With its Windows 7 OS, Microsoft gets the basics right. It just works, and after Windows Vista that may be enough to make it a winner. Read PC Advisor's in-depth expert review to find out more (UPDATED June 15 2010).
File Management: The Library System
Compared to the Taskbar and the System Tray, Explorer hasn't changed much in Windows 7. However, its left pane does sport two new ways to get at your files: Libraries and HomeGroups.
Libraries could just as appropriately have been called File Cabinets, since they let you collect related folders in one place. By default, you get Libraries labeled Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos, each of which initially directs you to the OS's standard folders for storing the named items - such as My Pictures and Public Pictures.
To benefit from Libraries, you have to customise them. Right-click any folder on your hard drive, and you can add it to any Library; for instance, you can transform the Pictures Library into a collection of all your folders that contain photos. You can create additional Libraries of your own from scratch, such as one that bundles up all folders that relate to your vacation plans.
Libraries would be even more useful if Microsoft had integrated them with Saved Searches, the Windows feature (introduced in Vista) that lets you create virtual folders based on searches, such as one that tracks down every .jpg image file on your system. But while Windows 7 lets you add standard folders to a Library, it doesn't support Saved Searches.
HomeGroups, Swee HomeGroups? Closely related to Libraries are HomeGroups, a new feature designed to simplify the notoriously tricky process of networking Windows PCs.
Machines that are part of one HomeGroup can selectively grant each other read or read/write access to their Libraries and to the folders they contain, so you can perform such mundane but important tasks as providing your spouse with access to a folderful of tax documents on your computer.
HomeGroups can also stream media, enabling you to pipe music or a movie off the desktop in the den on to your notebook in the living room. And they let you share a printer connected to one PC with all the other computers in the HomeGroup, a useful feature if you can't connect the printer directly to the network.
HomeGroups aren't a bad idea, but Windows 7's implementation seems half-baked. HomeGroups are password-protected, but rather than inviting you to specify a password of your choice during initial setup, Windows assigns you one consisting of 10 characters of alphanumeric gibberish and instructs you to write it down so you won't forget it.
To be fair, passwords made up of random characters provide excellent security, and the only time you need the password is when you first connect a new PC to a HomeGroup. But it's still a tad peculiar that you can't specify a password you'll remember during setup - you can do that only after the fact, in a different part of the OS.
More annoying and limiting: HomeGroups won't work unless all of the PCs in question are running Windows 7, a scenario that won't be typical anytime soon. A version that also worked on XP, Vista, and Mac systems would have been cooler.
Federated Search, a new Windows Explorer feature, feels incomplete, too. It uses the OpenSearch standard to give Win 7's search "connectors" for external sources. That capability allows you to search sites such as Flickr and YouTube from within Explorer. Pretty neat - except that Windows 7 doesn't come with any of the connectors you'd need to add these sources, nor with any way of finding them. (They are available on the Web, though. Use a search engine to track them down.)
Windows 7 Security: UAC Gets Tolerable
Speaking of annoying Windows features, let's talk about User Account Control - the Windows Vista security element that was a poster child for everything that rankled people about that OS. UAC aimed to prevent rogue software from tampering with your PC by endlessly prompting you to approve running applications or changing settings.
The experience was so grating that many users preferred to turn UAC off and take their chances with Internet attackers. Those who left it active risked slipping into the habit of incautiously clicking through every prompt, defeating whatever value the feature might have had.
Windows 7 gives you control over UAC, in the form of a slider containing four security settings. As before, you can accept the full-blown UAC or elect to disable it. But you can also tell UAC to notify you only when software changes Windows settings, not when you're tweaking them yourself. And you can instruct it not to perform the abrupt screen-dimming effect that Vista's version uses to grab your attention.
If Microsoft had its druthers, all Windows 7 users would use UAC in full-tilt mode. The slider that you use to ratchet back its severity advises you not to do so if you routinely install new software or visit unfamiliar sites, and it warns that disabling the dimming effect is "Not recommended".
Speak for yourself, Redmond: we have every intention of recommending the intermediate settings to most people who ask us for advice, since those settings retain most of UAC's theoretical value without driving users bonkers.
Other than salvaging UAC, Microsoft has made relatively few significant changes to Windows 7's security system. One meaningful improvement: BitLocker, the drive-encryption tool included only in Windows 7 Ultimate and the corporate-oriented Windows 7 Enterprise, lets you encrypt USB drives and hard disks, courtesy of a feature called BitLocker to Go. It's one of the few good reasons to prefer Win 7 Ultimate to Home Premium or Professional.
Internet Explorer 8, Windows 7's default browser, includes many security-related enhancements, including a new SmartScreen Filter (which blocks dangerous websites) and InPrivate Browsing (which permits you to use IE without leaving traces of where you've been or what you've done). Of course, IE 8 is equally at home in XP and Vista - and it's free - so it doesn't constitute a reason to upgrade to Windows 7.
NEXT: Applications: the fewer the merrier >>
WINDOWS 7 REVIEW INDEX:
- Windows 7 Interface: The New Taskmaster
- File Management: The Library System, and UAC Gets Tolerable
- Applications: the fewer the merrier, and Windows 7 Device Management: Setting the Stage
- Windows 7 Input: Reach Out and Touch Windows 7, and Bottom Line: Is Windows 7 Worth It?
- WINDOWS 7: OUR EXPERT VERDICT
Comments
Meghabachani said: Windows 7 I hate the updates which run after I shut down the PC they are distressing like hell Even they sometimes run when I turn on the PC why doesnt Microsoft get the PC updated while we are working on something If the update is on same software we are working on a notification can be generated to make us alert save our work and then update it Even if a part of a processor is used atleast we wont get frustrated to look at the screen so that PC can complete its n number of updates
Gordon_southgate said: You gota laugh windows 7 minimum requirements 1GB RAM eh what planet Anything less than 2GB you will regret They do not mention that this leaves nothing for applications If you have the 32 bit version you are restricted to max 4GB RAM Think before you buy Get the 64 bit version and make sure the PC can pack minimum of 8GB to run the system hungry windows apps Else be prepared to exercise patience Gordon wwwourtechguycouk