Windows 7 explainedWhat to expect from Windows 7

Windows 7 Live Q&A

Replay our live online Windows 7 Q&A session, where the Which? Computing experts answered all your Windows 7 questions.

 

Windows 7 will launch on 22 October 2009

The release of Windows 7 comes just three years after the launch of its predecessor, Windows Vista. The relatively short gap between the two operating systems (there was a five year gap between the release of Windows XP and Windows Vista) is partly why many people view Windows 7 as an incremental update rather than a radical overhaul.

This is confirmed by the Which? first look of Windows 7. The operating system sets out to fix many of the well-known problems with its predecessor, which is good news for anyone who's been struggling with a Vista PC for a couple of years.

Windows 7 versus Vista

Windows 7 addresses several of the perceived failings of Vista. Notably, it uses less power and should run on lower-powered ultra-portable netbooks. However, it keeps the smooth edges and transparent background effects that will be familiar to Windows Vista users. 

One change is that the icons in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen have been revamped in Windows 7 and now offer a handy preview of the windows you’ve got open. Multiple windows of the same application will share the same icon, saving space.

Quite a few applications that were included in earlier releases of Microsoft Windows – including Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery, and Windows Movie Maker – aren’t included in Windows 7. However, they can be downloaded free as part of Microsoft’s Windows Live Essentials suite.

New features in Windows 7

Windows 7 has a number of new features, covered in detail in our Windows 7 first look review. These include:

• Windows 7 Action Center – a single window that groups together any urgent tasks that you need to perform on your PC, and gives you the chance to complete them.
• The ribbon toolbar – this makes more appearances in Windows 7, for instance in the built-in word processor Wordpad.
• New networking options  – Windows 7 allows you to create a Homegroup (a more user-friendly version of the Workgroup featured in XP and Vista).
• Multi-touch support – this will benefit laptops with the latest touchscreens, as it will mean you can move and resize objects onscreen using several fingers at once.
• Problem steps recorder – this will record all your actions, and even take screenshots, then package them up into a file to be examined by friends and family in the event that something goes wrong.