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Vista users merely need to back up their data before choosing the Upgrade option from the install disc. Custom will have the same effect as a clean install, although it'll save your old data in a folder called Windows. Once you choose Custom, you'll need to select the partition of your hard drive that contains Windows XP, and then follow the instructions to enter your product key and allow the computer to reboot as needed.
If you're not sure if your current computer can run Windows 7, you can download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor from Microsoft. Features: Taskbar and Aero Peek Although the look of Windows 7 may seem to be nothing more than some polish applied liberally to the Vista Aero theme, make no mistake: This is a full replacement operating system, and more than just "Vista done right. The first thing that should stand out is the new taskbar.
This is one of the best improvements Microsoft has made--third-party program dock makers are going to have to do some serious innovation when Windows 7 goes public. Besides incorporating the translucent style of Aero, the new taskbar is arguably even better than the Mac OS X dock. It features pinned programs using large, easy-to-see icons.
Mouse over one and all windows associated with that program appear in preview. Mouse over one of those preview panes to reveal an X to close the window. Hover over the preview to show a full-size preview of the program, or click on the window to bring it to the front.
Because of the button size, people with touch screens should find it especially easy to use. Jump lists are another new taskbar improvement that make recently opened documents easier to get to. Right-click or left-click and drag on any program icon pinned to the taskbar to see a list of files that you've recently used in that program.
In Internet Explorer, this will show recently visited Web sites, although it doesn't yet seem to work in Firefox. If you've noticed the missing Show Desktop icon, that's because it's been baked into the taskbar itself.
Mouse over to the right corner. Hovering over the Show Desktop box reveals the desktop, and then hides it when you mouse away. Click on the box to minimize all your programs. Resizing programs has been simplified and improved by the capability to drag a window's title bar.
Drag a program window to the top of your monitor to expand it to full screen. If you want to work in two windows simultaneously, drag one to the left edge and one to the right edge of your screen, and they'll automatically resize to half the width of your monitor. Dragging a program away from the top or sides will return it to its original size. Theme packages also make it much faster to change the look of Windows 7. From the Control Panel, you can change the theme under Appearance and Personalization.
Microsoft has created several theme packages to give people a taste for what the feature can do. Click on one to download it, and it instantly changes the color scheme and background--no need to reboot. Users can create their own themes, as well. Windows Media Player and Device Stage One of the biggest new features makes Windows Media Player useful again: you can now stream media files from one Windows 7 computer to another, across the Internet and out of network.
Even better, the setup procedure is dead simple. When you open Windows Media Player, there's a new Stream option on the toolbar. Click it, and you're presented with two choices. Both require you to associate your computer with your free Windows Live ID. When you've associated a second Windows 7's WMP with that same ID, you can remotely access the media on the host computer. Windows Media Player's mini mode looks much slicker, emphasizing the album art--sometimes at the expense of clearly seeing the controls, but it's a definite improvement.
The new Device Stage makes managing peripherals significantly easier, combining printers, phones, and portable media players into one window. A large photo of the peripheral summarizes important device stats and makes it easy to identify which devices you're using. Device Stage can also be used to preset common tasks, such as synchronization. Device Stage support for older devices makes one of Windows 7's best features applicable to peripherals and externals that don't need to be upgraded.
One annoying change is that Bluetooth driver support no longer comes baked into the operating system. If you need a Bluetooth driver, you'll either need the installation disc on hand or you'll have to go download it.
Search, touch screens, and XP mode Windows 7's native search feature has been improved. Files added to the hard drive were indexed so fast that they were searchable less than 5 seconds later.
Search result snippets now include a longer snippet, and highlight the snippet more clearly. This should appeal specifically to people who juggle large numbers of long documents, but it's a useful feature for anybody who wants to find files faster.
However, the search field is available by default only in the Start menu and in Windows Explorer, and cannot be easily added to the taskbar. Touch-screen features worked surprisingly well. The hardware sometimes misread some of the multitouch gestures, occasionally confusing rotating an image, for example, with zooming in or out of the image.
Overall, though, there were few difficulties in performing the basic series of gestures that Microsoft promotes, and this places Windows 7 in an excellent position for the future, as more and more computers are released with multitouch abilities. Experts and people or companies who hope to use Windows 7 for business situations will appreciate the new XP Mode.
It doesn't have much of a practical application for the home consumer, but if you need to access programs designed for Windows XP that have not been upgraded to Windows Vista or 7, XP Mode creates a virtual environment within Windows 7 that should assuage any fears of upgrading without backward compatibility.
