For the last few days I have been evaluating Windows 7 on a Lenovo X300 review unit from Microsoft that was loaded with the PDC pre-beta build 6801. Overall, I am very impressed with the reliability, performance and refinement of Windows 7 at this stage of development. Microsoft has not yet even released a beta build and I’m planning on loading Windows 7 on my primary work laptop as soon as I get home.
Everything I learned about Windows 7 the past few days at various events, sessions and with personal hands-on experience is indicating that Windows 7 is going to be a great release. Why? Because Microsoft is not just working to make Windows easier to use and look pretty with the new Taskbar. They are also committed to fixing or improving the sub-systems of Windows because they understand that the GUI can be perfect but if the engine beneath the glass does not work well then they are going to have another Windows Vista.
Now I have never been a major critic of Windows Vista. I acknowledge that it has faults but with the help of the right tweaks you could make it much more manageable. However, now that I’m using Windows 7 I don’t know how I can ever go back to Vista.
There are a lot of great articles on the web about the new interface features that make Windows easier to use so I’m not going to clog the tubes and write yet another one. Instead, I recommend you check out these articles at Activewin and the new Windows Team Blog.
I decided to take a different approach and write an article that should silent some of the Windows 7 critics that think Microsoft is only tweaking the GUI in Windows 7. Take a look at my article titled Under the Windows 7 Interface to learn about what Microsoft is doing in Windows 7 to improve everything under-the-hood.
