This post was written by Jeff Johnston
Microsoft Windows 7 is shaping up better than many were expecting and, while it’s still early days, this could be a turning point for the modern-day Microsoft. The boot up time has slightly improved for starters, and – thankfully – the hanging around once the Windows desktop appears, before you can actually do anything meaningful, has also been attacked. There are little add-ons such as the snipping tool, which allows you to take a grab of an area you select without having to battle through a graphics program to do so.
Although Microsoft’s Windows 7 won’t be available until 2010, a prebeta version is available to developers. At first glance, it appears to be a more advanced iteration of Windows Vista, as per CNET reviews. The boot process is much faster, although this hasn’t been confirmed in a lab. Restore from hibernation appears much quicker. Although it was not available in build 6801, CNET saw the new Taskbar in Windows 7 available in a more advanced build. The new Taskbar uses icons, not the names, across the bottom.
Microsoft is adding support for multi-touch touch screens in the next version of Windows, Windows 7. The inclusion of multi-touch capabilities in Windows marks the surest sign yet that touch will join the mouse and keyboard as a common interface in computing. Microsoft Inc. has firmly put its stake in the ground in touch technologies already, with its tabletop Surface multi-touch computer beginning to show up in AT&T stores and is likely to make its public debut shortly in places like Sheraton hotels and Harrah’s casinos.
Microsoft’s tricky balancing act in 2009 will be to phase out Windows XP while boosting demand for Windows Vista and building anticipation for Windows 7. Compounding this challenge is that Vista has been Microsoft’s most embattled operating system, and though recent reports say that Vista has improved over the past year, there are also reports of a growing indifference from users. Many are sticking with Windows XP for now (or even requesting to “downgrade” to XP with new computer purchases) with the hope that Windows 7 will be more nimble and efficient than Vista.
Microsoft Inc., has launched a new blog titled Engineering Windows 7, or E7 in short. For the time being, the blog is going light on “the wow,” with an image-less blue and white design as straight forward as the blog’s name implies. E7 is a bit sparse on the content front presently, with two posts, including a maiden message about commenting guidelines and another which introduces the blog’s mission statement. E7 is being hosted by the two senior engineering managers for the Windows 7 product, Jon DeVaan and Steven Sinofsky. Jon and Steven, along with members of the engineering team will post, comment, and participate in this blog.