The Great Windows 7

The Great Windows 7 Review

Microsoft finally gets it right! Discover why we're welcoming Windows 7 with open arms, and why it's going to be your next OS

Posted October 21st, 2009 - Post a comment - Share This

Windows Vista never made many friends. In truth, it wasn’t a cataclysmically bad operating system – just one that was already failing to live up to its hype before anyone got their hands on it. The big planned features – notably the WinFS database filesystem described by Gates as “the Holy Grail” – never materialised. The UAC security proved nothing short of a disaster, making the Office paperclip’s prompting seem restrained in comparison to its constant nagging. And then there was That Slogan, which was quite possibly the worst, most annoying aspect of the whole over-hyped build-up. “The Wow Starts Now.” Oh, please...

Lower expectations, better software

Windows 7 is a different story. For the last year, the build-up has been slow, thoughtful and much more reasonable. Where Vista ended up being a classic case of style over precious little substance, Windows 7 is a much more careful release. Its elements have been polished up, and many of Vista’s residual annoyances have been removed. Unfortunately, however, there’s little in the way of brand-new features. It’s also disappointing that some of the features that are new – such as the ability to run XP in a virtual machine – are reserved for only the higher-end editions. Elsewhere, several features have actually been removed and their functions completely passed across to the free Windows Live suite and other downloads.

Is Windows 7 a life-changing update? No. Will it completely revolutionise the way you use your computer? Again, not really. Like all operating systems, Windows 7 is at its best when it’s invisible – staying out of your way. As a result, while there are definitely excellent additions – like the new definitely-not-borrowed-from-Apple taskbar (also known as the Not-Dock) – what really stands out is how all the little details feel like they’ve been designed for us rather than for engineers or marketing people. It’s the small stuff that has the most impact, like giving us control over what icons appear in the notification bar instead of letting any old Tom, Dick or Adobe decide what we need to know about.

From the moment you boot it up, Windows 7 exudes a mature kind of class, standing up without the need for glitzy gimmicks or yapping demands for your attention. It’s by far Microsoft’s most confident operating system. It’s also the most publicly tested – Windows 7 has been on many of our PCs for the last year, and anyone could download it in beta. No Windows OS to date has had a more public gestation period.

There will of course be technical problems over the next few months. Driver issues, old programs not liking their new home, the inevitable parade of bugs, niggles and exploits – it’s unrealistic to expect otherwise. But that’s OK. These issues can and will be fixed over time. The important part – for us, at least – is that after using Windows 7 for some time, we’ve never been even slightly tempted to go back to Vista or XP.

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Windows 7

Windows 7 sales boosted by pre-orders, smashes Vista

Posted by Chris Smith on Fri 6 Nov 2009

After outselling Harry Potter in pre-orders, Windows 7 creams Vista too.

Huge pre-order sales of Windows 7 have seen Microsoft's new operating system out-do its disastrous predecessor Windows Vista by a whopping 243 per cent.

The newly released figures demonstrate public and business confidence in Microsoft's comeback effort, although the figures have been skewed slightly by the amount of people who took up the option of hugely discounted pre-sale offers.

- T3's Microsoft Windows 7 review

- Group test: Windows 7 laptops review

Once the maths has been done, Microsoft emerges with 82 per cent higher profit margin than it saw from the first seven days' sales of Vista, according to figures released by the NPD group.

NPD Vice President Stephen Baker said: "Microsoft's program of early low-cost pre-sales, high visibility marketing, and aggressive deals helped make the Windows 7 software launch successful. In a slow environment for packaged software, Windows 7 brought a large number of customers into the software aisles."

T3 scored the new OS, which allows Windows to compete with the slickness of Mac OS X for the very first time, our highest accolade of 5 stars, saying: "Windows 7 has achieved something Vista failed to deliver and much more. This is the best Windows yet." Read the full Windows 7 review and get Windows 7 tips to get the most out of the new OS.

Link: Microsoft (via Telegraph)

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Adobe Photoshop Elements 6

Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 Tutorials Certainly Make the Difference

Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 was produced by Adobe.com to suit both Windows and Mac Systems, back in the Fall of 2007, but the original Mac OSX version had to be updated almost immediately due to some early teething problems. The Hidden Power tools that were introduced had been especially adapted for the new Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 version, making everything so much clearer, especially if you have been able to watch the elements video tutorials.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 has bettered the use of add-ons, for example the Hidden Power tool, but there have been so many new additions that Digital Photographers finally feel that they have been rewarded with a quality piece of editing software. Check out the top 7 most significant additions to the Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 software product that will soon make clear just what this program really can do for image editing purposes.

1) Photomerge helps to improve group shots.
2) Panorama creation has reached a new level for sharpness.
3) You will be able to animate images and make flip books.
4) This will guide you step by step on both image enhancing and creating images.
5) Photo Albums are a lot more simpler to make.
6) Sorting and image location has been made easier by the use of Smart Albums that quickens up the whole process.

If you decide to purchase a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 then check out eBay for lower price versions or use Google to find a better deal. Adobe also give a free 30 day test version for Mac and PC systems, so be sure to sign up to the correct version.

Once Photoshop Elements 6 has been installed correctly, you will be just itching to get on and start using all of the new fantastic tools. Don't waste time on trying to use the program on your own as apart from the time factor, you will also produce lower quality work. You could try and follow the Adobe PDF, that may not satisfy your learning needs, or you could learn through professional video training tutorials that have been especially put together to enhance a quick learning process for Elements users, even for absolute newbies.

It won't take you very look to see just how easy Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 becomes with the help of instantly accessible, step-by-step, download, video tutorials that help to master Elements in record time. I t doesn't matter which Elements version you have as the majority of the videos will work with any Elements version. You learning capacity will decide on how you decide to master elements, but it would definitely be advisable to study rather then trying to edit your photos on elements without any assistance at all.

Did you like this article? Interested in Learning Adobe Elements 6? Well now you can by getting these Adobe Elements Tutorials...what are you waiting for? - YES FREE Adobe Elements 6 Tutorials.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Martin_Peters

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