Goodbye Vista, hello Windows 7

Microsoft releases Tuesday Windows 7, a new operating system meant to replace the much-decried Vista. Early reviews are mostly enthusiastic.A nearly-final version of Windows 7 makes its world debut on Tuesday, giving people a chance to tell Microsoft what they like or hate about the new-generation operating system.The release will be available at microsoft.com/downloads in a move intended to signal that the software giant is putting finishing touches on an operating system that it hopes will escape criticism heaped on its predecessor Vista."It appears that they are on target," said analyst Michael Cherry of private firm Directions On Microsoft which specializes in tracking the US software giant."I think we need to be cautious though. Windows 7 is still in development. While Microsoft is certainly moving on to the next logical milestone this is still a test version of the operating system."Copies of the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) software were made available to developers last week and early reviews have praised the operating system for its stability and avoiding problems that marred Vista's image."Listening to our partners and customers has been fundamental to the development of Windows 7," Microsoft senior vice president for Windows business Bill Veghte said while announcing the RC release date."We heard them and worked hard to deliver the highest quality release candidate in the history of Windows."Complaints about Vista included it not working with some software designed for the previous-generation Windows XP operating system and it being too much for netbooks or older computers to handle.