A full Windows 7 Review will be up shortly. I strongly recommend Windows 7.
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Now that Windows 7 had been fully launched in the market, a lot of PC users find themselves at a crossroad of whether to migrate to the new OS or to hold back for awhile. If you care to notice, an option not to migrate to Windows 7 is not being considered anymore because Microsoft plans to phase out all forms of Windows XP support by April next year. This will leave old and loyal XP users with no choice but to pack up their bags. So what’s holding back businesses and home users to finally take the plunge and install the OS to their PCs?
Here are their most common reasons …
So are these reasons justifiable? Yes they are in a way and to some extent. Looking at the other side of the coin, companies will also have to weigh the cost of a migration to new hardware and software as well as the upgrading of some applications. A typical time frame schedule for deployment of a new OS in an organization will take less than 18 months, so to delay further will be additional cost on the part of the company. The truth of the matter is, migrating to Windows 7 is inevitable and for some it’s just a matter of time and for how long, it all depends on their priorities. If Windows 7 can deliver, what’s stopping you anyway? Go and take that leap!
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Finally, after so much toss and turns, you had reached the decision to upgrade. However, the buck doesn’t stop here; to ensure a smooth-sailing migration to Windows 7 it’s best to equip yourself on the basics.
Let us go into the details on what you need to prepare prior to the upgrade …
1. Go perform your housecleaning and a quick rundown utility maintenance first.
2. Know the System Requirements
Since Windows 7 relatively has low minimum requirements, in fact an XP and Vista based system could run Windows 7 although minimum requirements do not mean a high end performance. By running the “Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor “, this can help you determine if your PC is apt to run Windows 7.
The following are the minimum system requirements:
Architecture 32-bit 64-bit
Processor 1 GHz 32-bit processor 1 GHz 64-bit processor
Memory (RAM) 1 GB of RAM 2 GB of RAM
Graphics Card DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM drivermodel 1.0 (For Aero)
HDD free space 16 GB of available disk space 20 GB of available disk space
Optical drive DVD drive (for installation from DVD/CD Media)
3. Select your upgrade option from the following:
Option #1 In-Place Upgrade from Vista – This is the easiest among all types of installations, however, the drawback is the long process which can be based on how compact and organized your files are.
Option #2 Upgrading from XP or Clean Slate Installation – This can be considered more of a fresh installation to a blank hard drive or at least a blank partition rather than an upgrade. Using the “User State Migration Tool” will help capture desktop and system settings, user accounts and files that need to be transferred to the Windows 7 system.
Option #3 Dual-Boot Installation – This involves letting Windows 7 co-exist with XP and Vista in your PC. Installing Windows 7 on the same hard disk needs the creation of a new partition to set up the OS, for XP this means using third party tools to create and manage partitions. For Vista, the use of a built-in disk management facility will achieve the same results. After achieving this, you may to proceed to the installation of Windows 7 already.
Option #4 Boot Camp on a Mac Installation – Apple’s new Boot Camp will allow the installation of Windows to the Mac unit in addition to Mac OS X already installed.
Option#5 Load to a Netbook Installation – Windows 7 unlike Vista can run exceedingly well in Netbooks. The only hitch here is the installation since Netbooks do no not have DVD drives which means installation can be done either through an external drive or boot from a USB stick for a clean install.
Microsoft through Windows 7 deserves a pat on the back for making available all these installation options to a user. The flexibility and user-friendliness of Windows 7 will surely pave the way towards greater acceptance and satisfaction from its users.
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Windows 7’s release means more than just a new OS in the computing world. Microsoft through Windows 7 had created a paradigm shift – a break away from a long tradition since the invention of the PC. It has made a significant change in the never ending hardware upgrade cycle that occurs every time a new OS is introduced in the market. Microsoft had always been in its toes coming up with ways on how to make use of newly introduced innovations by PC vendors like Intel.
What is this paradigm shift and how did it happen? This article intends to explain in detail this observation. Hoping that by doing so, PC users would appreciate more the new image Windows 7 is trying to project in the computing arena.
