Microsoft’s approach to its new operating system, Windows 7, is simple and straightforward. Excerpts from the article Windows 7: A Sight for Sore Users state:
“In a shameless borrowing from Apple’s OS X, a greatly simplified taskbar at the bottom of the Windows screen now shows a single icon for every program you have open.”23
“One simple option lets you ‘pin’ an icon to the taskbar so that it is always available to be launched.”23
With Windows 7, Microsoft avoided any major changes in the operating system’s core code to escape Vista-like compatibility issues. The article further states, “it will be fairly easy to upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista, something that has not been true for a new Microsoft operating system for many years.” However, any upgrades from Microsoft XP will not be supported.23
Microsoft is focused on improving its current operating system, not necessarily replacing it. “The operating system…tries very hard to please users by addressing some of the biggest gripes people have had about Vista.” Windows 7 “[aims] specifically to get the operating system out of your way so you can work without distractions.”24
Windows 7 is also designed to keep its users from being overwhelmed by a cluttered display. A section of the article, Windows 7 Makes Good on Vista, reports: "One area in which Windows 7 makes a dramatic improvement over Vista or Windows XP is display management. Previous iterations of Windows could handle multidisplay setups at a basic level, but [most users]found [they] needed to add third-party software solutions to be able to manage and customize the monitor the way [they] like. With the Windows 7 taskbar, Microsoft removed some of the distinction between running and dormant applications. From an icon in the taskbar, users can launch a dormant application or view and select from open windows if the application is already running. As with Vista, users can hover the cursor over the taskbar icons to display thumbnails of open windows and dialog boxes for that particular application."25
Overall, Windows 7 is a dramatic improvement of Vista, not a replacement. With less clutter and useless applications, it aims to simplify the operating system and make it more user-friendly. The video below highlights some of the key differences between Windows 7 and Vista.
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