Well it’s finally out! The new Microsoft OS — Windows 7, or as the critics would call it  “the what Vista should have been” OS. I never really understood all the Vista bashing that went on. Although I was not an early adopter of Vista, I did install it and had been running it (after the first major service pack) for about a year and I found it to be a perfectly stable OS. However, I have been running Windows 7 beta for a few months now and have found it to be great product. Again, with any new OS you probably don’t want to install it on older hardware — older hardware seems to operate smoother with an OS of the same era.

So here’s a quick roundup of some great Windows 7 Related articles & Reviews to celebrate the launch.

7 Reasons To Get Windows 7 Today (and 6 Reasons Not To) – Extreme Tech

Microsoft launches Windows 7, eyes PC sales rebound – Reuters

What you need to know about Windows 7 – MSNBC

TR’s Windows 7 system guide -  Tech Report

Reviews:

Here’s a huge round-up of Windows 7 Reviews that should give every type of perspective review.

CNET
Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 7 Professional | Windows 7 Ultimate

Various Sites:
PC World | NYTimes | IT Pro | bit-tech | Guardian | Slate | Maximum PC | Tech Radar | PC Mag | Wall Street Journal | ElectricPig | Engadget | Telegraph |
Hexus | Digital Trends | AP | V3 | Federal Computer Week | PC Pro UK | Technodorm | Laptop Mag | Cult of Mac | The Inquirer | Computer World | TechWorld |

Gizmodo
“…if you’re coming from Windows XP, Windows 7 will totally feel like a revelation from the glossy future. If you’re coming from Vista, you’ll definitely go “Hey, this is much better!” the first time you touch Aero Peek. If you’re coming from a Mac, you’ll—hahahahaha. But seriously, even the Mactards will have to tone down their nasal David Spadian snide, at least a little bit.”

Microsoft has announced that their much anticipated Windows 7 OS will be available for students to purchase at the special price of $29.99.  How do you qualify? You qualify if you have a valid .EDU e-mail OR an e-mail address through one of the educational institutions listed here and are enrolled in coursework (current proof or enrollment may be required in the United States).  For full details and more information please visit this link.

It appears this may be a move by Microsoft to match a similar offer being made by Apple for their new Snow Leopard OS. As this article points out — Windows 7 may be the better value.

Sad news for the UK, pre-orders won’t begin until July 15th with prices set at £49 for Windows 7 Home Premium E and £99 for Professional E, both will ship without Internet Explorer. For those wondering about the upgrade prices for Europe… there aren’t any. Microsoft claims that it can’t offer the lower upgrade pricing ($120, $200, or $220 for Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate in the US) in order to comply with European competition regulations, a claim that EU regulators dismiss. As such, going from Vista to Windows 7 will require a clean install in the EU in order to remove Internet Explorer — no in-place upgrades will be possible according to Microsoft.

Project Natal uses several technologies simultaneously to capture and replicate a player’s motion on-screen and in-game. Natal, which could be readily described as a Wii sensor bar on sterois, uses an RGB camera, intelligent depth sensor, and multiarray microphone to collect voice commands, video, and movement with realtime physics, which is then processed by a brand new processing unit and proprietary software. As you would expect the RGB camera is used for video and picture capture, as well as facial recognition, but the real technological meat and potatoes of the device is it’s depth sensor and processing. Project Natal’s depth sensor detects 3-D space through the use of a monochrome CMOS sensor and an infrared projector. The pairing of these two technologies, Microsoft says, makes Natal capable of detecting movement, orientation, and gestures in any lighting environment. Project Natal’s processing is what brings all of the data together, and can differentiate between players and their environment, as well as detect specific body parts, from arms and legs to even a player’s head.

Surprisingly, Microsoft not only unveiled the initial details of Project Natal to the media today, they also demoed the product live and in person. Members of the development team demonstrated two tech demos — a painting game and a kickball-style game. The painting game essentially has players using virtual cans of paint to splash on a canvas and create images. The painting game really showed the technology’s ability to detect arching movements and swift, but subtle hand motions. The kickball scenario, on the other hand, displayed how the camera could intelligently detect a player’s arms, legs, and head’s orientation and velocity in 3-D space. For the kickball game, the player swatted, kicked, and headbutted kickballs to knock down distant objects.

What was impressive about both demos was the speed and efficiency of the device. As far as we could tell, there was little or no lag between a player’s motion and the in-game reaction. Equally impressive was how effectively the camera detected the precise angle of a player’s thrusts, jabs, and kicks, and how accurate the subsequent in-game representation was. Still, these were fine-tuned demos and prepped to perfection, but it is a promising start.

Source: IGN