It's not easy to set up once you've downloaded the XP Mode installer. You'll need to double-check that you have the right hardware, and can get the right software. Motherboards older than two years probably won't work, and even if you do have a newer one you might have to go into your BIOS and activate Hardware Virtualization. CPU-identification utilities are available from Microsoft that can tell you if you're in the clear or not.
However, if compatibility is the issue, this hassle will be worth it to you. Users will have full access to peripherals connected to their Windows 7 hardware, including printers, and the clipboard can be used to cut and paste between the virtual operating system and the "real" one.
Microsoft has tweaked the feature so that it's less intrusive, but it's not clear whether that means you're actually more or less secure than you were in Vista. UAC was one of the biggest changes in Vista. It tightened program access, but did it in such a way as to frustrate many owners of single-user computers.
Windows 7 provides more options for user customization of UAC. The default setting is to notify users only when programs try to make changes to the computer, one step below the most restrictive setting of Always Notify. Under Always Notify, anytime a program tries to access the Internet, or you try to make changes to the computer, Windows 7 will require user confirmation. The second-least restrictive option doesn't dim the desktop when UAC is activated, and will only notify the user when programs try to make changes to the computer.
When the desktop dims, Windows 7 is locking it down and preventing access. Never Notify is the most relaxed option, and is only recommended by Microsoft for programs that aren't compatible with UAC. UAC also displays a blue banner when confronted with a program from a known publisher versus a yellow banner and exclamation point when the program is from an unknown publisher.
The number of clicks it should take to use UAC safely has been reduced, However, it's important to note that it's a less aggressive default posture by UAC. A less glitzy, but no less important, change to how removable drives are handled also can affect your media.
This kills off a risky vector for malware infections that has been the bane of many security experts. Although Microsoft is working on a revamp of its antivirus and antimalware program, now called Microsoft Security Essentials, it won't be bundled with Windows 7.
Users are still required to download a third-party antivirus and antimalware program, although the Windows Firewall remains intact. As with many features in Windows 7 that have been carried over from Windows Vista, people will notice there's far more granular settings control than before.
Features like filtering outbound traffic, which were available in Vista but not exposed, are easier to access in Windows 7. Comparing Windows: XP vs. Vista vs. Performance Windows 7 feels faster than Windows XP and Vista, but it turns out that's not always the case--sometimes, it's the slowest out of the three operating systems. However, it was slower than XP and Vista for both booting up cold by a bit more than 1 second, and slower than either of its predecessors in its Microsoft Office performance.
After having used Windows 7 beta, RC, and now the RTM for more than six months combined, it still feels faster for us when launching programs, opening the control panel, and dragging icons, files, and folders around than XP. That's not to denigrate the value of the benchmarks, but keep in mind that the perception and reality might differ based on hardware and usage.
Support When you try to use a file already in use, Windows 7 goes beyond Vista and XP by telling you not just that it's being used, but where it's being used so you can manage the situation faster. Other than that, Windows 7 offers on-board operating system support nearly identical to Windows Vista. Screen darkening, one-click action hand-holding, and a useful question mark icon on all Explorer windows maintain Vista's improved help features, when compared with Windows XP.
In sum Windows 7 looks like the operating system that both Microsoft and its consumers have been waiting for. By fixing most of the perceived and real problems in Vista, Microsoft has laid the groundwork for the future of where Windows will go. Windows 7 presents a stable platform that can compete comfortably with OS X, while reassuring the world that Microsoft can still turn out a strong, useful operating system. Windows 7 is the updated version of the Vista operating system from Microsoft.
Windows 7 Ultimate is the most versatile and powerful edition of Windows 7. It combines remarkable ease-of-use with the entertainment features of Home Premium and the business capabilities of Professional, including the ability to run many Windows XP productivity programs in Windows XP Mode. And for extra flexibility, you can work in any of 35 languages. This product includes both and bit versions, and 90 days of Microsoft Support Services included.
Windows Vista , which was released in , focused on securing the Windows operating system against computer viruses and other malicious software by introducing features such as User Account Control. New features include Windows Aero , updated versions of the standard games e. Despite this, Windows Vista was critically panned for its poor performance on older hardware and its at-the-time high system requirements. Windows 7 followed in nearly three years after its launch, and despite it technically having higher system requirements, [3] [4] reviewers noted that it ran better than Windows Vista.
