This is the third blog in the series written by one of my employees on his experiences in switching to Windows 7 from Windows Vista. Read  Part 1 and Part 2.

“I have been using Windows 7 for about two weeks now and I think that it is much better than any previous version of Windows. I have heard people say that this is what Windows Vista should have been or this is just an improved version of Vista. But I will differ. Just because this version of Windows looks a lot like Vista does not make it a better Vista. Every new generation of software brings learning from the past and incorporates new  advances in technology. The same is the case with Windows 7.There are many things that I think make it different:

1. Installation – I have discussed this in detail in the first two parts of my blog. Suffice to say that this is so far the easiest and the fastest Windows OS to install and configure (everything was automatic for me and was completed in less than 15 minutes)
2. Speed – This is one thing that has impressed me the most. It takes less than 15 seconds for me to boot my machine and log in. Shutdown is even faster. There is a perceptible difference in speed when it comes to copying large files from one drive to the another or from the network. It is significantly faster.
3. Taskbar – The first thing that you will notice when you login for the first time is a bigger taskbar. You can now pin the programs that you use the most right on the taskbar and you can have one click access to those programs. Right-clicking on a program on the taskbar will show you all the recently opened files related to that program (called Jump Lists) making it much easier to navigate and work with files. Another neat feature is a bigger preview window as compared to Vista. This bigger preview helps you to choose easily when you have to switch between windows.
4. Resizing Windows – For software to be exciting to a large audience of people (90% of all PCs worldwide run Windows) it has to do many interesting things. Resizing windows in Windows 7 falls into that category. Just drag a window to the top edge of the screen and it maximizes itself automatically. Dragging a screen to the left or right edge of the screen resizes the screen size automatically so that you can compare content in two windows easily.
5. View Desktop – Another cool trick in this release especially meant for users who have gadgets on their desktop. Earlier, one had to minimize all open windows before one could see the desktop. Now all you have to do is to drag the mouse to the bottom left corner of his screen. All open windows become transparent and the desktop comes into view. To minimize all windows, simply click on the bottom left corner.
6. Internet Explorer 8 – Windows 7 comes pre-installed with the latest version of Internet Explorer, IE 8.  Day to day tasks like searching, blogging, emailing are much more easier with this version of Internet Explorer. Read more about it here.
7. Application Compatibility – This is such an important and useful feature that I will repeat verbatim from my earlier posting : 'Windows 7 comes with a cool new trick of making older applications work on the new OS using the 'Troubleshoot compatibility' feature. All you need to do is to right click the installer and then select the version of Windows for which that software is known to run. The  options range from Windows Vista SP2/SP1, Windows Sever2003 SP1, Windows XP SP3/SP2, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows 98, Windows 95 and Windows NT SP4. Windows 7 will install that software in a manner as if it was being installed on the selected version of OS. I installed all the other software that I use including QlikView, Perforce, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live and Intercall using this method (Vista compatibility mode). So far, I haven’t had any issues with any of them and they have worked perfectly.'
8. Device Management – This version of windows is pretty smart. I had to configure a network printer on my Windows 7 machine and it automatically detected all the printers on the network correctly.   Without prompting for any input, it installed the drivers for the printer I selected. All the different devices I attach to my laptop (card, camera, printer, mouse, fax machine) can easily be managed from one place now (Devices and Printer Management Window).

There are many other features that I have heard about in Windows 7 including rich touch capabilities but I do not have the hardware to use those features. Overall, I am pretty satisfied with Windows 7 and I will definitely update it by the time it is released to the market (sometime before the holiday season). Whether this becomes a big revenue success for Microsoft is a matter of another discussion altogether.”