Windows 7, the latest operating system by Microsoft is one of the most awaited products after the dismal performance of Windows Vista and a super success of Windows XP. It has opened to good reviews. This would have definitely given Microsoft a sigh of relief at the grand reception it has received. I have personally started using it and so far it has been good. It has brilliant features and it also uses less memory compared to Vista. This also is more responsive. One of the things that stands out is its customizable task bar wherein you can organize the items. One can drag and drop and reorder and do whatever one wants. One can right click on the desktop and just add a gadget or hide a gadget. Windows media player also plays all types of files. It also comes with IE 8.0 version. It is definitely user friendly and the evidence of that can be seen from the fact that all the major PC makers are scrambling to offer Windows 7 based systems, including Netbooks, as they believe it would spur up the PC sales. However the risk here is the fact that it may be too early to comment on its success since Vista too was rated high and the rest is history.
But as it it is said technology can never be perfect and there are some loopholes with Windows 7 as well. one of the biggest is the lack of upgrade from XP, the operating system which still continues to run on almost 80% world's computers. An user will have to install it fresh. Windows could have given an option of upgrade since XP is a leader and enjoys high market share. This would have made it convenient for the users. Thus users will find hectic to install, reinstall all the softwares and migrate user settings. This may give way to negative PR and backlash.
The reason for Vista's failure was the need for hardware upgrade Windows 7 also needs the same changes and hopefully it may not hurt them this time around since the PC configuration has already seen a jump since Vista days.
User Account Control (AUC) is one more problem for Windows 7 since it is designed to prevent unauthorized execution of code by displaying a pop up whenever a change was made to the system. This annoyed users in case of Vista since it popped not only for third party access but also for changes made by OS. Hopefully that may not happen here.
Pricing is one more factor that may hamper its progress since home basic priced at Rs 5,899 and the high-end-version at Rs 11,799 may not be right that also at a time when spending has taken a backseat. The computer manufactures like HCL, Acer and HP have priced windows 7 enabled systems in the Rs 20,000-80,000 range depending on the product which sounds more reasonable.
The Biggest challenge however will be PIRACY because in markets like India and China the product was available much before the launch at a very cheap price.
Keeping aside all these problems Mr. Steve Ballmer would have high hopes from this new version and will really be hoping to gain the lost ground after Windows Vista failure. I have also kept my fingers crossed for History to not repeat this time.
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