PC is ready for upgrade or not?

In general, if your PC can run Windows Vista, it can run Windows 7. But if you're not running Windows Vista, or are just not sure if your system is ready to run Windows 7, there's a quick way to do a simple check.

Just download, install, and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta. You'll get a report telling you if your PC can run Windows 7 and if there are any known compatibility issues. If an issue can be resolved, you'll get suggestions for next steps. For example, it may let you know that you need an updated driver for your printer and where to get it.

Before you begin

Before you run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta, be sure to plug in any USB devices or other devices such as printers, external hard drives, or scanners that are regularly used with the PC you're evaluating.

Download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta

Important: The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta is a pre-release version and is available in U.S. English only. While we consider this a stable and high-quality beta, it's not the finished product.

Next steps

When the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor scan ends, it'll display your options for upgrading a PC you already have or recommend that you just go buy a new PC for the best Windows 7 experience.

In general, if you are running a PC with Windows Vista and the Windows Upgrade Advisor says you can upgrade it, the transition to Windows 7 should be pretty smooth, although you may first need to update your Windows Vista system to the latest service pack. If you do decide to upgrade your PC, Windows 7 will be available for purchase October 22.

May 12 2009

Microsoft Corp. should give Windows Vista Ultimate owners a free upgrade to Windows 7, an analyst said Monday.

"I'd like to see a free upgrade [to Windows 7] for Vista Ultimate users," said Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. "It would buy them a lot of good will, and I don't think it would cost them much."

Cherry cited Microsoft's failure to deliver on the promise of "Ultimate Extras" as his reason for urging the company to compensate users.

MAY 8 2009

Microsoft, Intel goof up Windows 7's "XP Mode"

When news of Windows 7's "XP Mode" came out recently, there was much rejoicing among those who were concerned about legacy support in Microsoft's upcoming OS. But now we learn that Microsoft and Intel have contrived to make XPM unavailable to many Intel users.

Good News

The trial version of the next Windows operating system has won a key endorsement from a software expert at chipmaker Intel (NSDQ: INTC), a company that, despite being one of Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s closest partners, was so leery of Vista that at one point it banned the widely maligned OS from its corporate workstations.

Windows 7 and companion OS Windows Server 2008, at least when it comes to the beta versions, are a whole different ball game from Vista, said Intel software developer Doug Holland, in a company blog post this week.

"I have now been using the Windows Server 2008 R2 beta and Windows 7 beta builds for some time and have found them to be incredibly stable," said Holland, who in previous posts has pointed out that Windows 7 will scale to support a whopping 256 processor cores.

The Windows 7 Beta includes a beta of Internet Explorer 8

Microsoft is reminding PC users that they can get their hands on the next version of Internet Explorer simply by downloading the trial version of the company's new operating system.

The Windows 7 Beta includes a beta of Internet Explorer 8," noted Microsoft program manager Paul Cutsinger, in a blog post.

"I say 'a beta' because IE8 in Windows 7 Beta is a pre-release candidate build of IE: It's IE8 Beta 2 plus end user features that are only available on Windows 7 plus many fixes based on feedback from IE8 Beta 2 usage," Cutsinger wrote in his blog, which was posted Saturday.

Among other things, the Explorer 8 beta included in Windows 7 provides a first look at a feature that gives users a thumbnail view of all open browser tabs when the Explorer icon is moused over.

Another new feature exclusive to Windows 7, called Jump List, allows users to open IE8 and navigate to a specific site in a single step. Right clicking on the Explorer icon brings up a customizable list of sites that can be jumped to directly.

Explorer 8 also adds standards long ignored by Microsoft. Among other things, IE8 will feature default compatibility with Web standards such as CCS 2.1 and HTML 5. It also promises improved support for the Ajax language, and other W3C Internet programming guidelines.

Microsoft took the wraps of the preview version of Windows 7, which will be the successor to Vista. Julie Larson Green, Microsoft's vice president for Windows experience, hosted a demo in which she walked attendees through the features of the operating system.

At first glance, Windows 7 maintains the streamlined look of Vista, but appears more muted -- even Windows XP-like. Mostly, Microsoft seems to be focusing more on functionality, possibly in a bid to put some distance between Windows 7 and the criticisms which have dogged Vista.

There's a bunch of new features that should make Windows easier to navigate and use. Perhaps the flashiest addition (or at least the one that makes for the coolest on-stage demo) is multitouch support. It looks like all applications in Windows 7 will be able to support basic multitouch interactions - for example; touching two fingers to the screen to scroll through documents in Microsoft Office - and developers can also build more sophisticated interactions into their applications.

Of course, you'll need fancy interface hardware for this to matter - either the super-expensive Surface computer or at least a screen that supports touch. But there are other additions that should help all Windows 7 users. Perhaps most significantly, the taskbar in Windows 7 is now customizable, so users can change the order of the applications. Also, items in the taskbar are now accompanied by visual previews (showing, say, websites when you highlight Internet Explorer) rather than text descriptions. There are also improved search capabilities, a tool called Device Stage for managing external devices, "jump lists" to relevant applications and more.

Steven Sinofsky, vice president for Windows and Windows Live Engineering, said Microsoft has learned from its experience with Windows Vista. Most significantly, unlike Vista, Windows 7 will have strong device compatibility and application support out the door, he said. To a large extent, that's just because Windows 7 is built on the same infrastructure as Vista, so there shouldn't be any problems transitioning applications and devices to the new system.

As for Windows 7's timeline, Sinofsky said a beta version should be available early next year. There's no concrete timeline beyond that, but Microsoft's goal is to release Windows 7 around three years after Vista became generally available in 2007. So expect to see something in 2010.

In the press release touting the Windows 7 preview, Microsoft framed those functionality issues in general terms. As the release words it, Windows 7 will enable users to "work the way you want," "make everyday tasks faster and easier," and "make new things possible."

Regarding that last bullet point, Microsoft explains this means Windows 7 will be easier to connect to cameras, phones, and printers. That's handled in the OS by Windows 7's new Device Center.

Most obviously, a quick tour through Windows 7 reveals its new taskbar, which is sparser than in previous iterations of the OS. From the screen shots, it's clear that Microsoft has listened to criticism and tuned many features, including search and access to security controls. The look and feel of the user interface is also highly customizable.

The version of Windows 7 previewed at PDC is technically a pre-beta release. The official shipment of the final version is expected in about a year's time.