Windows 7 to Open Up Today

Windows 7 -- formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna -- is being released less than three years after the launch of Vista. The operating system will be released in six separate editions.

The versions PC users are most likely to see on shop shelves are the Home Premium and Professional editions. Other versions are aimed at users in developing nations and at corporate customers. But for the most basic edition, all software will be available in 32 and 64-bit versions. Those buying a family pack of Windows 7 will be able to install the software on up to three PCs. A Home Premium edition of the software will cost £79.99 until January 1, after which it will cost £99.99.

While Microsoft claims Vista has been a success, as it has sold more than its predecessor Windows XP, analysts criticised it for heavy demands it puts on PC resources. By contrast Windows 7 boots up more quickly and is designed to work on low cost portable machines known as netbooks. Vista runs poorly on such machines. Sales of small network-centred machines have boomed over the past few years.

According to Allen Bailochan Tuladhar, country manager at Microsoft MDP Nepal, the days of upgrading the hardware for new operating system seems to have come to an end with the release of Windows 7. "With the backward compatibility where even applications for Windows XP would be running, the launch of Windows 7 means that a lot of old computers would now be able to use the latest cutting-edge software technology as well. The Nepali version of Windows 7 and Office 2010 is being developed at Unlimited and will be available in a couple of months," said Tuladhar.

Windows 7 has greater support for multi-touch interfaces, handwriting recognition and is compatible with multi-core processors. Changes have also been made to the familiar taskbar that most users have at the bottom of the screen. Some of the features will be familiar to Apple Mac users as similar functions have been rolled out in Mac operating systems.

While Windows 7 has won praise in its beta, or trial, versions, some experts cautioned against rushing out and buying it. Microsoft first began development of the Interface Manager (subsequently renamed Microsoft Windows) in September 1981. Although the first prototypes used Multiplan and Word-like menus at the bottom of the screen, the interface was changed in 1982 to use pull-down menus and dialogs, as used on the Xerox Star.

Microsoft finally announced Windows in November 1983. The development was delayed several times, however, and the Windows 1.0 hit the store shelves in November 1985. The selection of applications was sparse, however, and Windows sales were modest.

Windows 2.0, introduced in the fall of 1987, provided significant usability improvements to Windows.

Windows 3.0 (May 1990) was a complete overhaul of the Windows environment.

Windows 3.1 (April `95) was followed by Windows 95 in August of 1995. On February 17, 2000, Windows 2000 was launched. It provided an impressive platform for Internet, intranet, extranet, and management applications that integrate tightly with Active Directory.

Microsoft officially launched XP on October 25, 2001. It had tonnes of new features that no previous version of Windows had, but it did not ignore DOS and Windows programmes.