Let's face it, when Microsoft launched Vista last year it was not met with the enthusiasm anticipated by the Seattle giant.  While it offered many "exciting" new ways to do what you had been doing quite happily with XP for years, it was slow, required huge hardware resources and was just different enough to make finding things that took seconds with XP take minutes.

For the last year, when WDC have installed a new system, we have strongly recommended "downgrading" to XP, so what is the verdict on Windows 7?

We have been running the pre-release of Windows 7 in our offices since June 2009 and updated in September 2009 to the Windows 7 Ultimate that we receive as part of our Microsoft Certified Partner programme.

Windows 7 0ffers the look and feel of Vista (see differences between Vista and XP below) yet unlike Vista does not seem to require enormous amounts of processing power just to run.

Control of peripheral devices (printers, cameras etc.) is through a more obvious route than with Vista although the network configuration we are currently running still has a problem with networked printers causing us to declare each printer on the LAN as a local printer.

• 1 gigahertz(GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64)processor
• 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model) 1.0 or higher driver

While Vista seemed to be more suited to the home user, Windows 7 has benefits to business users who multi-task as switching between multiple applications is actually easier and quicker once you have mastered the various Aero controls. Vista users will already be familiar with most of the new Windows 7 features, but to XP and Windows 2000 users, here is a summary of the new features:

• Windows Aero:
  Windows Vista features a totally different look for its interface—a cleaner, transparent look with impressive graphic quality, Live Icons and the new Windows Flip 3D feature. However, Windows Aero requires a higher-end video graphics card to run so check with your computer manufacturer.
• Windows Sidebar:
  Windows Vista offers a panel (transparent if you're using Windows Aero) that displays your selection of Windows gadgets—mini-applications that can be configured to display such items as a clock, a calendar, a picture gallery, and currency exchange.
• Microsoft Windows Media Player 11: While you can download it for Windows XP this version of Windows Media Player is designed for Windows Vista and shouldn't be missed. With its new graphics-oriented interface this version abandons the text-oriented look and field of previous versions.
• Parental Controls:
  These allow the computer administrator to set highly specific boundaries for other users including separate standard user accounts for family members, especially children. You can set rules such as which sites a certain user can or cannot access and hours during which a particular user can use the computer; you can also curtail access to specific applications and view where other users have been on your computer and on the Web.

However, some of the changes are also potentially beneficial to business users:

• Windows Search:
  Windows Vista can now search for files or applications from almost anywhere. Unlike in Windows XP, with Window Search you can simply type a few letters of your search request and the results appear on the fly—a helpful feature when looking for a file or application from the Start menu. For example, type fir and Windows Firewall entries appear in the Start menu.
• Windows Vista User Account Control (UAC):
  UAC is a new security feature that lets you operate Windows Vista more as a standard user than as a true administrator where you have complete access to everything. Features that UAC protects, denoted with a multi-coloured shield, require your permission or validation before you can access them.
• Windows Firewall:
  Windows Vista now features two different firewalls: the standard firewall that was available in Windows XP and Windows Firewall with Advanced Features. The latter offers true firewall protection including bidirectional filters, meaning that both incoming and outgoing data are scanned.
• Live Icons:
  When you're using Windows Aero you can hover your mouse over open windows in the task bar and see a live representation of what's running in them. You can get the same preview by using the Windows Flip 3D feature or even by pressing ALT+TAB to toggle windows and folders which can make navigation much easier.