Windows 8 , which was released in , introduced many controversial changes, such as the replacement of the Start menu with the Start Screen, the removal of the Aero interface in favor of a flat, colored interface as well as the introduction of "Metro" apps later renamed to Universal Windows Platform apps , and the Charms Bar user interface element, all of which received considerable criticism from reviewers.
The following version of Windows, Windows 10 , which was released in , reintroduced the Start menu and added the ability to run Universal Windows Platform apps in a window instead of always in full screen.
Windows 10 was generally well-received, with many reviewers stating that Windows 10 is what Windows 8 should have been. The latest version of Windows, Windows 11 , was released on October 5, Windows 11 incorporates a redesigned user interface, including a new Start menu, a visual style featuring rounded corners, and a new layout for the Microsoft Store, [13] and also included Microsoft Edge by default.
The first independent version of Microsoft Windows, version 1. The project was briefly codenamed "Interface Manager" before the windowing system was implemented—contrary to popular belief that it was the original name for Windows and Rowland Hanson , the head of marketing at Microsoft, convinced the company that the name Windows would be more appealing to customers. Windows 1. The first version of Microsoft Windows included a simple graphics painting program called Windows Paint ; Windows Write , a simple word processor ; an appointment calendar; a card-filer; a notepad ; a clock; a control panel ; a computer terminal ; Clipboard ; and RAM driver.
Microsoft had worked with Apple Computer to develop applications for Apple's new Macintosh computer, which featured a graphical user interface. As part of the related business negotiations, Microsoft had licensed certain aspects of the Macintosh user interface from Apple; in later litigation, a district court summarized these aspects as "screen displays".
In the development of Windows 1. For example, windows were only displayed "tiled" on the screen; that is, they could not overlap or overlie one another. On December 31, , Microsoft declared Windows 1. Microsoft Windows version 2. Much of the popularity for Windows 2. Microsoft Windows received a major boost around this time when Aldus PageMaker appeared in a Windows version, having previously run only on Macintosh. Some computer historians [ who? Like prior versions of Windows, version 2.
In such a configuration, it could run under another multitasker like DESQview , which used the protected mode. It was also the first version to support the High Memory Area when running on an Intel compatible processor. Version 2. In Apple Computer, Inc. Microsoft Corp. Judge William Schwarzer dropped all but 10 of Apple's claims of copyright infringement, and ruled that most of the remaining 10 were over uncopyrightable ideas.
On December 31, , Microsoft declared Windows 2. Windows 3. A few months after introduction, Windows 3. A "multimedia" version, Windows 3. This version was the precursor to the multimedia features available in Windows 3. The features listed above and growing market support from application software developers made Windows 3. Support was discontinued on December 31, Its API was incompatible with Windows. Version 1. They cooperated with each other in developing their PC operating systems, and had access to each other's code.
After an interim 1. Microsoft would later imitate much of it in Windows Still, much of the system had bit code internally which required, among other things, device drivers to be bit code as well. It also removed Real Mode, and only ran on an or better processor. Later Microsoft also released Windows 3. In and , Microsoft released Windows for Workgroups WfW , which was available both as an add-on for existing Windows 3.
Windows for Workgroups included improved network drivers and protocol stacks, and support for peer-to-peer networking. There were two versions of Windows for Workgroups, WfW 3.
Unlike prior versions, Windows for Workgroups 3. All these versions continued version 3. Even though the 3. The Windows API became the de facto standard for consumer software. On December 31, , Microsoft declared Windows 3. Meanwhile, Microsoft continued to develop Windows NT. This successor was codenamed Cairo. In hindsight, Cairo was a much more difficult project than Microsoft had anticipated and, as a result, NT and Chicago would not be unified until Windows XP —albeit Windows , oriented to business, had already unified most of the system's bolts and gears, it was XP that was sold to home consumers like Windows 95 and came to be viewed as the final unified OS.
Driver support was lacking due to the increased programming difficulty in dealing with NT's superior hardware abstraction model. This problem plagued the NT line all the way through Windows Programmers complained that it was too hard to write drivers for NT, and hardware developers were not going to go through the trouble of developing drivers for a small segment of the market.
