A nearly final version of Windows 7 made its world debut yesterday, giving people a chance to tell Microsoft what they love or hate about the new-generation operating system.
The release is 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,” he said.
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 for 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 in announcing the RC.
“We heard them and worked hard to deliver the highest quality release candidate in the history of Windows,” he said.
Complaints about Vista included that it was not compatible with some software designed for the previous-generation Windows XP operating system and that it was too much for netbooks or older computers to handle.
Cherry is testing Windows 7 on netbooks, popular low-cost mobile computers designed essentially for accessing the Internet and running a few simple programs.
“That is one of the places where Vista didn’t do a good job,” Cherry said. “I think Microsoft has been very cautious with Windows 7.”
The RC release indicates that little is likely to be changed in the final version of Windows 7 and that companies can begin tailoring software or hardware to the operating system, Microsoft said.
Touted features include compatibility with touch-screen computer controls, faster video handling and being friendly even for light-weight hardware such as netbooks.
“Windows 7 is everything that Vista should have been,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley. “It’s less annoying and it’s a fraction of the size. The only thing working against them is the economy: People without money aren’t going to buy, no matter how good the product.”
Enthusiastic early reviews of Windows 7 are stoking speculation that Microsoft will release a final version of the new operating system in time for the year-end holiday shopping season.
“It makes sense that Microsoft should have it pre-Christmas,” Cherry said of Windows 7.
“I think you need to keep in mind that if something comes up in testing they are going to take the delay and get it right,” he said.
Microsoft and some analysts have advised people to prepare for the Windows 7 release by upgrading to Vista instead of trying to leapfrog the maligned version of the operating system.
Cherry ignores such advice, saying he sees each new operating system as a chance to clean out his computer. He will back up his data, install Windows 7 on his computer and transfer files a bit at a time, getting rid of files he doesn’t use.
“I use it as a complete housekeeping move,” Cherry said of installing a new operating system. “I will always do a fresh install; this way I know I am not bringing any baggage with me.”
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)