New Windows operating system being released Thursday hoping to rival Apple’s OS X

The times have changed for Microsoft and its Windows operating system.

When Windows XP was released in 2001, its market dominance was unchallenged. PCs were far and away the standard for mainstream computing.

But years later, with many categorizing XP’s successor, Vista, as a flop, Apple’s Mac computers spiked in popularity. Microsoft’s stranglehold on the operating system battle became weaker.

Thursday, Microsoft releases Windows 7, its answer to Apple’s growth and Vista’s shortcomings. Is it enough to reclaim Microsoft’s status as the unchallenged titan of computing, or will it falter against the growing strength of Mac OS X?

“It’s faster, it’s a lot more streamlined, it’s less system-heavy,” said Joe Hertler, a Lake Orion sophomore and help desk analyst.

The focus for this iteration of the more than 20-year-old product line is not so much on what it has that Vista does not, but what it does not have that Vista did.

Frequent load times, annoying notifications (in particular from User Account Control, a system intended to help prevent unwanted processes from running on the computer) and many other frustrating sticking points from Vista were removed or smoothed out in Windows 7.

Users now have the opportunity to not only use Microsoft’s types of programs, such as Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player and Windows Mail, but now have more of an opportunity to branch out and try third-party programs.

“I got better performance out of my applications,” Hertler said.

New focus

The focus on making the operating system better instead of reinventing it is very similar to Apple’s design philosophy for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. The buzz words “Evolution, not revolution” apply equally well to both.

Johnson said there are several changes on Windows 7 that might surprise some.

“A lot of it is aesthetic, making it look cooler,” Tim Johnson, a Highland senior and help desk analyst said.

The taskbar has been significantly revamped for the first time since Windows 95 — it now allows frequently used programs to be pinned to it, like OS X’s Dock, while enhancing existing functionality by automatically grouping windows from the same program together. It then allows each instance to be previewed individually on mouse over through a system called “Aero Peek.”

Several user interface elements combine to make Windows a much more multitasking-friendly environment, encouraging multiple non-maximized and easily reshaped applications to be on-screen at once.

These relatively minor changes from Vista may make Windows 7 a less essential purchase than previous upgrades have been for the majority of users.

“If they aren’t having problems with Vista, I’d recommend staying with it,” Johnson said.

Test run

Traverse City junior Mike Beemer has been using the Windows 7 Release Candidate, a limited version released for free by Microsoft earlier in the year to provide a widespread program of troubleshooting before they began selling the product.

“Once you install it, everything works,” Beemer said.

He said the average user has to fiddle with things such as hardware drivers significantly less when starting out.

“It’s pretty nice, I like it a lot,” he said.

As for the final decision between the shiny new Windows and the glitzy new Mac, it mostly hinges on what the user wants out of his or her computer.

Johnson would recommend an art student pick up a Mac for the bevy of supported creative suites, but might point a business student toward a PC for their international prevalence and array of financial applications.

Hertler said he sees both sides of the fence.

“It’s all personal preference,” Hertler said. “Macs are more expensive, (but) you have less problems with a Mac.”

Coming to CMU

Hertler said College of Business Administration students can get it for free online.

“It is also $10 at the help desk,” he said. “We’ll probably start offering to faculty and staff one to two months after (release).”

As for an upgrade on campus computers, he said changes are already happening.

“It’s going to be a gradual thing,” Hertler said.

Beemer, who works at the Health Professions Building, said they are switching some computers to Windows 7.

“We’ve only got one professor running Windows 7 right now,” he said.

Beemer said no problems have occurred integrating it into their network.