5 maneras en que Windows 7 le gana a Vista

Windows 7 is out, and doing very well in the market -- much better than Vista at a similar point in its history. That's due to a couple of factors: 1) Widespread dissatisfaction with Vista (whether fair or unfair); and 2) Because it rocks. Here are five ways it's superior to Vista.

1. Increased Speed. Windows 7, unlike every previous version of Windows, didn't have increased hardware requirements to run smoothly. And on the same hardware, it runs significantly faster than Vista, in my experience.

The underlying code that makes up Windows 7 is essentially the same as Vista, but it's been tweaked and refined for the new operating system (OS). I've noticed a significant improvement in how fast applications open and close, and how quickly my laptop boots up (i.e. turns on). In both cases, the speed is at least double what it was under Vista.

Windows 7 can even run on some computers that ran Windows XP; this isn't recommended practice, but it can be done in some cases. This graphically demonstrates how much leaner Microsoft made Windows 7. The company listened to users who complained that its OSes were becoming increasingly bloated; Microsoft broke the camel's back with Vista.

2. Fewer non-essential programs. Microsoft cut out a lot of the fat with Windows 7. For example, it's dropped a number of programs that were included with Vista, programs the majority of us never used. For example: Did you ever use Windows Live Writer, Microsoft's blogging tool? Me neither.

The good news is that all those programs -- Photo Gallery, Messenger, Movie Maker and so on -- are still available; they're just not included in the base OS. Microsoft's Windows Live Essentials website has them all in one handy place for you to download. But you don't have to; Microsoft has given you back the choice. That's a good thing.

3. A cleaner, less cluttered interface. Windows 7 is easier on the eyes than Vista. To take just two examples, both the Taskbar and the System Tray have been reworked, making your desktop more efficient (and better-looking, in my opinion).

The System Tray in particular has been cleaned up. It doesn't string out 31 icons across the bottom of your screen anymore, and makes it easy to customize how those icons are displayed -- or even if they're displayed.

4. "Devices and Printers" section. Windows 7 has added a new, graphical way to see what devices are connected to your computer (and it includes your computer as a device, too). The Devices and Printers windows can be accessed by clicking on Start/Devices and Printers (by default on the right-hand side, under Control Panel).

It was smart of Microsoft to make it easy to find this information, and the images are helpful in identifying each device. No cryptic names or descriptions here; the printer device looks like a printer!

5. Stability. Windows 7 is much more stable out of the starting gate than was Vista. At the outset, Vista had a nasty tendency to crash a computer; it wasn't until the first service pack (a big package of bug fixes and other updates) came out that I would recommend Vista to those who asked me. I have no such qualms with Windows 7, which has yet to hang, crash or otherwise behave like a 4-year-old who missed his nap.

In other words, you can load Windows 7 with confidence, and know that it will just work (with the caution that each case is different, and there will always be some people who will have problems with a new OS, simply because of the universe of hardware and software products out there, and the fact that they all have to work together).

There you have it. There are many other improvements as well, but those are the five most likely to jump out at you. This isn't to say that Vista is no good, because it is; just that Windows 7 has added much that's good and deleted much that was annoying about Vista.