Windows 7 to open user-friendly door

[Kalyan]

Windows 7 to open user-friendly door

Almost three years after the much-hyped launch of Windows Vista, Microsoft is all set to unveil its new operating system (OS), Windows 7.

The former had failed to impress the market despite some exciting features. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer tried to play down the lukewarm response to the OS in his address at Tech.Ed 2009. "Vista was much popular or should I say much talked about? Windows 7 will be much talked about and popular as well. It is simple to use, moves performance to a new level and has exciting new features."

So, what does Windows 7, slated for launch by this Christmas, have to offer? A multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, a home networking system and performance improvements. "Windows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch (much like in some mobile phones) and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors, improved boot performance, and kernel improvements," says Arun Subramanian, senior product manager, Windows Client.

But one of the concerns with Vista and a big reason why it failed was the memory hungry applications. Well, Windows 7 will need at least 512 MB RAM. But users would need at least 1GB RAM to get features like Aero, the graphical interface that was also provided in Vista.

Microsoft has tried to make the user interface more interactive with Windows 7. Users can now re-arrange the icons minimised on desktop and instead of text descriptions, there are bigger icons. Pointing on an icon displays the thumbnail version of the application minimised by the user, thus giving a peek into the application. For instance, if you were watching a video and later minimise it to work on something else, say a presentation, just click on the video file for a peek into what you were watching in between your presentation.

Many new items have been added to the control panel, including clear type text tuner, troubleshooting, workspaces centre, location and other sensors, credential manager and system icons.

Windows security centre called Windows Action Centre encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer.
Windows 7 will include Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player 12.

At Tech.Ed, Microsoft demonstrated Windows 7 on some old machines— at least a few were three years old. This was to allay fears that people will have to buy new hardware to run Windows 7. The software firm will also release stripped-down versions of Windows 7 for netbooks, the smaller, Internet-centric devices.




source : economic times