Windows 7

Windows 7, released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and made available for retail on October 22, 2009, is an operating system produced by Microsoft. It is an update to Windows Vista and was meant to fix its critical problems. More than that, it comes with useful improvements and features. Windows 7 quickly became a popular operating system, one which is being used to this day. These are some of its great features:

XP Mode

When updating its operating systems, Microsoft has to update its various software too. This usually makes the old software incompatible with the latest operating systems. In Windows 7, we now have the opportunity to use a tool called Virtual PC which allows us to run a version of Windows XP. Doing this, we can run those software which are supported by Windows XP but not by later OS. This helped solve many backwards compatibility issues.

Faster booting time

Thanks to all the upgrades that Microsoft brought to Windows 7, users can enjoy a much faster booting. If Vista would boot in about 34 seconds, Windows 7 takes 20% less time to do it. In testing, it took only 27 seconds for the login prompt to appear, which allows users start their work much faster. Although this number is not impressive today, it was quite a feat back in 2009!

Live Taskbar

Due to this new feature, you can now see the icons of running apps in the taskbar. The difference between icons that are running and those that are not is that the first ones are highlighted with a blue border. If you hover over an icon with your mouse, an image will pop up from that icon. If you move your mouse over the image, you can preview the program in full screen.

Aero Actions

The following Aero actions were added to Windows 7:

• Snap – you can drag a window to the edge of your display, and it will immediately get in full-screen mode. If you do this action again, while in full-screen mode, it will minimize.
• Shake – it is a beneficial function when you have multiple windows opened. If you click and shake one of them, all the others will automatically minimize. This makes multitasking much easier.
• Themes – While there are not any themes that were included in Windows Vista, a few new themes and backgrounds were created uniquely for Windows 7, most of them being free.

Device Stage

Interacting with compatible devices was made even easier than in previous Windows operating systems. Users are now able to manage all devices from a single window. as this feature keeps track of devices connected to the user’s PC and allows the user to view their status.

Location-Aware Printing

This feature comes in handy especially for those who travel between offices. It remembers which printer and network you used in the past, so it can automatically connect to them when you are near them.

Conclusion

Windows 7 is a great operating system, being an improvement to its predecessor, Vista. This OS is not so remarkable due to its features, but because of how it patched most of the problems facing the Vista operating system, such as lag and crashing. I have used Windows 7 for as long as I could, and I recommend it from the bottom of my heart.