Windows 7
My computer is now triple-booted: Ubuntu 8.10, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. I did a fresh install of everything, just for kicks. I needed to back things up anyway. Everybody wins. And by everybody I mean me.
I think I like Windows 7. The changes it makes are subtle, but effective. I am of course fascinated by it from a UI perspective, but also as a potential end user (multi-booted, as always, with some Linux flavor). A few notes and screenshots:
Taskbar: The new Taskbar combines the old Taskbar with Quick Launch. When you launch a program that is pinned to the Taskbar, its Taskbar button will replace the icon. By default it shows large icons for the running programs and the programs in Quick Launch. It doesn't show any text. I set it to "Never Combine", and to use small icons. "Never Combine" shows titles for open programs, but only the icon for programs that aren't running. It's quite nice. Also, when copying or zipping files, the taskbar items show a green progress bar behind themselves. Apparently there are API hooks for this behavior, so we may see progress bars on other things like Firefox downloads.
Jump Menus: Jump menus provide access to recently used or commonly accessed files in a given program. Individual files may also be pinned to a jump menu. You can pin URLs to the Firefox jump menu, and open Firefox directly to the site you want to visit. You can do the same with any file you pin either to the Task Bar or the Start Menu.
Libraries: User home folders show Libraries instead of folders by default. Libraries are collections of media from folders across your computer. The categories are: Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos. It is possible to add custom libraries to show other folders you might have in your home folder (e.g. code). I'm not sure whether or not I think it's worth it, as opposed to the folder system. I reserve judgment.
Desktop Backgrounds: Cycling through multiple desktop backgrounds is nice. Also, there is a "Fill" setting, which enlarges the image until there is no empty space, but does not affect its aspect ratio.
Window Positioning: When dragging a window, if you move your mouse to the top of the screen, the window maximizes. If you move it to the left or right edge, it resizes to take up that half of the screen. When you drag it away from those positions, it regains its original size. Not quite as good as Linux window snapping (or allSnap), but still very useful. Pressing the windows key plus the arrow keys will perform the same functionality, for those of us who like keyboard access.
Bundled Software: There are very real improvements in both Paint and the Calculator. Calculator gets a Programmer mode, which allows you to see bits that are set. It adds data arithmetic and unit conversion. Paint gains a number of features, although it also gets the Ribbon.
Overview: Although there are some performance improvements, Windows 7 remains bloated. It's based on Vista, which was designed for the new generation of hardware. Most of what I'm looking forward to (and already enjoy) are the innovative UI features. Interesting stuff, and a major step forward.
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