What are some of the changes from Windows XP to Windows 7?

This document is to provide some information on the changes that have been made in the new version of Windows as compared to Windows XP, which is the most common operating system still in use on campus. 

Microsoft has a webpage answering some of the common questions asked about the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows.

This document will show some of the highlights and interesting changes that are coming with the new version of Windows. It also will give some suggestions on how Windows 7 will best be used here at the University of Tennessee.

One of the most obvious places that has changed from Windows XP is the Windows 7 Start Menu and Taskbar.  The Quick Launch bar from Windows XP is gone and you now can 'pin' applications, documents and folders directly to your task bar.  In addition, these 'pinned' items have Jump Lists, when right clicked, that show recent websites, documents and easy access to other common tasks.

Many additional features have been added to the Windows 7 user interface to improve both performance and ease of use. 

One example of Microsoft’s effort to simplify ease of use in Windows 7 involves security and maintenance. Windows XP uses Security Center, which is located in the Control Panel to maintain security on the computer. The maintenance functions of the computer are located in different areas of Windows XP.  Windows 7 has the Windows Action Center, located in the Control Panel, it combines the maintenance and security of the computer into one location.  This allows the user to maintain all of the important procedures on the computer in one place for safe and secure use.  However, like many things in Windows 7, it has a slightly different name and it is in a different place than in Windows XP.   Now we will take a look at another new change in security for Windows 7.

 

Windows 7 uses a feature called User Account Control (UAC), which is recommended enabled at all times by OIT. UAC can prevent problems with your computer involving spyware and malicious software, also known as malware. UAC works by asking you for permission before taking actions that could potentially change settings or allow one of these types of programs to execute.  UAC may even at times ask for an administrator password before allowing the action to continue and it is important to always carefully read over a message that comes up from UAC to make sure that it is from a program that you intended to run.

Microsoft has made improvements not only in performance on the network and internet with Internet Explorer 8 and View Available Network (VAN) in Windows 7 but has also changed and improved the underlying controls for the network connections themselves.

In Windows XP you were used to seeing an icon in the Control Panel called Network Connections. This icon has been replaced in Windows 7 with the Network and Sharing Center. This area contains all network settings and also gives you the current status of your connection(s). In Windows 7 each network connection and individual wireless network you connect to has a setting that controls how visible/secure your computer is to other machines on that network. You are asked when initially connecting to a network, wired or wireless, for the first time.  The available choices are Home Network, Work Network, or Public Network. Most reasons for choosing anything other than Public Network deal with file and print sharing between personal computers, which OIT strongly discourages for security reasons, and therefore recommends to always select the Public Network option.

Microsoft has included a new way to provide support for older applications to run on their new operating system. Windows 7 uses Windows XP Mode to allow older programs to function on the new Windows 7 operating system correctly.  It uses Windows Virtual PC to create a virtual Windows XP machine in order to run your older programs within your Windows 7 environment.  This is done within the Windows 7 desktop seamlessly and allows the user to use their older applications with little change, other than the slight slow down in performance associated with any virtual machine software.  PC requirements have been mentioned in interviews to likely be higher than those of Windows 7 alone, but no specifics have been released yet.  Windows XP Mode will be a free download for those who have a license to Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate.

 

Windows 7 offers many new and exciting features, but OIT suggests that caution should be exercised before assuming that it’s a definite choice to upgrade immediately to Windows 7 for the best computing experience.

 

OIT recommends upgrading machines to a new operating system when there is a defined and stable advantage to the upgrade.  Upgrading a computer does not automatically make it run faster or better. Typical results are the opposite and can be quite severe depending upon the age and configuration of the machine being upgraded. It is possible that departmental or personal software may not be able to run properly with Windows 7, even with Windows XP Mode. In addition, Windows XP Mode will not be available for every version of Windows 7, and will likely have higher system requirements.  Microsoft will maintain a webpage with applications that have earned the logo for 'Certified for Windows 7' or 'Works with Windows 7'.  If all of your software, or most importantly critical software, is not on this list then you should check with your software vendor or manufacturer to see if it is Windows 7 compliant.