Seven on Seven - First Impressions of Windows 7

It’s July, and NFL training camps are set to open by the end of the month, thankfully.  That means that veterans players and rookies can soon expect two-a-day full contact sessions, full pads in the summer heat, and my favorite, the seven-on-seven drill.

Windows 7 is also almost here.  Its official release date is October 22, 2009, in time for the holiday season.  I've been running the Windows 7 release candidate for several weeks now, in a variety of virtual and non virtual configurations.  I’ve also attended Microsoft's MSDN Northeast Roadshow 2009, which was focused on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.  So here are seven quick first impressions about “Seven” - my own seven-on-seven, if you will.

1. Problem steps recorder (PSR.EXE).  This is a neat utility that automatically captures a user’s actions, clicks and screen shots into a nicely formatted compressed file for emailing.  It uses a VCR-like record/stop control, and is perfect for remote troubleshooting.  Microsoft’s team calls this the “father-in-law” feature. 
2. Native VHD Support.  You can now attach Virtual Hard Disk VHD files as native disk volumes.  MOUNTING a VHD is a great way to drop off install files or pull out a copy of a file on a virtual system without mounting the whole system.  I used this to build an install VHD of our Office 2007 server install packages that we could then use with our virtual servers without ISO support or adding the images directly to the primary VHD.
3. Federated search.  Just like Search Server 2008 and SharePoint, windows 7 desktop search can pass your search off to other search engines, and results are integrated and grouped.  Works with external services like Bing or Google, as well as internal search engines (SharePoint).
4. Application Compatibility Toolkits.  Windows 7 is coming with a broad range of tool kits to evaluate existing apps and installers running on Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8.  Writing something new in .NET?  No problem - Microsoft has an API in the SDK that lets use .NET to call COMsystem functions that used to require C++ or lower level languages.
5. Windows XP Mode.   Got an older app that only runs on Windows XP?  Again, no worries.   Windows XP mode uses virtualization to run your app directly inside its own XP virtual machine, running seamlessly in a window alongside your other applications.
6.  The power sander.  Not that Microsoft calls it that, but the Vista interface is smoother.  Cleaner.  Faster.  Fewer security popups.  Better organization and previews of applications on your toolbar.  Support for multitouch interfaces (a la Surface).   There are simple techniques, like Aero Peek, which lets you preview your windows in place while task switching among them.   Finally, Windows 7 supports auto rotation of the desktop background wallpaper.  Admittedly, third party UI tools have been offering this for a while.  The desktop has lots of neat widgets, and manually switching the wall paper periodically is a lot of fun means I have too much time on my hands.  Now Windows catches up, with a background as dynamic as the rest of the UI.
7. Libraries.  Vista introduced the basic concept as part of Windows Photo Gallery, and application that guided you through all your pictures and videos regardless of where they live on your PC.  Libraries extend this idea throughout all file access in Windows 7.  Libraries can now become your principal interface to working with documents, pictures, etc., without needing to remember to browse for all the places where you’ve stashed Excel files, for example. 

One other thing --  some of the user interface advances (e.g. Aero Peek) are unavailable if you run Windows 7 in a virtual PC session.  Be brave - if you can try Windows 7 as the primary OS on a real system, take the plunge.