Looking back in the past …
Whether we accept this or not, Windows 7 came out at a time when Microsoft needs a big major push. In fact, the launching of Windows 7 confirmed this assertion. Windows 7 with its powerfully enhanced features is a silent acknowledgment somehow on Microsoft’s behalf of the failure they had committed out of Vista. For the past two years and a half, Microsoft had gropingly tried to cover all the gaping holes Vista had created in terms of performance issues and hardware compatibility. If one will be keen enough to notice the introduction of Vista is a complete overhaul in their lineup of past OSes – the very same reason that brought Vista down to its knees. The high level of hardware requirements of Vista had taken toll on its performance; leaving a lot of disgruntled users who cannot cope with the resource intensive Vista. In short, this can be the scenario that triggered the sudden shift.
Presently now…
Looking back at Microsoft’s history and comparing now the present situation wherein Windows 7’s requirements are slightly lower than those required to run Vista. This strikes us with the plain truth that Windows 7 tends to run better on the same hardware configuration as a Vista PC. Windows 7 now becomes the very first OS that does not require more hardware resources than the version before; a completely new trend being introduced by the Microsoft camp. Very subtle and convincing, Microsoft had made the change happen.
Future Implications…
Microsoft’s stance to become customer driven instead of being pulled by the strings of PC vendors is a revelation indeed. With this breaking of link on the upgrade cycle between the OS and hardware, small hardware vendors will eventually close shop giving way to a monopoly of a few giant vendors within the next ten years. On the part of Intel, more innovations beyond the PC CPU had to be developed to cope with the ability to maintain a market’s demand for faster and smaller microprocessors. As for Microsoft, it has to maintain the balance between its OEM division and the newly recovered image brought about by Windows 7’s changes. Lastly, the greatest bulk of benefits will go to the PC end users, surprisingly thought it may seem, but Microsoft intends to make everything usable for PC users this time around. Perhaps after two to three years, we will know if this trend is here to stay or just a ‘one time fad’ of Microsoft.
As for now, eyebrows will continue to raise as more speculations will come as the new PC market dynamics brought about by Windows 7 is slowly fitting in. Whatever implications or consequences that may arise out of this new trend, definitely it is for the better – at least seeing it from a user’s perspective.
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Security is a perennial issue since time immemorial. From the early days of the Internet and up to this very moment, companies and users alike will do anything to protect and secure their data and hardware from all forms of cyber attacks.
Microsoft is no exception to this. Ever since the release of their first operating system they had vowed to consistently elevate the security ground to a higher level. Sad to say, Microsoft’s release of Vista had jeopardized whatever good intentions the company had. Vista’s security loopholes had led to the loss of credibility on the part of big corporations and ordinary PC users. Thus, the company cannot afford to miss another step but instead once again harness its powers to reclaim its dominance on the computing industry and its rivals.
Indeed, Windows 7 is out to make a redemptive break for whatever security lapses and shortcomings in the past and hopes to emerge as the most reliable and stable OS that Microsoft had ever developed. Recently conducted reviews of the software are showing how convincingly Microsoft had finally nailed it down.
Below is an impressive list of Windows 7 security enhancements:
This list is far from complete and neither is each one a perfect fit solution to all security concerns. Windows 7 can never be a 100% malware and security proof OS, just like any other application in the market. But one thing is for sure, the long wait is over – here is an OS that is equipped enough finally to address a lot of security headaches.
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To understand this rather highly debated topic, one has to go deep into netbooks itself, to truly understand it:
Rise of Netbooks
Netbooks or low-spec notebooks came into this world due to Asus and their original EEE PC which debuted in late 2007. That PC used the free open-source OS, Linux, came with low specifications and had a low price. It was a hit and netbooks started to gain prominence among the average customer. They began to be viewed as secondary machines having low specs but compensating for that by being low cost. Soon they began to be offered by every manufacturer. It became essential for them, to offer netbooks if they had to increase their sales and weather the downturn successfully. In fact, this is one of the reasons why, Acer has jumped to the second position in the global PC market scaling Dell.
