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Microsoft will launch their newest PC operating system, Windows 7 on October 22, 2009. Here are a few notable usability changes have been included:
The desktop now features an improved taskbar with previews, bigger icons, pinning and other creative ways to personalize your desktop.
“HomeGroup” is an easy way to build a home network to enable sharing files, printers and other peripherals.
“Jump Lists” give the user speedy access to favorite pictures, songs, websites and documents. It “remembers” the latest files opened in each application and gives you one click access to those files.
"Snap” is a quick way to resize and position two windows so they can both be seen, side by side. This eliminates the need to manually resize and maneuver windows to compare them.
Further enhancements to “Windows Live Essentials” which replaces Outlook Express and gives the user greater flexibility than was previously available.
“Windows Search” offers the user search performance right from the “Start” button. It is faster while at the same time showing more information about the search results.
Other changes include performance improvements, full 64 bit support and better power management for laptops. Wireless network connecting has also been improved by providing a uniform interface for connecting to various types of networks- either wired or wireless.
We are excited to announce that Partner, Jim Laber was honored by the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce as a 30 for the Future recipient. We are proud of you Jim! Watch him accept his award...
If you are curious about what it will take to upgrade to Windows 7, take a look at this excellent blog by Ed Bott on ZDNet. According to his bio on the site, "Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations."
Windows XP is still widely used in the small business community. XP users are legitimately concerned about their ability to run "XP Only" programs in Windows 7. Their uneasiness stems from the fact that Microsoft has chosen to allow for an easy upgrade path to Windows 7 from Vista, but the installer program will require a "clean" install from XP.
This means that all XP programs and settings will have to be re-installed as part of the conversion to Windows 7. That adds time and expense to the process, to say nothing of the increased complexity. The good news is that XP converts still only have to purchase an upgrade license to migrate to Windows 7, which is a considerable savings over the cost of the full application license.
Another plus, Windows 7 will support full "XP Only" application compatibility by installing a virtual copy of XP inside of Windows 7. From the user's perspective these programs will operate as they did in XP but can be handled as if they were Vista / Windows 7 programs. In other words, the start menu, task bar pinning, and other similar updated features are functional. This installation option extends the useful life of many older programs, like accounting and graphics programs, that have may not been upgraded over the years, but are essential to the operation of many smaller businesses. One caveat – there are increased system requirements that you should investigate- particularly the need for at least two gigs of memory.
Another consideration before moving to Windows 7 from XP is that the operating system will not allow a backward path to the older operating system. A fresh install of XP will be needed to accomplish this. There is no such restriction to the path from Windows 7 back to Vista. The good news is that because of the extensive testing of Windows 7 and the fact that Microsoft listened very carefully to their user base, unlike Vista, there should be very little pressure to downgrade.
Several of us at AtNetPlus have been working with the various pre-release versions of it and we all are impressed with its quality. Maybe Microsoft is learning from past mistakes. At any rate October 22, the official release date, should see a very strong move to this latest operating system from Microsoft. In the remaining weeks leading up to the release, we plan to blog about Windows 7 related issues. We feel it's important to make an educated decision regarding when to upgrade and how to upgrade.
Microsoft thinks so and they are going all out to position Bing™ as your ‘go to’ search engine – er, I mean, “decision engine.” Time will tell how successful they will be, but you have to admit, they’ve put some muscle behind the recent launch of Bing. Odds are you have heard of it.
So far they seem to be slowly gaining ground. Their recent deal with Yahoo gave them a nice boost in market share. But, Bing itself only had 8.9% of the market as of mid-August. It will be interesting to see if the estimated $100 million advertising budget for Bing will be persuasive enough to get us to decide to give Bing a chance. Part of their massive budget is going to be used on a blitz of ‘branded entertainment’ (think product placement) for Bing on your favorite TV shows.
If you’re curious about Bing but not quite ready stop googling, check out this cool new site that lets you compare Bing and Google search results side-by-side. Who knows? In the future, we all may decide to ‘Bing It.’
October 22, 2009 marks the release date for Windows 7™ – the latest PC Operating System from Microsoft. If the past is any indication of the future, that date will start a flurry of questions and activity. In the beginning, the questions will revolve around whether to upgrade now or to take a wait and see attitude. But, the underlying question is really whether the changes Microsoft has made to the OS are worth the investment in time and money to move from XP or Vista to Windows 7.
I have been using Windows 7 on my work computer since the “Release Candidate” was made available for beta testing several months ago. Having chosen not to move to Vista, I had been using Windows XP Pro for several years. My experience with the RC Beta was so positive that when the “Release to Manufacturing” version became available, I immediately did a clean install and have not had one single problem. Windows 7 is chocked full of great features and improvements – some of which are geared to every level of user.
There has been much discussion in the technical press about whether Windows 7 should even be considered a new version, or if it's just a combination of fixes to Vista. In the end, it doesn’t matter. However, there are plenty of points that are worthy of discussion. Watch for more about these topics in future blogs:
The speed and stability of Windows 7
The process for installing Windows 7
The improvements in the handling of devices that are “connected” to a computer running Windows 7
Are device drivers still necessary to install before a device can be used?
Are there compatibility issues, or are they solved with certification of “Compatible with Windows 7”?
Are you more secure with Windows 7 as compared to XP and Vista?
What can be gained or lost by waiting to update?
New features such as –
Improved taskbar with full screen previews of open files
Jump lists for keeping the functions that you use most easily at hand
Desktop enhancements to help you compare two open windows
Enhancements to Windows Search
Instant search results in Internet Explorer 8
A new technology called Device Stage
Home Group - a new feature to simplify connecting at home
One click access to all connected networks through a common interface
These are just some of the topics that we plan to discuss over the few weeks so that you can make an educated decision regarding when to upgrade.
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