What Is Windows 7

Windows is the world's most popular software product.

With more than a billion customers worldwide, Windows has created an ecosystem of hardware and software developers that continue to offer growing choices and capabilities for consumers and businesses around the world.

Because of this, Microsoft believed its  Professional Developers Conference 2008 (PDC) was the perfect place to show off Windows 7 for the first time - in front of thousands of developers anxious to start taking advantage of the new advancements in Windows 7.

Windows 7 will build on the substantial investments the company has made in the fundamentals with Windows Vista - improving:

- Security

- Reliability

- Performance

Windows 7 is designed to be compatible with the same hardware, applications, and device drivers as Windows Vista today.

Windows 7 will offer improved navigation, a new taskbar and a streamlined UI so that common tasks done in Windows are done easier and more quickly. You will be able to share data to all your PCs and devices in your home network or at work.

Julie Larson Green, Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Windows Experience, prepares the PDC audience before a demo of the new Windows 7. 

With Windows 7 + Windows Live, you will be able to stay connected to the people that matter to you, and with Internet Explorer 8 you will get a faster, safer, more productive Web experience.

Along with new features such as "Touch Gestures" and "Device Stage", Windows 7 will enable you to get more out of your devices including the ones you use most often like your digital cameras, mobile phones and printers.

Windows 7 will make it easier to use networked media devices to play music, watch videos, and display photos that are on your Windows PC.

And Windows 7 will also offer more options than ever to customize and personalize your Windows PC with styles that match your personality!

Windows 7 Desktop

What Are Industry Experts Saying?

Its still early days in the development of Windows 7 but here is what some independent IT experts have said this week on seeing/playing with the early version of Windows 7:

"Well, let me ruin the surprise up front. Windows 7 is Windows Vista done right. If you're already a fan of Windows Vista, you'll love Windows 7 because it's a better rendition of that earlier OS. If you're a Vista hater, take heart: The makers of Windows 7 have re-evaluated virtually everything about Vista and made changes small and large across the board. The result is a better Windows, no matter how you slice it."
 

Paul Thurrott -  www.winsupersite.com

"...even the early build of Windows 7 feels like a fast, stable environment. There's a lot going on behind the scenes to make the OS more usable, one monumental improvement being how video memory is allocated for unseen windows. (Hint: It's not.) The result is a highly responsive machine that gets decent battery life."

Wilson Rothman - www.gizmodo.com 

"This loaner machine certainly doesn't feel like it's running pre-beta code. It's wicked fast and eerily quiet thanks to a solid state drive. In a very long day's worth of use it has yet to crash or display any of the flaky behavior you might expect from a beta."

Ed Bott - http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/ 

"Windows 7 may not change much under the hood, but the extent of these interface changes makes it clear that this is very much a major release."

Peter Bright - www.arstechnica.com