Windows 7 is the latest version of the computer desktop operating system from Microsoft. Based on the previous release, Vista, it is intended to be an improved version after the disastrous results of the release of Vista which garnered many negative reviews. Although Vista introduced many new features, Windows 7 was meant to be more focused on being more compatible with apps and hardware. It is also a much less resource intensive OS compared to it’s predecessor.
Released to manufacturing on July 22nd, 2009 and reaching retail on October 22, 2009, it has been widely viewed as a much better version than Vista and has garnered favorable reviews. It was released less than three years after Vista. In only eight hours, pre-orders of Windows 7 at Amazon surpassed the demand Windows Vista had in its first 17 weeks.
Windows 7 originally began as the project codenamed Blackcomb, which was renamed Vienna in 2006, and finally Windows 7 in 2007. The Beta version was leaked via BitTorrent in December 2008. Upon it’s initial release, it became the highest grossing pre-order on Amazon and the 64 bit versions sold out in Japan. It also beat out Apple’s OSX Snow Leopard in market share two months later. It’s successor, Windows 8, is scheduled for release sometime in 2012.