Result
If netbooks are becoming popular, then this means that their market share is also gradually growing and if their market share is growing then the components and the software inside them is also experiencing an increase in market share. This is one of the main reason why netbooks are becoming important for both manufacturers and consumers, and as a result components designed specially for them are being designed and sold. If you take the case of micro-processors, there was no set processor for early netbooks as they required extremely low power and at that time the processors available offered poor performance. Intel recognized this opportunity and created Atom, its low power, low cost processor which was just right for web surfing, making/viewing presentations and light work for which netbooks were originally made. Atom became a hit, and today, most of the netbooks in the market have an Atom inside them. Buoyed by its success, an Atom II is available.
Battle for the Netbook Operating System
Netbooks finally, presented an opportunity for Linux to increase its market share, but Microsoft was not ready to give up so soon and started offering manufacturers its own OS. It could not offer Vista which cannot work properly on entry level notebooks, forget netbooks. So they were left with the more than seven years old operating system XP which was a temporary solution until Seven was ready. With Windows 7 being finally released, Microsoft finally had a proper alternative but found a new competitor: Android and the soon-to-be released Chrome OS from its arch-rival Google.
But seriously, is Android any competition? Google itself acknowledges that Android is a operating system designed primarily for mobiles and not netbooks. Chrome OS, its operating system for PCs is being developed primarily for netbooks and will surely counter Windows 7 in the near future. This move itself proves that Google did not think that Android primarily being a mobile OS would have enough “power” to challenge Windows XP or Seven. Android being a new OS also has this major disadvantage that people view it as an immature OS for mobiles so you can imagine what they might think of Android on netbooks.
Besides, the short comings of Android, Windows also had this major advantage, of people being familiar with the Windows OS which in turn helped increase the sale of XP netbooks and start the demise of Linux netbooks. According to Microsoft, the return rate of Linux netbooks is quite high. But now with an up-to-date OS in the form of Windows Seven, Microsoft doesn’t have any need to loose sleep over Android or Moblin or the numerous other operating systems.
To conclude, Android at best can be offered as a dual-boot OS to users with Windows Seven or Windows XP but it simple cannot take the place of a mature OS such as Windows. I don’t want to say that Android is a poor OS but it is instead being developed for a specific niche in mobiles and not netbooks. Google Chrome OS may well emerge as a worthy contender to upset Windows Seven’s sales for netbooks.
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With the release of Windows 7, Microsoft (MS) has 3 years to release Windows 8. Work had already started on Windows 8 much before Windows 7 had released as was revealed by a job posting by MS. Well, lets take at the major changes Microsoft may undertake in Windows 8:-
User Interface
Microsoft is expected to change the User Interface (UI) of Windows 8. The UI could well borrow some ideas from the Copenhangen: Concept created by Cullen Dudas.
Here’s a video of Copenhagen -
And also -
Touch
Well, Windows 7 does come with complete touch integration but, touch based PCs, laptops, monitors are not so popular now. This is due to their high price but with the release of Windows 8 by 2012, these devices are expected to be popular as the prices would surely come down by then. So, we can expect more touch applications, software, in the distant future and Windows 8 should enable the user to make complete use of it.
Release Date
Microsoft is expected to release Windows 8 in 2012 as MS usually releases a new edition of Windows every three years except in the case of Vista which was overdue by six years (Windows XP was released in 2001 and Windows Vista was released in January 2007 and which led them to release two Service Packs of Windows XP). A leaked roadmap of Windows also confirms this, so the beta of Windows 8 is expected in 2011.
32 bit/64 bit/128 bit
There is speculation that Microsoft may not release Windows 8 in 32 bit and that Windows 7 was the last release from MS in 32 bit. This may or may not be true. This maybe true as the hardware required for Windows 8 64 bit is already in place, as the biggest customers of MS are the business houses. MS is expected to release Windows 8 in 2012 and I think that even if the businesses use the same hardware which they had bought for Vista which may well be 6 years old when MS releases Windows 8, the hardware would be able to support Windows 8. But if you look at this differently, you might think otherwise, as MS may produce and sell Windows 8 in 32 bit but at a significantly lower price in developing countries to combat piracy.
There is also speculation that MS may release Windows 8 in 128 bit as this was accidentally revealed by Robert Morgan who works in Microsoft. So it is highly likely that we will see a 128 bit version of Windows 8 and Windows 8 Server in 2012, as they are expected to offer performance improvements.
