Windows 7 Release Drawing Near
With Windows 7 set to be released this Thursday (October 22, 2009), I thought I’d take a minute to tell you about some of the features that I actually like (yes, shocking, I know!).
I’ve been using Windows 7 since the earliest betas came out earlier this year, and I instantly enjoyed Microsoft’s newest OS. I haven’t used Windows on a regular basis since Windows XP about five years ago, but Windows 7 just seems different and refreshing — a break from the regular Microsoft OS.
Some of the cooler features that I like involves the user interface. One of (I think) the best features is the inclusion of a tool that allows you to drag a window near the edge of either the left or right of the screen and have it automatically resize to fill exactly half of the screen. When you want the window back to normal size, drag it back off. This allows you to view two documents, web pages, etc. side by side. And what if you have too much clutter on your desktop? Simply grab the foremost window and shake it side to side to hide all other windows. Shake again to reveal the hidden windows.
The taskbar has also changed dramatically, allowing you to “pin” applications to it and rearrange the pinned applciations in an almost OS X-like way. Oh, and what’s that small vertical bar at the far right of the taskbar? Well, press it and it will instantly hide all the windows to show your desktop. Click it again to show the windows. If you have a few windows opened up and need just to see what’s on your desktop, just hover over this button to make the windows invisible, showing your desktop.
Windows Vista was very buggy and reminded me of Microsoft’s mishap of an OS, Windows ME. Windows 7, however, will most likely be the operating system to redeem Microsoft from the reliability slump. I’ve experienced no crashes in my testing of Windows 7, and those annoying security messages have all but disappeared for unneeded authentications.
Overall, I’m extremely happy with Windows 7. And while I will remain a Mac user, I can now use Windows without having to shriek in horror of the bad user experience.
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