Windows 7 Product Guide Now Available

Posted by:
Brandon LeBlanc
02:36 PM Monday
Oct 26, 2009
16 Comments

As many of you have noticed, there is a lot of information out there about Windows 7 now that it is available for everyone. You can find information on everything from the Action Center to Windows XP Mode on various blogs and web pages all over the Internet. You might want a concise guide of what Windows 7 has to offer and how it can help you and your business. With this in mind we created the Windows 7 Product Guide. This easy to read guide gives you a clear overview of the features in Windows 7 without a lot of technical jargon that you might find in other content. The guide was designed to educate and inform readers about benefits you get from adopting Windows 7.

The Windows 7 Product Guide is has three major sections:

Introduction - Describes how Microsoft designed Windows 7, what editions of Windows 7 are available and what is new.
Windows 7 for You - Goes over features in Windows 7 that, simplify everyday tasks, works the way you want, and makes new things possible.
Windows 7 for IT Professionals - Explains how Windows 7 can make people productive anywhere, manage risk though enhanced security and control, and reduce costs by streamlining PC management. This section also has an overview of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack to help you learn about how this set of applications can help you get to a more managed and optimized desktop.

If you are looking for a good reference guide about Windows 7, I recommend that you download a copy of the Windows 7 Product Guide here (XPS and PDF versions available).

Comments

usbusi

Posted on: October 28, 2009 at 2:11PM
I'm planning on doing a "clean upgrade" from Vista to 7. I think MS should include an automated "clean upgrade" as another install choice. Because a clean upgrade is always preferred, while migrating data and finding all the license codes for your applications can be a pain. (In some cases an application may have to be purchased again if the license has been lost and the maker of the software does not help you to obtain your license. In other cases there is a fee for license retrieval.)

So I have simply used Vista's partition shrinker utility to provide me with a 60 gig partition, which I have already formatted to NTFS as a new drive. And I'll install 7 onto that drive (assuming I will be able to with an upgrade version of 7 -- I haven't tried it yet. If it does not work with an upgrade version, I'll install Vista a second time on the new drive, then clean install over it.)

Then I've got a dual boot configuration. So I can take my time transitioning to 7 from Vista.

Since a few people are having upgrade troubles from XP and Vista to 7, apparently, having this install choice would be a solution for those troubled folks, assuming they have ample hard drive space. Today's hard drives are huge, so I think a lot of folks will have the extra hard drive space to use this install method.

I believe it is preferable to have the OS on a separate partition anyways. Unless that is an outdated recommendation.

If MS automated such a "clean upgrade" install choice, it would be as easy as upgrading, as conceivably the install program would be able to transfer pertinent registry information from the Vista registry to the 7 registry, and leave the software and data in place on the Vista partition, finally giving the customer the choice of either deleting Vista or leaving it in place as dual boot.

In the meantime, a "clean upgrade" will take more time than a standard upgrade because of reinstalling the applications, but the data can stay put on the original partition, it just needs to be re-assigned as to it's location once the application is installed.
usbusi

Posted on: October 28, 2009 at 2:14PM
I wish MS would include another install option -- "clean upgrade." Which would essentially be installing 7 as dual boot with either XP or Vista. And automate the process of allowing 7 to use the applications that are installed on XP or Vista, just by copying the pertinent registry information. Or at the very least require reinstallations of applications, but still allow a dual boot option, on a new drive (which could be a new physical drive or a new partition that was made available after shrinking the original Vista or XP partition,) so the data would still be able to be used on the original partition. Eventually the customer should be able to remove Vista when they no longer need it, without having to reformat the Vista (original) partition as well.
newscientist2000

Posted on: October 28, 2009 at 9:57PM
Hi usbusi,

I know what you mean, its one of the things that made the good old days so great. Back when I had my old Amiga days, most applications were designed to run from floppy discs, to get the apps to run on your computer you simply move the files from your floppies to a folder in Workbench.

Usually clicking on an icon in the folder to start it, it was all very simple - loved it. It would be easy to migrate those apps, you would just move the folders with the programs in.

Of course back in those days one application didnt care what most of the other applications were doing almost like the ipod OS, and most of the time you probably only ran one or two apps at a time. So yeah simplicity has its trade offs.

Today upgrading to a new OS might involve a little bit of work, but the programs we use these days are way more complicated than they were 15-20 years ago, we use more of them at the same time, on more advanced hardware so the complexity of the every OS is greater than ever before.

Myself I like doing a clean install, sure it takes some time but its worth it for the better experience you get at the end of the day. Keeping track of old product keys is a pain, so its one of those things you learn to keep track of when you get older.

Who knows where OS and application Virtualisation will take us in a few years, or cloud computing? Hopefully it will be a simpler better place.
Nosmo

Posted on: October 29, 2009 at 6:58PM
Instead of a Windows 7 Product Guide, how about a good ,simple

explanation as to installing the upgrade media.

What a mess . Your company is a disgrace.

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