Well, it looks like Microsoft is going for the hat trick with Windows 7. In my work with the Windows 7 betas and the Release Candidate, I’m satisfied that published reports that Windows 7 is faster and less resource hungry than Windows Vista are true. So that’s faster taken care of. I’m also convinced that Windows 7 is more robust, reliable, and easier to troubleshoot and repair that Windows Vista ever was, also based on my own experience. That’s why I also go along with the notion that Windows 7 is better than Windows Vista, according to a whole slew of metrics from code size, to stability, to reliability, to overall functionality, and more.

According to a June 26 story by Sharon Pian Chan in the Seattle Times entitled “Windows 7 to be cheaper than Vista,” it looks like there’s a reasonable basis to believe it’s going to cost less than Vista, too. I’ve already reported on the special pricing available for Windows 7 Home Premium ($49.99) and Windows 7 Professional ($99.99) available for pre-order now through July 11 (a week from Saturday as I write this on 7/2/09) at select e-tailers, retailers, and the MS Online Store. The Seattle Times reports that retail prices for boxed versions of Windows 7 are also at least 10% cheaper than applicable Windows Vista counterparts. My own inspection, based on the June 25 Windows 7 Team Blog is that only Windows 7 Home Premium prices have decreased (by $10) vis-a-vis comparable Visa products.

Even so, I do think we have to give MS some credit here, even if an across-the-board price cut appears to be questionable. Why do I say this? Two reasons: worst case, MS held the line on prices, and you could argue that a 2.5 year time span with no increase reflects no cost adjustment for interim increases in inflation (modest),  and costs of doing business (also modest). Then, too, there’s always the notion that street prices are less than official vendor (MSRP) prices. These numbers set the ceiling for what people will pay; smart shoppers will usually save at least 10-20% off these published prices buying from price leader online vendors. Enterprises and OEMs will also pay less, when the time comes to negotiate volume contracts for thousands of licenses, or even greater quantities.

[Afternoon update 7/2/2009: Ed Bott just published a ZDNet blog entitled "Microsoft to Offer Family Pack for Windows 7 Home Premium" that does indicate some new and possibly substantial discounts are coming into play for Windows 7. This could be very cool (I just wish it worked the same as for the Vista Family Discount that he also describes in that blog).]

She focused on more centralized planning, and better coordination to create a more cohensive and intuitive look and feel for Windows 7. She also worked hard to eliminate the scores of pop-ups, alerts, and notification that system developers mean to be informative, but which bedevil ordinary users who simply want nothing more than to get them out of the way (to me, this finally explains the consolidation of alerts into the Windows 7 Action Center, and why only generic alerts get issued periodically–I hadn’t realized the noise had gone away, but had definitely noticed its reduction subliminally).

According to the story, Larson’s mantra is best stated as “user in control’ (hooray, what a simple but significant concept). The goal was “…to build an operating system people could use without studying first, one that would let them get right to reading the news or sending email without dragging them down a rabbit hole of setting and configurations. A system with manners…”

Larson-Green is already at work on Windows 8, though her group is still engaged in occasional tweaks to Windows 7 (though this will freeze solid in mid-July when the RTM version goes to OEMs for the October 22, 2009 release). Larson-Green says she plans to measure how well Windows 7 is doing “…by conversations she overhears at Best Buy and comments posted by bloggers.” Her hope is that people will like it. If my recent experiences in getting to know and writing about Windows 7 in the past three months are any indication, I don’t think she’s going to be too disappoointed.

Here’s the deal, in broad strokes:

• Windows 7 hits store shelves on 10/22/2009, ostensibly to have it ready for the holiday buying season (lots of others outside MS are speculating it’s more of a pre-emptive strike against Android which becomes available at the end of October)
• The Windows 7 Upgrade Option will kick in “soon” which permits those who purchase a new and qualifying PC to exercise  “…a special deal to upgrade to Windows 7…” Look for Brandon to blog about this program with dates and more details as “soon” becomes “real soon,” I guess! (According to TechARP, a usually reliable source for leaked MS secrets, this will happen on July 1.)
• RTM should occur some time in mid-July, with Windows Server 2008 R2 following in the same time frame.