Additionally, although allowing for good performance and fuller exploitation of system resources, it was also resource-intensive on limited hardware, and thus was only suitable for larger, more expensive machines. However, these same features made Windows NT perfect for the LAN server market which in was experiencing a rapid boom, as office networking was becoming common. Windows NT version 3. The Win32 API had three levels of implementation: the complete one for Windows NT, a subset for Chicago originally called Win32c missing features primarily of interest to enterprise customers at the time such as security and Unicode support, and a more limited subset called Win32s which could be used on Windows 3.
Thus Microsoft sought to ensure some degree of compatibility between the Chicago design and Windows NT, even though the two systems had radically different internal architectures. Windows NT was the first Windows operating system based on a hybrid kernel.
The hybrid kernel was designed as a modified microkernel , influenced by the Mach microkernel developed by Richard Rashid at Carnegie Mellon University, but without meeting all of the criteria of a pure microkernel. As released, Windows NT 3. The 3. Support for Windows NT 3. After Windows 3. The Win32 API first introduced with Windows NT was adopted as the standard bit programming interface, with Win16 compatibility being preserved through a technique known as " thunking ".
A new object-oriented GUI was not originally planned as part of the release, although elements of the Cairo user interface were borrowed and added as other aspects of the release notably Plug and Play slipped. Microsoft did not change all of the Windows code to bit; parts of it remained bit albeit not directly using real mode for reasons of compatibility, performance, and development time. Additionally it was necessary to carry over design decisions from earlier versions of Windows for reasons of backwards compatibility, even if these design decisions no longer matched a more modern computing environment.
These factors eventually began to impact the operating system's efficiency and stability. Microsoft marketing adopted Windows 95 as the product name for Chicago when it was released on August 24, Microsoft had a double gain from its release: first, it made it impossible for consumers to run Windows 95 on a cheaper, non-Microsoft DOS, secondly, although traces of DOS were never completely removed from the system and MS DOS 7 would be loaded briefly as a part of the booting process, Windows 95 applications ran solely in enhanced mode, with a flat bit address space and virtual memory.
These features make it possible for Win32 applications to address up to 2 gigabytes of virtual RAM with another 2 GB reserved for the operating system , and in theory prevented them from inadvertently corrupting the memory space of other Win32 applications. Three years after its introduction, Windows 95 was succeeded by Windows Unlike with Windows 3.
Microsoft case, blaming unfair marketing tactics on Microsoft's part. Some companies sold new hard drives with OSR2 preinstalled officially justifying this as needed due to the hard drive's capacity. The first Microsoft Plus! Microsoft ended extended support for Windows 95 on December 31, Microsoft released the successor to NT 3.
It was Microsoft's primary business-oriented operating system until the introduction of Windows Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows NT 4. Both editions were succeeded by Windows Professional and the Windows Server Family, respectively. This edition was succeeded by Windows XP Embedded. On June 25, , Microsoft released Windows 98 code-named Memphis , three years after the release of Windows 95 , two years after the release of Windows NT 4.
USB support in Windows 98 is marketed as a vast improvement over Windows The release continued the controversial inclusion of the Internet Explorer browser with the operating system that started with Windows 95 OEM Service Release 1. The action eventually led to the filing of the United States v. Microsoft case, dealing with the question of whether Microsoft was introducing unfair practices into the market in an effort to eliminate competition from other companies such as Netscape.
In , Microsoft released Windows 98 Second Edition, an interim release. One of the more notable new features was the addition of Internet Connection Sharing , a form of network address translation , allowing several machines on a LAN Local Area Network to share a single Internet connection.
Hardware support through device drivers was increased and this version shipped with Internet Explorer 5. Many minor problems that existed in the first edition were fixed making it, according to many, the most stable release of the Windows 9x family. Mainstream support for Windows 98 and 98 SE ended on June 30, , and ended extended support on July 11, It has the version number Windows NT 5.
Windows has had four official service packs. It was successfully deployed both on the server and the workstation markets. Amongst Windows 's most significant new features was Active Directory , a near-complete replacement of the NT 4. Terminal Services , previously only available as a separate edition of NT 4, was expanded to all server versions.
A number of features from Windows 98 were incorporated also, such as an improved Device Manager, Windows Media Player , and a revised DirectX that made it possible for the first time for many modern games to work on the NT kernel.
Windows is also the last NT-kernel Windows operating system to lack product activation. While Windows upgrades were available for Windows 95 and Windows 98, it was not intended for home users. It was the last DOS-based operating system from Microsoft. Windows Me introduced a new multimedia-editing application called Windows Movie Maker , came standard with Internet Explorer 5.
