Windows 7 And Snow Leopard: The New OS's Are Coming
The war drums are starting to beat in Redmond and Cupertino, as Microsoft and Apple ready their next generation operating systems; Windows 7 and Snow Leopard respectively. Both will be released this fall with the Snow Leopard scheduled to pounce in September and Win 7 dropping 10/22.
Many have already taken a look at Windows 7 via the betas or the release candidate, the latter is still available for at least a few more days. I’ve been using Windows 7 on both of my laptops since late April. Other than some compatibility issues with older and oddball pieces of software, it’s been smooth sailing. Considering how well Windows Vista, the previous client operating system Microsoft released, went over, that’s saying something.
I was also fortunate enough to be included among the select group of beta testers who were able to certify on Windows 7 during this introductory period, so it's safe to say I've had the chance to get to know the OS as well as anyone outside of Microsoft.
In terms of user experience, Win 7 is Vista done right. It flat out runs better than Vista ever did or will, and as performance was the real deal breaker with Vista, this is a huge consideration. Where Vista spun its wheels (designed for Windows Vista, hah!) regularly on my Dell E1405, Windows 7 sings. Even on my aged 300M ultraportable, 7 runs competently, and this is with a relatively miniscule 1.2 GB of ram and poor video support.
For end users, Windows 7 is not going to be that difficult to get used to, even if you managed to avoid Windows Vista. It’s a different user interface and some features have been reorganized, but ultimately the UI, which was first introduced in Vista, is now well refined. Power users will love jump lists and the reorganized taskbar and system tray, now called "The Notification Area". More novice users will benefit from the reorganized system areas, in particular device manager, which makes it much easier to manipulate all those scanners, cameras, berries, kindlers and other attached devices.
Similarly, Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6) is also something of an incremental upgrade if you were using Leopard (OS 10.5). In fact, Apple is marketing it as a refinement of OS 10.5. Considering that 10.5 was a pretty well developed product, this is a fair assessment.
Perhaps the most important change on the Mac side is under the hood, as 64 bit computing will be fully supported. Grand Central and OpenCL are other hardware oriented improvements that look nifty. Designers and developers in particular should benefit from these features.
Both operating systems will of course be available on new computers once they are released. If you are running Leopard on an Intel based Mac, upgrading will cost you a scant $29. If you are running Tiger on an Intel Mac, the price jumps to $169 as you must pay for the upgrade to Leopard too. Older PowerPC based Macs are not welcome at this particular party though. If you are using one of these, it would seem that Leopard was the last OS release for the platform.
On the Windows side, there are some great upgrade offers available. First of all, nearly any computer sold between now and 10/22 will come with a free upgrade to Windows 7. You will have to register to receive the upgrade disc which usually ships soon after the initial OS launch.
Owners of existing Windows Vista and XP computers can also upgrade of course, and Microsoft is
offering a discount on copies that are preordered between now and July 11th. During this time the Home Premium edition will be priced at $49.99 and the Professional version at $99.99. After that, the price goes up to $120. and $200. respectively.
If you want to upgrade from Windows Vista, check which version you are using and purchase the same Windows 7 version. Upgrading from Vista is simple, but backing up is an important precaution nonetheless. Upgrading from XP is a bit more complicated but backing up is imperative and you will need to reinstall most programs. For XP users, unless you are on a corporate network, the Home Premium edition is probably the right choice, if you use a corporate (domain based) network, the Professional edition is for you.
If you are using Windows Vista, this is an offer that makes a lot of sense to take advantage of as 7 clearly works better and is a recommended upgrade. If you are using XP, the upgrade path is a little more difficult and it makes somewhat less sense. However, if you have multiple XP machines that you would like to get a few more years of use out of, picking up a copy of the upgrade while it is still discounted may turn out to be a worthwhile investment.
Best of all, both Snow Leopard and 7 look like products that are going to deliver for their users. Good news for all.