OK, now what  I want to know is when MSDN and TechNet subscribers can lay hands on the RTM version. I hope we’ll see some more information on that very soon. Not only am I itching to get and use this code, I’m also working on a book that we’re going to have to review very thoroughly to make sure it agrees with the RTM version in all respects and in every screenshot. Stay tuned!

Nevertheless, I’m pleased to report that on May 29, Windows 7 product manager Brandon LeBlanc posted to the Windows Team Blog an item entitled “Let’s talk about Windows 7 Starter.” Among other tidbits of interesting info, includes the news that Windows 7 Starter will no longer impose any arbitrary limitations on the number of apps it can run at the same time. Of course, given the kinds of machines that are typical for the netbook platforms at which it aims, I suspect that CPU limitations will still play a role in the number of apps anybody will want to keep open at any given moment.

What’s just as interesting about this posting is the list of things that Windows 7 Starter does NOT include, which I quote verbatim from LeBlanc’s posting:

• Aero Glass, meaning you can only use the “Windows Basic” or other opaque themes. It also means you do not get Taskbar Previews or Aero Peek
• Personalization features for changing desktop backgrounds, window colors, or sound schemes.
• The ability to switch between users without having to log off.
• Multi-monitor support.
• DVD playback.
• Windows Media Center for watching recorded TV or other media.
• Remote Media Streaming for streaming your music, videos, and recorded TV from your home computer.
• Domain support for business customers.
• XP Mode for those that want the ability to run older Windows XP programs on Windows 7.

To me, most of these limitations make a lot of sense. The only one I’d complain about is the multi-monitor support one: given that most netbooks offer resolution of 1024×600 or so (especially those with 10.1″ screens or smaller) it strikes me as cruel and unusual to keep me from hooking up an external monitor when one is available. The hardware includes a VGA (or equivalent) video out port, so why should the OS restrict its use?

Let’s make some more hullaballoo! Maybe we can get MS to back off on this, too. I’ve already posted this observation to the comments on the blog. Perhaps you could, too?

1. After downloading the program, run Windows7UpgradeAdvisor.msi

Win7 Upgrade Advisor launch screen

2. Click Next, then click the checkbox to accept the EULA

It's OK to run this beta software: It only scans your machine.

3. Supply an installation target folder, or stick with the default (that’s what I did).

By default the program goes in the Program Files folder hierarchy

4. Wait while the program installs itself on your system.

Wait while the program installs (took under a minute on my PC)

5. When installation completes, you can close Microsoft Installer.

6. Next, navigate to Start, All Programs, where you’ll find an entry for Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta. Fire that puppy off!

7. As the program runs, you’ll get a circulating progress bar. Whereas the Vista version took about 4 minutes to complete on this computer, the Windows 7 version finished in just under 3.

While the program scans your system and hardware, the progress bar circulates.

8. When the program finishes you’ll see a summary screen pop up. This one simply indicates I won’t get everything from Windows 7 that I got from Windows Ultimate (thank goodness! .

From Vista Ultimate (source OS) the only upgrade target is Windows 7 Ultimate: I can do an in-place upgrade.

9. More details on the hardware checks indicate I have a fast enough CPU, sufficient RAM and disk space, and my graphics card can handle Aero.

This system passes all requisites with flying colors!

In future blogs, I’m going to try other systems with the tool, including a modest notebook, a netbook, and an older single-core machine, and I’ll report on those results. This tour should give you a pretty good idea about where to get the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor beta, and how to use it yourself.

