It’s that time again. Has it been that long? Windows Vista has been Microsoft’s most public, most controversial yet most important release in the Company’s history. Consumer reception of the operating system released world-wide in January of 2007 was one of hesitance, let’s wait and see, and for those who adopted early, unforgiving. A lot of things with Windows Vista were not coordinated well, from communication, its system requirements, Industry Partnership and what value does it really offer to a Windows XP user which has dominated the market for nearly 7 years. The Company’s (OEMs) who were supposed to represent Windows Vista on their systems did so poorly initially. A lot of debate has started over this, which includes Microsoft’s alleged deal with Intel to support a particular integrated graphics chipset, the Windows Vista Capable branding and the perception that Vista was never ready out the gate. I would describe myself as being at the centre of most of these issues.
For one, OEMs did a bad job of communicating Vista by sending systems out of their factories without properly testing real world scenario’s of what the average consumer will be doing with such a system leaving them with just the bare minimum. Second, Microsoft never gave clear understanding of what it really takes to run the OS acceptably. The coordination was pretty much a disaster in the early months of its release. Third, competitors such as Apple Inc. took the chance and ran with this hit ‘em when their down strategy and over the past couple of years defined Microsoft and Windows into a Company that cannot meet consumer expectations. Although it was mostly inaccurate when Vista was setup on systems that should have been released in January 2007, the damage in some ways seems to have already been done; regardless the OS has garnered over 180 million strong support on systems worldwide. The first Service Pack was released in 2008 improving general performance and common task like file copy/move and boot time and Microsoft is expected to release the second Service Pack some time in 2009. There is still this thing of perception though, but Microsoft known to not rest on their laurels, used this experience as a good dose of ‘we need to do extremely better’.
And so it is with this new venture called Windows 7 we arrive at the opportunity to fix the past and right the future. Company CEO Steve Ballmer has described the release of Windows 7, as ‘a better Vista’. Interestingly enough, a lot of the folks who were behind the Windows Vista Project are no longer with Microsoft, most notable are Jim Allchin, Brian Valentine and William H. Gates (former Chief Software Architect and Chairman of the Board). Familiar faces from different territories in the Microsoft platform now lead the development of Vista’s successor; some of them include Steven Sinofsky, Joe DeVaan and Julie Larson Green VP of Program Management for the Windows Experience (of Microsoft Office Fluent fame). To understand Windows 7, one needs to understand the goals behind the Project. In early August of 2008, an online journal ‘The Engineering 7’ blog was started by Steven Sinofsky and Joe DeVaan to start early communication with developers, enthusiast and end users around the next release. The site has primarily focused on reasons for what was done in Vista with little substance on how Windows 7 would improve the experience. So, this is where we at ActiveWin.com come in, we are here to give a personal, human hands on experience with this early glimpse of Windows 7 and what it means to you, me and the Windows platform in general. We do understand this is an early preview which is not even representative of BETA 1 which should be arriving sometime soon. So, if we do assume things, please forgive us.
When is Microsoft going to deliver Windows 7 to consumers? Microsoft has scoped this release to three years after Windows Vista’s general availability, which would put it somewhere around late 2009 or early 2010. This would suggest a short testing cycle and early availability to OEMs, it’s definitely sounding like a well oiled developer team. Windows 7 builds on the foundation of Windows Vista/Server 2008 SP1, the NT Kernel version remains at 6.x to maintain compatibility with certain applications and device drivers that are hard coded to check for this specific numeral. Microsoft has promised to make Windows 7 available in both 32 and 64 bit platforms.
The name, Microsoft in the past has been notorious for marketing a brand with a certain flare. During prior Windows development stages a code name would be used, e.g. Chicago, Memphis, Whistler or Longhorn. With 7 Microsoft chose to eliminate this approach and has described the development as ‘the Windows 7 Project’. Windows 7 did have code names though, Blackcomb and Vienna. The history of the OS goes back as far as the year 2000, where 7 (Blackcomb at the time) would be a major release following Vista (Longhorn at the time). The scope of the project has changed considerably since then. Microsoft chose 7 to make the branding simpler in the eyes of consumers. Although some would dispute how Microsoft reached the number 7 or even if Windows isn’t already past that number considering the amount of versions over the years. ZDNET journalist, Ed Bott best describes the versioning as based on Microsoft’s NT line of operating systems: NT 3.1 (1), NT 3.5 (2), NT 4.0 (3), 2000 or NT 5.0 (4), XP or NT 5.1 (5), Vista or NT 6.0 and we arrive at the magical number Windows 7 (NT 6.1).
Key Goals:
Under-promise and over deliver
Reduce Compatibility problems and bring investments in Vista forward
Reduce disk foot print and memory foot print
Improve performance
Secure, predictable
Make the Windows and PC Experience easier
Exceptional hardware and software support
Bring future releases to market faster
Personalized experience that defines you
Superior mobility through reliable performance, power management
All of those goals seem very reasonable; at the same time achievable and the Windows Team have been working on them since the release of Vista. In some ways, it’s back to basics for Microsoft, delivering on the core values of Windows, giving the user what they want and enabling choice through Microsoft platforms such as Windows Live. Some of the changes in Windows 7 will seem radical to users who have come to expect Microsoft to incorporate everything in the Windows OS except the proverbial kitchen sink. Microsoft has realized this is actually holding back innovation, not necessarily performance.
