Monday, June 8, 2009
First look at Windows 7
There's one thing about bleeding edge technology - eventually the pain outweighs the gain. So it has been some time since I bothered getting involved in beta test cycles, and testing the latest craze to hit the marketplace. My involvement with beta test teams hit its peek in the late 90s, but I had taken a no-go approach since the turn of the century. I don't know whether it was burn-out (I suspect at least a little); no time due to a new start-up venture; or family demands, but somewhere I made an almost unconscious decision to discontinue the bloodletting.
The new venture was a Point of Sale application for touch screens. It experienced a hiccup or two along the way when it stumbled on the way Windows Vista handles coms via serial RS232 ports. In short, Vista no longer liked playing ball with other non-PC devices like cash registers. Drivers were at best problematic, and at worst, non-existent. Main boards for PCs started appearing without RS232 ports and USB to serial converters were inconsistent in their performance. To keep the project rolling, and in order to ensure minimal pain in the marketplace, we made the decision to support Windows XP only. Fortunately did this not harm our sales (or certainly not enough for us to be aware of it).
Maybe it was the under-welming disappointment that was Windows Vista, or the long lapse since Microsoft had delivered a truly new operating system, or the sense of impending doom as the time crept closer when XP would no longer be available, but the announcement of Windows 7 caused me to prick up my ears. I decided I would find a spare PC, install this new OS, and see what had changed.
Now, understand that I have only just completed the install, but if the installation process is anything to gauge it by, Windows 7 is going to be a real hit. Less than half the time to install than Vista or XP. Not one single driver issue! - and this on a machine that is over two years old, with an 80 Gb HDD and less than 2 Gb RAM. Impressive.
Not just impressive, but re-assuring.
I have always considered Microsoft to be first and foremost a company that is expert at legal manoeuvres. Secondly an accomplished marketing company, and a distant third software development company. However, Windows 7 bodes well for both Microsoft and the PC computing community in general.
Let's hope the initial impression becomes a permanent attitude.
The new venture was a Point of Sale application for touch screens. It experienced a hiccup or two along the way when it stumbled on the way Windows Vista handles coms via serial RS232 ports. In short, Vista no longer liked playing ball with other non-PC devices like cash registers. Drivers were at best problematic, and at worst, non-existent. Main boards for PCs started appearing without RS232 ports and USB to serial converters were inconsistent in their performance. To keep the project rolling, and in order to ensure minimal pain in the marketplace, we made the decision to support Windows XP only. Fortunately did this not harm our sales (or certainly not enough for us to be aware of it).
Maybe it was the under-welming disappointment that was Windows Vista, or the long lapse since Microsoft had delivered a truly new operating system, or the sense of impending doom as the time crept closer when XP would no longer be available, but the announcement of Windows 7 caused me to prick up my ears. I decided I would find a spare PC, install this new OS, and see what had changed.
Now, understand that I have only just completed the install, but if the installation process is anything to gauge it by, Windows 7 is going to be a real hit. Less than half the time to install than Vista or XP. Not one single driver issue! - and this on a machine that is over two years old, with an 80 Gb HDD and less than 2 Gb RAM. Impressive.
Not just impressive, but re-assuring.
I have always considered Microsoft to be first and foremost a company that is expert at legal manoeuvres. Secondly an accomplished marketing company, and a distant third software development company. However, Windows 7 bodes well for both Microsoft and the PC computing community in general.
Let's hope the initial impression becomes a permanent attitude.
Labels: Business, Development, Technology, Windows 7
Comments:
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Mark,
Its great that you were so pleased with Windows 7. There are so many changes and new features with Windows 7 that make it what it is today. To learn more about these feaures and to receive some helpful tips / tricks, head on over to Microsoft Springboard.
http://tinyurl.com/832nco
Jessica
Microsoft TechNet / Springboard
v-jedeen@microsoft.com
Jessica
Microsoft TechNet/Springboard
Post a Comment
Its great that you were so pleased with Windows 7. There are so many changes and new features with Windows 7 that make it what it is today. To learn more about these feaures and to receive some helpful tips / tricks, head on over to Microsoft Springboard.
http://tinyurl.com/832nco
Jessica
Microsoft TechNet / Springboard
v-jedeen@microsoft.com
Jessica
Microsoft TechNet/Springboard
# posted by 
: June 11, 2009 at 12:01 AM
: June 11, 2009 at 12:01 AM 
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