Windows 7 features like .ISO image burning, Windows Search, and the great new Windows 7 Calculator are a big part of the new OS. However, most of these features are already available in most releases of Linux.
You can get many of the top features, performance enhancements, and interface improvements of Windows 7 without leaving your Windows Vista or Windows XP operating system behind. Even better, most of these 'new' Windows features are already available in Linux.
Fortunately, you can add many of these features to your Vista or XP machine by using downloads from CNET's download.com and Web services. On Linux, you can search for an application using Synaptic Package Manager or download the application from sourceforge.net.
streaming media
Windows Vista can already stream music, videos, and other content between networked PCs in your house, but Windows 7 goes a step farther: It can stream over the Internet. By taking advantage of that option, you can watch a recorded TV show at a friend's house or stream your mammoth music library to your storage-strapped netbook. The recording and motion picture industries are not happy with this feature.
Linux has a program called VLC media player that can also do this. VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, MPEG-1, mp3, ogg, etc.) as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
VLC can also be used as a media converter or a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on networks. It is cross platform and works on the Windows, MAC and Linux OS. Most versions of Linux have the GNU MP3/Media Streamer that can also do this.
ISO image creation/ burning
An .ISO image is a single file that contains the archived contents of a CD or DVD. Windows 7 enables you to burn ISO images to optical media, so you can crank out your own bootable discs. Microsoft had distributed the Windows 7 Release Candidate as an .ISO file, which users had to burn to a DVD or CD for installation on their PCs. Anyone working on a Windows XP or Vista system needed to use third-party software like Nero Burning ROM to do this.
Several free utilities can burn .ISO images from Windows XP or Vista PCs. Look for ISO Burners on CNET's download.com. In Linux all you have to is download the .ISO file. Once the download is complete, you right click on it to burn the .ISO image to a DVD or CD. LINUX also has a built-in DC/DVD creator.
graphics
Windows' ancient, bare-bones graphics program, Paint,finally got a rework in Windows 7 with a cool new Ribbon interface (very similar to the one that people either love or hate in Office 2007), additional brush and shape choices, and various small but meaningful tweaks.
Though you can't obtain Windows 7 Paint in Vista or XP, several similar Vista- and XP-compatible programs are even better. Regular PC users have talked frequently of the open-source GIMP and the freeware Paint.Net, two Photoshop-caliber image editors. Either of these apps can run circles around Win 7's Paint, and neither will cost you a dime. Again, GIMP Image Editor has been a part of Linux for many years. OpenOffice also includes a free drawing program.
calculator
The Window 7 OS new Calculator was built from the ground up. This cool new number-cruncher includes programmer, statistic, and scientific modes, and comes with handy templates for figuring out mortgage payments and gasoline mileage. Linux has a sophisticated Calculator built into it that has a basic, advanced, financial, scientific and programming modes.
integrated search
What it is: Vista owners already enjoy the benefits of Windows' integrated search capabilities, which help users easily find specific apps, documents, e-mail messages; etc. Windows 7 promises to make search results more coherent and to integrate them with Libraries for better organization.
Windows Search is one of the main reasons I don't miss Windows XP--it's that good. How can an XP user take a similar step up? Simple: Install Copernic Desktop Search, which indexes all of the e-mail, documents, and media on your hard drive to permit lightning-fast searches. In fact, even Vista and Win 7 users should check it out, since it supports many more file types (the total exceeds 150) than Windows Search.
This appears to be an advantage that Windows 7 has over Linux. The Linux search utility only searches for files. Chalk one advantage up for Windows 7 and Copernic Windows utility.
Windows XP Mode
You can get many of the top features, performance enhancements, and interface improvements of Windows 7 without leaving your Windows Vista or Windows XP operating system behind. Even better, most of these 'new' Windows features are already available in Linux.
Fortunately, you can add many of these features to your Vista or XP machine by using downloads from CNET's download.com and Web services. On Linux, you can search for an application using Synaptic Package Manager or download the application from sourceforge.net.
streaming media
Windows Vista can already stream music, videos, and other content between networked PCs in your house, but Windows 7 goes a step farther: It can stream over the Internet. By taking advantage of that option, you can watch a recorded TV show at a friend's house or stream your mammoth music library to your storage-strapped netbook. The recording and motion picture industries are not happy with this feature.
Linux has a program called VLC media player that can also do this. VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, MPEG-1, mp3, ogg, etc.) as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
VLC can also be used as a media converter or a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on networks. It is cross platform and works on the Windows, MAC and Linux OS. Most versions of Linux have the GNU MP3/Media Streamer that can also do this.
