Filed under: OS Updates, Features, Windows, Microsoft, Beta
Windows 7 hands on - Impressive at every turn
by Lee Mathews Nov 1st 2008 at 9:00AM
With the Microsoft PDC recently wrapping up, excitement has been building for Windows 7. I wonder, will it be able to live up to the hype? There's only one way to find out: install it and see for myself. This is by no means a complete analysis of the OS, rather my observations from the first few days of experimenting with it.
The Aero interface has been refined, and it's leaner and meaner than before. Visual effects look superb and are silky smooth, even on less powerful hardware like a Celeron M520 laptop with Intel integrated graphics. Even with all the Aero Glass effects enabled, battery life didn't take a substantial hit (I noticed anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes less on a 5.5 hour battery).
Need to move a full screen window? Just click the title bar and start dragging - no need to click restore first, it will automatically resize. The reverse works as well: drag a window to the top edge of your screen, and Windows will maximize it.
Keeping with the visual theme, display settings have returned to the desktop right-click context menu. The personalize option remains, but I was relieved to see that I once again had a quick access to the resolution adjustment.
UAC is much less annoying. Without adjusting the "volume control," the default settings are much more reasonable. It does a much better of job of differentiating between changes made by a user and those requested by a program. I wasn't prompted at all by UAC during my AVG install - it was only when AVG tried to perform its first definition update that Windows chimed in.
Wireless connections have been simplified, and it's evident as soon as you finish the install. Before I'd even seen my desktop, the Windows 7 installer detected 6 available access points (2 more than Windows XP) and connected me with two fewer mouse clicks. The system tray icon now provides a full list of APs with a single click, and you can right click any entry to connect to it - a more elegant solution than that of Windows XP or Vista.
Most of our old favorites have had a makeover, and they look pretty damn good. Some of the earliest clues we had about Windows 7 were images of Paint and Calc. Well, Wordpad has been updated as well and now features the much talked about Ribbon Interface. Don't worry, purists: Notepad has been preserved in all its minimalistic glory..
Other small but useful additions abound, like sticky notes. Notes can be posted around your desktop and then gathered to a virtual corkboard - release them to their original locations with a single click. Create a new note and it's automatically saved. Should you close the board by accident, it'll remember the position of all your stickies when you relaunch.
The Explorer interface has also gotten some attention. You can now create Media Player-like libraries in Explorer and add any folder - local or networked - to them. Your libraries will appear in all dialogs where files and folders are displayed, which makes them a great way to quickly access locations you use frequently (no matter where they reside).
Masters of command prompt kung fu will be all over the new Powershell V2 - The New York Times recently touted Powershell faetures as 3 of the 10 best Windows 7 features for IT pros. It's an amazing tool for administrators, programmers, and tweakers. Apart from adding tons of new scripting features, a graphical interface has been introduced making script creation even easier. For more information about what it does, check the team blog at MSDN.
Coupled with the new troubleshooting platform (look for details on this in an upcoming post), Windows 7 promises to provide major improvements in terms of administration and support.
One feature I didn't get to play with and very much wanted to was Windows 7's sensor and location awareness platform. Example: Windows 7 can monitor ambient light sensors and automatically adjust your screen's brightness. With support for GPS technology, you can imagine the possibilities. How about switching default printers or automatically disabling access to shared files based on your triangulated location?
After getting my first taste, I understand what the excitement is about. It's safe to say that Windows 7 will receive a much warmer welcome than Vista did. There's a long way to go from Beta to launch, and we'll be keeping you updated with all the latest news.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
chrisaroz said 10:26AM on 11-01-2008
Is there anyway for regular folks like us to get our hands on it yet?
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ntw1103 said 10:43AM on 11-01-2008
"The reverse works as well: drag a window to the top edge of your screen, and Windows will maximize it." I really hope you can disable that, as it would drive me crazy.
"quick access to the resolution adjustment." Yay!!! (that was probably one of the things I hated most of vista)
As for the networking, this was something that worked fine on vista, but the interface for it was trashed. If they fixed it, that would be awesome. but while I used vista, I just used the ThinkVantage Access Connections. (for my thinkpad computer) That worked as an alternative to the default wireless tools.
Powershell v2 sounds interesting, of course a lot of the improvements do...
Thanks for the Head's up.
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Generic said 11:23AM on 11-01-2008
All the talk about Win7 being faster than Vista on the same hardware is seriously messing with my mind. Call me crazy but I want to upgrade as soon as I can. Is that the new version of Windows in the store...
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OneHump said 11:48AM on 11-01-2008
Being excited about a Windows 7 is like being excited about getting to buy a new car after suffering with a lemon for two and a half years. Fortunately, the law protects us from lemons. In the case of Vista, Microsoft will make billions more on the backs of the victims who left the relative sanity of XP. Microsoft should offer a $50 upgrade for Windows 7 for Vista users.
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Brie said 11:39PM on 1-01-2009
I think it should be free to Vista users and $50 for XP users, free all around would be sweeeeeeeeeeetest!
Dave said 12:25PM on 11-01-2008
A few minor things I really care about:
1. When exploring a drive or menu system, did they bring back the UP ARROW, that allows you to quickly move one directory up? In Vista there was the back arrow, but that didn't take you up to the parent directory unless that is where you came from, and the stupid bread crumbs... I love that up arrow and don't want to live without it.
2. Are windows update and defrag both behind the scenes nonsense still? Or do they come with XP style progress bars so you can have some sense of an idea of what is going on.
