With the release of Windows 7, the latest edition of Windows, Microsoft has not radically reinvented their OS. The taskbar still exists, Microsoft Paint still exists, as well as most features included in previous versions of Windows. Overall Windows 7 is more user-friendly. After a few months of using it, I’ve identified a few highlights and features that stand out and give users a better experience.

The Good

Windows Aero

Aiming to make windows a more “cool” OS, Microsoft added a set of visual effects known as Windows Aero. The visuals effects first introduced in Windows Vista give the user additional functionality that is also aesthetically pleasing.

By hovering over a program on the taskbar, the user is able to preview the contents of that program.

When pressing the Windows key and the Tab key at the same time, Windows will layout all running programs in a diagonal pattern across the screen and let you switch from one running program to another.

A user can also accomplish the same thing by pressing the Alt key and the Tab key at the same time.

Windows XP Mode

One of the biggest headaches users face when upgrading to a new operating system is the fear their new programs will not work.

With the Windows XP mode the user is able to run older software that was compatible with XP.

Networking

Networking is much more streamlined. By clicking on the wireless indicator on the taskbar, the user is able to view all available wired and wireless networks.

Gadgets

Refusing to call them widgets, Microsoft has termed the mini-programs that deliver personalized content to your desktop “Gadgets.” The Gadgets are available on a convenient invisible sidebar. Many more Gadgets are available from their Web site.

Boot up time

My system, a Lenovo X200 tablet running Windows 7, which has about 40% of its 100 GB hard drive free, 4 GBs of memory, and a 2.13 GHz processor, takes about 50 seconds to boot. With XP it took over a minute. Not a considerable improvement, but the faster we can get to Twitter, the better.

Touch screen support

Computers with multi-touch screen capabilities can take advantage of the touch-ready programs in Windows 7. A pretty cool example of this is being able to paint with your fingers in Microsoft Paint.

The Bad

Random Crashes

Unfortunately, just like previous versions of Windows, programs freeze and crash for no apparent reason. As an Electrical Engineering student, I understand every complex system is bound to have problems, so I will give the developers at Microsoft some leeway. Nevertheless, it would be nice if the number of programs that crash could be reduced.

Solution Dialog Box

One annoying feature of the Windows 7 is a dialog box that pops up when a program crashes or freezes. Not once has this dialog box fixed a frozen program or prevented it from crashing on my laptop.

Windows Media Player

When the user opens a video with Windows Media Player, it switches from the main program window to a separate window with just the video and the video controls. This could get a little annoying if you want to change from scene to scene in a movie.

Larger Taskbar

This might be a petty complaint, but the larger taskbar does take up more screen area than it did in Windows XP; it is about 40 pixels high in Windows 7. By choosing the display small icons option the user can reduce the size of the task to 30 pixels high.

Final Verdict

Overall, Windows 7 is not too bad.

Chances are if you buy a new PC, it will come with Windows 7.

However, Microsoft has decided to extend the availability of Windows XP until at least 2011, so there is always the option of downgrading.

It is important to note there are four versions of Windows 7 available: Starter (only available on netbooks in the United States), Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.

Some features, such as Windows XP mode, are not available in the Starter and Home Premium editions.

Before you go out and buy Windows 7, make sure your PC can handle it.

Here are the minimum requirements as specified by Microsoft:

1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)

16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver