So I finally had a chance to try out Windows 7 a couple of days ago. Windows 7, as many of you already know, officially launched on Thursday, October 22.

I was lucky enough to get a really nice demo of some of the new features Windows 7 has to offer from a local Microsoft Windows 7 Expert Rep at Future Shop over the weekend.

The best thing I appreciate about this new Windows version is the mere fact that it is considerably faster than Windows Vista. I was told pre-Windows 7 launch that it held the same look and feel of Windows Vista, but was stripped down of unnecessary processes that caused Windows Vista to be horrendously slow. Many of the people I talked to about Windows Vista in the past simply hated it from the beginning since all they heard were horror stories about compatibility issues and speed. With Windows 7, Microsoft added a new feature that actually lets you go into Windows XP mode for any software only compatible with the older Windows version.

From what I learned from the demo, Windows 7 is not only faster than Windows Vista, but has simply improved the end-user experience. Some of the new features include:

• Windows Search – now you don’t have to press the “F1” key to find help topics about what you need help doing. The Windows Search bar is located in the start menu and acts like a dynamic ajax’d search bar you’ll find on the Yahoo! search engine.
• Snap – by simply dragging a window to your screen’s past the left or right edge, the window expands or shinks to half of your screen so you can compare another window/file by doing the same to the other window in the opposite direction.
• Taskbar / Dock – the new taskbar not only has a new cleaner look, but almost resembles the Mac dock. You can actually change the opacity to make it translucent; ahem, who said anything about Microsoft being original?
• Live Taskbar Previews – this is probably my favourite feature of Windows 7. If you’re like me, you’ll have loads of tabs open in a single browser window. Live Taskbar Previews will not only preview the current webpage, but it will show you a screenshot of the other tabs in your browser window – handy indeed.
• Slideshow Windows Desktop Background – just like Mac OS, now Windows gives you the option of rotating different desktop backgrounds while you work :P
• Stream audio/video from your home PC on any computer running Windows 7

Overall, I find Windows 7 to be the, “What Windows Vista Should Have Been”, version of Windows. Not only does it rival against Windows XP’s speed and popularity, but it has some really nice new features that has me thinking Windows again… I still want a Macbook pro for Christmas though haha!