Windows 7 has been the next most discussed topic after Barack Obama in the last 1 month or so it seems. With our detailed article on Windows 7 we gave you a first feel of Windows 7. Now we have the same question as yours. Is Windows 7 any better and faster than Vista? I will say, so far so good.

1. Boots Faster Than Vista

When tested with identical configuration and software packages, Windows Vista took 37 seconds to boot from boot screen to log in screen. There Windows 7 took only 27 seconds, exactly the same as our good ol' bugged buddy Windows XP but with many more features.

This is attained by loading device drivers in parallel instead of keeping it sequential.

2. Battery Life and Wireless Connectivity Optimization

Windows 7 is supremely optimized for battery conditions and process management. It manages wireless radios better allowing them to drop below 100% power draw while managing the connection. The effort behind OS kernel is also evident. The CPU can sometimes run at a lower frequency and stay idle for long. This results are a minimum of 11%-15% better battery life for Windows 7 compared to Vista.

I hope you do remember that, however worse, Windows Vista had excelled from Windows XP in managing battery life and wireless connectivity. So to better Windows Vista was tough and that too by 11%-15% is pretty impressive.

Optimists say the glass is half full…

We are still only talking about pre-Beta Windows 7. With more optimization we expect even faster booting and exploring experience from Windows 7. Microsoft claims to have achieved a 15 seconds' booting time from Windows 7 which is absolutely delightful, if true.

Pessimists say the glass is half empty…

This is not a final version of Windows 7, and it could be a lot slower too, once they add more stuff to the OS's boot profile and other code snippets. As we have seen earlier, previous Windows operating systems always had a sanctuary of background processes that ran like free birds over our spondylitis-ed neck, lol.

So the bottom Line is…

When we were sent the detailed developers' guide from Windows 7 Team, we had certainly predicted it to be better than Windows Vista in any case. With more information surfacing, we find that our predictions have been mostly accurate. We expect more in the coming days.

As Ballmer famously said, "Windows 7 will be Vista but a LOT better." The billion dollar question is then why it isn't a free upgrade like Windows Service Packs which also introduces minor enhancements?