These upgrades never quite work out the way I envisioned them. Oh sure there are some like Windows 3.0 that were so astronomically superior to the previous version that I never looked back but for every one of those experiences I have ten like the day I upgraded to Microsoft Vista on release day.

Today marks another one of those milestone days in Microsoft history. Today they released Windows 7, their follow on product to the highly unsuccessful Microsoft Vista. I shouldn’t say Vista was highly unsuccessful, after several months of pain and suffering it did get better.

Still there were more than a few annoyances that remained with the operating system and of course the gigantic black eye it received at launch that caused the product to never gain a strong foothold in the marketplace.

All of that is about to be forgotten as people begin to purchase and upgrade to this new version. Release day is almost anti-climatic since public beta versions of he software have been out for what seems like years.

Many of the problems users suffered through with Vista have been cleaned up and there are sufficient amounts of new features to make this a must have for many Microsoft Windows users. Considering most people are probably still using Windows XP, this is a necessary change to make the platform more reliable and safer.

Today was not just the release of Windows 7 though. It was also the grand opening for the new Microsoft store in Scottsdale Arizona. Yet again Microsoft is “borrowing” from Apple’s success to open their own branded store hoping to cash in at the retail channel.

The store has a grand opening at 10 AM but people have been lining up well before that. It is probably equal parts curiosity and free swag that is bringing the people out to this event. For the first 1,000 people in the store Microsoft is giving away free gifts. For the first 100 in the store they are giving away concert tickets.

As part of the grand opening, Microsoft has spared no expense and has brought in a recording artist to entertain the customers. In Scottsdale the entertainer is Ashley Tisdale from the Disney Channel. Ms. Tisdale has a couple of albums under her belt but she is best known for her work in Disney’s High School Musical trilogy.

What that means though is that the Microsoft Store will be inundated with a combination if geeky Microsoft fan boys and tween mall rats. That may not be the best demographic to target your new operating system and products to but that’s what they are going to get at least on the first day of business.

I think Microsoft needed to do something especially in Arizona where interest in the new Windows 7 platform does not seem to be gaining a lot of momentum in the market. There is some buzz as there always is just as a new product is released but not nearly as much as Apple seems to raise when they release a new product.

With an Apple introduction there seems to be lines everywhere as people wait for an opportunity to purchase one of the first ones. When Apple introduced the iPhone people camped out for days waiting in line for a chance to purchase. Stores even opened early to get through all the mobs of people lined up.

For the Microsoft Windows 7 release none of the local stores appear to be doing anything more than having a kiosk with the new operating system and someone who can answer questions. I have not found any stores in the immediate area who planned a midnight opening or any special coming out party.

This is in stark contrast to just this past Tuesday when several businesses had a midnight opening to allow people the opportunity to purchase the movie Transformers 2: Rise of the Fallen. It makes you wonder what Microsoft is doing from a marketing perspective if a DVD sale for a Hollywood sequel garners more press and excitement than a new operating system.

I’m still undecided whether I will make a trip to Scottsdale to see the new Microsoft Store for myself. Although I plan on upgrading to Windows 7 before the week is over I find my excitement is waning a little. Instead maybe I’ll stay home and watch Transformers 2 on Blu-Ray. After all it is the hottest movie of the season according to the Geek Squad at Best Buy when I was there Tuesday night at midnight.

While I do have a few Windows machines, my preference is clearly to Apple’s OS X operating system. I wanted to go into this meeting with an open mind to give this new operating system an opportunity to show whether it was an appropriate replacement to Windows XP and Windows Vista.

I will be the first to admit that I am an early adopter and I usually will upgrade to the latest version of either an operating system or an application as soon as it comes out. Part of this is due to my insatiable curiosity and partly it is because I know that friends and family are going to upgrade and therefore I need to know what kinds of issues they may have since they are going to call me to troubleshoot their problems.

The event was held at an AMC movie theater. Microsoft had rented out four theaters and had set up a presenter’s podium in front of the screen. The movie screen was configured to show the contents of the presenter’s computer.

The venue actually worked which somewhat surprised me. Granted it was strange having to dodge movie goers looking for the appropriate theaters and the registration tables were adjacent to the snack bar making for a traffic disaster but we seemed to survive.

The breakout sessions I went to included understanding new features of Windows 7, delving into the security aspects of Windows 7, incorporating Windows 7 into a cloud computing model, and creating a deployment strategy for implementing Windows 7 into an enterprise.

As I sat through these presentations I came away with an appreciation of how Microsoft had learned from the challenges they faced trying to roll out Vista. Clearly the troubles of Vista did not fall on deaf ears in Redmond. Many of the enhancements within Windows 7 build on the successes of Windows XP while carrying forth the vision that was unrealized in Vista.

I made a few observations about this new operating system and the features it is bringing to the table.

• Jump Lists – Windows 7 will group windows under an application on the task bar and provide you with previews of the windows. This is a much better paradigm than seeing just the titles. The titles will appear if you have too many windows open in an application to make previews unmanageable.
• Snap – You can make a window take half the screen by dragging it to the left margin of the screen or the right margin. This makes it easy to compare windows side by side and is a welcome improvement to the user interface.
• Search – You can now save searches from various search sources and have them available in the Windows explorer eliminating the user from having to remember which search engines they used to get the results they needed.
• Hide Windows – Now you can click in the task bar in the far right corner to hide all the windows and see the icons and files that are on the desktop without having to manually minimize each window. It works much better than the show desktop options in either Vista or XP.
• Printer Set-up – You can now set up a default printer per network meaning if you are at work the system will set your default printer to your work printer but when you attach your computer to your home network the OS will set your default printer to your home printer. It will take away a lot of the headaches associated with forgetting to change printers.
• Faster Start-up and Shutdown – Windows 7 only loads the files it needs to boot rather than loading everything making start-up much faster than Vista or XP. Shutdown will not wait 12 seconds for an application to shutdown then give the user a dialog box to terminate the application and shutdown. This is a lot faster than previous versions of Windows.
• Better Memory Management – Windows 7 has been optimized to make better use of computer memory meaning you will be able to have more things open without running out of memory.

These are just a few of the new features that users will see with Windows 7. While I hesitated recommending Vista to family and friends, I do not think I will have that same reservation with Windows 7. The initial observations left me impressed with the features that Windows 7 brings to the table.

Does this mean I would trade in my Macintosh and OS X? Not hardly but it does mean that for those times where I do have to boot into Windows I am going to be happier doing so in Windows 7 than I was in either Vista or XP.