First Look: Windows 7 RC

 

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Posted on 26 May 2009 at 11:39

It's too early to tell yet if UAC is going to be better this time around, but it certainly seems it. We got far fewer irritating pop-up messages using Windows 7 than we did when we first installed Vista.

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With Windows 7 Microsoft has made a decision not to clutter the basic install with hundreds of redundant applications, so there's no Photo Gallery or Messenger built in. Instead, Microsoft will be providing these and other applications as free downloads from its site. That way, you can simply choose what you want to install as and when you need it.

MEDIA PLAYER AND MEDIA CENTER

Media Center remains largely similar to the Vista version, and it's still a bit of a mystery as to what the final version will support. We've been told by Microsoft that it will support Blu-ray playback, but Windows RC 7 doesn't support this feature. It's looking more likely that the information we were provided with is wrong, and that Media Center will instead be easier for third-party manufacturers to integrate with. In particular, Microsoft has made it easier for manufacturers to write their own Media Center applications complete with the same look and feel.

Media Center will also support Freesat HD broadcasts, and you can even mix and match standard digital tuners with satellite ones. Several Windows 7 users have demonstrated a system running four tuners.

Windows Media Player has had quite a major overhaul with the stand-out new being Internet Home Media Access. Once you've linked your home and remote computers to a Windows Live ID you'll be able to share music, videos and pictures between them in the same way that you can share media over a local network now. However, internet sharing will also transcode the data into the most appropriate format for the available bandwidth.

Sharing media over a network will be easier thanks to Windows Home Groups, which lets you group together Windows 7 computers. Once a group is created, each PC can be set to define what it will and won't share with the group, such as sharing files but not media.

Finally, Windows Media Player and Media Center are now DLNA compliant, so they can stream content from a UPnP server.

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

Hardware and software support should be good for Windows 7, with the general rule being: if it worked in Vista it will work in Windows 7. There are some exceptions at the moment, including Google Chrome, which failed to install. As Microsoft has made Windows 7 available so early, though, we expect the majority of manufacturers to update their drivers and software in time for full release.

IS IT WORTH It?

Windows 7 looks like a major improvement to Vista in terms of usability and speed. For everyone that stuck with XP, this could well be the operating system you've been waiting for. The current RC isn't quite good enough to use as your main operating system, as some features either don't work properly or haven't been finished. If you've got a spare PC or want to dual boot, though, it's well worth checking out.

Author: David Ludlow