I typicaly wait for a while before upgrading to the latest and greatest new version of windows so that others can find and workout the bugs. I have been running Betas and release candidates for windows 7 since June 2009 and have to this day have had very few issues. Windows 7 works reliably and has many new features that truly do make everyday tasks simpler, and more efficient. I'll cover a few of the features below, one at a time.
Backups - Many people are under the impression that restoring a backup of their computer will return it right back to how it was when the backup was made. This is not true. Backups generaly can not backup open files such as the windows operating system files that are running your computer and therefore are ony good for retrieving your documents and pictures, Until now...
Windows 7 offers an Image Based backup. What this means is that you can now make a complete backup of your entire system and restore EVERYTHING! If your hard drive were to crash or you purchased a new, larger drive, you can use this image based backup and be up and running, just exactly how it was before you started. Amazing!
How is this possible? What is different from almost every other backup? It's a "Block Level" backup, meaning it's not trying to backup each file one by one. It's reading the hard drive at the block level, way below the file level.
Sharing - If your not an IT person and you have tried to share files and printers in your house from one computer to another, you may have experienced the typical problems making it all work reliably including password prompts every time you try to access the shared data. The share printer will not work unless you first open a shared folder and enter your password. Windows 7 is the answer to solving your home sharing needs.
Windows 7 includes a new feature called "HOME GROUP" in which Windows 7 computers can share their printers and files.
Snipping Tool - If you have ever wanted to take a screenshot and not include the entire screen, or entire window (ALT+PRINTSCRN), then you know the routine. Take the screen shot, open it in mspaint, crop/cut it out, say no to saving, open a new mspaint window, paste, and then save. If you wanted to include the image in a document, you would have to add picture from file. What a waste of time!
With the snipping tool, you can simply open the snipping tool, select the region you would like to make a screen shot of, and then save, Email, or copy to the clipboard to paste into your Word document. Snipping tool also allows you to draw on the image or use the highlighter to mark up the document! Simple.. The way windows should be..
User Interface - Windows 7 includes the AERO interface, which was also available in VISTA. This makes multitasking even easier.
Have you ever had so many Tabs open in Internet Explorer that it took you a while to find the page you wanted? Now, if you have multiple tabs open in IE, just put your mouse over the Internet Explorer icon and get a preview of every tab. Jump to the tab you want by clicking on it. It's that simple.
There are many more new features including several real secuty improvements I will be discussing in the next post. You can see all the new features for your self at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/what-is-windows-7.aspx
Keep checking back for more posts about specific Windows 7 features and additional software.
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