Windows 8's newest competition: Windows 7

With the release today of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (read "beta version"), and a final release scheduled for late 2012, the stage is now set for Windows 7 to become a competitor of Windows 8. While, on the other hand, millions of users will continue to use Windows XP arguably till their old computers give out, it is most likely they will have two choices when buying a new PC: either Windows 7 or Windows 8. However, if the goal is to get a tablet PC, then Windows 8 is the operating system to choose, if neither an iPad or an Android system will do for them.

Windows 7 will be there for the long haul, in spite of Windows 8

The launch of the newest iteration of the Windows Operation System, in the form of Windows 8 Consumer Preview ("beta"), is planned for this coming 29 February 2012, during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (talk about leap year and Dragon year, if you believe in auspicious events and good fortune). However, Windows 7 will continue to be the target of the enterprise when it comes to upgrading from, most likely, Windows XP. Here's a page featuring 61 case studies of small business success stories with Windows 7 Professional.

Who is actually using Windows 7?

Other than millions of non-commercial consumers who is actually using Windows 7, enterprise-wise? I have a few examples, noting that the companies mentioned, use a mix of operating systems and not one exclusively.  Pixomondo, an international visual effect company with 10 worldwide studios, runs Thinkbox's Deadline software in Windows 7. Boeing, one of the world's leaders in aerospace technology, deployed Windows 7 Enterprise to its entire work force. BMW, an early adopter of this OS and my distant favorite automobile brand after Audi, is implementing a full deployment for a better remote management and a more productive mobile workforce. Maybe they have a nice job for me...

Want to run Windows 7 in legacy hardware?

There's a way, with one of the Microsoft Desktop Virtualization solutions, and it's called Microsoft Windows Thin PC (WinTPC). However, it's only available to Software Assurance (SA) volume licensing customers, in other words, for business purposes. Windows Thin PC has been developed using the Windows Embedded Standard 7 codebase, which in turn has been derived from the proven Windows 7 platform.

End of the free ride, which was really worth it!

I guess the days of Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) are coming to an end. If you see something like this, or if your computer shuts down every two hours...

Time to shell out some well earned cash...

The free ride on Windows 7 for a lot of folks, including myself, in the form of Windows 7 RC, will come to an end this month. It has started already little by little by shutting your system every two hours since March 1 and it will cease to work on June 1. How do you like that? You have 3 choices: One: Shell out some money and buy an upgrade to Windows 7 (it's worthy, absolutely). Two: keep using your greasy, moldy old Windows XP (or 2000, or XP). Three: do what other cluelessly smart or smartly clueless people do and go for Linux. This last choice will guarantee that you will have to re-learn what you already know about how to use personal computers, while dealing with cryptic, geeky names for everything from command line instructions to names of simple desktop applications... Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather go for choice number one. That is it. The number one choice: Windows 7. And I don't mind paying for it. I make a living with computers, which are my tools. Shouldn't you pay for the tools of your trade? You, Mr. Electrician, do you expect not to pay for your tools? Unless you don't mean business, you can use tools that cost you nothing. Period. I will get a copy of Windows 7 for my current PC, running Vista for 2 years now, and I would get Windows 7 64-bit in my new laptop computer, arriving soon to my doorstep...!

The road to success is already paved

Unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 was installed in many computers, both in beta versions and as release candidate (RC), before its actual commercial launch, and the fact that consumers and corporations really liked it is a sign of the wide acceptance of Windows 7. It is yet to be seen if the rate of acceptance and adoption in the corporate world will increase during the coming months and years. The fact that some will not easily jump into this news OS it is more a reflection to the attachment to the traditional, that is not broken and needs no fixing, than to the actual prowess and promise of Windows 7 as an OS for this new century now on the same playing field of Apple Macs and Linux desktops.

Windows 7 is here! Whether you like it or not...

