Firstly I’m going to be honest, I’m a mac fanboy. I love my MacBook Pro and the Operating System (OS) it comes with but I was also really interested to see first hand what the upcoming version of Windows was like. Whilst Microsoft have only allowed normal users (not in their developer network) to download this legally since last Friday (09/01/2009) there has been dodgy versions on BitTorrent for a while but I’m a patient kinda chap.
I haven’t really used Windows Vista (they’re current operating system) much and find it very different from Windows XP (and not in a good way). Large companies such as Intel are refusing to upgrade their computers to Vista and along with a number of users want to hold out till the next OS update in the hope it will fix the many reported problems.
Windows 7 is still in Beta, which for the uninitiated means in the final stages of development but still containing bugs (try telling that to Google). Beta software isn’t meant for the end user and is normally restricted to members of a developers network who want to either use the beta to ensure their applications work in Windows 7 or to help find and fix bugs. Microsoft seems to be using this as a marketing offensive to prove that they have a capable new OS in the pipeline and allay peoples fears that this is going to be as bad as Vista. It certainly has to be the smoothest Beta experience I’ve ever had, with still no crashes or other glitches. Microsoft have a lot to prove and they seem to be doing an all right job at it so far.