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Windows 7: Improvements over Vista

As 2009 wound to a close, Microsoft unveiled its newest operating system: Windows 7. With the lack of success and criticism endured by its predecessor operating system, Vista, many users are hesitant to buy into the new technology right away. It's clear, though, that Microsoft has learned from their mistakes and attempted to improve upon Vista and enhance the user experience.

New Look

Windows 7 delivers a similar user interface to Vista, but with a few key elements enhanced and redesigned. The new task bar allows users to store shortcuts to your most frequently used programs, and to use the shortcut icons to switch between open windows or to open new applications. If you drag and drop a file onto one of the icons, Windows 7 will use that application to open the file. By hovering over the icons, thumbnails pop up showing all of the application's open windows and allowing you to quickly bring certain windows to the foreground or close windows entirely.


Windows 7 has also added many new user-interface shortcuts. For instance, dragging a window to the bottom of your screen will minimize it and dragging the window to the top of the screen will maximize it. You can maximize a window to just half of the screen by dragging it to one edge of the screen or the other. By shaking the window you want to focus on, all of the other windows will automatically minimize.

New Features

Windows 7 allows users to sync up folders with similar types of files into one library folder. Even when these files are stored at different places on the hard drive, the library links them together, effectively collecting the files in one convenient place. Changes have been made to the home network experience as well. Users can easily share things like files or printers with other computers in their network by joining a HomeGroup. Users in the HomeGroup can type in a password and bypass all of the settings and permissions that plagued home networks in former operating systems. Windows 7 is also the first edition of a Windows operating system that supports touch technology. Although touch hardware is currently in short supply, this is no doubt designed as a forward-thinking move for the operating system.


While some features were enhanced and improved, some were left out completely. Windows Movie Maker, Photo Gallery, and Mail are no longer included in the operating system. While Microsoft has made these applets available via an optional download, many users find that they do not miss the programs now that they're gone.


Also, the UAC (User Access Control) settings on Windows 7 have been modified to minimize the vast amount of prompts users experienced in Vista.

Better Performance

Perhaps one of the key improvements with Windows 7 is that it is noticeably faster. Whether booting up, opening applications, or sharing files across a network, users will find Windows 7 consistently outperforms Vista. This is good news for many users, as most complaints about the Vista operating system were centered on its hard drive performance issues.

Should I Upgrade?

If you are purchasing a new PC, you will likely have Windows 7 already installed. So the choice between operating systems really becomes an issue for those who already own computers with Windows XP or Vista installed. Some XP users may not want to upgrade, citing that XP is almost as fast as 7 and can handle their tasks without all of the bells and whistles. However, what XP lacks is the forward compatibility for new applications, software, and technology. Vista users will likely rejoice in installing the new operating system, as it is faster and resolves many issues that were inherent in the previous operating system.

Windows 7

"...Perhaps one of the key improvements with Windows 7 is that it is noticeably faster. Whether booting up, opening applications, or sharing files across a network, users will find Windows 7 consistently outperforms Vista. This is good news for many users, as most complaints about the Vista operating system were centered on its hard drive performance issues..."




Mac vs PC

"...It’s no secret that when you match systems with similar hardware, PC comes out on top for cost effectiveness. Computer users on a budget will find that the prices of PCs are often much easier to swallow compared with similar Macs. Mac competes more in the high-end consumer market, almost willfully giving up the market share to maintain the luxury image of its brand..."




Guide to Internet Security

"...Your first line of defense against malware is a firewall. Firewalls monitor all in and out computer traffic and prevent unauthorized communications. While computers typically come with firewalls installed, they are sometimes not as effective as commercial firewalls..."




Setting Up Wireless

"...Before launching the internet, make sure that you set up some security on your network. This is especially important for businesses, as company and employee data is often sensitive and private. There are several security measures you can use, including MAC addressing and WEP encryption. MAC addressing restricts unauthorized devices from accessing your network, and WEP encryption jumbles up data when you send it over the internet, which ensures the data’s safety while in transport..."




Why You Need Online Backup

"...Backing up your files is a method of storing files in a location separate from your computer. Should your computer crash or get infected, your important files will be preserved in a different location, allowing you to access them in their original form even after a crash. Being proactive about your file safety is incredibly important. Files like pictures, word documents, videos, e-mails, spreadsheets, and anything else you store locally on your computer, can easily be erased forever in a moment..."




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