The Windows 7 Blog

In the early days of computing, security was just an afterthought. In those days, computers were only used by a certain amount of people. You could pretty much keep tabs on everyone that had access to your system. A lot of these traditions were passed down to later systems when users started having access to their own PC’s in their living rooms. The Microsoft Windows family of operating systems has been particularly hit hard by security issues over the years. With the release of Windows Vista they decided to go a different route and try to securely fortify their OS. They implemented the UAC controls on the newly minted operating system. Unfortunately the way that they designed the OS was sloppy and created a lot of complaints from users. This was probably the biggest complaint that the very much maligned Windows Vista system had. In the new version of Windows, titled Windows 7, Microsoft has decided to smooth out the rough edges and what they have come up with is a lot better.

Before we go on, we should probably educate the readers that don’t know what exactly the UAC is. UAC stands for User Account Control. The user account control allows people to grant or deny authority to programs that are trying to change the system settings. In the past, once a program was executed, no matter the user level, the program would commence to installing and changing settings on your computer. Now when there is anything done on the computer that might disrupt or damage the system as it currently is at that time, a pop up will show up and ask you are you giving the program permission to do that. The UAC will only allow certain changes unless the administrator is logged on. This is especially good for malware programs that attempt to install on your system without your knowledge. If they try to change a setting then the system will alert you.

Overall the UAC was a good ideal but in Windows Vista it was badly implemented. The problem was that people only had two settings for the UAC, on and off. If the program was on, it would send people a load of pop ups for almost every single change that they would make. As you can imagine this grew to be very annoying. So some people would turn the UAC pop ups off and then they would have no protection at all. In Windows 7, this problem for the most part has been solved. The UAC now offers you four different settings on how you would like to be alerted. This allows you to be able to decide the amount of protection that you might need. If you are an experienced user then a lot of hand holding can be a real turn off to a system.

As it turned out, Microsoft was on the right path when they implemented the User Access Control system but their set up left a lot to be desired. Now in Windows 7, you have the choice on how much protection that you might need and now users of all levels can be happy.

Search in Windows 7

Many have railed against the displeasing inconsistencies within Windows Search. Luckily, Search feature in Windows 7 actually works and it works well. With big difference! Now, Windows 7 allows you to search data outside your PC using OpenSearch and Federated Search standard. It can create libraries -just like the Vista Media Player libraries but it is now extended to all types of files – makes searching and organizing simpler. Sometimes, getting the hang of Windows Search is a little difficult, but if you spend ten to fifteen minutes figuring it out, surely the capabilities found in Search feature can repay your investments over and over again.

Security improvements

In Windows 7, the User Account Control has gone through substantial changes. If you don’t change any original settings, it prompts you with those ‘darken your screen and pray’ prompts that previously bugged many Vista users. Even so, the prompts show up rarely, and only when there is a genuine cause for concern.  While under the hoods, Windows 7 has a number of improved security features, however the ones you can see – like HomeGroups and the revamped BitLocker drive encryption – simply bundle old Vista security ideas differently and make them fully usable.

Media Center

The Media Center gets a facelift in Windows 7; it supports different types of graphic and video files and also has integrated capabilities to clear QAM tuners and connect to CableCARD.  While those small, tired and old (very old) Windows applications – Calculator, WordPad, Paint – sport new looks and interfaces. Windows 7 has a more useful troubleshooting support and better networking features particularly for wireless networks, and dozens of other small improvements.

However, on the flip side, a few features found in Windows Vista are removed in Windows 7. That old Sidebar finally bit the dust – Microsoft decided that you no longer need it. The Defender Software Explorer which gives you some controls over which applications start automatically on your PC, disappeared, without doubt the victim of enormous quantity of tech-support phone calls. Even so, you can find other better and free alternatives.  Several Windows Vista programs (Movie Maker, Windows Mail, Photo Gallery, Messenger) have been removed