Windows 7 will be the first venture to be released by Microsoft since Windows Vista. After the failure of Windows Vista and Microsoft’s claim to deliver a fast, secure and reliable operating system, it is being expected that Windows 7 will impress users. To see Windows 7 in action, we will have to wait until 2010, which is when the release is expected. Microsoft recently revealed a demo of the new OS at PDC. The demo highlighted the core functionality and major features of this new operating system. This new version of the Windows OS features improved boot and kernel performance, support for a virtual disk service and an improved user interface. The chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates, describes Windows 7:

 “We're hard at work, I would say, on the next version, which we call Windows 7. I'm very excited about the work being done there. The ability to be lower power, take less memory, be more efficient, and have lots more connections up to the mobile phone, so those scenarios connect up well to make it a great platform for the best gaming that can be done, to connect up to the thing being done out on the Internet, so that, for example, if you have two personal computers, that your files automatically are synchronized between them, and so you don't have a lot of work to move that data back and forth.”

 The dedicated Microsoft crew is working hard to deliver an ideal OS on time. Let’s discover what new features Windows 7 will offer.

• Windows 7 is aiming to provide better speech technology and handwriting recognition. Therefore, it is introducing many new multi-touch features like virtual piano programs, a mapping and directions program and a touch-aware version of Paint.
  
• The development team that is working on Windows 7 is especially focusing on user interface and is introducing many new features. One of them is a dock-like task bar. Users can reorder applications by dragging them, and can maintain a customized task bar consisting of their frequently-used apps. The new task bar also shows a thumbnail view of applications. If the user has opened multiple browser windows, it gives a separate view for each browser tab and the user can directly open that window from the thumbnail. If you are listening to a song or watching a movie, hovering over the thumbnail will bring up cover art and controls to pause or resume playback.
  
• To increase system performance, Microsoft is introducing multicore CPU support. It will speed up the execution of programs by splitting them into sub-tasks, synchronizing their execution and coalescing the results.
  
• Another exciting and handy feature of Windows 7 is Jump Lists. Jump Lists are context-sensitive menus for programs available in the task bar and Start menu. When a user clicks a program, the jump list opens and shows the most recent or frequently-requested tasks related to the program. For example, you can click on the Internet Explorer icon in the task bar and see your recent browsing history or choose from a list of your most-visited websites.
• Windows 7 is introducing Device Stage, which offers a single window that will interact with all gadgets. It is a very cool feature that shows all plug in devices - cameras, MP3 players and printers - in one window, and shows the status details when a device is clicked.
  
• Networking is another powerful feature of Windows 7. The new OS introduces the Homegroup and Libraries features. Through the Homegroup directory interface, a user can connect to all other devices in their home, including PCs, laptops, mobile phones, digital photo frames and printers. Libraries will group similar items across the various drives of your PC - HDD, external HDD, USB flash drives - as well as across your network. It integrates the Windows Search functionality to make finding files across your network easier, too.

Windows 7 is trying to be a media-enriched OS. Microsoft is introducing improved media & themes features. It includes a lightweight version of Windows Media Player that lets you play audio, view pictures and watch videos from any device in your Homegroup. It also includes a huge variety of eye-catching background themes.

References:

 PressPass. Gates, B. “Japan-Windows Digital Lifestyle Consortium.” Retrieved Dec. 18^th, 2008 from http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/speeches/2008/05-07japanwdlc.mspx

Wikipedia. Retrieved Dec. 18^th, 2008 from http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/speeches/2008/05-07japanwdlc.mspx

Calore.M. (2008). PDC 2008: “The 7 Coolest New Features in Windows 7.”  Retrieved Dec. 18^th, 2008 from http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/PDC_2008:_The_7_Coolest_New_Features_in_Windows_7

 Perez.S. (2008). “New Features In Windows 7.”  Retrieved Dec. 18^th, 2008 from http://www.on10.net/blogs/sarahintampa/New-Features-In-Windows-7/