First look at Windows 7's User Interface

Microsoft has given Ars Technica a first glimpse as Windows 7. The taskbar has changed significantly, and there are a number of other changes they have screenshots of.

[Darkiewonder]

Memory hog? We'll see.

[likeaboss302]

I'm looking forward to Windows 7. I think this will be the OS that puts MS back on track. Vista is actually pretty good now with driver support and stability however the early blunders pretty much made it impossible to shake the negative rep in the general publics mind.

I do like the modified Vista look going on as well.

[reaferfore20]

I think I'm going to downgrade to Windows 98 when 7 comes out just for sh1ts and giggles.

[MaximusPrime]

hmmm... even though it looks good, im not sure this will convince me to stay with Windows.

I had enough of Windows and plans to move on to iMac.

[DJ]

About a month or two more, and I'll have enough for the Mac Pro. Nice GUI enhancements, but it's really the System Requirements that are important. Mac OS interface is just so much cleaner.

[Raptura]

I moved to Mac in September this year and a couple days ago I installed Windows XP on my Mac and I hate it! After using Mac OS X for so a while, I totally prefer it.

[uie4rhig]

i have already moved to linux as my main OS.. i only do the games on XP and some on Vista (those that support Dx10) i have got them on tripleboot so no complaints from me :).. i have actually noticed that Vista is much MUCH better if you turn off UAC.. still eats resources but pretty good..

about WIndows 7.. i think it'll copy more linux and mac os features.. so don't hold your breath for it..

[comm13]

Once you move to mac You will hate windows with a passion, I don't touch it for anything.

[badz149]

are u saying that Mac has the ability to brainwash their users? wow...that's scary!

[Millah]

I've been using Macs for ten years now long before they became hip and popular, this was back when Apple was literally bankrupt and Steve Jobs just came back to Apple. I still have my 1st gen iMac, this was before even OSX came out and they were running OS9. I've been running both systems though only because I play PC games so I'm pretty much forced to...

I remember when OSX first came out and I used it for the first time, I was absolutely blown away. Remember this was back in 2001, so you can't really understand how much of a breakthrough it was back then. I mean this was during the Windows 98/ME era before XP, so OSX was a real milestone. Its funny because even today people are still amazed when they see OSX for the first time...imagine seeing that back in 2001 when you're coming from Windows 98 and OS9, it was a complete revolution, and from that point on I knew Apple really had something big and they got their mojo back with Steve Jobs back at the company....I just knew they would become really big and successful once again, so I bought a lot of stock back then for 10/share, and turns out I was right :)

[Premonition]

I'll be getting an iMac sometime early next year im gonna try and hold out till they have pre-installed snow leopard on it :)

[Blackfrican]

Oregon Trail!!!!

[Cra1g]

Uh-guh-lee!

GUI pretty much looks like Vista with a just a few major changes. Taskbar looks horrid in my opinion. Hopefully they'll fix the resource hog problem.

[uie4rhig]

actually i thought that looked pretty good.. tho they should make the icons smaller and the taskbar smaller as well.. while keeping the Windows Orb the same size.. so that it will come out of the taskbar like vista's does..

[Tony P]

Well, I have no idea if this was submitted to N4G or know how to check that. But this PC World Article covers quite a bit more ground. Including how MS will address memory woes.

http://www.pcworld.com/arti...

[TheIneffableBob]

I thought the same about Vista as first, but now I really like it. I can't go back to XP because of how dated the UI is.

[Raptura]

I like how they copied the Se7en from the movie called that..

[riksweeney]

I wonder if they're suggesting that Windows Se7en will also be horrifying.

[killalot100]

if they add a game mode im in but i think i heard its going to take up the same amount of resource as vista. to tell u the truth i think this is vista just reworked to they can shake off the negative press they have. i like vista now and i cant go back to xp but i mostly use ubuntu now when i am not gaming.

[theEnemy]

I hope its fast.

[DJ]

If they're smart, they'll only release one version of Windows 7 instead of the 4 SKUs we saw with Vista.

[Sarick]

I agree but why would they do that when they can sell an ultimate edition for almost 50% more.

I think what I just read in the PC-Mag article says that they'll be moving most of the basic added features to windows live downloads. If this is what I'm thinking the OS will start off as Win7 basic by default with the extra features disabled or not installed. Customers can upgrade features they want by enabling portions of the OS.

