No sooner have we just started getting used to Windows Vista than those lovely people at Microsoft go ahead and develop the newest addition to the Windows family. But why?

When Windows Vista was created, it was done so from the ground up. Sure, it has a start button. Sure, there were bits that looked like the older versions of Windows. But architecturally, Microsoft built Vista (their first operating system aimed at Joe Public in over six years) from scratch. The problem was it was big, clunky and littered with glitches. Most issues have been addressed with Vista SP1, but it is still an operating system that needs a relatively decent spec computer to run efficiently.

Microsoft listened to the complaints and suggestions from the users of Vista and has begun redevelopment of a new operating system based on Vista. Step forth "Windows 7"

Pre-release trial

Although 7 is not due for retail release until late 2009, Microsoft has offered a free trial of the beta version to anyone and everyone who wishes to try it out.

So I did.

It's actually not bad at all. Vista refused to load on my 512Mb Pentium 4. I upped the RAM to 1Gb and it loaded, but didn't have enough resources to efficiently load anything other than a few web pages ... certainly didn't like resource-hungry programs such as Photoshop (graphics) or Premier (video). Windows 7, on the other hand, loved my 1Gb of memory. So I pulled half of it out and tested on 512Mb. Guess what? It still chugged along quite nicely. Yes it was starting to get a bit sluggish, but I could still run most programs effectively. What's more, the startup and shutdown times were impressive.

Who's a pretty boy then?

And boy, doesn't the new Windows look pretty?! Instead of cluttering up my taskbar with numerous pages of IE or Firefox or multiple emails open at the same time, it brings all open windows of the same program into one "chip" on the taskbar. When you hover over this chip, all associated windows fade into the foreground. On top of this, if you are like me and you seem to be changing your desktop wallpaper as often as the days go by, you'll love the new slideshow wallpaper, which can pull images from any folder you wish on your computer and cycle through them on a timescale set by you.

Frills, features and the future

And as if by magic, without me even telling it what it is, it found my 3rd party wireless network card, installed the drivers, and promptly went online itself and found the drivers for my video card, motherboard chipset and even got the latest drivers for my multifunction printer. I didn't ask it to do this. It just did it without me knowing!

Of course, there's a veritable plethora of tools, features and gadgets on Windows 7 that I've neither had the time nor the onboard resources to try out yet. But it certainly looks like an operating system that is ready for the next wave of technology and peripherals to integrate itself with. Ultra Wideband and Wireless USB integration helps deliver that dream of a completely wireless household, whilst full touch-screen navigation compatibility lends a helping hand to an emerging number of desktops, laptops and PDAs that are being shipped with touch-sensitive displays - watch the shelves at your local computer retailer over the coming months as more and more computers come equipped with this feature!

The Verdict?

At last, Windows is starting to develop into a handy, self-sufficient tool rather than a cumbersome oaf of a program that needs constant attention and molly-coddling. Mac users will no doubt groan upon reading this, as Apple has been user-friendly since the year dot. But Windows fans, I'm sure, will flock for what appears (even in Beta stage!) to be the leanest and arguably the meanest version of Windows yet.

If you'd like to learn more about Windows 7, take a look at the official website: www.windows7.com. If you visit before 1 August 2009, why not try the beta trial. Please be aware though, it is a "beta" version of Windows and as such several sections are either not functioning, incomplete, or may contain security risks.