by W.G.T.Fernando
Microsoft started its Windows operating system way back in 1985 with release of Windows 1.0. Windows 3.0 which was released in 1990 was a commercial success selling 2 million copies in first six months. Windows 95 was then released and was the first operating system to use Plug and Play capabilities (some competitors/users of Microsoft would joke and say ‘Plug and Pray’). Many other operating systems were released thereafter as depicted in this family tree.
Windows users nowadays use either XP or Vista as their operating system. Even though Vista has focused on security improvements (Windows Defender comes preinstalled with Vista) and an improved user interface, a lot of resources were consumed by Vista and thereby required a higher system requirements. Hence the reason why only 17% of users have Vista and 72% have XP (July 2009 statistics).
With Windows 7 officially scheduled to be released on the 22nd of October this year, what benefits are there for an XP or Vista user? Let’s take a look at 5 important improvements/features.
1.Burn images
Windows 7 introduces a feature that other operating systems have had for years - the ability to burn ISO images to CDs or DVDs. The process is very simple. All you have to do is just double-click the ISO image, choose the drive with the blank disc, click Burn and in a matter of minutes, your disc is created.
2. Get a power efficiency report
If you have a laptop, you can use the efficiency calculator to get Windows 7 to generate loads of useful information about its power consumption. Used in the right way, this can help you make huge gains in terms of battery life and performance. To do this you must open a command prompt as an administrator by typing 'cmd' in Start Search, and when the cmd icon appears, right-click it and choose Run as administrator. Then at the command line, just type in 'powercfg -energy' (without quotes) and hit Return, and Windows 7 will scan your system looking for ways to improve power efficiency. It will then publish the results in an HTML file, usually in the System32 folder. Just follow the path it gives you to find your report.
3.Shake 'em away
Ever had a multitude number of windows open such as 5 word documents, 7 spreadsheets, 15 firefox browser windows open? Want to minimise all of them except the most important one? In Windows 7, you can grab the top of the window and shake it about to scare away all of the other open windows. It’s that simple!
4.Problem Steps Recorder
The 'Problem Steps Recorder' lets you record a particular problem you are having with your PC so you can send it to someone who may be able to help. Click 'Record', and a screenshot is taken with every mouse click, allowing comments to be added in between if required. These screenshots (and comments, if any) are placed in a well-formatted HTML document that is placed inside a zipped folder on your desktop - ideal to be attached to an email.
5.Understanding System Restore
Using System Restore in previous versions of Windows has been something of a gamble. There's no way of telling which applications or drivers it might affect - you just have to try it and see.Windows 7 is different. Right-click Computer, select Properties > System Protection > System Restore > Next, and choose the restore point you'd like to use. Click the new button to 'Scan for affected programs' and Windows will tell you which (if any) programs and drivers will be deleted or recovered by selecting this restore point.You can check for other improvements by visiting this site http://kota.lk/pd9h. So an answer to our question, ‘Windows 7, is it worth it?’, there is only one person who can answer that, and that’s you. It all depends on what you want to do with your computer that determines which operating system to go for. If Windows is not for you, then why not try an operating system that is free to use and one that is legal too! You can download the OS or have them send a CD to you free of charge! Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com) and Fedora (http://fedoraproject.org) are two such noteworthy operating systems to check. Give us your comments on the current operating system that you use and share with your experience (whether it maybe good or bad) so that other readers like you will benefit.Have fun!
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Windows_versions
http://kota.lk/pnx6
http://kota.lk/pd9h
Image sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Windows_Family_Tree.svg
http://kota.lk/srfc
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