This will be much like the gaming trend where you buy a game and get downloadable content at a price. I'm sure when MS decided to attach a big $250+ sticker on Vista ultimate they assumed most people would recognize all the added features value even with the high price. Instead it bloated the OS and gave people limited bundled choices and forces to pay for everything just to get one two features only available at the same time on ultimate. There isn't really an opportunity to buy the features you wanted and exclude the ones you don't want.

One of the problems I had was that I wanted a basic OS to surf the web with minor bloated features. I did however want some of the features like media center and the full drive image backup. To use full PC backup this I'd need windows busyness or ultimate. With busyness I'd lose media center.

Premium included media center but no full backup. Busyness included full backup but no media center. ONLY ultimate included both but the price was also doubled and included stuff I didn't want or need.

That would push me into buying ultimate and paying for features I don't want like aero interface, remote desktop, domain join, bitlocker encryption, windows meeting space, tablet and touch technology, and the multilinual user interface.

If we don't need it why should we have to pay for it in bundled deals. I want to customize my OS and only pay for what I want. Linux dose this very well for free why can't windows do the same. If I want full PC backup and media center I shouldn't have to buy the ultimate package to get both at the same time, especially if I don't want all the other features that add to the overall cost of the product.

This is also why Vista is a resource hog. It's because it's installing things we don't need. The whole multiple SKU's seems to be a marketing move to push people to buy stuff they don't want by using the stuff that they do want as bait.

[DevastationEve]

This is where we agree. Even Vista Home Premium, for how revolutionary it really is shouldn't be just one of the pack. How can you tout new features like full drive encryption or media center and then make versions of your OS that DON'T have it.

Vista should have been JUST one version.

[gauravraw]

From a gamer's perspective -- main problem of Vista is that it takes hell lot of RAM unlike XP (SP3 makes it even better). I hope they fix it with Windows 7.

[steve30x]

Its been reported that Windows 7 is just Vista reworked. I dont mind that too much once they make it a bit faster and less resource hogging. Also a game mode would be nice but they said it wont be done because of the way people use their computers differently. They said they wont do a gaming mode because of application compatibility. Its laziness in their part I think.

[Darkseider]

FTW! Mac OS X comes in a really close second ;) In reality both Mac OS X and Linux as far as usability, security and stability are far more superior to Windows Vista, Windows 7 and to an extent even Windows XP. So much has been done in such a short time with both these operating systems that Windows is becoming less and less a factor in what OS to use for everyday productivity. Sadly OS X is only available on Macs and Linux is only available by default from Dell. If Apple were to make OS X available to the x86 running public as well as Linux being pre-installed options on more than Dell it would be a nicer world to compute in.

[Sgt_Bon3head]

You can install the Leopard OS on any PC now. Its called Hackintosh. Google it...

[Blades08]

I agree, Apple should open the OS to other PC hardware platforms. I think they would make some serious money. From my understanding there is something in the OS instruction code and something in a Mac bios that prevents any PC hardware platform to do so. If you really want to run a Mac OS on a PC system you have to really hack the system to do so, basically a pain. I really would like to use the OS because it's more secure and is Linux based but not really buy a Mac to do so (it's too expensive since Apple does not run deals like PC manufacturers).

Edit: 10.1 thanks, I looked at the site, I'll look into it more to see what I need to do to get my laptop on Leopard, to bad apple doesn't have a tablet so I can try it on my Vista Tablet. Here is a link to all compatible PC platforms that can run 10.5.2 before you even try.

http://wiki.osx86project.or...

[wibble]

Yep, it's just Vista with a new name.

If people also don't like Windows 7 then MS will tell us that they've secretly been working on Windows 8 behind the scenes and will release that a few months later.

It's win win for Microsoft because whenever people don't like their new OS then it becomes an opportunity to resell it again with a new name.

So they'll be hoping that we all totally hate Windows 7. haha

They've got us all by the balls.

[moe84]

"7", looks good. We shall see what M.soft does with it.

[Somnus]

They spell it "Se7en"? WHAT'S IN THE BOOOOOX!?!

[Kyur4ThePain]

Nice one.

[wibble]

hahaha

[FailStation3]

vista is the best.

[Boty]

Im going to disagree, but I respect your opinion. I love XP! And I like Vista!

