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Windows 7 Drops: Microsoft Is Back

Redmond can be proud of its new OS: Pogue

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 22, 2009 7:41 AM CDT

(Newser) – At last, you can put your Vista woes behind you. Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, which drops today, takes what's good about its predecessor—especially security and good looks—and eliminates the parts that drove users bonkers. Windows 7 isn't just substantially faster and more compatible with users' machines, it also dumps Vista's awful habit of "freaking out about every potential security threat," David Pogue finds.

Instead of the "alarmist" dialog boxes that popped up in Vista for even the most trifling actions, Windows 7 collates all warnings into a quiet "Action Center." It sure isn't perfect; you'll need good antivirus software, and it comes with almost no programs, not even an email client. Still, "Windows 7 is mostly great news," especially if you're in the market for a new computer at the holidays.

[Images (3)]

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Windows 7 is a substantial improvement on its predecessor, says David Pogue. (AP Photo/Microsoft Corp., file)

A computer running the Windows 7 operating system, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009, in Redmond, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

A screenshot of Windows 7, which was released today. (©Infodad)

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Windows 7 represents a departure from Microsoft’s usual 'success is measured by the length of the feature list' philosophy. This time around, it was, 'Polish, optimize and streamline what we’ve already got.'
- David Pogue

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 29 comments

psycada

Oct 23, 2009 2:39 AM CDT

Fully Integrated Multi-Touch capabilities. We have had dablings into touch screen for the past few OSs from MS, but full touchscreen support will make it infinitely easier for regular consumers to transition to touch screen input devices, which will help drive the price down drastically. Not sure if how well MAC or Linux implement this so far, but I think it will be huge the company with 90% market share has made this standard from here out.

Forderon

Oct 23, 2009 2:26 AM CDT

XP til I die!

AClotfelter

Oct 22, 2009 10:26 AM CDT

"Reinstalling *the same* version of Windows (Win2000) from scratch was more difficult than changing to Linux (Ubuntu) for me. That is what catalyzed my switch." I don't know what to say to that...

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Windows 7 Drops: Microsoft Is Back