The long awaited release of Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 7 was last month and finally a few days ago my copy arrived, now I can finally upgrade from Vista and hope that Windows has become what Vista was supposed to be.

First I would just like to touch on the disaster that was Windows Vista -  Awkward, clunky, slow, irritating and depressing to use is pretty much a full review of the operating system; it simply couldn’t have been any further from its predacessor (Windows XP) if it had tried – Right that should be enough comment on Vista!

As I was so desperate to remove Vista from my PC as soon as I could I purchased the reasonably priced Windows 7 Home Premium (obviously I didn’t want to spend too much and end up with Vista’s bigger, uglier brother).  When it arrived I knew that it certainly couldn’t be anywhere near as bad as Vista had proved to be due to the Beta testing I had taken part in,  however, it had been a short while since I un-installed the Beta version and who knows what Microsoft may have done to it in that time!

So I began to install Windows 7 but the nightmare seemed to carry on from where Vista had left-off, ‘Windows cannot install until the following applications are removed’ – WHAT! – I was upgrading from Vista, not Windows ME and the apps in question were drivers surely Windows can handle some drivers,  at this point I was getting that sinking feeling of  “Oh what have I done purchasing this sofware, it is turning out to be a massive mistake”, but after a number of software removals and what felt like a dozen restarts I was finally on my way and from then on the process improved dramatically!

I experienced a slow but simple install but once I was up and running I had no real problems, my laptop had been transformed from the Awkward, clunky mess I mentioned earlier into a machine that did as I asked, when I asked and how I asked  (the shock was nearly too much to handle).  I then started to install a few key apps and would you believe it, no problems! – Microsoft seem to have not only made Windows simple, they had made it work, the ease of use at this early stage feels more like using Apple’s OSX than Windows (And I don’t use that statement lightly).  When you click a window it minimises straight away, browser windows launch immediately and files copy with ease, I assume this is how Vista was supposed to be!

I am in the early stages of testing Windows 7  but just maybe Microsoft have instead of trying to make there OS do everything, have just made it do the things people want quickly and easily.  I plan on putting Windows 7 through more day-to-day tests over the coming months and will post with the good and the bad of Windows 7, but in the meantime I can give it a whole-hearted thumbs up; and maybe, just maybe Microsoft are back on track.

As 2008 finally came to a disappointing close, probably only to be remembered more for the global economic meltdown than the historic presidential win for Barack Obama, I express some of my hopes for 2009 both for the web and in general.

2008 was with out doubt a terrible year, but there were some personal highlights for me.  Firstly I discovered Wordpress; this amazing CMS sent me in a new direction with my online creativity both in my design life and my career, and then there was the iphone 3G, which for me is the best gadget any self respecting geek could wish to own.  With both of these being the only real highlights of 2008 for me, then surely 2009 would be a roaring success in comparison?

Well here are some of my hopes, whether or not they happen remains to be seen.

The web has started to move away from the 2.0 tag over the last twelve months, and my hope is that it will take on a more interactive, user generated form where users not only view your site but take part as well.  I’m not talking about social networking or even wikis, but closer exchange between users.  Twitter offers the ability to follow and communicate in a more immediate way than has previously been offered in blogs, youtube offers not only a great place to watch videos but has now become a rich resource in the exchange of knowledge, this instant communication and connection between people will only become more advanced over the next twelve months, and that can only be a good thing for the future of the web.

2007 and 2008 saw a massive increase in free open source web apps and script resources, hopefully 2009 will be no different as people become more comfortable with these advancements.  With google’s API offerings ever on the increase and scripts such as Jquery adding slick functionality to websites, maybe the days of static two dimensional web pages will finally draw to an end, and all sites will offer better more complete web experiences.

I don’t just hope the web improves in 2009, but also the technology that manages our computers improves along with it.  I don’t think anybody can deny that Window Vista was a complete disaster, from problems with speed to early versions being unstable this proved to be a particularly bad move for Microsoft.  During 2008 talk started about a new Windows version and only this week the beta version started being offered to certain individuals.  Windows 7 as it is currently known is suposed to be light weight, and at first glance looks like the OS that Vista should have been, this is another big hope for me in 2009, can Microsoft manage to release an OS that even comes close to Apples OSX and finally give PC users something to shout about,  i’ll be honest, I have my doubts but I have still got my fingers crossed.

In 2009 I will try to update nasarik.com more regularly, and still offer basic tutorials and opinion that help people at the early stages of web design improve and grow as the internet does the same.