I now understand that XP Mode is a kind of do-it-yourself or roll-your-own version of what MED-V provides as an adminstrator-handled and centrally managed capability for businesses at all scales (though it started with an enterprise target specifically in mind), Microsoft Product Manager Ron Oelgiesser told me yesterday that “even businesses with 100 or 200 users who want to run virtualization” can benefit from MED-V technology. Simply put, it’s designed to allow trained IT professionals (administrators) to design, build, and maintain standard VM images, and to make delivering those images to end users as simple as opening a utility and picking a virtual machine by some readily intelligible name for use (for example “accounts payable” or “call center”). Behind the scenes, the admins are responsible for putting those VM’s together, and updating them as new drivers, updates, and other changes come down the road. Users simply load them and use them as needed, which represents a technique for making good use of virtualization that’s just about as easy as it gets.

From the admin side, things aren’t too shabby either. Microsoft provides a QuickStart guide that shows them how to put VMs together, and test them to make sure they work as desired, then make them available for general access and use with the MED-V client components on end-user desktops. MED-V comes as part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack that is only available to customers who sign up for Microsoft Customer Assurance. Best of all, according to Oelgiesser, the incremental cost of adding a MED-V component to an existing Assurance subscription is “less than $10 per seat per year.” Considering that this includes an XP SP3 license on which to run legacy apps, as well as a nifty set of tools for packaging, distributing, and managing VMs, this is a fantastic value.

Thus, even though MS will be giving away the XP Mode components with higher-end Windows 7 licenses, I predict that MED-V will also enjoy considerable adoption and use, even from SMBs. Oelgiesser confirms that MS feels bullish on MED-V as well, and indicates that some adoption for Vista has already begun among existing Assurance program participants. Should be interesting to see how this all turns out, once Windows 7 goes commercial.

What blows me away most, however, is how compact and efficient Windows 7 is by contrast to Vista. The only version of Windows 7 currently available is the Ultimate one, so check out these two screenshots that compare both environments on a working desktop: first Vista, then Windows 7.

Vista Ultimate: 79 processes, CPU Usage 10%, Memory usage 53% (4 GB)

Win7 Ultimate: 42 Processes, CPU Usage: 0%, Memory 29% (2 GB)

Excuse me, but this is nothing short of amazing–at least to me! Given that I’m also getting reasonable performance for Win7 on the same Asus Eee 1000HE PC that only comes with XP at present (and XP Home at that), I can’t wait to see how more minimal versions will run on netbook hardware when the time comes to play with those.

Right now, I’m still learning my way around the interface and how to use the new OS (it still feels mostly like Vista to me), but I’ve yet to really learn how to use the new interface elements like Libraries, Homegroups, Devices and Printers, and so forth. That’s why I’m still reserving judement on complexity and usability areas, though I can say I’m favorably impressed.

One more thing: on the software and hardware compatibility fronts, I’m pretty much blown away by Win7. I’ve only had problems with one device driver for Win7 so far (and it’s for virtual remapping of the Eee 1000HE display to create a virtual space of 1200×768 in a window that’s actually 1200×600 in size). Every other device driver I’ve tried from Vista has worked in Windows 7. I’ve also had great luck with software and have encountered compatibility problems only where they might rightly be expected: on very OS-specific tools such as defrag (Raxco PerfectDisk 10), 50-50 on Unknown Device Identifier (Zhangduo.com) though Halfdone’s Unknown Device works fine on all systems, inability to load the 4.72 version of Logitech SetPoint (4.70 works fine), and a few other odds and ends. Even my old standby, DriverAgent, works on Windows 7 quite well although it recognizes that this is a new (and unknown) operating system, as far as it can tell.

What does this all mean to enterprise desktop admins? For one thing, it’s not inappropriate to look forward to and actually enjoy working with Winodws 7. I definitely don’t see the same headaches with device drivers that plagued and stalled early adoption of Vista affecting Winodws 7.  For another, expect Win7 to make better use of the same hardware as compared to Vista. In different terms: Win 7 is much less resource-consumptive and also more responsive and easier to tweak than Vista. Definitely worth checking out, and showing to the powers that be!