After the underwhelming success of Windows Vista, Microsoft has a new version of Windows ready to go. JOHN HARRIS takes a first look.

Microsoft is on track to release its latest version of Windows by the end of this year.
Starting with Windows 2 in 1988, I reckon I've used a dozen different versions of Windows during the past two decades: Windows 3 & 3.1; Windows for Workgroups; Win NT 3.51 and 4; Windows 95, 98 and Millennium; and Windows 2000, XP and Vista.

So, I was keen to have a look at my 13th version - oddly dubbed Windows 7 – mainly because I’ve not enjoyed the experience of using Vista on my notebook.

To avoid a deluge of post-release bugs, Microsoft is offering a free public download of the Windows 7 Release Candidate software from www.windows7.com. Once installed, the software will run until March next year.

Dutifully, I downloaded the ISO install software, burned it to a bootable DVD and told my purpose-built Windows 7 test computer to boot from the DVD.

Nothing happened. Despite a series of emails to a Microsoft technical wizard and dropping it into my friendly computer store, my PC would not load Windows 7.

Eventually I solved the problem by burning the DVD with another program, Active ISO Burner, and configuring the computer's BIOS to boot only from the DVD. After that, loading the operating system     was quick and easy.

Visually, Windows looks a look like Vista, but runs much faster. The proviso is I have no third party programs loaded yet, so it's like a tidy house with no people.

A nice feature is themed slideshows that make the desktop wallpaper image change every few minutes. While I'm talking about eye candy, Windows 7 extends the rich Aero graphical appearance introduced by Vista, but with better performance.  For example, dragging a window to the top of the screens snaps it to full-screen mode.

Configuring Windows 7 is easy although the Control Panel lacks the "classic view" option that was a sop to us oldies in previous versions.

My main problem is driver incompatibility – to be expected with pre-release software. Drivers are the little bits of software that tell a bit of the computer how to work, in my case, the sound card and the network adaptor.

Oddly, my network driver worked perfectly well with the Windows 7 beta software, so the Release Candidate code has taken two steps forward and one step back.

Windows 7 looks promising, but these are early days: If you have tried it out, let me know your experience by email to jharris@impress.com.au. John Harris is managing director of Impress Media Australia. You can visit his website at www.johnharris.net.au.

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