Snowball - The Blog

Windows 7

PDC 2008 not only was the event on which Microsoft first announced Windows Azure, it was also the first time Microsoft showed Windows 7, the next version of the desktop operating system. The code shown is pre-beta, so not complete, but it's a stable version, that according to some people I spoke with, is ready to be used in production environments. I know I will be installing it in the next day on my Dell XPS. The upgrade path to beta (and after) should also not give you any problems.

I was on an interview with the Belgian press in Los Angeles, and the most important question of course was: "How is this an improvement on Windows Vista?". I read the online versions of the Belgian papers on beforehand, in which Windows 7 is presented as Windows Vista with a new user interface. While Windows 7 has a greatly improved UI, it contains many more improvements over Windows Vista. Let's start by taking a look at what is changing in the new version!

Windows 7 improvements

User interface
As said in the intro, the UI dramatically changed. Changes that in my opinion are a great evolution on the UI we currently have. Windows 7's UI builds upon Windows Vista's Aero Glass, but improves in some areas where users expressed concerns over the past years.

• The new taskbar: Microsoft vastly improved the taskbar: you can now drag items to the place you want them. You can also switch how items are shown (with text, large icon, small icon...). The tray icons also received a facelift: the ones from Microsoft are grouped, as well as all others from third party applications. This way, you won't be losing any more space to those nasty icons. Note that the Quick Launch bar also has disappeared: the reasoning behind this is that Microsoft wants to make the difference between a running and a non-running app as small as possible.
  Also, there won't be an option to change back to a classic view of the taskbar, so start getting used to it!
• Jump lists: this entirely new feature that enables you to right-click on any item in the taskbar and it will show you some options. These options can be changed by the developer as well as the user and for example give you access to the recently opened files and most used commands. A great little new feature if you ask me!
• Sidebar is gone: as you take a look at the new UI, you'll see that the sidebar is gone. However, gadgets are still there and they can be dropped anywhere you want on the desktop.
• Snapping to sides: If you drag a window to the top, it will be automatically maximized. The same goes for dragging a window to the left or right hand side of the desktop: it will take up exactly 50% of screen real estate.
• Ribbon is king: The ribbon is all over the place in Windows 7 and is now also used in Paint, Wordpad... Note that Wordpad also supports the Office 2007 formats, so no more mails of people that don't have Office 2007 installed and can't open that file you sent them!

Virtual folders
Announced originally for Windows Vista, the Virtual Folders option will make it in Windows 7. Documents, Music... all become Virtual Folders, but it's possible to create your own by linking files to a Virtual Folder.

Improved networking HomeGroup
While networking improved an awful lot in Vista, in Windows 7 a lot of small nifty features will make (home) networking even easier. File sharing will become easier, you can search in the network for a file and based on the network you are connected to, you will get for example a different default printer selected. I like!

Media Player 12
Media Player 12 is included in the new version of Windows as well. Big changes include the missing "Now Playing button" as well as the inclusion of new codecs like Divx and h264.

UAC, you gone also?
Probably one of the most criticized features of Vista was UAC (User Access Control). While the feature made Windows much more secure, it was way to verbose and it's the first setting I change when doing a fresh install of Windows (I know it's not OK, but I do it anyway). In Windows 7, Microsoft gives you the option to change how verbose UAC really is, thus making it more configurable using the Action Center. The Security Center will be gone also.

Multitouch
The mouse and the keyboard are SO 1990's! The future is Touch! (I might have invented a nice quote there? ;) ). Windows 7 is completely touch enabled, meaning that every mouse movement can be translated to a touch movement. What this means, is that it's possible to get Touch even in non-Touch enabled applications like Word.
Read also my post on the Day 3 Keynote where Rick Rashid showed a Surface "with another surface" on top, giving you even more Touch options.

Feedback
Windows 7 is built based on experience with previous versions of the Windows platform. However, Microsoft is also integrating customer feedback much more within the system. As a result, the operating system will appeal even more to customers, giving them the features they want and expect from Microsoft. How great is that?!

DeviceStage
With previous versions, getting the correct drivers for your hardware may sometimes have given you some problems. For Windows 7, Microsoft created DeviceStage, which offers a unified and consistent way to set up and use nearly any device, while also dramatically simplifying the Bluetooth device experience.

 First OS for enabling Software and Services
Fitting right into the Software and Services strategy, Windows 7 will be the first OS making use of the vision of Microsoft regarding S+S. For many years now, Windows connected thousands of peripherals and partners to the PC ecosystem.  With Windows 7, more and more of the Windows experiences will become service enabled or will be powered by services. The platform has been designed to interact with services and some experiences are even completely delivered by services.

Windows Live services are another important part of this vision. The Windows Live are a set of services that are designed to work with the Windows platform. 

I want to try it
Great. However, here's the bad news. Unless you came to PDC/are going to WinHEC next week, you'll have to wait. Microsoft released a pre-beta version on these conferences, but a general-public preview is only coming with the first beta. No word yet on the release of this one, I'm sorry...

Live Mesh

Ok, on to Mesh. Today, Microsoft released Live Mesh in beta format. Up until now, it has been in CTP. One of the most important changes now is that it also available in Europe (up until now it was only available in the US).
Now, what exactly is Mesh? Using Mesh, you can access your data, access your applications from the cloud through a web browser or you can have it running locally offline running off the local hard drive.

This open beta includes added new features and stability and performance enhancements to improve the overall Live Mesh experience.

A question that might arise is how Mesh fits into the S+S strategy. Live Mesh is a consumer offering that is natively integrated with Live Services – it makes the core functionality of Live Services available to users.

Go try Mesh, it's a really cool and handy application.

Live Services Framework

The Live Framework is the uniform way for programming Live Services within the Azure Services platform from a variety of platforms, programming languages, applications and devices. The Live Framework can be used for handling user data and application resources. Consume and combine Live Services to build applications that span across digital devices and the web. Live Services includes Mesh technologies for synchronizing user’s data and extending web applications across multiple devices.

The SDK and documentation are available at http://dev.live.com/liveframework/ .