Windows7 Evangelist

As far as software products are concerned, it’s not just the solutions themselves that need to be tailored to the next iteration of Windows, it is also Windows 7 that needs to adapt in response. According to Microsoft, the goal with Windows 7 is not only to ensure that all Vista-compatible applications will continue to work, but that even broken apps will integrate seamlessly with the new operating system. The Redmond company is actually rescuing Windows Vista broken software and tailoring it to Windows 7. By making sure that Windows 7 embraces Vista rejects, the software giant is attempting to boost the level of application compatibility for the next version of the Windows client.

“Along with the core tenet of ensuring that any application that worked on Windows Vista also works on Windows 7 we have a stretch goal to “raise the bar” and make applications work on Windows 7 that never worked on Windows Vista. For Windows 7, we have some good news early in the development cycle. So far we have made over 30 applications that were “broken” on Vista work on Windows 7. This means that Windows 7 will have higher application compatibility than Windows Vista. We are continuing to push this number up,” revealed Grant George, the corporate vice president for testing in the Windows Experience team.

But Microsoft is not stopping at Windows 7. The company is also promising that, as possible, broken apps salvaged for Windows 7 will also be made to work for Windows Vista. In this context, the company is looking to ensure that the fixes introduced with Windows 7 will be backported to Vista, and has flagged the resolves for possible inclusion in future updates, although no timetable for compatibility refreshes was delivered.

“We look at applications in 3 buckets. Global ISV (GISV) Applications – Localized software sold by major ISVs in several international markets as well as the United States. Microsoft (MS) Localized Applications – Microsoft software that has been localized for use in other markets other than the United States. 3rd Party Local Applications – Software where the user interface language is not-English and the application is sold in non-English speaking markets,” Grant stated.

The challenge with Windows 7 is to adapt the platform to a worldwide audience via International Application Compatibility. Over 1,200 applications localized in no less than 25 markets have already been tested on Vista’s successor. This means that Microsoft is ensuring that Windows 7 will play nice with no less than 300 applications on top of what Vista brought to the table.

“Testing applications means more than just installing them and making sure they launch,” Grant explained. “Every application gets a unique test plan written for it to cover as much functionality as we can. We write test cases to cover primary and secondary application functions – for our word processing example this would include opening a file, typing a letter, adjusting formatting, save, and print, emailing a copy to someone, etc. These applications go through 6 or more test passes during the product cycle.”

After a limited demo last May, the first public comments started trickling out last August in Microsoft’s Engineering Windows 7 blog, and the floodgates opened by the end of October at the company’s Professional Developers Conference. It’s all been part of the plan, and a far cry from how Microsoft handled Windows Vista before its release.

Windows boss Steven Sinofsky is known for his controlled, on-time delivery of products, most notably the well-received Office 2007 suite. His strategy has been hypercontrolled this time around. While a number of prerelease builds have leaked, Windows 7 hasn’t been the start-and-stop, leak-heavy development cycle that Windows Vista was. That even caused some consternation among interested customers early in the process, as public information on Windows 7 was so sparse.

“With Windows Vista, even before we wrote the code, people were talking about features,” Gavriella Schuster, Microsoft’s senior director of Windows client product management for enterprise customers, said in an interview. Leaks were rampant, uncontrolled, and unsubstantiated. Features would be discussed and never heard from again. Not this time, Schuster insisted.

With Windows 7, Schuster said, Microsoft decided that it wouldn’t disclose features publicly before it was “very clear” on whether the feature would be in the operating system and what it would look like. It also created a firm release timeframe — about three years after the Vista release — and decided to stick with it so that unlike Vista, Windows 7 wouldn’t come five years after the previous Windows edition.

Read more of this article: http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=215800491&subSection=All+Stories

‘Microsoft is listening to you, and here’s what it’s done.’ -

Microsoft’s Windows 7 team has been pretty quiet for the last month and a half since releasing their beta to the public, and many wondered what, if any, changes were going to show up in the final version of Windows 7. Microsoft’s senior vice president in charge of the Windows group, Steven Sinofsky, this week broke the company’s silence, telling about how Microsoft has taken in user feedback from its beta and used it to fix over 2,000 bugs.

Now Microsoft has posted a long Windows 7 blog detailing some of these user-inspired changes that are included in the Release Candidate 1 (RC1) of Windows 7. The changes include tweaks to virtually every area of the OS’s operation. In this first segment, we’ll look at some of the interface changes that will affect the user experience in the OS.

First up, one attractive change is the addition of Aero Peek to ALT+TAB’ing through windows. In Windows, this keyboard shortcut always let you switch through running programs by icon. Some users inquired, why not use the thumbnail preview of Aero Peek to this feature? Microsoft complied and after a time delay, the ALT+TAB window turns into an Aero Peek preview that can be tabbed through.

Another big set of changes are tweaks to its Windows Key+<#> launch scheme, a largely overlooked feature in Windows Vista. In Vista, this shortcut would launch the program that was in the Quick Launch list. However, it did not switch to the program, but merely started it. In Windows 7 RC1, this has been tweaked significantly. The key combination still launches the Window. However, pressing it again will now scroll through open windows of that type of program, using the above mention Aero Peek additions. And by clicking SHIFT+Windows Key+<#> you can open new instances of the window. But the fun doesn’t end there, CTRL+Windows Key+<#> allows you to instantly switch to the last window instance, while ALT+Windows Key+<#> will allow you access to the programs jump list – all without a single finger touching your mouse.

Another nice little tweak is to make “needy windows” – windows demanding your attention, such as an IM program with new messages – more visible. Many users complained that the taskbar button flashing was too subtle and they were missing events. Microsoft has changed the flashing to a “bolder orange color” and the flash pattern to a more jarring saw tooth wave, as well as increasing the flash rate – all of which should help get your attention when a window needs it.

One switch which bugged some users was that the drag and drop in Vista’s Quick Launch which allowed you to drop a file into a program’s icon to open it with that program was replaced by merely pinning the file to a task bar in Windows. Microsoft, though sounding a bit chagrined about the user feedback on this, consented to adding a SHIFT+drag feature, which allows you to drag and drop files into pinned programs, just like in Vista.

Another key change is that your task bar will now scale based on your resolution. This means at higher resolutions it can support more icons. This table comes from Microsoft’s MSDN page:

Maximum taskbar button capacity before scrolling

Another little tweak is that when scrolling through thumbnails after clicking an item in a taskbar, the item now stays highlighted with its “Color Hot-Track” visual. This will help the user remember which program the thumbnails are associated with. One more nice tweak is that after installing new programs, Microsoft now temporarily adds the program to the bottom of the Start Menu to allow for easier pinning and making the program easier to find.

Microsoft has also tweaked its jump lists. Some people had complained about its lists being too long, so Microsoft, based on its data, decided to limit the list to 10 items. Enthusiast still can lengthen this maximum length via an easy setting. Files of non-registered types (i.e. an .html file with Notepad) can be pinned to the program’s jump list, now. When clicking that item in the jump list, it will continue to open the file with that program, if possible.

Rounding out the list of interface changes, the user can now right click on the desktop to hide all icons or to hide all gadgets, allowing the users to easily interact with just gadgets or just icons, in the case of a cluttered desktop.

There’s lots more changes, but that’s all for the interface update!

Source: http://www.insidetech.com/news/articles/4154-a-peek-at-windows-7-rc1-interface-changes?referral=IT_nlet_R2_20090303_users