Information coming from beta testers of the new windows 7 operating system have been returning feedback through unofficial channels. Some claim that they are experiencing even more memory hog lag like conditions originally seen in vista. Also digital rights management will check your movies to make sure that you bought the license. As always, we have to take initial reports with a grain of salt, I would want to see it in action first.

Windows original official name was “quick and dirty operating system” when bill gates bought it several years ago. It was meant to have no security and acomedate only a single user. In a decade not much has changed.

Linux / Macintosh have superior performing and slicker desktops than windows ever could.  For example a linux desktop will provide anything needed plus a better version of Office all totally free, open source. A gift to the people from generations of hardworking scientists, not corporate money seekers who would try to stop superior free technology.

Don’t be fooled into paying for trash software when the most stable, longer lasting, more functional operating systems are free of charge. Get Linux or pay for a Macintosh, they actually follow industry standards.

The Windows and Office news came Tuesday at a Microsoft conference for software developers.

The forthcoming Windows 7 will let users choose to see fewer alerts and warnings from their computers. Rampant notifications alerting people to security risks irked many Vista users. It is yet to be seen how secure this setup wil be.

“We had all the best intentions of helping to secure the PC platform even more, particularly for novice PC users who needed to be protected,” said Steven Sinofsky, a senior vice president in Microsofts Windows group. But Sinofsky acknowledged that Microsoft needed to work more closely with outside companies to avoid a similar mess this time.

Michael Silver, an analyst for Gartner Inc., said a smoother debut for Windows 7 is critical for Microsoft.

“The real hurdle is to get Vistas reputation behind them,” he said.

Windows 7 keeps some of the significant design changes that debuted in Vista, but tosses out others.

In an interview, Julie Larson-Green, a Windows vice president, offered one small example: In Vista, Microsoft took the “add printer” feature out of the Start menu, but is restoring it in Windows 7 after users complained.

Larson-Green said some changes in Vista made sense to developers but werent fully tested on actual PC users – a misstep she seems committed not to repeat.

With Windows 7, Microsoft is also making subtle but useful changes to the task bar along the bottom of the screen. The designers have removed redundant buttons that launch applications. When users roll over a programs icon in the task bar, it will be easier to see how many documents are open, and switch between them.

Microsoft also showed off “jumplists,” a quick way of organizing recently used files or popular program features. And it introduced a concept called “libraries,” which automatically collects similar files scattered across PCs on a home network and displays them together in a single folder. That could be handy for organizing a familys digital photos stored in disparate places.

Addressing another complaint about Vista, Microsoft said Windows 7 will be faster and need less memory to run. Vista generally needs costlier hardware configurations than the older Windows XP.

Microsofts early 2009 target for people to begin toying with Windows 7 is striking because the Redmond, Wash.-based company promised deadlines it couldnt keep when it was developing Vista. Microsoft is trying hard to avoid a similar debacle this time. Sinofsky said there is no date yet for the next milestone, a “release to manufacturing” version of Windows 7, but reiterated that the system is set to go on sale in early 2010.

Silver, the analyst, noted that Windows Vista rejigged complex aspects of the softwares plumbing, while Windows 7 is largely a cosmetic overhaul. That might spare this launch from many of the compatibility programs that dogged Vista.

Silver was impressed by how Windows 7 handles home networking with fewer headaches than Vista or XP. A big improvement on that front could help keep customers who consider ditching Windows, swayed by Apple Inc.s claims that such tasks are easier on a Mac.

Building on a broader strategy to meld the best elements of Web and desktop software, Microsoft also showed off lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote software that work in Web browsers and look as they normally do, but dont have to be installed on a PC.

The new programs were running “in the cloud” on the new Windows Azure system Microsoft unveiled Monday, a move aimed at helping it catch up with Google and other nimbler Web companies. Azure lets Microsoft run software and store data in its own massive data centers around the world, instead of requiring people to install programs on their own PCs. It is important to remember that no one can check Microsoft code for flaws because it is closed source, holes go unnoticed for years.

Source: okpon