Coming directly from Windows Vista, the most notable thing about Windows 7 is how strikingly similar both are from face value. A lot seems almost untouched, but there is more to it than it seems. The interface has been extremely cleaned up to give Windows a less cluttered appearance. Areas such as the Desktop and Taskbar have received major improvements. The Start Menu and Windows Explorer have also received major enhancements. Familiar applications have assumed new appearances and new tools and old ones have been improved to give users a better understanding of their personal computer. It seems that Microsoft is going full steam ahead with the previous SKU strategy for Windows 7. During setup, I chose not to install with the product key and was presented a selection of Windows 7 editions that are familiar to Vista users. It’s not known what key differentiators Microsoft will be making across the board this time around, but with a lot of the multimedia applications now available through Windows Live and to Windows Vista users and even XP users, its going be a tough sell in my opinion. Since we are on the topic of Editions, Windows Anytime Upgrade is still around but with a few upgrade process improvements. In Windows 7, Windows Anytime Upgrade enables you to quickly and easily upgrade from one edition to another in about 10 minutes—without requiring physical media. All the software required to upgrade already resides on your PC, and can be “unlocked” by purchasing a software key from Microsoft or a retailer. You won’t have to download any software, and your existing customizations—including the exact look and feel of your desktop—will be retained. If you upgrade online, you won’t even need to type in an upgrade key.
The requirements for a successful installation include a 1 GHz Intel Pentium III or compatible processor or better, 1 GB or more RAM, 10 GBs free disk space, an SVGA Plug and Play monitor, keyboard, mouse, a DVD Drive, network adapter. My setup includes a Desktop machine Dell Dimension 8300 (March 2004), 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4, 2.6 GBs of RAM and an nVidia Geforce 6200 512 MBs of vRAM AGP. My next system, an ACER notebook (late 2006) includes a 2.0 GHz AMD Turion x2, 2 GBs of RAM and an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256 MBs of vRAM.
At first glance, Windows 7 looks like Vista, but with a lot of polish, the new theme is called Scenic. Parts of the interface such as the Start menu panel, features a shinier glossy look and feel. There is more emphasis on the integrated Search box with blue highlight around it. Open Explorer and you will notice that the Command bar has been changed considerably, featuring a similar appearance to Windows Live applications, the toolbar buttons are now text based with a silverfish bluish colour scheme. Microsoft is not aiming to renovate the entire experience, just make improvements that are more welcoming, the code in itself, looks almost complete and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Windows Team has this out much earlier than promised.
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For one, OEMs did a bad job of communicating Vista by sending systems out of their factories without properly testing real world scenario’s of what the average consumer will be doing with such a system leaving them with just the bare minimum. Second, Microsoft never gave clear understanding of what it really takes to run the OS acceptably. The coordination was pretty much a disaster in the early months of its release. Third, competitors such as Apple Inc. took the chance and ran with this hit ‘em when their down strategy and over the past couple of years defined Microsoft and Windows into a Company that cannot meet consumer expectations. Although it was mostly inaccurate when Vista was setup on systems that should have been released in January 2007, the damage in some ways seems to have already been done; regardless the OS has garnered over 180 million strong support on systems worldwide. The first Service Pack was released in 2008 improving general performance and common task like file copy/move and boot time and Microsoft is expected to release the second Service Pack some time in 2009. There is still this thing of perception though, but Microsoft known to not rest on their laurels, used this experience as a good dose of ‘we need to do extremely better’.
And so it is with this new venture called Windows 7 we arrive at the opportunity to fix the past and right the future. Company CEO Steve Ballmer has described the release of Windows 7, as ‘a better Vista’. Interestingly enough, a lot of the folks who were behind the Windows Vista Project are no longer with Microsoft, most notable are Jim Allchin, Brian Valentine and William H. Gates (former Chief Software Architect and Chairman of the Board). Familiar faces from different territories in the Microsoft platform now lead the development of Vista’s successor; some of them include Steven Sinofsky, Joe DeVaan and Julie Larson Green VP of Program Management for the Windows Experience (of Microsoft Office Fluent fame). To understand Windows 7, one needs to understand the goals behind the Project. In early August of 2008, an online journal ‘The Engineering 7’ blog was started by Steven Sinofsky and Joe DeVaan to start early communication with developers, enthusiast and end users around the next release. The site has primarily focused on reasons for what was done in Vista with little substance on how Windows 7 would improve the experience. So, this is where we at ActiveWin.com come in, we are here to give a personal, human hands on experience with this early glimpse of Windows 7 and what it means to you, me and the Windows platform in general. We do understand this is an early preview which is not even representative of BETA 1 which should be arriving sometime soon. So, if we do assume things, please forgive us.
