Via Sarah in Tampa I’ve seen my first screen shots of Windows 7 in action.
The best way to describe the images is that "it’s all in the details", as they say.
These images are exactly what I hoped Windows 7 would be – simple and elegant. I wasn’t looking for "innovative" (that term has been used so much it’s completely lost its meaning when applied to OSes these days). I wasn’t looking for "wow". I wasn’t looking for "cool". What I was looking for is something usable, streamlined and functional.
(The full set of images are at LLarsen’s Flickr set – click that link to see them all)





This is obviously not a large departure from Windows Vista, but Microsoft is getting on the right track with this – and it shows in the interface.
I can say with certainty that yes, this will be the Windows that will make me ditch XP. Windows 7 – at least in appearance – has everything buttoned up proper, the way it should be.

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Vista looked pretty too – until people started to use it. I reserve judgement until people can have “hands-on” experience.
Whats the chances of it being really buggy like Vista or really slow? You would think Microsoft would learn from their mistakes but it is Microsoft.
Slim. Windows 7 will be what Windows Vista should have been (i.e. finished).
looks good so far, we shall see when they release it
I tend to agree with John. I’ll wait to get a hands-on experience first and then make up my mind. Granted, like all this Microsoft when it comes to Windows, the ‘Second Edition/SP2′ is the one that will be the better of the two, so I guess this will be like what Windows XP SP2 was for XP or Windows 98 Second Edition was to Windows 98.
I surely hope MS trimmed the fat on Windows 7 and doesn’t suck a gigabyte or more of RAM on boot due to it’s bloated programming. That in itself will make many users happy I’m sure.
I look at the first screenshot and the first thought is KDE
It looks nice, but I’ll wait till the kool aid is safe to drink.
I cant see a difference can you see a difference. Even the bloatware looks the same . Its sad when the most important aspect of operating system its UI lets face it VISTA was sold on Aero . you shut down all that crap and its just another operating system.
well said!!!
Will there be an upgrade for Vista to bring it up to Windows 7?
I hope this is a success and works out great. Vista x64 is a nice OS and has improved over the year I have used it.
It’d better be good to make me give up XP Pro…
Windows 7 is based off of the Vista code, so the hardware and software compatibility issues Vista had Windows 7 still has. Its a little less resource hogging than Vista, and has a new look for the start bar with a few new features, but for the most part it is really similar to Vista in almost every way.