Windows Vista taught Microsoft a lot about what not to do when launching a new operating system. Don't launch an operating system with shoddy driver support. Don't launch an operating system that's ridiculously slower than your last operating system. And finally, don't launch an operating system that requires a huge memory upgrade to run as well as the operating system it's replacing. After spending a week with Microsoft's new Windows 7 beta, we can say that the company has taken the Vista lessons to heart in its latest OS. Windows 7 boots faster, takes up fewer system resources, offers smarter navigation options, and simplifies tasks such as setting up a home network. We're still a ways off from the 2010 target release date for Windows 7, but we're already loving the OS's new features and usability.
There are a lot of features in Windows 7 that we haven't explored yet such as the new touch screen options, hand writing recognition, and DirectX 11. While touch screen computing and handwriting recognition seem pretty cool, they're not particularly relevant to PC gaming. DirectX 11 counts as a gaming-related feature--but it's also coming to Windows Vista, so it's not really a feature unique to Windows 7. (We also have to wait for the game developers to make software that uses the new GPGPU, general processing on the GPU, and tessellation support in DX11.)
That said, here are the five really cool features that we're excited about in Windows 7!
User Account Control
User account control was supposed to be Vista's ace in the hole for security. It works if you're strict about following the onscreen instructions, but when the OS keeps throwing up permission prompts every time you try to do anything, you tend to get into the habit of clicking yes all of the time. Want to click on that link? Open that file? Sneeze near the monitor? Just click "continue." Even worse, many of us disabled UAC altogether to get the OS to stop interrupting the desktop experience. Microsoft heard all the complaints and fixed UAC in Windows 7. The new user account control will have multiple warning threshold settings, and the OS will now intrude much less by default, though you can configure the feature to be the nagging nanny it was before. Windows 7 will do what it's told and, for lack of a better expression, will shut the hell up until something truly sketchy needs your attention.
Faster Boot Times
We hate waiting for our PCs to boot. Microsoft knows this and has rolled out a combination attack to reduce boot times in Windows 7. Microsoft trimmed the number of system-critical services, reduced CPU, RAM, and hard-disk overhead, and improved prefetching to speed up disk seeks in Windows 7. The developers also added parallelization in device and driver initialization. And it shows, our Windows 7 beta test system booted in 26 seconds compared to 33 seconds in Windows Vista.Performance
Windows Vista is a behemoth of an operating system. It can technically run on 512MB of RAM, but that's like saying Crysis runs on a GeForce 6800. Vista isn't usable unless you have at least 2GB of RAM with 4GB being ideal. Windows 7 should be much leaner. So far our 1GB test system is much more usable with the Windows 7 beta than with Windows Vista. The system boots in a reasonable amount of time, programs snap open, and the dreaded hard drive churns don't occur every time we look at the mouse. We ran a few 3DMark Vantage tests and found that the game performance in the Windows 7 beta is on par with Windows Vista.
Accelerators
Windows 7 improves usability in a lot of ways and you can find one of the best new features right now in the Internet Explorer 8 beta. Internet Explorer 8 features accelerators--quick built-in shortcuts--that make posting to Facebook, mapping an address, and sending a link a whole lot easier. Actions that used to require multiple steps are now streamlined with right-click menu options. Want a map of that address? Right-click the address and open the map. Done. You're not limited to Microsoft-provided accelerators either. There are already tons of accelerators from Google, Facebook, Newegg, Wikipedia, and more. Windows 7 has the same right-click on anything accelerator options set up for common applications such as Windows Media Player, Windows Live Messenger, and Internet Explorer.Have you tried the Windows 7 beta yet? Interested in the new features? What do you think of the OS?
Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit user here it was awesome i never go near at Vista but i know Windows 7 is faster less problems than Vista (which i known) Windows 7 also great performances and tweaked on many games
I got Windows 7 Ultimate on my computer, and is really much better than Vista.
ok... so basically this runs better in old pcs than vista? i have vista, on my dell dimension 9150, Pentium D 2.8 GHZ, 1GB ram, Nvidia Geforce 7300 512MB. And vista its well... slow... this should run better?
