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Windows 7 Beta 1 released to the WorldMicrosoft has taken the unusual step of globally releasing the latest Beta of its newest Windows operating system, due for release in the second half of this year.Commercial Manager Seb Matthews reviews the Windows 7 launch With the sting of Windows Vista's false dawn still in the minds of many, will Windows 7 (yes, it really is called just "7") be better, worse or just more of the same? It has to be said that over the last few years, Microsoft has been doing a much better job of actually listening to its clients and partners in relation to new product development. The historical approach of relying on Cherokee style "ear to the ground" methods of developing and releasing products that are doing something that the competition doesn't, rather than doing something the client wants as well, has seen them loose ground in the innovation race to the likes of Apple, Adobe and, (dare I say it?), Google. After a week of kicking the Beta 1 release around, I have only one word worthy of use in the next sentence - Windows 7 is impressive. I, for one, have always felt cheated with Windows Vista (and to a lesser extent Windows XP) that the "faster boot time", "better resource/error handling" and "get more out of your hardware" claims have never stacked up. Performance has always been compromised. Even hugely specified hardware never seems to stretch its legs as the fingers of Windows tighten their grip around your hardware's throat. Windows 7 Beta 1 positively flies - it starts quickly, it stops quickly, it allows me to work quickly. Assuming that the Beta build is doing all sorts of debug / reporting in the background, its performance is truly mind-boggling. Everyday tasks are quicker, starting applications is quicker, surfing the web is quicker and updating my FaceBook status is - you've guessed it - quicker. Windows 7 is definitely not an evolution of the Vista platform, as almost everything under the hood has changed and the user interface is new, yet strangely familiar. I particularly like the new start button / taskbar, Apple have built their recent success on intuitive user interface design, and the UI design of Windows 7 shows that Microsoft has learnt some valuable lessons from its peers and is putting them into practice. As a Beta, possibly the single most impressive part of Windows 7 so far is the almost amazing fact that I have had only one issue with hardware, drivers or software over the last week of testing. I have installed Photoshop, Cubase (a music production suite) and several games, with all performing flawlessly. The only snag has been control of a (rather obscure) piece of audio production hardware which, by the way, is still unsupported in Windows Vista - so I guess an unfair challenge for Windows 7. I only have one grave concern about Windows 7 - what will we end up calling it? Nobody says "Windows Vista" or "Windows XP", it's "Vista" or "XP". Do Microsoft really expect us to call it "Windows 7", or will we be talking to each other about our latest experience with "7"? Star Trek fans, beware. Windows 7 could be the start of a revolution at Microsoft. If this first Beta is anything to go by, Windows 7 should be the beginning of a new generation of great software coming out of the Redmond based giant. If you would like to know more about new Microsoft products or technologies, or how Ballard Chalmers can help you, please contact Andrew Chalmers on andrew.chalmers@ballardchalmers.com or call 01342 410223. Related links
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