Windows7How

Windows 7 Improvements over Vista

November 10, 2009

We all have an opinion about Windows Vista – even Mactards have something to say about Vista as they keep saying it over and over on TV and radio – and the most common view is not exactly positive. People purchased PCs and notebooks, and then asked to have Windows XP loaded instead of Vista; even Microsoft allowed manufacturers to sell XP on new machines for a short time after Vista launched. It was not exactly a win for them. However, and this is important, some of those people who downgraded their operating system (OS) to keep from using Vista are now getting excited about Windows 7. It is true and a bit scary.

So, the question is why would someone who really disliked Vista want to upgrade to Windows 7? Actually, after studying, discussing and running the OS myself, I can give you some ideas which might make you change your mind and move on up.

One of the first positives about the new Windows 7 is that it is not a huge jump from Windows Vista. Almost all applications and drivers which worked in Vista will also work in Windows 7; after all, Windows 7 is really more of a major upgrade to Vista – it is based entirely on the same kernel. That alone means that you will most likely not need to upgrade all of your other programs just to upgrade – and, the hardware working in Vista will continue to work in Windows 7.

Another important and useful difference between Vista and Windows 7 involves the User Account Control (UAC). In Windows Vista, the UAC was an annoyance; it asked you permission for every single change made to the OS which affected the system files. So, every application you installed and every time you updated your desktop wallpaper, you were warned. Given the impact to productivity that this caused, administrators everywhere just turned UAC off and dealt with any malware on their own. Hoping to change this and add some functionality, Microsoft has updated the UAC for Windows 7. It is now possible to adjust the sensitivity of the security settings and make life much easier while continuing to have a secured Desktop. This is a welcome change to most administrators, and one which finally makes the UAC a useful feature.

Windows 7 has also updated the Windows Explorer, taking it back to something similar to what shipped with Windows XP. The wild – and constantly moving back and forth – left navigation pane is now a thing of the past. In Windows 7, Microsoft has locked it back down and Explorer is now just as good as it was back in XP.

If you ever took advantage of Windows XP and its ability to display your Desktop on multiple monitors with multiple – and often different – video cards, then you were rather unhappy at what Windows Vista presented you with. With Vista, all of the video cards installed in the system had to use the same driver – meaning that you would have to have the same model of video card for each of your monitors or it would simply not work. Windows 7 has fixed this now; you will be able to have different video cards for your monitors. There will be some limits, but nothing like what Vista did to us. This should make the upgrade from XP to Windows 7 and easier choice.

Everyone who has been installing Windows operating systems for the last 20 years or so will understand what I mean by ‘bloatware’. Windows 3.1 started it all, and with each new version – 95, 98, 2000, XP, Vista – the extra applets and applications started to fill up your hard drive with things you never used and could not get rid of. Well, Microsoft has finally listened to IT administrators and customers and has stripped Windows 7 of many of these extra (or useless, if you install applications like MS Office or Photoshop) programs and put them up on Windows Live web site for free downloading to anyone who misses them.

Microsoft has always had a policy about the boot time of their OS. Most people don’t even know it exists, but it is there and is enforced at PC and laptop manufacturer production lines the world over. However, with Windows Vista, this policy seemed to just disappear; some people reported base installations of the OS taking over 30 seconds to start up. That is just not defensible and is twice the time of Windows XP. Well, Windows 7 has also addressed this issue as well. Finally, the average boot up time of Windows 7 is closer to 15~20 seconds. While Microsoft admitted in the Beta release that their target was 15 seconds, it’s not quite there yet. However, it is a significant improvement over the previous release and that is something else positive about Windows 7.

The System Tray, which is down in the bottom-right corner (usually) of your Desktop and contains the clock, has always been useful – but annoying too. In Windows Vista, Microsoft finally allowed users to disable those frustrating ‘balloon notifications’ which popped up out of the System Tray. Some of them are worthwhile, though, and you will probably want to see them. In Vista, you could not do that – it was on or off, period. Windows 7 goes much more than one better and allows users to hide icons in the System Tray as well as choose if they want to see the notifications or not for each and every resident. That is one system setting that most have wished for as far back as Windows 95.

Continuing with the System Tray, Windows 7 has actually combined the security settings into one single icon in the System Tray. This is linked to the new Action Center applet as well. This puts the Windows firewall, Windows Defender, Windows Update and the rest into one place where changes can be made and problems addressed using one simple icon in the System Tray.

Windows 7 adds a new feature which document editors, photographers, and others who like to have two windows open side-by-side when working on their computer will probably use every time they turn the thing on – automatic re-sizing. When two windows are open and you pull each one of them to the either side of the screen, they will automatically-resize to each fill half of the screen. That is very cool! Plus, when you pull either one of the open windows away from the edge of the screen, both windows will resize back to their original configuration.

Networking has always caused problems for the home user. Most administrators consider it a rather simple affair and will not really benefit from this feature improvement, but many who don’t study computer science will love it. All Windows 7 computers sharing a network can easily share files, libraries, and connected peripherals with something Microsoft calls HomeGroup. It even allows Windows Media Player to play from libraries from other computers on the network – including iTunes libraries.

An obvious one after using the OS for just a short time is the incredible improvement to the Task Bar previews. First of all, when there are multiple windows open of one application, and the mouse cursor hovers over it on the Task Bar, you get three equal sized preview windows just above the icon. And, if the mouse pointer hovers over one of those preview windows, a full-screen preview is presented – this is called Aero Peek and is completely new in Windows 7. Of course, to get that window open on the screen just click it and there it is.

As can be seen from just this short piece, Windows 7 has several improvements which make it easier, smarter and faster than the seemingly hated Windows Vista. If XP is still on your computer, but you want better compatibility and speed, Windows 7 will be very good to you, maybe even more useful. If you are among the people who have Vista but wish they didn’t, Windows 7 is now available, so go out and get it!

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