Microsoft is launching it’s latest greatest Operating System in less than 20 days from the posting of this article. Windows 7 which has been under public scrutiny for months by the technical testing community has gotten rave reviews. Many say this is what Vista should have been, others say this is going to be the best release since Windows XP.
Microsoft has been suffering a Public Relations nightmare since the plagued release of Windows Vista, what most people don’t understand Windows 7 is simply Windows Vista, but with a bit more spit and polish. It does however seem that Microsoft has taken a hard look at the old Vista codebase and decided to just optimize and polish in every area possible. Because Windows 7 is a descendant of Vista the issues of driver compatibility, and software application have had an entire two years to be addressed allowing 3rd party developers more then ample time to get caught up with the Vista programming models. So what we will have is tons of software out the gate ready to be used by Windows 7. To further compatibility and get Widows XP users on board with Windows 7, 
Microsoft has included a virtual environment that basically incorporates the entire Windows XP operating system into Windows 7 so for any application that desperately needs Windows XP the app can be installed in what’s called “Windows XP mode” but the icon sits on the Windows 7 desktop and start menu and will execute in a standard Windows 7 window just as if they were regular Windows 7 applications.
There are tons of new features, new themes, new options there are tours on the Microsoft website and reviews can be found all over the internet from testers who have been using the Release Candidate from Microsoft. Also there are new apps in Windows Live (the downloadable web offerings by Microsoft) that are geared to Windows 7 if you were waiting for a new OS upgrade on the Windows platform this is definitely the .update for you.
Windows 7 Upgrade prices are pretty steep but many options are coming to light including OEM pricing which is offered by Newegg.com:
While these prices give you a break on price the downside is once you install these copies of Windows 7 on a PC your tied to that same machine basically forever. Reactivation on a newer machine involves calling Microsoft’s activation line and requesting a new code, also you should not there is no support for OEM versions from Microsoft so basically your on your own troubleshooting issues.
Also student/educator copies of Windows 7 are available if you have an .edu mailing address around the $29.99 range. Students and educators should visit the 741 site for more information. It’s a very annoying site but it’s worth it to get a professional level version of Windows 7 for these prices. ![desktop-aero-peek[1]]($desktop-aero-peek[1][3].jpg "desktop-aero-peek[1]")
And for the rest of us the standard prices are as follows:
| Standard | Upgrade | |
| Home Premium | $199.99 | $119.99 |
| Professional | $299.99 | $199.99 |
| Ultimate | $319.99 | $219.99 |
![desktop-taskbar[1]]($desktop-taskbar[1][3].jpg "desktop-taskbar[1]")
Currently all the major system builders are putting Windows 7 on their machines and maybe around the Christmas holidays there will be specials and price drops. But for now Windows 7 is the best OS release Microsoft has done since Windows XP SP2 and if your looking to upgrade NeedTooKnow.org highly recommends this one.
