Windows 7 - Stability FTW

Well, those of you who avidly follow technology news sites, which if you're tech minded enough to have stumbled upon this obscure blog you probably are, then you'll know that up until tomorrow, you can download Microsoft's new incarnation of it's operating system - Windows 7

Obviously, bear in mind that this is newly released and is NOT supposed to be a totally accurate idea of how 7 will appear, I mean the first beta version did look suspiciously like Vista, hmm....

Forgetting the pundits who stated that 7 would just be, essentially, a Vista service pack, if anything that new OS looks to be an OSX service pack, such is the appearance of the thing, the "taskbar" it now sports looks suspiciously like the dock in apple releases.

Overall, it's a very good OS, clearly Windows wanted to show it off because they've made it so damn easy to install. I was able to get it running on my first attempt and that's quite impressive given that I've never configured a dual-boot before. It boots up and shuts down in about half the time as Vista and in overall use has noticably fewer bugs. The stupid Google sidebar gadgets now come optionally, as in they don't appear on startup though you can start them if you're really generous enough to waste the processing power. Overall, it IS very similar to Vista, but it's the little things that make it generally easier to use and look at. It has clear undertones of an OS perfect for a tablet or touchscreen machine, which (like netbooks) I suspect we'll see a boom in over the coming months.

It is by no means perfect, it has some bugs, which I expect MS will work out before release, and, though I have heard about people switching over entirely, the lack of compatible software and the fact that the beta will cut out in August means that I'm not switching over completely yet. Though it has stayed on my machine a lot longer than I expected I would keep it.

Windows 7 is slated for release later this year, though MS have avoided giving an actual date (or even an off-hand guess) because they don't want to back themselves into a corner like they did a few years ago. At the moment, rumours of how many versions will come out have been mixed, some saying a simple two whilst some lamenting another six variations.

When Vista came out, I ignored it, and I didn't even look at Vista until I bought my new laptop a year ago, but this release is different, and it's ability to be different without being radically changed will prove useful to those who want to instantly upgrade......which I suspect I will.