Windows 7 was announced this week at PDC 2008 and I have to say that it's the OS we thought we were getting when Vista was launched way back when.
The general public typically expect quite a lot from Microsoft when it comes to a new operating system and depending on how you look at it, you'll be getting a lot more for your buck this time!
The key thing about Windows 7 is the amount of resource it needs in comparison with Vista. Even without programs like Outlook, Windows Live Messenger and Visual Studio running, my Vista build on a pretty good spec laptop consumes about 1GB RAM and is forever thrashing the hard drive for something. After installing a Pre Beta release of Windows 7 I was delighted to see that it booted quickly and used less than 512MB RAM. Great! thanks Microsoft for realising a sensible OS. All we ever wanted was a light weight operating system that doesn't need £2,000 of hardware to run the basic Windows things in life at a reasonable speed.
In my opinion the future of Microsoft Windows has been saved by Windows 7. I know for a fact that there are a huge number of people that have put off an 'upgrade' to Windows Vista because they've been told it's slower than XP.
Touchy Feely
One of the BIG leaps forward with Windows 7 is the whole 'touch' thing i.e. (with the right touch screen bits and bobs) getting interactive with your applications is a real possibility. You might of seen Microsoft Surface in the press recently, Windows 7 bridges the gap and provides the 'readiness' for developers to start creating applications that are more interactive and tactile...picture a keyboard and mouse free life...as if - but I'm sure you'll start to see it at train stations, airports and all things kiosks based. HP have released a new 'all in one' touch PC that was used for the demo at PDC 2008, specs available here
What does Windows 7 look like?
Don't get too excited, as I said, it's a quick, more efficient version of Vista. Menu layouts and the use of libraries rather than My Documents etc are different but nothing to write home about. Search has been improved but you won't come away thinking that you're life has quite literally been changed by Windows 7.
Windows 7 on the move
If you spend a lot of time camped out in airports, hotels and conferences, you've probably noticed a new trend in ultra mobile laptops. I'm going to use the Asus Eee PC as an example, these cute 10" laptops don't have a lot of horsepower and currently only come with a scaled down Linux or Windows XP image. Now that Microsoft have addressed a lot of the performance issues that plagued Vista with the release of Windows 7 - it's probably going to become the operating system of choice for Eee PC's going forward
When can I get Windows 7?
Don't get your credit card out just yet! You need to wait till early 2009 for Windows 7 to become publicly available but the usual BETA programs will give you an opportunity to try it out. One thing that Microsoft have really focused on with Windows 7 is the customer feedback process. Whatever application you're running on Windows 7, there is a feedback button that when you click it captures what's running and what you were doing before you fill out a very easy to use feedback form. I've already sent about 5 individual pieces of feedback...but only because it's been so quick and easy to do so.
More to come...
I'll be posting more Windows 7 related blogs as I start to incorporate it more in my day-day life, so watch this space...
For more info, please feel free to contact me at matt.mould@conchango.com