Windows 7 beta is out, so it’s time to test it and see what the fuss is all about. Is it going to be better than Windows Vista and better than Windows XP? Will it live up to expectations? Or will it be another failure like Windows ME and Vista (just my opinion)? I will put together a list of new features in my next post, but you cannot know for sure what it’s like until you test it yourself. You can download the Windows 7 beta version and try the new system (see my last post).

To all the PC users who doubt Windows 7’s capabilities, here are two facts that might convince you to upgrade to the new operating system when it’s released later this year:

• Windows XP is a great system; I love it and I still use it. However, it’s over 7 years old and let’s face it: It looks kind of old too, especially when you compare it to Windows Vista. It’s only a matter of time before Windows XP becomes obsolete, like Windows 98 (although I realise there still Win98 users out there). The sales have stopped and Microsoft support will be available only for 5 more years.

• Windows Vista has not achieved the popularity of XP and it doesn’t provide the features that we all expected from an XP successor. Besides its bugs and glitches, Windows Vista has many problems: It uses up too many rasources, needs hell of a lot more CPU speed and RAM to run smoothly, displays these annoying confirmation messages (cancel/allow), it’s difficult to find correct drivers for some hardware and it has some confusing features, to name a few.

Many PC users are switching to MACs because they are annoyed with the amount of problems, error messages and lack of support for their PCs. At the same time, Apple have increased sales of their computers by 38% in 2008 alone, and the popularity of the MACs can only increase. Therefore, Microsoft needs a very good replacement for Windows Vista if it wants to keep PC users where they are.

I think Windows 7 will be much better and more successful than its predecessor.