Performance
Windows 8 will have to offer performance improvements over Windows 7 on existing hardware and support a large number of devices if it has to succeed. This was one main reason why Vista had failed and why Seven has already become a hit. The main areas where performance improvements are expected are to be in boot times and in DFSR file system service, which stands for Distributed File System Replication and helps in keeping files and folders synchronized across multiple servers. The Hibernate and Resume features of Windows 8 are also expected to show significant improvement since they are expected to use “the new TLZ file compression engine” as claimer by an intern at Microsoft. Windows 8 is also expected to support Seadragon and have a better UI for multi-monitor setups as Steven Sinfsky (the in charge of Windows Seven and Windows Eight) has revealed.
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After presenting you with the Top 5 Windows 7 Games list, here I bring you the Top 10 Windows 7 Software:
10. MS Office 2010
Microsoft has announced that the public beta of Office 2010 would be available from November. One of the most essential software in a PC, Microsoft has announced that Office will release in 2010, three years after Office 2007. Following the trend set by Google, Microsoft will walk new paths, with it offering a Web based version and a free ad-supported version called Office Starter Edition.
09. Mozilla Firefox
Firefox is still the most popular browser despite being challenged from all quarters (read: Chrome, Safari and Opera) due to its trust, stability, offering users the option to free themselves from the troubles of Internet Explorer. Despite other browsers offering the same, it is the word of mouth which is paying off for Firefox. Despite a poor default User Interface (UI) among the current crop of browsers, this grouse will also soon go with Mozilla upgrading the look in future versions.
08. Trillian
Despite not being officially released, Trillian is one software which is creating waves. Trillian is a chatting client offering users the freedom from multiple chatting clients which clog system resources and make the computer slow without the user being aware about it. It offers users a simple yet beautiful UI which is very essential for novice users and which will help users to not miss the UI of their previous chatting clients. Having a large number of IM networks on board is the cherry on the cake which helps this software win a spot on this list.
07. MS. Security Essentials
On the No. 7 spot we have Security Essentials from Microsoft which is currently the best free security software available to users. Microsoft had basically created Security Essentials to address the woes of users who were constantly targeted by hackers. With this, Microsoft has some reason to shut up its competition who constantly made mockery of Windows constantly being a security threat. Although not the best security software it certainly has managed to create a special spot for itself.
06. WinRar
WinRar developed by Eugene Roshal, is the most versatile and popular file compression software on the planet. Available since 1995, it is able to compress and extract a wide variety of files. It is able to create and extract about 10+ file formats which may well be the best any software could do.
05. VLC Media Player
VLC Media Player reached version 1 this year, though don’t get mistaken by its version number as it is one of the best media player supporting a wide variety of formats that you may never have even heard of. It has been in development for several years (from 1996 but was re-written from 1998) thus, making it one of the oldest players available. It is popular mainly as it is light-weight, has a basic UI, and apart from many other notable features, it also has the ability to play incomplete, or damaged video files.
04. CCleaner
Formerly know as Crap Cleaner, CCleaner is a freeware used to optimize the user’s computer performance and clean the registry. It is developed by Piriform and is available in 37 languages. It is light-weight, has a simple UI and has enough power and features to command a place in this list.
03. Foxit Reader
Foxit Reader is a PDF or Portable Document Format file opener. PDF is a document format and is very popular among the masses. Many people believe that as PDF is developed by Adobe there should be no other PDF file opener but they are wrong as this is not the case. Foxit Reader is a software which can open PDF files and is really light compared to Adobe Reader (its file size is less than 7 MB). It offers users a welcome relief from the slow load times and high setups (Adobe Reader has a file size above 20 MB).
02. Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop: the name itself speaks for itself. Photoshop is the most used graphics editing program in the world and is used by graphics professionals all over. The site on which you are reading may have its graphics developed by Photoshop it self. Ads, sites, they all are made of Photoshop. Photoshop also has a wide yet advanced variety of features some of which the average user may not be even aware of.
01. µTorrent
µTorrent is the lightest torrent client available having packed so many features in a very small size. It is less than 1 MB in file size and consumes extremely low system resources. It is true to its name with µTorrent meaning “Micro Torrent” and has been correctly described by its makers as a “Powerhouse with a tiny appetite”. It therefore should be no surprise that µTorrent has come up so high in this list.
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