For an operating system that took five years to create, Windows Vista saw its reputation go down in flames quickly. Not since the Microsoft Bob interface in 1995 has anything from the software giant racked up so much contempt and derision. Not every company lives to see the day when its customers beg, plead and create petitions to bring back the previous version of its flagship product.
One thing is certain: It won’t take Microsoft five years to produce the next Windows. The company wants to put Vista behind it as soon as possible. In fact, the next version of Windows is almost here already. It’s called Windows 7, and it’s available as a free download, in not-quite-finished, beta-test form, from Microsoft.
It is not nearly the overhaul that Vista was. In fact, what Microsoft seems to be going for in Windows 7 is “Vista, fixed.”
If you ask the masses what they disliked about Vista you’re likely to get a common set of responses. That list makes a good framework for assessing the prospects of Windows 7, which is expected to arrive within a year.
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It’s naggy and intrusive.
Windows Vista is always popping up warnings and messages, making you wish you could just be left alone. Many of them stem from the much-despised, Orwellian-named User Account Control, or UAC, which is supposed to warn you about virus and spyware.
The trouble is, UAC was too suspicious, demanding your name and password even when you were just making innocent changes, like setting your computer’s clock. In Windows 7, you can tone UAC down. For example, you can eliminate the warnings when you are the one making the changes.
Furthermore, Windows 7 bites its tongue far more often. Ten categories of low-urgency alerts no longer appear as taskbar balloons. Now they get consolidated in a new…