is a noticeable difference in startup time. Here are some of the new features and improvements.
Device Stage: Vista barely seems to recognize the presence of cameras, phones, printers, and other external devices, Windows 7’s Device Stage treats them like royalty. The operating system devotes a slick-looking status window to each device, so you can browse files, manage media, and perform other device-specific tasks
Home Group: At long last, Microsoft promises to take the pain and frustration out of home networking for users of its operating system. Set up a Home Group, and then add PCs and other devices—and without further ado you can share files, printers, and the like. Why did it take seven versions of Windows to get this right?
Jump Lists: Like souped-up Recent Documents menus, Jump Lists provide quick access to application-specific documents and/or tasks. For example, you can right-click the Internet Explorer taskbar icon and choose from a list of frequently visited Web sites or from a list of available tasks (such as New Tab and InPrivate). Once you get started using Jump Lists, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without them.
Libraries: Most of us have documents, music, pictures, and video scattered across multiple folders on our PCs. Libraries are special folders in Windows 7 that catalog these items under a single roof, regardless of where you actually store them on your hard drive. And best of all, Libraries are easy to share within your HomeGroup.
One-click Wi-Fi: Unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 makes choosing a wireless network to connect to simple and convenient: Click the system-tray icon, and choose from the resulting list of available hotspots. Granted, you can find third-party connection managers for Vista, but nothing this streamlined and unobtrusive.Windows 7 has all the built in software to convert your computer into a home entertainment center. Windows Media Center can turn your computer into a DVR so that you can watch and record your favorite TV shows (with added tv tuner card).Convert and organize your favorite music, movies and pictures in a sleek looking library. Add a big screen HD TV and you have your perfect all in one entertainment center.
Another added feature is built in backup and restores software that is fast and easy to use.Windows XP users will love the fact that most programs that did not run on Windows Vista will now work on Windows 7.
Big question is should you upgrade or install fresh version of Windows 7? Upgrading in most cases with Vista is easy. There is no upgrade from Windows XP. You have to do a fresh install of Windows 7 and rein-stall your programs. I guess one could upgrade Windows XP to Vista then upgrade to Windows 7. In my opinion it is best to do a fresh install of Windows 7. Hard Drives are cheap these days, so you can buy a new hard drive for Windows 7 and setup your old hard drive as a slave or secondary drive. That way you will for sure not lose your data and programs. Only drawback is that you cannot run programs from your old hard drive. Only way to do that is to change your boot order to the old hard drive and run your old Windows XP.
If you are upgrading from Windows Vista and it is a name brand computer like HP, Sony, Toshiba etc, do a fresh install. Reason is that the name brands computers often put their own software on top of Vista and is one of the biggest reason most people had trouble using Vista. I had no problems when I installed Vista from scratch and didn’t use their own software. Finally to see if your computer can run Windows 7, go online and search “Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor”. Download the program and it will test your computer to see if your computer can run Windows 7
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