Windows 7 Users May Feel Scrooged on Cool New Features
The bad press that surrounded Vista may account for the good will accompanying tomorrow’s release of Windows 7. I am one self-confessed Microsoft stockholder who must admit to feelings ranging from skepticism to annoyance – and not just about the ill-considered hype which relies more upon Vista-bashing than informed reporting. I would not be the first to “Bah Humbug” the product, but should my skepticism show more nuance?
The obvious: expect Windows 7 to be faster. Assume this without reading any reviews. I expected that from Vista, and unlike many, generally got it. What else?
New features Wikipedia offers its customarily thorough review of new features of the operating system upgrade. By the time I got to the end of the encyclopedia’s list, the geek in me was feeling a tug. But the cynic persisted.
I kept reading.
A longtime user of Cakewalk Sonar, I found the analysis provided (via CNET) by Noel Borthwick, Cakewalk’s CTO, more helpful. Borthwick identified some steps forward — improvements in lock management for multithreading and memory management , and some steps backward – the minimum latency for WASAPI is 3ms, which is inferior to Vista.
That interview identified some “clear improvements.” Native playback support for media in MP4, MOV, 3GP, AVCHD, ADTS, M4A, and WTV multimedia containers, and native codecs for H.264, MPEG4-SP, ASP/DivX/Xvid, MJPEG, DV, AAC-LC, LPCM and AAC-HE. Win 7's big win? No need to install Quicktime on Windows and open the floodgates to the deluge of Apple updates that come with it. Plus, Firewire and USB interfaces are, or will be upgraded, with 1394b support and, in a later release, USB 3.0.
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