System Restore was a notable feature that would continue to thrive in all later versions of Windows. Windows Me was conceived as a quick one-year project that served as a stopgap release between Windows 98 and Windows XP.
Many of the new features were available from the Windows Update site as updates for older Windows versions System Restore and Windows Movie Maker were exceptions. Windows Me was criticized for stability issues, as well as for lacking real mode DOS support, to the point of being referred to as the "Mistake Edition. The initial release was met with considerable criticism , particularly in the area of security , leading to the release of three major Service Packs.
Service Pack 2 provided significant improvements and encouraged widespread adoption of XP among both home and business users. Windows XP was one of Microsoft's longest-running flagship operating systems, beginning with the public release on October 25, , for at least 5 years, and ending on January 30, , when it was succeeded by Windows Vista. On April 25, , Microsoft launched Windows Server , a notable update to Windows Server encompassing many new security features, a new "Manage Your Server " wizard that simplifies configuring a machine for specific roles, and improved performance.
It is based on the Windows NT 5. A few services not essential for server environments are disabled by default for stability reasons, most noticeable are the "Windows Audio" and "Themes" services; users have to enable them manually to get sound or the " Luna " look as per Windows XP. The hardware acceleration for display is also turned off by default, users have to turn the acceleration level up themselves if they trust the display card driver.
Among the new features are a number of management features for branch offices, file serving, printing and company-wide identity integration. Windows Server R2, an update of Windows Server , was released to manufacturing on December 6, The other CD adds many optionally installable features for Windows Server The R2 update was released for all x86 and x64 versions, except Windows Server R2 Enterprise Edition, which was not released for Itanium.
It is designed to use the expanded bit memory address space provided by the x86—64 architecture. Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is based on the Windows Server codebase, with the server features removed and client features added. It is only available to Software Assurance customers. The aim of WinFLP is to give companies a viable upgrade option for older PCs that are running Windows 95, 98, and Me that will be supported with patches and updates for the next several years.
Most user applications will typically be run on a remote machine using Terminal Services or Citrix. While being visually the same as Windows XP, it has some differences. For example, if the screen has been set to 16 bit colors, the Windows recycle bin icon and some XP bit icons will show. Paint and some games like Solitaire aren't present too. Windows Home Server code-named Q, Quattro is a server product based on Windows Server , designed for consumer use.
The system was announced on January 7, , by Bill Gates. Windows Home Server can be configured and monitored using a console program that can be installed on a client PC.
Such features as Media Sharing, local and remote drive backup and file duplication are all listed as features. Windows Vista was released on November 30, , to business customers—consumer versions followed on January 30, Windows Vista intended to have enhanced security by introducing a new restricted user mode called User Account Control , replacing the "administrator-by-default" philosophy of Windows XP.
Vista was the target of much criticism and negative press, and in general was not well regarded, this was seen as leading to the relatively swift release of Windows 7. One major difference between Vista and earlier versions of Windows, Windows 95 and later, was that the original start button was replaced with the Windows icon in a circle called the Start Orb. Windows Vista had the version number NT 6. During its lifetime, Windows Vista had two service packs. Windows Vista shipped in six editions : [36].
All editions except Starter edition were available in both bit and bit versions. The biggest advantage of the bit version was breaking the 4 gigabyte memory barrier, which bit computers cannot fully access. Windows Server built on the technological and security advances first introduced with Windows Vista, and was significantly more modular than its predecessor, Windows Server Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, , and reached general retail availability on October 22, The interface was renewed with a bigger taskbar and some improvements in the searching system and the Start menu.
Windows 7 met with positive reviews, which said the OS was faster and easier to use than Windows Vista. Windows 7 shipped in six editions : [40]. In some countries in the European Union , there were other editions that lacked some features such as Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center and Internet Explorer—these editions were called names such as "Windows 7 N.
All editions, except the Starter edition, were available in both bit and bit versions. Unlike the corresponding Vista editions, the Professional and Enterprise editions were supersets of the Home Premium edition.
Windows Server R2 shipped in bit versions x64 and Itanium only. WinTPC was available for software assurance customers and relied on cloud computing in a business network. Wireless operation is supported since WinTPC has full wireless stack integration, but wireless operation may not be as good as the operation on a wired connection. Windows Home Server code named 'Vail' [43] was released on April 6, WHS only supports x hardware.
Microsoft decided to discontinue Windows Home Server on July 5, while including its features into Windows Server Essentials. Windows 8 went on sale to the public on October 26,
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