FT Chronicle

Microsoft Company releases on market the newest version of Microsoft Windows operating systems for use on personal computers, the Windows 7.

Unlike its predecessor, Vista, which introduced a large number of new features, Windows 7 is intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the target of being fully well-suited with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista is already compatible. In many cases, it can boot up more quickly and go in and out of sleep in a matter of seconds. Consumers will also notice they get systems that are a lot less cluttered, in some cases with nothing more than a recycle bin on their desktop when they first boot their PC.

Windows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors, improved boot performance, Direct Access, and kernel improvements. Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter), a new version of Windows Media Center, a Gadget for Windows Media Center, improved media features, the XPS Essentials Pack and Windows PowerShell being included, and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion. Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds), which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer .Many new items have been added to the Control Panel, including ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, and Display.

Presentations given by Microsoft in 2008 focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, referred to as the Superbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, and performance improvements. Some applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, including Windows Calendar, Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery, are not included in Windows 7, some are instead offered separately as part of the free Windows Live Essentials suite.

Microsoft still has room for improvement; PC makers said that Microsoft is trying to transform itself from a nearly “obsolete” engineering-driven approach that adds features simply because they are possible to one that focuses on what customers actually want.

via wikipedia