Windows 7 Arrives
Microsoft’s  highly anticipated operating system successor to Windows Vista is finally hitting the shelves at your nearby software distribution outlets as Microsoft announced general availability of Windows 7 on Thursday, October 22, 2009!  It is in high hopes that the impact of this new operating platform will finally convince people to migrate from their existing Windows XP installations and move to the more efficient and redesigned, Windows 7 platform.
Of the 1.2 billion computers in the world today only 20% of those machines are currently running an edition of Microsoft Windows Vista, 70% run an edition of Microsoft Windows XP or earlier, and 10% run some variation of either Linux, Unix or Apple OS X.  With so many systems still running Windows XP, Microsoft found it incredibly difficult to make the sell of Windows Vista from its inception in November of 2006 – present, and with all of its negative reviews,  it is in hopes that Windows 7 will break that mold by bringing something new and more efficient to the table. It hasn’t been easy for the poor Windows 7 predecessor, Windows Vista,  to excel, especially when met with such fierce aggression from competitors like Apple. Attacking new features of the operating system that were unclear to users, such as User Account Control (UAC)  and the various editions that the new operating system had brought forth was just the starting point for some analysts to argue that the system was not a safe investment. In fact I can even quote some colleagues comparing their experiences with Windows Vista to dealing with hang nails!
To understand Windows 7 and the excitement that is building around it, some understanding of Windows Vista is necessary. First off, Windows Vista was completely redesigned from the ground up (and rewritten twice). It was the first operating system to ever carry over its code-base to its big brother, Windows Server 2008, counterpart which was released almost a year and a half after the initial release of Windows Vista!  This was not a easy undertaking and there was a lot of room for improvement. You can actually see that they carry the same code-base when you install a clean copy of Windows Server 2008. After installing Windows Server 2008, it will read that the software is actually running Service Pack 1. When Microsoft recently released Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista, it also released the same Service Pack for Windows Server 2008. Don’t believe me? See for yourself. So I know what your asking yourself, what does that mean to me?  It means that the system has been maturing since its original release back in 2006. It means that the code is stable enough to run as a server. It tells me that Microsoft is taking security and stability seriously with each new operating system release that comes along.
You will always have the negative opinions of Windows Vista, such as one found here:
 “Vista was Microsoft’s biggest mistake since Windows Me–and no, I won’t let it go. Windows Me was bad. Really bad. Windows Vista is also very, very bad. It’s slow, it’s clunky, it’s often unresponsive and it is not a pleasure to use. Every computer, except one, I have (downgraded) to Windows XP from Vista every time I see it on a computer that I have any control or say so over. Being Not Vista is a very compelling reason to switch. I think Microsoft owes Vista owners a huge discount or a free copy of Windows 7 and an apology for Windows Vista but that’s just me” – Ken Hess
 I would agree with this opinion if Windows Vista were truly comparable to Windows ME, however, ME did not have a server counterpart. Windows ME was designed for only one target audience, the consumer. Windows Vista is definitely not a one trick pony only appealing to a specific crowd. All that aside, Windows Vista was not a mistake in my honest and humble opinion. So what made Windows Vista so hated by so many you may ask? In two words; the media. Apple decimated Windows Vista with its TV ads and light hearted humor, and analysts didn’t help much either. All in all, I feel that ultimately computer manufacturers were just not ready for Windows Vista. To me, that explains why applications ran slow, and why the system seemed clunky at times, as the computer manufacturers such as Dell and HP were not equipped to deal with many of the situations that this newly written system had to address.
However, that is all in the past. Microsoft has evolved from the system they had built and released 3 years ago next month. No new rewriting of the system has occurred during Windows 7′s development, or at least not from the ground up like Microsoft had done twice over for Windows Vista. In fact, Windows 7 is nothing more than an evolved form of Windows Vista with a set of new features, as well as massive performance, speed, and security enhancements across the board. As misleeding as the name may be, Windows 7 isn’t really version 7.0 at all. Windows Vista was branded as Windows version 6.0, and Windows 7 is branded as version 6.1. Just as Windows Vista shares its code-base with Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 shares its code-base with its server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2 (Release 2) except this time around, Windows Server 2008 R2 shares its general availability release date with Windows 7. I haven’t looked very hard, but I suspect that somewhere you could walk into a store and ask to purchase a full packaged product (FPP) release of Windows Server 2008 R2, but it is far more likely to see copies of Windows 7 than that of Windows Server 2008 R2.
In a future post I will post my thoughts on Windows 7 in more depth, however, I felt it necessary with so many bloggers writing about the new features, user experience, and multi-touch capabilities of the new operating system, to demystify the concept that Windows 7 is revolutionary in nature, because frankly it is not. Again, Windows 7 is nothing more than an evolved form of Windows Vista.  You would think then with all of the negative reviews on Windows Vista, that the overall consensus of Windows 7 would be equally as horrific; think again. Microsoft to date has a total of over 30,000 positive posts from people talking about Windows 7 since Thursday’s launch. That’s almost 15,000 posts a day on Windows 7! Dont miss a chance to see this for yourself!
Also, check out the recording of the Windows 7 Launch Event in New York, New York below.
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So in closing, happy birthday Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, I wish you both the best! Stay tuned as I release more information on Windows 7 in the coming days ahead!
James Zepp
October 24, 2009
Tags: Apple, history, launch, Microsoft, release, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista Posted in: Microsoft, News
Name: James Zepp
Occupation: CTO
Company: Acxsis
Age: 26
One Response
http://www.infosource.net to GoogleReader!
AlexAxe
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