Windows 7 Ready for Purchase by October 22, 2009

Windows 7, the slick, fast, user-friendly successor to the much-maligned Windows Vista was offered as a public beta last January 9, 2009. I was one of the fortunate who got a hold of that free beta download. Although it only came to me as a copy from a co-worker, a couple of days after it was released for download, I heard positive feedback from those people who were able to download and use it in that same day it was released.

Windows 7 will offer better performance on underpowered machines such as netbooks, support for multi-touch interfaces, and simplified home networking.

Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer, said that this would be the "best version of Windows ever" and pointed out features that implicitly acknowledged the problems with Windows Vista.

Microsoft is also eager to get Windows 7 into people’s hands given the negative reaction to Windows Vista, which was widely panned. Released in 2007, Vista annoyed many customers with its hunger for computing resources and its seemingly incessant security notifications. Not only customers seemed to be bugged by what seemed to be a Vista bug but we in the Technical Support department as well. Being a Dell Technical Support at the onset when Vista was released, most of the calls I got ranged to raving customers wanting to return their systems back to Dell for the issues they got a little later after they reloaded their own applications in the new factory image. That had been a dragging time at work when you couldn’t seem to get a decent and friendly call because all you could get were irate customers.

Windows 7 has been widely anticipated since developers got the first glimpse of it at a Microsoft conference earlier this year. Microsoft promises that the new OS will have faster startup and shutdown times, fewer security alerts, and will provide better power management leading to improved battery life on laptops.

In addition, the OS will have an updated Taskbar, new animated desktop effects, context-sensitive menus and a smarter desktop search tool. And it will be svelte enough to run on a netbook with as little as 1GB of RAM and a 1GHz processor, Microsoft has promised.

I’m currently using Windows 7 RC (Release Candidate) that I got to borrow. But by October 22, 2009, Windows 7 will be available for everyone to enjoy. Excitement about the upcoming public release of Windows 7 has been growing for months and expectations are for a much quicker adoption rate than what we saw with the previous Windows version.

below is the screenshot of my current desktop while writing this blog. notice how an aero preview pops, that is when you hover your cursor to the pinned IE icon on the taskbar. That is just one feature from Windows 7 that I’d like to share to you all.

Learn About The Features

Improved taskbar and full-screen previews

The taskbar at the bottom of your screen is what you use to launch programs and switch between them when they're open. In Windows 7 you can pin any program to the taskbar so it’s always just a click away, and you can rearrange the icons on the taskbar just by clicking and dragging. We’ve made the icons considerably bigger, too, so they’re easier to use. Hover over the icons and you’ll see thumbnails of every file or window that open in that program, and if you hover over the thumbnail, you’ll see a full-screen preview of that window. Move the cursor off the thumbnail and the full-screen preview disappears.

Jump Lists

With Windows 7, we focused on keeping the things you use most right in front of you. One example: The new Jump List feature. It's a handy way to quickly reach the files you've been working with. To see the files you've used recently, just right click on the icon on your taskbar. So right-clicking on the Word icon will show your most recent Word documents. Plus, if there are other files you want to keep handy, you can just pin them to the Jump List so they’ll always appear. That way, the documents you’re likely to want are just a couple clicks away.

Some programs, such as Windows Media Player, can pre-populate their Jump Lists with common tasks. For example, on the Jump List for Windows Media Player, you’ll see options to Play All Music or resume your last playlist. On the Jump List for Internet Explorer, you’ll see frequently and recently viewed websites. With some programs, you’ll even have quick access to tasks that, in the past, were only available from within the program, such as composing a new e-mail message.

Desktop enhancements

Windows 7 simplifies how you work with the windows on your desktop. You'll have more intuitive ways to open, close, resize, and arrange them.

With Windows 7, it’s easier to do things you do all of the time. For example, before, when you wanted to compare two open windows, you had to manually resize your open windows to show them side by side. With Snaps, you can simply grab a window and pull it to either side edge of the screen to fill half the screen. Snap windows to both sides, and it’s easier than ever to compare those windows.

Another thing you may want to do is quickly see your gadgets or grab a file from your desktop. To see your desktop just move your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop. That'll make all the open Windows transparent—so your desktop is immediately visible. Want to get all but one window out of your way? Grab the top of that window, shake it and all the other open windows will minimize to the taskbar. Shake the window again, and they’ll all come back.

Windows Search

Looking for something on your PC? What’s your first instinct? If you use the web a lot, you probably start by looking around for a search box. Now, you can find things on your computer the same way. Introduced with Windows Vista, Windows Search helps you find virtually anything on your PC quickly and easily. Windows 7 also makes search results more relevant and easier to understand.

Looking for a file, e-mail, or application? While you can easily look through folders and menus, there’s an even faster way. Just click on the Start button and you’ll see a search box at the bottom of the Start menu. Just enter a word or few letters in the name or file you want, and you’ll get an organized list of results.

Windows 7 uses libraries to show all content of a particular type in one spot. Say you’ve got photos in several locations on your PC. A lot will be in your Photos folder. But you might have some in documents folders too. Your photos library makes it easy for you to browse and use all your photos, no matter where they are on your PC.

By collecting things into a single view, libraries make it simpler to find what you’re looking for. They’re even more powerful with Windows Search. You can search your Libraries using filters to customize your search. For example, when you’re looking for music you can search by album. Or search for photos by the date they were taken. You can go to your Documents Library, click on authors, and see all the documents on your computer sorted by author name.

For more features please visit Microsoft