Windows 7, New features: Why 7 is the magic number

COMMERCIAL PROFILE - MICROSOFT:The latest – and eagerly awaited – operating system from Microsoft launched last month, offering more speed than XP, greater security and accessibility to PCs up to 10 years old

MICROSOFT’S Windows 7 operating system offers a range of benefits including ease of use, enhanced security, greater flexibility and reduced costs. The new platform has been eagerly awaited by both corporate users and consumers, with many already successfully using its beta version well in advance of its official launch date last month.

The new operating system is not intended to be laden with new features the way several of its predecessors have been. Rather, the goal is to deliver an incremental upgrade which offers users all of the hardware and software compatibility they enjoyed with Vista and XP, along with a range of significant improvements.

Most importantly, according to Microsoft Ireland’s Ronnie Dockery, it has been designed based on the input of customers. “Our customers asked us for a PC that’s simple to use, one that’s faster, easier and works the way they want,” he says. “So we made hundreds of basic improvements to achieve this goal. The response from customers who have been using the beta and release candidate versions so far has been very positive. In fact, many companies deployed the release candidate version long before the final version was launched because they were so pleased with it.”

Consumer reaction has been hugely positive as well, with the software becoming Amazon’s all-time number-one advance-order product – beating even the Harry Potter series of books.

Among the first things users will notice about Windows 7 is its new taskbar and security features which make it easier to use and safer. Moreover, it shouldn’t require any hardware upgrades because Microsoft has gone to considerable lengths to ensure that the software is accessible to as many people and businesses as possible.

“Not only is Windows 7 faster than XP was but it will run on Pentium II computers from 10 years ago,” Dockery says. “It will also run on machines with just 1GB of memory, although we do recommend two. This means even older PCs can run the new operating system with a low-cost memory upgrade. We offer our customers a free assessment tool to tell them which hardware they need to upgrade.”

Among Ireland’s early corporate adopters of the new operating system is O2. “O2 has previously been recognised as a great company to work for in Ireland. Part of how O2 has achieved that is by ensuring employees have the best tools to work with, facilitating more efficient and effective collaboration,” says Brian McMahon, senior technology consultant with Telefonica O2 Ireland. “Specifically, we now want all hardware types – netbooks, laptops, desktops, etc – to operate quickly, securely, wirelessly and intuitively – and Windows 7 does just that.”

But one of the reasons companies are slow to deploy new operating systems is their poor reputation for bugs, glitches and vulnerabilities. “Obviously we need to ensure that our end-users get the best possible experience,” says McMahon. “It was on that basis that I initially trialled Windows 7. It worked perfectly and at that stage we proceeded to formal testing before rolling the trial out on a wider basis in the company. In addition, the fact Windows 7 can run a virtual XP environment reassures us we’ll be able to support all the applications in our suite – everything from Office to customer care applications.”

The experience so far has been good. “We’ve been using Windows 7 since the final beta version and it has proved to be stable and reliable,” he says. “We have a great partner in IBM, who performed the design and testing work, and we have the processes in place to catch any possible problems before the software is rolled out. To date we have not encountered any major issues. Microsoft has also been a great help to us throughout the process.”

The company is also gaining advantages other than reliability and stability. “Speed of boot-up and shutdown is impressive, as are the power savings,” McMahon says. “Full search is great for finding documents and emails quickly and easily. Something that’s very dear to our hearts in O2 is how it supports mobility and mobile broadband. It truly is ‘plug and play’. Then there are the security features such as bit-locker for encrypting laptops and netbooks. Problem Step Recorder is also a great feature allowing users to replay to the helpdesk the precise steps that led to an issue occurring so it can be resolved more quickly.”

McMahon also says it will help O2 gain competitive advantage. “Among the key benefits of Windows 7 are flexibility, security and efficiency. Windows 7 is supported on multiple machine types, it is fast, it has mobility at its heart and it’s secure. Having technology that supports the principle of flexible working improves productivity and employee satisfaction.

“But Windows 7 is only part of the story,” he says. “We have been working with Microsoft to design the best possible working environment.

“Alongside the Windows 7 rollout, we will be deploying Office 2007. We’re putting in Office Communication Server (OCS) to allow presence-based communications such as IM, voice and video and interworking with our Telefonica colleagues around the world. We are also deploying SharePoint to improve collaboration between teams and partners and to automate laborious paper-based processes.”

Customers will benefit too. “Inefficient technology can lead to frustration, inefficiency and unnecessary manual workloads,” he says. “Rolling out Windows 7 will help increase the efficiency of our staff across the business, ensuring they can spend more time on what matters most to our customers.”

The roll-out of the new operating system is continuing in the company with McMahon using it for several months now. “We also have 40 pilot users with a mix of laptops and desktops using it for the last month or so. The pilot users come from all areas and levels in the business and feedback has been very positive . . . We’re planning to have the entire employee base in O2 on Windows 7 in early 2010. It is important that after the rollout is complete, we keep a close eye on adoption to ensure we’re getting the benefits we expect.”

Microsoft’s Ronnie Dockery says: “We have spent the last six months working directly with partners and customers like O2 delivering the tools and training in order for the deployment to be seamless and successful. We provided an out-of-the-box operating system which is able to be simply and quickly installed.”

And there has been a direct Irish involvement in the development of the new operating system. “A project with the global customer reach of Windows can only be done as a team, and employees in Microsoft Ireland played a huge role in developing Windows 7 and delivering it to customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa,” says Microsoft Ireland managing director Paul Rellis.

“Our involvement included developing key features like media centre and biometric support in our European Development Centre . . . Add to that the work the sales and marketing team is doing on the ground in Ireland to ensure customers get the best experience possible through demos and training sessions, and you get some sense of how central the Irish team was to bringing Windows 7 to life and getting it into the hands of consumers.”

Among the new Windows 7 featueres are:

Taskbar:The go-to spot for launching programs and switching windows, the taskbar has been completely redesigned to help you work smarter, cut clutter, and get more done, with features like thumbnail previews of webpages, documents – even running video.

HomeGroup:Easily share your files and printers with other Windows 7 PCs in your home.

DeviceStage:Shows you the status of all your connected devices, such as cameras and mobile phones, and makes it easier to synchronise and manage them.

Photos and Videos:Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Movie Maker offer free options to edit photos and videos and easily share with loved ones.

Snap:Drag an open window to your screen's border to automatically resize it. Snap two different windows to the left and right borders for a perfect comparison.

Shake:Click a window pane and shake your mouse to minimise all other open windows. Shake the pane again to restore the windows to their original sizes.