Windows 7 is an almost from scratch operating system, not just a UI redo like Vista. Windows 7 is stable, smooth and has even more graphical enhancements, most noticeable is the new task bar, security enhancements and device management make it even safer to use. Microsoft has gone through much pain to make sure that Windows 7 would be compatible with majority of the hardware out there unlike Vista where users had to purchase new hardware.

The installation was fairly simple. The clean installation (meaning I had nothing on the computer) took about 5 clicks to start the installation and 23-25 minutes to complete.

New features are mostly visual.

• Jump lists
• Snap
• Aero
• Peek
• Snap

These visual improvements are extremely useful in their own way and add a real touch of elegance to an otherwise dull Windows environment. They also aid in making usability a whole lot easier. The taskbar stands out the most, you can pin your most used applications onto the task bar with large clear 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. This is arguably better than even OS X’s Dock.

Jump lists are another new taskbar improvement that make recently opened documents easier to get to. Right-click/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.

The show desktop icon is now part of 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. It actually reveals the desktop by making all the other windows become transparent.

Snap reinvents resizing open  windows by capability to drag a window’s title bar. Drag a program window to the top of your screen 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 screen. Dragging a program away from the top or sides will return it to its original size.

Windows media player has been improved to, drop any music file or even folders into the music folder in your personal documents, and Windows media player automatically detects them all. There is also a new stream option, you can stream your media library over the internet. Setup for streaming is extremely easy.

Windows 7 feels faster than Windows XP and Vista, after having used Windows 7  RTM for just about three months, it still feels faster for me when launching programs, opening the control panel, and dragging icons, files, and folders around as compared to Windows XP. But keep in mind that the perception and reality might differ based on hardware and usage.

In summary, as said earlier Windows 7 is Windows that actually works. Microsoft have taken the good features that never worked in Vista and sorted them out and made them work, at the same time removing the huge chunk of stuff that was not required. Microsoft had stated their intentions with Windows 7, they are now in a place they can compete with OS X.

What does Windows 7 mean for the Kenyan market? Nothing really! With Windows 7 Ultimate priced at $299 (Upgrade) & $399 (Full) I feel that the Kenyan market will be slow to adapt to Windows 7, only people that will use it will be those who get it with a new PC, general public that are interested in using it will go down the hack/crack lane to get their hands on this lovely OS. I really wish Microsoft could have given the African market a better pricing scheme.

Please share your views and comments.