Windows 7 looks really cool! I can't wait for this to come out! I can't wait for Direct-X 11 to come out along with all of Intel's new processors! And Nvidia's new Cards! I still think the 280 is the best though!

[Lord Anubis]

"While windows 7 doesn't undo these architectural changes—they were essential for the long-term health of the platform—it equally hasn't made any more. Any hardware or software that works with Windows Vista should also work correctly with Windows 7, so unlike the transition from XP to Vista, the transition from Vista to 7 won't show any regressions; nothing that used to work will stop working.

So, rather than low-level, largely invisible system changes, the work on Windows 7 has focused much more on the user experience. The way people use computers is changing; for example, it's increasingly the case that new PCs are bought to augment existing home machines rather than replacement, so there are more home networks and shared devices. Business users are switching to laptops, with the result that people expect to seamlessly use their (Domain-joined) office PC on their home network. "

so it's pretty much vista with a new GUI or as they call it user experience.

[m0sand]

Is it just me or hmm.. Have I seen that desktop before? I mean, I recall hearing something about KDE 4 ? and maybe an application named NetworkManager that lives in the tray that actually look exactly like that? ;o Well.. Okay:)

[The-Truth]

FAIL!

iMac thanks.....

[Amnesiac]

Anyone looking for a CODW@W PC beta code? PM ME

[FBl]

It sounds worse than Vista

[nonAsianDroid]

sounds worse than sony's operating system...ohhhh wait.

[pshizle]

will be more stable and faster than vista

[ofx360]

Vista isn't bad. I dang sure use to be but now... Its pretty good.

[thereapersson]

It's a shame that a lot of programs that I use aren't MAC friendly...

[thehitman]

I think Vista received extremely to much heat. Yea MS shouldve made sure that more drivers were ready for it upon release but most of the problems were with old programs on a new piece of software and I dont see how windows 7 will make much of a difference 2-3 years down the road. People will be downplaying windows 7 and praising vista like what happened with all windows versions when they come out.

[robotnik]

I hope they don't expect us to upgrade our computers to use a OS like they did with Vista.

[thehitman]

was not built to run on old technology. Ofc you will need upgrade your pc if your using new technology. Like trying to run a ps3 game on a ps2.

[josh14399]

mac is better hands down. the only thing mac fails at is gaming but thats what consoles are for.

[Blades08]

You can use BootCamp to install Vista or XP on a MAC but you still need a Mac with good gaming specs so expect to spend money. Macs and PCs use the same hardware the only difference is the OS. Once you have a good spec'ed Mac and Vista or XP then you can play any game made for XP or Vista. The Mac is a simpler system and fits most people's needs, Vista is more flexible and allows for more configurations so you can do more, the only problem with that is you get more errors and problems.

[Blades08]

Did anyone thing they were going to scrap Vista? Windows 7 is new features built on Vista, 7 even looks like Vista minus some new user interfaces. I personally haven't had any issues with Vista and found it more stable then XP (I use Vista SP1 32 bit on my notebook and tablet notebook). I want to use the 64-bit version one day but drivers and software support aren't there like with the 32-bit version. I guess the intial Vista pre-SP1 blew chunks and left a bad impression. Windows 7 seems more like that MS Mojaive Project Commerical, where people were using Vista but thought it was a new OS called Mojaive and like it, now it's call Windows 7.

[Zyklon-Breath]

Looks great, but "Windows Se-seven-en"?

[AuToFiRE]

*sniff sniff* smell that? it kinda smells like..windows fails

[ForROME]

I digg it, good job MS Im a vista lover, other than driver support in the beggining it was a nice OS now that its caught up, Its savy. W7 looks clean.

[DevastationEve]

I never had issues with Vista, actually I might go as far as to say that it was a welcome change. But the experience I got from UPGRADING to it wasn't all that great. nVidia didn't have any Vista compatible nForce2 drivers back then (and still doesn't) so it became unintuitive to replace my fully functional and still completely operational xp install.

However their support has gone up and stability is there. And Aero is really pretty. I've given up on PC gaming and would see more use out of my GPU coming from the OS and other programs more than in an actual game. That's what we buy consoles for! I'll still play the occasional UT3 or COD4, but that's because K/M is still the best you'll ever get for 1stPS.

Vista's not bad at all. It's just that in this world of "customer satisfaction", when the people say there is something wrong with your product you have to forget everything YOU think is right with it and see things THEIR way. Or lose the customer.