It's true: Windows 7 will drive the single biggest renaissance in Windows application design since the debut of Windows 95 nearly 15 years ago.
I came to this conclusion while perusing the updated Windows User Experience Interaction Guidelines recently released by Microsoft in anticipation of the Windows 7 launch. As I pored over the various examples of Jump List variations and animated Taskbar icon overlays, it struck me just how much the Windows UI has evolved with Windows 7. For the first time in recent memory, I'm actually excited at the prospect of seeing how third-party developers exploit the myriad new conventions.
[ Read the Test Center review of Windows 7 RTM. Follow these seven steps to better Windows 7 security. ]
It wasn't always this way. Windows Vista revamped the UI's look and feel, but the changes were mostly skin deep: new dialog layouts, some tweaked button/control designs, and of course Aero glass. Windows XP was likewise a yawner when it came to UI innovation. There were some new wizards and an updated visual skin (which was somewhat accurately described as having been "drawn in crayon"), but nothing that changed how you interacted with applications at a fundamental level.
Contrast these non-examples with Windows 7 and you begin to see why this Windows version may have the same kind of lasting impact that its long-ago progenitor once enjoyed in 1995. Back then, the concept of a "push button application switcher" (the Taskbar) was entirely new, as were the equally innovative Start menu and notification tray. Application developers practically tripped over themselves to exploit these innovations and to take advantage of Windows 95's 32-bit execution model. I predict a similar flurry of activity around Windows 7 as developers retrofit their offerings to provide the expected level of UI "freshness."
Of course, not all is sunshine and roses with Windows 7. There's a real chance that these new UI conventions will simply widen the chasm that separates XP users from the current state of the art. The thought that you might need to upgrade your applications in order to fully realize Windows 7's usability benefits might be enough to give IT shops pause. In fact, the new UI may ultimately prove to be a liability as recalcitrant organizations latch onto it as yet another excuse not to upgrade. The old "retraining" bugaboo still has legs, especially in a struggling economy.
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Download now »Yup. And Windows Vista wasn't much of a first impression, with its very expensive hardware upgrade requirements, very expensive application upgrade requirements, and bugs and UI quirks and everything moved all around.
Contrary to Microsoft and their legions of worshipful followers, many people learn by rote and are comfortable (to some degree) with XP because IT WORKS FOR THEM and they've learned it by rote. You and I have the abstract thought capabilities to pick up Vista, Windows 7, Linux, Mac, and others without too much, if any, trouble. But for many people, moving to Vista on an existing computer empties their wallets and makes their current rote-learned knowledge obsolete.
And since Windows 7 ISN'T EVEN FORMALLY OUT YET, your arrogantly used term "XP fence sitters" should go back up the dark hole where it came from. Early GOLD releases of Vista to the public is the bad first impression that people see, and unless they buy a new computer they aren't going to jump from XP to Vista which costs them money but doesn't retain their rote-learned knowledge.
I actually had a chance to use recent Vista build and it was impressed. Though the owner of that machine was still struggling to re-learn everything he knew from using his former Windows XP computer. But when it comes to making a conscious decision to upgrade to Vista, the first impression is the one that sticks in people's minds.
And your insulting remarks to them won't shame them into upgrading.
Yes, most people don't like change. That's human nature. If you condemn people for not wanting to change what works, then you are alienating nearly the entire human race.
Windows XP was a friendlier version of Windows 2000. It seemed that Windows 2000 was used mostly by businesses, as they were sick and tired of the warmed-over garbage that was Windows ME/98/95 in a multi-tasking networked environment. If someone can fill me in on why XP took off in the home when its somewhat-less-friendly Windows 2000 older brother didn't, I'd be curious to know.
And regardless of how much better the latest release of Vista is or how much better Windows 7 is, the following facts remain:
Ew, it lost all my line-breaks! Sorry, here's a cleaner HTML-formatted repost:
Yes, and where's OS/2 today? With Windows, I've unintentionally discovered that I upgrade every other generation, and rightfully so: they foul up every other major release in a product line.
As a user of Windows 7 since the RC's public release, I've been completely satisfied with it. I can't stand Vista, and I've been using XP all this time. Now that I use 7 at home, it's difficult to use XP at work as I've grown accustomed to the new UI and shortcuts. It takes some re-training to be sure, but once you're over that hurdle, productivity skyrockets with jump lists and the like, especially if you're the type to use multiple applications simultaneously.
Also, I've noticed that Windows 7 runs much faster than XP as well, though that's not without biasing factors: I've gone from 32-bit to 64-bit, and 3GB available RAM (32-bit addressable limit in XP) to 6GB. Also, my XP installation is several years old, whereas the 7 installation is only a couple months (obviously).
To those who are opposing 7 in principle, try using it first by downloading/installing the RC (on a new partition, dual-booting) if you haven't already. Give it an honest chance. You might be surprised. 7 was a hard sell on me too, but it's been nothing but good to me thus far. You're probably going to have some software incompatibilities at first (just like every major operating system release, not just Vista/7. XP suffered from the same problem at launch), but many software vendors are being proactive this time around and updating their applications before the GA release (e.g., Daemon Tools - I had to use PowerISO for a while for my disk image mounting, but now Daemon Tools is updated and works perfectly).
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