There are "communicators" who make a living (!) repeating what they read somewhere by someone who did the same, who in turn, read it, heard it some other place, without having a real knowledge of the matter, like, for example, actually USING the product for a while, not just in passing. I came across, for instance, a moronic headline thought out to drive an audience of unsuspecting readers: Windows 7: Our Long National Vista Nightmare Is Over This article begs the questions what "nightmare"? whose "nightmare"? what is over?... and this "expert" does not even bother to explain what he meant to say with "nightmare". Slipshod. Examples abound. Google it, or Bing it!
But to make things more interesting I am surprised to hear that "I run a Windows 7 desktop as my primary home system" coming from Jason Perlow (who usually likes to praise Linux over Windows), explaining why he can never be exclusive to Linux and Open Source on the desktop. Enjoy the new season and the new Windows 7 Operating System. I am enjoying both!

Windows 7 increasing adoption: there must be a reason

From what I've read on the Web and sometimes in the printed press, Windows 7 has gotten a great reception from all camps, namely, users of previous Windows versions and, interestingly enough, some (may be a few, may be a good number) Apple and Linux users. Notice that when I say "adoption" I don't mean to say "switching to". I can easily adopt Linux and Apple, if need be, since I can see their own obvious merits. I came across an interesting comment by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, aka The PC Doctor, a heavy user of different systems and OSes, in which he shares that his default OS is Windows (does not state which one, though), but simply because Windows is the most widespread OS and that it would take for the rest of the world to switch to Linux in order for him to follow suit. Adrian's attitude is simply "I’ve got better things to do with my day that to become a cheerleader for one corporation or another." Same here, though you may think why do I have a Windows 7 (and also a Windows Vista) blog. Well, simply because I "adopted" them as my everyday primary PC tools, after using Windows XP, 2000, 95, 3.1, DOS and my first computer experience: Apple Macintosh (beautiful machine and OS, I have to say).

The great new Nokia Booklet 3G comes with Windows 7

Unveiled at the annual Nokia World 2009 in Stuttgart, Germany, this past week, this mini-laptop (or "netbook"), less than one inch thick, runs up to 12 hours on a battery, has built-in 3G and Wi-Fi, and among many other features, it comes preloaded with Windows 7. With this bold move of choosing an operating system that even before its official launch is already a success, Nokia is meeting finally the challenge posed by Apple and Blackberry, as the mobile phone and the computer industries move towards convergence. The Nokia Booklet 3G includes Ovi, the global brand for Nokia's Internet services, a powerful way to access and create content and services from a mobile device, desktop computer or via the Web. The promotional video, neat, evocative, for this beautiful mini-laptop is not to be missed...

Windows 7 on shelves: 22 October 2009

Much earlier than previously announced, January 2010, that is, three months, Windows 7 will be available for the general public on shelves this coming 22 October, but IT professionals, developers and other folks closer to the action, will get their hands on Windows 7 RTM already this summer. Read more here. Brandon LeBlanc, from The Windows Blog explains in detail who gets what and when.

Windows 7 RC hiding in plain sight...

...at the Enterprise Developer and Solutions Conference, on May 5 and 6, in New York. Cloud Computing in the Enterprise (Azure), Application Life Cycle Management and Creating Impact with Silverlight, WPF and Surface, were the main subjects of this event in which some of the sessions, if not all, were presented using Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) and nobody bothered to mention the fact, I noticed. In the meantime, to see if the changes and fixes of the Beta version are working as expected try Windows 7 RC.

"Sorry, Windows 7 beta downloads are no longer available!"

And the deadline to download was today at 12 am Pacific Time... If you did not download the ISO image file (7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso) to burn your DVD and install Window 7, then you will not be able to do it. It was indeed a great opportunity to get your hands on this new software marvel. You can still get only the Product Key, though, in case you've got the file and have not installed...

While some still wander around the past, Windows 7 is in the making

Yes, it's the successor of Windows Vista, to be released in 2010, based on the Vista and Windows Server 2008 engine. [By the way, I'm also running Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition]. If you remember, Windows 3.1 came out in 1992 and then Windows 95 (Windows 4.0) and if I'm not mistaking, 2000 and XP were Windows 5.0. Windows Vista is Version 6.0.6001 (the one running in the PC I use to write this blog), says the DOS console after executing the "ver" command. Looking forward. (This post was just a side note in my personal endeavor of promoting Windows Vista).