Windows 7 is an operating system for personal and business computers, succeeding Vista and considered an incremental upgrade. It has received positive reviews for being faster and making better use of system resources. Programs designed for Vista are fully compatible with Windows 7, and some changes have been made to the graphical user interface. Some programs are no longer bundled with Windows 7 but can be downloaded from the Microsoft site. The move from Vista to Windows 7 is easy to adjust to, but Windows 7 may not provide salvation for devices or programs that Vista can’t run.
Microsoft® Windows 7® is an operating system for personal and business computers, including desktops and laptops. During its development, Windows 7 was codenamed Blackhorn and Vienna. An unofficial beta version of Windows 7 was leaked onto the Internet in late December 2008, while Microsoft released the official beta version in January 2009. Windows 7 succeeds the Vista® operating system and is considered an incremental upgrade to Vista.
Windows 7 beta reviews have been fairly uniform in rating. Simply put, Windows 7 is reportedly a faster version of Vista. In some cases, the benchmarks of this operating system surpass Vista and XP®, achieving high scores in areas such as faster startup and shutdown times and faster access in working with files and documents. In other key areas, including general office tasks and video editing, XP remains faster.
The Vista operating system has received widespread criticism for being a slow operating system consuming a large amount of system resources with higher minimum hardware requirements than previous Windows systems. In a word, critics claimed that Vista was inefficient. While Windows 7 has the same minimum requirements as Vista, it seems to make better use of them.
Because Windows 7 is an incremental upgrade from Vista, drivers and programs made for Vista are fully compatible with Windows 7, according to Microsoft. This should ease the transition from Vista to Windows 7 for those who took the plunge with Vista. Programs designed to run on Vista will run on Windows 7, so upgrading to Windows 7 should be a painless process, preserving your programs and preferences.
Although the Vitreous Aero graphical user interface (GUI) persists in Windows 7, some changes have been made as expected. The Shutdown button is a handy, simple text button, rather than the icons that appeared in Vista, and Security Center is called Action Center in Windows 7. The new Action Center combines security and maintenance features for easier access to functions such as system restore and backup management. Windows 7 also adds HomeGroups, a feature that makes it easy to set up a secure home network for sharing files and resources without putting your computer at risk from outside intruders.
Some programs are no longer bundled with Windows 7, but can be downloaded from the Microsoft site. These include Microsoft Movie Maker, Photo Gallery, Windows Calendar and Windows Mail. The Windows Sidebar gadget also disappeared from Windows 7, replaced by the Desktop Gadget.
Anyone familiar with Vista will likely find the move to Windows 7 easy to adjust to and the improved performance a boon. If, however, Vista can’t run a device or program necessary for your computer environment, Windows 7 probably won’t provide salvation.
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