ISO image creation/ burning
An .ISO image is a single file that contains the archived contents of a CD or DVD. Windows 7 enables you to burn ISO images to optical media, so you can crank out your own bootable discs. Microsoft had distributed the Windows 7 Release Candidate as an .ISO file, which users had to burn to a DVD or CD for installation on their PCs. Anyone working on a Windows XP or Vista system needed to use third-party software like Nero Burning ROM to do this.
Several free utilities can burn .ISO images from Windows XP or Vista PCs. Look for ISO Burners on CNET's download.com. In Linux all you have to is download the .ISO file. Once the download is complete, you right click on it to burn the .ISO image to a DVD or CD. LINUX also has a built-in DC/DVD creator.
graphics
Windows' ancient, bare-bones graphics program, Paint,finally got a rework in Windows 7 with a cool new Ribbon interface (very similar to the one that people either love or hate in Office 2007), additional brush and shape choices, and various small but meaningful tweaks.
Though you can't obtain Windows 7 Paint in Vista or XP, several similar Vista- and XP-compatible programs are even better. Regular PC users have talked frequently of the open-source GIMP and the freeware Paint.Net, two Photoshop-caliber image editors. Either of these apps can run circles around Win 7's Paint, and neither will cost you a dime. Again, GIMP Image Editor has been a part of Linux for many years. OpenOffice also includes a free drawing program.
calculator
The Window 7 OS new Calculator was built from the ground up. This cool new number-cruncher includes programmer, statistic, and scientific modes, and comes with handy templates for figuring out mortgage payments and gasoline mileage. Linux has a sophisticated Calculator built into it that has a basic, advanced, financial, scientific and programming modes.
integrated search
What it is: Vista owners already enjoy the benefits of Windows' integrated search capabilities, which help users easily find specific apps, documents, e-mail messages; etc. Windows 7 promises to make search results more coherent and to integrate them with Libraries for better organization.
Windows Search is one of the main reasons I don't miss Windows XP--it's that good. How can an XP user take a similar step up? Simple: Install Copernic Desktop Search, which indexes all of the e-mail, documents, and media on your hard drive to permit lightning-fast searches. In fact, even Vista and Win 7 users should check it out, since it supports many more file types (the total exceeds 150) than Windows Search.
This appears to be an advantage that Windows 7 has over Linux. The Linux search utility only searches for files. Chalk one advantage up for Windows 7 and Copernic Windows utility.
Windows XP Mode
When Vista debuted in 2007, a lengthy procession of unanticipated software incompatibilities drove users crazy. To show Windows 7's dexterity with older applications at its launch, Microsoft announced Windows XP Mode (XPM)--an add-on that runs legacy XP Pro programs in a "virtual" XP environment, thereby providing legacy compatibility.
This means that client or server applications will not have to be upgraded in Enterprise networks for the older XP Pro applications to work. Otherwise, Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, and financial and accounting applications would have to be upgraded on every windows client to work after a Windows 7 upgrade. Servers would have to be upgraded as well. This would be expensive for businesses.
XP Mode was created with business users in mind, since incompatible applications can be an expensive issue. As a result, it's available only for Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise. This means that XPM doesn't work with the Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) versions of windows 7 that cannot connect to a domain.
Internet Explorer
If you use Vista and you're still struggling with software compatibility issues, try Microsoft's Windows Virtual PC. This free download offers more or less the same capabilities as Windows XPM. Microsoft advises that this program may not work when loaded on netbooks or on other late model PCs and laptops that use certain Intel and AMD CPUs.
Internet Explorer 8
Internet Explorer 8
Internet Explorer 8 is the latest Microsoft browser. It's faster and more secure than previous versions of IE, and it offers new features such as Web Slices which are RSS feeds, and designed to help you keep you current on changes at regularly updated sites and InPrivate Browsing that improves privacy while you are browsing the Internet.
Most professionals prefer FireFox which is updated more frequently and is more secure. Firefox has numerous extension, add-ons and themes which allow it be customized. It offers the same private browsing and these features were released last November. It takes your Web history, user names, passwords, searches, and cookies and bins them. When you close out the browser, your session information is deleted.
That is the good news. The bad news is your corporation can still see and log every web site that you visit when you are in 'porn mode.' You might be able to hide your browsing activities from your wife, but don't try this at work.
Conclusions
Most of the new features in Windows 7 can be added to XP Pro by installing utilities that can be downloaded. In the case of Linux, it already has most these features. The one innovation that I have not seen in Linux is the new Windows 7 integrated search capability. The Linux search utility only checks files.
sources:
www.pcworld.com/article/166935
/windows_7_features_on_a_vista_or_xp_system.html
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