3. Do I still have to click through 3 windows of dumbed down silliness to get to important network and computing settings? Like that aggravating network diagram of the PC with a line to the router with a line to the internet?
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ben said 1:20AM on 11-02-2008
The up arrow isn't needed. Just click on the folder (breadcrumb) you want to go to in the location bar...you can go up as many levels as you like in one click. The up arrow keyboard shortcut is also still there, I believe, but it's been a while since I've used Windows...
Dave said 10:34AM on 11-02-2008
Technically the up arrow wasn't needed in XP either. You could pull down the full path address in the address bar and go up as far as you wanted there too... but that UP ARROW was fast, convenient and easy to use.
Breadcrumbs are not a replacement for it - and in my opinion are clumsy and awkward. I would turn off breadcrumbs if I could. This falls under the 'wasn't broke, shouldn't have been fixed' category for me.
In fact I can't think of a single thing, not one single thing, in the Vista interface and menu systems that I prefer over XP. I essentially would like to have the XP interface skinned onto Vista. That is something I would even pay extra for, and I am sure I am not alone... business idea for someone.
Jon said 11:49AM on 11-03-2008
I also like the up button and missed it when I first moved to Vista. But then I learned that the keyboard shortcut is Alt+Up arrow. (You can also use Alt+Left arrow to go back.) So it's very easy to go up (or back) at any time, even though there's only a button for back. Since figuring that out I haven't missed the up button at all. Unfortunately, that doesn't help if you're not a keyboard shortcut kind of person, but it's worked very well for me. Even my wife uses it and she's not that into computers. Anyway, hope that helps.
Scott said 7:36PM on 12-06-2008
"When exploring a drive or menu system, did they bring back the UP ARROW, that allows you to quickly move one directory up? In Vista there was the back arrow, but that didn't take you up to the parent directory unless that is where you came from, and the stupid bread crumbs... I love that up arrow and don't want to live without it."
That's what the breadcrumbs are for. Much faster than anything prior to Vista.
NonprofitTech said 11:05PM on 12-06-2008
Let's race... I can guarantee you I can get 2 folder levels UP faster using the old UP ARROW than you can using breadcrumbs.
It was something that didnt need to be removed. If breadcrumbs were a feature some people felt comfortable with why did it mean removing the UP ARROW?
David Douglass said 12:50PM on 11-01-2008
Sorry I gave you the wrong url, here's the correct one,
http://www.windowsvienna.com/
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mvp said 1:32PM on 11-01-2008
Don't worry, purists: Notepad has been preserved in all its minimalistic glory.
HOORAY!!! That's the only line that stood out to me in the entire article.
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Gardner Campbell said 2:26PM on 11-01-2008
Vista grew on me after SP1, but I still liked XP for lean & mean. Windows 7 sounds like much more than Vista Done Right, and that's got me excited.
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Backlin said 4:41PM on 11-01-2008
I almost jumped out of my chair when I saw improvements to UAC. Definitely needed, much appreciated (if they work and function as they say they do).
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Gus said 5:08PM on 11-01-2008
This should be a free upgrade for V. Ultimate owners, like myself. I am not, however, one of the complainers. Microsoft has down a superb job of leading the OS race towards perfection. I'm a little confused over why they would deliver an OS that is mainly designed for software players (V.U.), and has little value for business or other everyday lean purposes.
I run V.U. for all my everyday uses at home 24/7. It's never turned off and it handles all my needs with symmetry, grace and maximum power. I run multimedia and home business apps simultaneously on a high end system under Vista Ultimate and I have come to understand that this OS requires constant maintenance and attention but I am a person who likes to tinker with software, upgrades, experimental drivers etc.
The result of my attention is a visually stunning and unique system that is pushing the limits in all software arena's but gets the job done with extreme class.
You whiners are forcing Microsoft to develop a leaner software system but this evolutionary process should result in an OS that integrates the beauty of V.U. and the lean simplicity of XP.
I'm always amazed at the talents of Microsoft's engineers and I am enjoying this whole process very much.
I'm sure Windows 7 will be on my most wanted list as soon as it graduates the RC stages and I can only hope Redmond makes it easily integrable for us loyal software players.
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Eric said 8:42PM on 11-01-2008
I have been an avid MS supporter for years and years. One week ago I took as I needed a new laptop I took my chance on the new MacBook Pro with OS X 10.5. Looking at these screen shots make my tummy twitch.. I do not think I will ever again go back to the dreadful MS OS...having had Vista from its early Beta days...I have had enough.Good luck enjoy the ride without me and my company
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asurroca said 12:13AM on 11-02-2008
Pfft, I call BS. An "avid MS supporter" would never dump a couple grand on a MacBook Pro and then dump on the next Windows OS.
Greg said 4:37AM on 1-03-2009
To add to what asurroca said,
PC's are far more flexible than Mac's. If you really like the look of OS X 10.5 then just get a pirated image of it and install it, it works just fine on a PC. Dual booting is even better. Also, "Avid"? If you were avid you would understand that Windows is far more flexible than Mac's are if you really know how to use it. There are much more possibilities to be explored with PC's than Mac's will ever support. (For now at least).
Jeremy Wright said 8:42PM on 11-01-2008
I'm another very content Vista user (but then I was a pre-Alpha user for Vista and Office, so it all seems so much better than it was in those days!), but these changes all make me happy. Looking forward to sidegrading :)
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