One thing I'd REALLY like to know is whether they will finally deliver x64 support that has been lacking thus far in Vista. For what it's worth I have no complaints with Vista 64 other than the resource hogging and occasional HDD chugging. It took a substantial hardware upgrade to run it as well as I wanted. But it DOES run well for the most part.
I own vista and tried 7 for a while. 'Bout the same cept 7's much more streamlined. Everyone complaining about how much of their memory and processor it's using stfu and get something better than a 1ghz p3. If you have a "modern" computer, anything dual core or better, they both run great in games and out. In many cases better than xp (those who don't think so, kiss my balls, because the difference is negligable.) I've done 3d modelling and photoshop on both os's, both do fine. Everyone just needs to calm themselves and buy 7 already like they should've vista. Everyone complains, but everyone complained about xp when it came out too. I didn't install it for over a year after it came out because of all the complaints, when i did i was amazed. Same with vista. No problems, ever. It's called upgrading, don't try to use your 15 year old printer on your new computer when the company is long out of business. If you do, don't complain that there aren't drivers, you're retarded for not spending 50 bucks on a new printer but spending 1000+ on a new computer.
the side-to-side shake of a window to make space is a funny feature :P
I have 1 question, Can it run Crysis without upgrades?
Perfect :D
Not suprised a new OS is on the horizon. Vista was so-so, and a tighter OS would be nice. I like the idea of faster boot time, but the nuts and bolts is where it's at. With the improvement in computers we should have faster and faster programs/not slower. I do think microsoft will listen and keep pushing to make a better OS, mainly because the bad PR they got from this last one.
@lord-of-gamers so you would recommend upgrading from xp? man I wish I could try it :P
i love windows 7 - have been using the RC for a while now and i have to say - it easily blows away vista (which i have but never liked using) and, even though i thought it would not be much of an upgrade from XP speed wise - and a few tests show it isnt - it feels so much faster, snappier and responsive than XP - like when you click on a button - its working - like good customer service - even if it takes a while to get what you want - you are still happy that someone is there working their butt off to help you
looks pretty cool for me, since it takes up so much less space! :D
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jrtolson if you really wanted them to start from scratch you wouldn't give them a Direct X 7 compatible graphics card as Direct X is part of the windows operating system.
still no reason to upgrade from windows xp then?.... the way i see it if microsoft want to make the next best operating system, then they should go back to square one.. give their programers pc's with 256mb ram, amd k62 500mhz processor and directx 7 capable gfxcard.. if then they can produce an os ran run really well on that configuration.. then imagine the performance on today's pc's? and thats the problem most of todays software is bloatware... i have seen spreadsheets design'd for early ibm pc compatibles run at extreme speed on a 386.. faster than a modern machine using ms office... it is sad really, you would not buy a fast car and stick an elephant in the boot would you?? i think ill be sticking to windows xp thanx...
imao. Microsoft to Continue Offering XP Even After Windows 7 Ships haha Damn http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/04/xp-will-not-expire-once-windows-7-ships.ars Windows XP, u are the MAN! hee hee.
They could easily add these features to Vista if they wanted to, no need to make another OS just yet.....(well other than for money of course). Don't be fooled people.
I'm waiting for DX 10 :D I mean, I'm using XP, Vista stays on my laptop, y'know? Heh.
I wished Microsoft made a Gaming OS, without all those fancy thing sucking up your processor cycles. I just want a OS as lean as Windows 95, but with the graphical features of Windows 7. When Microsoft does that, I am going to dumb Apple, and become a Microsoft fan boy in a heartbeat.
macs are the way forward :)
I think it is a bit slower than Windows XP. But, overall it is good. Microsoft can do better. Apple far more bette than Microsoft.
I tested about 30days and , yes is great in performance, running and speed and in some games runnig better than XP! But exists some problems like crush in yahoo, some browsers and games,xlive errors,etc. But...is only beta and all this is allow.Running about 3times better than Vista and if exists a word to describe Windows 7 the word is...Speed...Good work, i will keep watching Win7!
I'm installing the beta today. I wish I hadn't let the ISO file sit around on my hard drive for so long. I'm so excited!
lol invisible feature would be so cool to hide some *stuff*
it hav the power of DX 11. Lets see how it run the games in dx9 and dx10 cards
Around the time when the first service pack comes out is ideal to know if it's good or not. I'll avoid the same mistakes people made with Vista who bought it without really knowing the major drawbacks.
