Microsoft delivers on its promises with latest edition of Windows

Dubai: I'm no fan of Vista — and that's putting it mildly — so when I got an opportunity to try out the beta version of Windows 7 last January, there wasn't any question about saying "yes".

I've never looked back. In July, I upgraded to the release candidate (RC) version. There have been some rough patches along the way — that's to be expected when using beta (test) software — but the improved performance, a less intrusive interface and the addition of a few simple features have made it worthwhile.

Performance

The first things users, especially users who are into heavy-duty multitasking, will notice is that Windows 7 responds quickly. I usually run two browsers, a photo editor, a word processing application and iTunes at the same time.

I should add that while I was running Windows 7 Ultimate, the most resource intensive version of the new system, it was not installed on a high-end computer. While I did add a video card to my computer, I was getting by on a dual-core processor with only 2GB of RAM that was a year old.

Even with that, there were no swirling-blue circles letting me know that I was over-taxing the system. Also gone were most (not all, most) of the annoying questions (i.e. are you sure you really want to run that program?) that Vista was so well known for.

Perhaps the best thing I can say about Windows 7 is that most of the time I don't notice it, which is how it should be. After all, I didn't buy the computers to play with the operating system.

Usability

There are a few new features that make navigating around Windows 7 much easier. Users will be able to place applications on the task bar, so they can be launched with a single click.

When you search for something on the computer, the results can be filtered to make things easier to find. Overall, it's probably the best way of managing applications that Microsoft has ever included in Windows. Warning: Apple fanboys will be going out of their way to tell users that Apple has been doing it this way for years.

Microsoft has also included some new ways of managing what's on your screen, which vary in usefulness.

You can now make all your windows transparent by clicking a button in the lower right corner of the screen, which is great when you want to find something on your desktop, but the ability to "snap" or resize the window to automatically fill certain areas of the screen needs some work. Nothing ever seemed to snap the way I expected it to.

The "Areo Shake" option is just silly. It lets you minimise all your open windows except one by shaking that window with your mouse. It looked cool on the video, but I never found a use for it.

Compatibility

Microsoft has been promising that performance and compatibility are the two areas in Windows 7 that have received the most attention. I've tried to find something that would cause Windows 7 a problem. With only one major exception, the software handled everything I threw at it, including printers, external drives and memory sticks.

Remember when I said I'd added a video card to my system? When I had Vista, I received an error message every time I started the system telling me that the card's driver wasn't current. Despite repeated attempts to update that driver, the error never went away — until I installed Windows 7. I haven't seen the error message since.

My one compatibility issue was a biggie, however. When I loaded TrendMicro's anti-virus application, I received a message that there was a known compatibility issue.

Despite the warning, the machine allowed me to install it anyway. It was the start of a three-day nightmare of recurring error messages and access problems. I couldn't uninstall the program, either. I finally had to restart the computer and use the command line (if you even know what that means, you're probably over 30) to manually hunt down and delete the program.

I can't be 100 per cent sure that this is Windows' fault, but TrendMicro is an application that's never given me grief before. Not looking to go another round with Windows 7, I am now running anti-virus free. Not good.

Stability

Will programs still crash on Windows 7? Of course they will, but no more often than they did with Windows XP. Depending on what programs you run, maybe even less. The only types of programs I have had problems with include games, which are not the most stable applications to begin with.

But I've never had a web browser crash, and I run Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera. I have heard complaints about errors when using Chrome with the 64-bit version of Windows 7, but have never seen it myself.

Result

The one question that everyone wants to know is: should I upgrade? If you're running Vista, the answer is yes. Make things easier on yourself. Windows 7 is faster, less annoying and very stable.

What if you're running XP? Well, there's no reason to move from XP, but you might enjoy many of the new features of Windows 7. If you're really worried about upgrading, wait until after Microsoft releases the first service pack.

Highlights: Major features of Windows 7

- Windows 7's performance is substantially better than Vista's.

- The option of moving applications to the task bar makes moving between applications much easier.

- With few exceptions, such as video games, Windows 7 is as stable as XP.

- There are almost no compatibility issues. Remember, I said "almost."