On Technology

Oct. 22 will be a big day for Microsoft, the computer industry and users, alike. It's the day that the much-anticipated Windows 7 formally goes on sale. It's a much-needed product that's intended to replace Vista and XP.

Microsoft introduced Vista in January 2007 as a replacement for XP, but after nearly three years it has just 19 percent of the personal computer market, contrasted with XP at 72 percent. While Vista offered a more attractive interface and improved security, it ran slow, constantly interrupted users, required more powerful hardware and was incompatible with some hardware. As I wrote in this column a few months after its introduction:

"(Vista) was a huge undertaking, some estimate costing $10 billion, that was years late and shipped with less than half the original features promised. It will likely be remembered as one of the biggest product failures of recent times, because it's slow, bloated and still doesn't work with some hardware. While improvements are being made, it's already so badly tarnished that corporate users have shunned it and Microsoft is now talking about a successor, Windows 7."

I've been testing Windows 7 on two computers, a Dell XPS notebook that I upgraded from Vista, and a Lenovo X200 tablet notebook with Windows 7 preinstalled.

So how good is Windows 7? It's a vast improvement over Vista. The most noticeable improvement is the elimination of the constant interruptions, dimmed screens and bombardments of warnings and requests. The product also makes an effort to prevent third parties from doing the same and slowing down workflow.

Like most new operating systems this is still a work in process, and it requires the companies making applications and peripherals to bring their products up to date. And the true test of the quality of a new OS is not the early reviews, but the experiences of the hundreds of thousands that upgrade a couple of months later. But, with that said, in all my testing, Windows 7 has been responsive, stable and a pleasure to use.

So what are the improvements? Computers boot up and shut down much more quickly, not as fast as a Mac, but less than half the time of Vista. It was easier to connect. The new wireless manager found my networks much more quickly and clearly displayed all my options. When I plugged in my Epson WorkForce 600 all-in-one printer, Windows 7 searched online, found and installed all the drivers.

A major new feature, the system tray, allows you to pin application icons to a bar along the bottom of the screen. You use this bar instead of the Start menu to open or switch applications. You can hover the cursor over an icon to see and select the applications' open windows. This tray, which can be moved to any of the four edges, is similar to the Mac's Dock, but it goes much further. You can also search thumbnails of files without having to open the applications.

Another feature expands a window to half the screen if you drag it to one side of the screen. Drag a second window to the other side and you have two windows to compare. Drag a window to the top and it fills the screen. Simple, but time saving.

On Vista, Microsoft could control its own interruptions, but it could not stop third party applications from adding their own annoying intrusions. Installed apps would often add little icons into the system tray without asking for permission. These would then generate annoying messages such as asking users to update or respond to an issue. This bad behavior was multiplied each time you added more apps.

With Windows 7, the apps can no longer do this. You can now choose whether to see them in the tray and to stop the interruptions.

Windows 7 also adds Libraries, a useful feature that allows you to aggregate similar folders to improve organization. Windows 7 adds a number of improved applications for photo management, multimedia and drawing.

HomeGroups makes networking among computers much simpler. It allows you to connect between computers to share, read and move files and documents. You can play music from one computer on another, move photos and print to a printer connected to another computer. It's much improved from Vista, but doesn't work with non-Windows 7 computers.

The part of Vista that controlled all the warnings, UAC (User Account Control), thankfully has been changed. (This was the "feature" that asked, while inserting a CD, whether you could be trusted!) You can now select the level of security (and hence interruptions) using slider bars. Microsoft still doesn't provide full antivirus software; for that you need one from a third party.

Searching is faster and now looks at your PC, connected PCs and hard drives that are connected. Location aware printing lets you set different default printers for your home and work. I'm particularly enjoying Windows 7's touch screen capability. I can scroll, open and close windows with my fingers.

So while none of these improvements are earth shattering, they serve to make Windows easier to use, more attractive, and eliminate most of the past annoyances.

Windows 7 is also very important to the computer industry that's dependent on growing computer sales and Windows 7 should help. Computers with Windows 7 preinstalled will be going on sale within the next few days.

I still think the MacOS is superior to Windows 7 -- it's speedier, simpler, has fewer security issues, and has advanced features such as auto backup. But Windows 7 comes a lot closer than any previous Windows product. And I'm now reaching for the ThinkPad more often because it's lighter than my MacBook Pro and runs so well.

Windows 7 will be offered in Home Premium, Pro and Ultimate versions. Home Premium ($120) is the standard consumer offering, Professional ($200) adds features such as an XP-mode and the ability to connect with company networks. Ultimate ($220) adds data backup and protection and support for multiple languages. Home Premium should suffice for most consumers.

The upgrade process varies whether you're now running XP or Vista, and the version you are upgrading to. It's easier to upgrade from Vista but more difficult from XP, and you're limited to upgrading to the same or higher version. (Laplink has just announced a solution for XP, noted in the sidebar.)

Bottom line: Better late than never. Windows 7 should meet or exceed most expectations, and is highly recommended.

Laplink Software has announced PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant, intended to smooth the upgrade process from Windows XP to Windows 7 ($14.95). It provides Windows XP users with the ability to upgrade their existing computers to Windows 7 without having to reinstall applications or backup and restore data.

Since Microsoft does not support an upgrade from XP to Windows 7, that means without PCmover, users are forced to copy their data and settings to external media, install Windows 7, install all their applications, and then copy all their data and settings back to their PC. It requires external storage, is time consuming, and users must find their old CDs and serial numbers to reinstall their applications. The product is available from laplink.com for $15 until Oct. 22 and about $20 after that date.