Nice, Vista = way to much system resources to use it. Hopefully gaming performance will increase if I don't upgrade my Comp with Windows 7
I've been using the beta since it came out and I think it is stable. I have not had it crash at all. I have had no problems installing anything. I don't think the drivers are going to be an issue since most of my devices work fine with vista drivers installed. Master_30 there is probably going to be in upgrade version, there almost always is.
thank god i didnt change to vista
As long as it doesn't crash and it has good performance, I take it.
Can I upgrade my Vista to windows 7?
Looks sweet and all but seriously people need to stop ragging on vista. its down preety tight now, i have no problems with my 64 bit vista ultimate. And, do we really need another OS, i think the improvments are nice, but there so small..guess there just tryin to make a buck
I like windows Vista and Windows 7 just fine as a professional of the Windows operating system,but I really have very little use for running it at the moment,as I would have to reinstall ALL of my games(for the people who think I can just add the shortcut to the desktop and run it from there with little modification - think again) and move the profiles and save games to a redundant folder. UNFORTUNATELY my hard-drive is only 147GB's and I have virtually no space to spare for such a thing. I will however wait for Windows 7 RC1. I did try Windows 7 beta 1 but there was a BSOD on startup after about one and a half monthes,so I reinstalled Vista in the meantime but have no use for it : / What I REALLY want is DX11,if the game designers suck they can just use that and make good graphics(cough crysis) =D
cool, cannot wait.
Looks good, if this doesn't turn out as a bad as vista, I'll probably upgrade from my XP.
definently better than vista :D
Can't wait to get windows 7. I hate windows vista, prefer windows xp best at the moment (till no:7 cums out)
it's generaly a good os works with most games and software i read something about they might release a RC already in april and to the noob lower down the direct x 10 for xp sucked even worse than the one for vista
i am really excited to see what this ends up to... so far, in my opinion, it looks pretty good and is definently better than Vista :D
One thing for sure. I wouldn't buy Windows 7 the first thing it comes out of the market. Microsoft doesn't get it right in the first try. But I'm also very sure they'll figure out sooner or later how to make it better? Look at xbox 360? It had to undergo alot of versions. But still I love Microsoft, why? They always listen to what the consumer wants that's why they never go away... Microsoft is gonna stay in this OS game till the end of time... hehehe ;-)
I hope 7 is better than Vista. My new PC had Vista but I went back to XP because there was nothing truly worthwhile in Vista & it ran slower than XP. BTW, I'm not insinuating XP is perfect by any means, I'm just saying in my personal experience XP works better for my needs. Others mileage may vary.
I have the Windows 7 Beta myself, I am very happy with it so far! :)
this is just xp with vista look, it does what vista failed to do but keeps the looks, i think il put up with vista and xp as its likely to be hellishly expensive
I tried it on my pc It rocks
why are they releasing another one? it wasnt that long back that they gave us vista! is it really to much to ask that they fix all the problems they let vista through with before they give us another os? its the least they can do given vista blew a hole in many peoples wallets!
umm. intel macs are just "PCs" with the look of a mac
Lol puddingpiler... I can run vista and xp on my mac. Plus all other games too. :P I have yet to try windows 98 and some old games though. Intel Mac FTW! :P Gotta test out windows7 some time.
Windows 7 is going going to be complicated, annoying, the computer will freeze and will take forever to load. It is going to be pathetic like every other windows operating system.
I just feel cheated. I've bought 2 pcs since vista come out and both times i wasn't allowed to have xp without paying a rediculous amount extra. Now i either have to fork out however many hundred pounds to buy 2 copies of windows 7 or live with vista which they of course will never fix. Just seems like a complete marketing scam. Release a rubbish os to break everyones computer then sell a better one and be praised for solving the problem. Its no better than the people who release viruses that direct you to their anti virus software. How did we get into this state where microsoft rules our lives. I can see why everyone keeps buying a mac now but those of us who just want a computer to work have no options. Either get a mac and live with the lack of compatibility or stick with microsoft and have nothing work.
OSX forever
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