Greg Johnston, tech columnist
Last week, Apple released their latest operating system OSX 10.6, Snow Leopard, to consumers both as an upgrade, and on new Macs, so it was natural for me to give a brief overview of its new features. In the last couple of years, Apple has continued to gain market share from Windows, in part due to widespread perceptions that Windows Vista was a bit of a lemon.
Right or wrong, Vista has not enjoyed an enthusiastic reception, so unlike XP that lasted 7 long years in the market, Microsoft is replacing Vista after a little over two years. This fall, large numbers of Windows users can look forward to a new Microsoft OS appearing, in the guise of Windows 7. While not officially available until Oct. 22, it has long been available to beta testers, and should see no further changes before retail release.
Like Snow Leopard, Windows 7 represents more evolution than revolution – while more than an update of Vista, its version number, seen in the system control panel, is v.6.1 (not 7.x), versus Vista being v.6.0 of Windows – a clear sign to software developers that Vista and 7 are more alike than different “under the hood” – not unlike Windows 95, 98, and ME were. The core similarity to Vista should also mean freedom from the software and driver compatibility issues that helped give Vista a black eye in its early going.
That’s not to say there aren’t notable and worthwhile changes in 7, however. In regards to 7 being “Vista, fixed”, tests I have seen indicate that overall, Windows 7 will be faster and more responsive, although boot times remain the same. Extremely long shutdown times should be less common, and sleep and hibernation problems seem to have been dealt with. In general, if a PC could run Vista, it should do as well or slightly better with Windows 7. Memory, CPU, and hard drive use all decrease from a comparable Vista install; a very refreshing change.
Also likely to help Win7 make friends, the intrusiveness of User Account Control is toned-down, and easier to disable fully or partially (at the price of decreased security).
Windows 7 does introduce new features to the user interface, which largely mirrors Vista, but with more muted tones and refinements that many will welcome. A new default Windows Explorer view is called Libraries – which will display files of common types – documents, music, pictures, and video, grouped with files of the same type in a single folder, even though the actual files may be stored in different directories on the hard drive.
For example, music files from a user’s iTunes collection would appear in the Music Library with other music files in shared folders and so on, which should make it easier to access common file types, without having to remember “where did I save that…?” But it is a fairly significant difference in how users will access files.
Jump Lists are part of a revised Taskbar. Right clicking, or a quick, upwards mouse flick on a program’s icon on the Taskbar will bring up a list of common commands for that program, as well as files recently used in the program. Users can also “pin” their own items to a jump menu, including files and folders.
Aero Peek nicely enhances the miniature previews of program windows we already get in Vista, by adding the ability to click the Taskbar program icon for the window you may want. When you then mouse over the previews, all windows except the corresponding one become transparent, making it easier to locate a particular window when many are open.
There are more features, big and small, but all told, Windows 7 looks like a winner, and may entice many XP and Vista users to upgrade their existing PC’s (all new Vista PC’s sold since June 26 already qualify for a free upgrade).
Microsoft appears to be banking on consumer enthusiasm for 7 – literally, as the prices for Windows 7 upgrades and family packs are not nearly as user-friendly as those offered by Apple. Canadian upgrade pricing for Windows 7 Home Premium (the likely choice for most home and small business buyers) is expected to be $130, and the full version $225(!). Professional and Ultimate are $250 and $280, respectively, again as upgrades.
So a Home Premium upgrade for one XP or Vista PC will cost double what Apples charges for a 5-pack Family upgrade to OS 10.6! For the computer-handy, buying an “OEM” Windows 7 from a wholesaler like Memory Express, along with some RAM or a hard drive (hardware purchase is required for OEM sales) should get Win 7 and an upgrade to your PC for less than Microsoft’s retail pricing.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/help
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1184&tag=nl.e539
http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/windows
http://www.macworld.com/article/142458/2009/08/windows7_snowleopard_compare.html
http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/3818/280/
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