When is Microsoft going to deliver Windows 7 to consumers? Microsoft has scoped this release to three years after Windows Vista’s general availability, which would put it somewhere around late 2009 or early 2010. This would suggest a short testing cycle and early availability to OEMs, it’s definitely sounding like a well oiled developer team. Windows 7 builds on the foundation of Windows Vista/Server 2008 SP1, the NT Kernel version remains at 6.x to maintain compatibility with certain applications and device drivers that are hard coded to check for this specific numeral. Microsoft has promised to make Windows 7 available in both 32 and 64 bit platforms.
The name, Microsoft in the past has been notorious for marketing a brand with a certain flare. During prior Windows development stages a code name would be used, e.g. Chicago, Memphis, Whistler or Longhorn. With 7 Microsoft chose to eliminate this approach and has described the development as ‘the Windows 7 Project’. Windows 7 did have code names though, Blackcomb and Vienna. The history of the OS goes back as far as the year 2000, where 7 (Blackcomb at the time) would be a major release following Vista (Longhorn at the time). The scope of the project has changed considerably since then. Microsoft chose 7 to make the branding simpler in the eyes of consumers. Although some would dispute how Microsoft reached the number 7 or even if Windows isn’t already past that number considering the amount of versions over the years. ZDNET journalist, Ed Bott best describes the versioning as based on Microsoft’s NT line of operating systems: NT 3.1 (1), NT 3.5 (2), NT 4.0 (3), 2000 or NT 5.0 (4), XP or NT 5.1 (5), Vista or NT 6.0 and we arrive at the magical number Windows 7 (NT 6.1).
Key Goals:
Under-promise and over deliver
Reduce Compatibility problems and bring investments in Vista forward
Reduce disk foot print and memory foot print
Improve performance
Secure, predictable
Make the Windows and PC Experience easier
Exceptional hardware and software support
Bring future releases to market faster
Personalized experience that defines you
Superior mobility through reliable performance, power management
All of those goals seem very reasonable; at the same time achievable and the Windows Team have been working on them since the release of Vista. In some ways, it’s back to basics for Microsoft, delivering on the core values of Windows, giving the user what they want and enabling choice through Microsoft platforms such as Windows Live. Some of the changes in Windows 7 will seem radical to users who have come to expect Microsoft to incorporate everything in the Windows OS except the proverbial kitchen sink. Microsoft has realized this is actually holding back innovation, not necessarily performance.
Coming directly from Windows Vista, the most notable thing about Windows 7 is how strikingly similar both are from face value. A lot seems almost untouched, but there is more to it than it seems. The interface has been extremely cleaned up to give Windows a less cluttered appearance. Areas such as the Desktop and Taskbar have received major improvements. The Start Menu and Windows Explorer have also received major enhancements. Familiar applications have assumed new appearances and new tools and old ones have been improved to give users a better understanding of their personal computer. It seems that Microsoft is going full steam ahead with the previous SKU strategy for Windows 7. During setup, I chose not to install with the product key and was presented a selection of Windows 7 editions that are familiar to Vista users. It’s not known what key differentiators Microsoft will be making across the board this time around, but with a lot of the multimedia applications now available through Windows Live and to Windows Vista users and even XP users, its going be a tough sell in my opinion. Since we are on the topic of Editions, Windows Anytime Upgrade is still around but with a few upgrade process improvements. In Windows 7, Windows Anytime Upgrade enables you to quickly and easily upgrade from one edition to another in about 10 minutes—without requiring physical media. All the software required to upgrade already resides on your PC, and can be “unlocked” by purchasing a software key from Microsoft or a retailer. You won’t have to download any software, and your existing customizations—including the exact look and feel of your desktop—will be retained. If you upgrade online, you won’t even need to type in an upgrade key.
The requirements for a successful installation include a 1 GHz Intel Pentium III or compatible processor or better, 1 GB or more RAM, 10 GBs free disk space, an SVGA Plug and Play monitor, keyboard, mouse, a DVD Drive, network adapter. My setup includes a Desktop machine Dell Dimension 8300 (March 2004), 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4, 2.6 GBs of RAM and an nVidia Geforce 6200 512 MBs of vRAM AGP. My next system, an ACER notebook (late 2006) includes a 2.0 GHz AMD Turion x2, 2 GBs of RAM and an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256 MBs of vRAM.
At first glance, Windows 7 looks like Vista, but with a lot of polish, the new theme is called Scenic. Parts of the interface such as the Start menu panel, features a shinier glossy look and feel. There is more emphasis on the integrated Search box with blue highlight around it. Open Explorer and you will notice that the Command bar has been changed considerably, featuring a similar appearance to Windows Live applications, the toolbar buttons are now text based with a silverfish bluish colour scheme. Microsoft is not aiming to renovate the entire experience, just make improvements that are more welcoming, the code in itself, looks almost complete and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Windows Team has this out much earlier than promised.
--more--
*Active Network, ActiveWin.com
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