That is, Microsoft's new release, arriving in stores and on new computers Thursday, ought to turn the troubled Vista into a bad memory. But it shouldn't make people forget about Apple's Mac OS X.
The primary reward 7 offers to Vista users who shell out for the upgrade -- $119.99 to go from Vista's Home Premium edition to 7 Home Premium -- is better performance.
In particular, 7 upgraders should see their computers win back some free memory (about 200 megabytes' worth, going by the figures in Windows' Task Manager tool on an HP and Dell laptop) and disk space (about 7 gigabytes even when upgraded to 7's overpriced Ultimate edition, the only kind provided by Microsoft's PR firm). Their computers may start up and shut down faster, although the HP took as long as ever to boot up.
Windows 7 also disciplines Vista's most annoying feature, the "User Account Control" dialog that asks you to confirm that you really want the computer to perform a given task, just in case a virus is trying to take over the system. You'll still get hit with a "UAC" prompt when you install a program, but you should no longer see it during such routine actions as joining a new wireless network.
On its desktop, 7 introduces a new, Mac-like version of the taskbar on the bottom of the screen. Here, the old rectangular taskbar buttons have been condensed to squares that can be rearranged and can point both to open programs and ones you use often -- much like Mac OS X's Dock.
On its desktop, 7 introduces a new, Mac-like version of the taskbar on the bottom of the screen. Here, the old rectangular taskbar buttons have been condensed to squares that can be rearranged and can point both to open programs and ones you use often -- much like Mac OS X's Dock.
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