Windows 7
A version of the Windows NT operating system | |
 | |
 Screenshot of Windows 7, showing its desktop, taskbar, Start menu and the glass effect of Windows Aero | |
| Developer | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Source model |
|
| Released to manufacturing | July 22, 2009 (2009-07-22)[1] |
| General availability | October 22, 2009 (2009-10-22)[2] |
| Latest release | Service Pack 1 (6.1.7601) / February 22, 2011 (2011-02-22)[3] |
| Update method | Windows Update |
| Platforms | IA-32 and x86-64 |
Kernel type | Hybrid |
| License | Proprietary commercial software |
| Preceded by | Windows Vista (2007)[4] |
| Succeeded by | Windows 8 (2012) |
| Support status | |
Mainstream support ended on January 13, 2015.[5][6] Extended support until January 14, 2020 (January 2023 for Professional and Enterprise, users will need to pay for security updates).[5][6] Installing Service Pack 1 is required for users to receive updates and support after April 9, 2013.[5][6] Users with Professional and Enterprise versions of Windows 7 will need to pay for security updates until January 2023. | |
| Part of a series on |
| Windows 7 |
|---|
|
Windows 7 is a personal computer operating system that was produced by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009 and became generally available on October 22, 2009,[7] less than three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista. Windows 7's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, was released at the same time.
Windows 7 was primarily intended to be an incremental upgrade to Microsoft Windows, intended to address Windows Vista's poor critical reception while maintaining hardware and software compatibility. Windows 7 continued improvements on Windows Aero (the user interface introduced in Windows Vista) with the addition of a redesigned taskbar that allows applications to be "pinned" to it, and new window management features. Other new features were added to the operating system, including libraries, the new file sharing system HomeGroup, and support for multitouch input. A new "Action Center" interface was also added to provide an overview of system security and maintenance information, and tweaks were made to the User Account Control system to make it less intrusive. Windows 7 also shipped with updated versions of several stock applications, including Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player, and Windows Media Center.
In contrast to Windows Vista, Windows 7 was generally praised by critics, who considered the operating system to be a major improvement over its predecessor due to its increased performance, its more intuitive interface (with particular praise devoted to the new taskbar), fewer User Account Control popups, and other improvements made across the platform. Windows 7 was a major success for Microsoft; even prior to its official release, pre-order sales for 7 on the online retailer Amazon.com had surpassed previous records. In just six months, over 100 million copies had been sold worldwide, increasing to over 630 million licenses by July 2012. As of August 2018, about 39% of computers running Windows are running Windows 7.[8]
Contents
1 Development history
2 Features
2.1 New and changed
2.2 Removed
3 Editions
3.1 Support lifecycle
4 System requirements
5 Extent of hardware support
5.1 Physical memory
5.2 Processor limits
6 Updates
6.1 Service Pack 1
6.2 Platform Update
6.3 Disk Cleanup update
6.4 Windows Management Framework 5.0
6.5 Convenience rollup
7 Reception
7.1 Critical reception
7.2 Sales
7.3 Antitrust concerns
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Development history
Originally, a version of Windows codenamed "Blackcomb" was planned as the successor to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 in 2000. Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. However, an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn," was announced for 2003, delaying the development of Blackcomb.[9] By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb. After three major malware outbreaks — the Blaster, Nachi, and Sobig worms — exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period in August 2003,[10] Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold while developing new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn (Windows Vista) was also restarted, and thus delayed, in August 2004. A number of features were cut from Longhorn.[11] Blackcomb was renamed Vienna in early 2006.[12]
When released, Windows Vista was criticized for its long development time, performance issues, spotty compatibility with existing hardware and software on launch, changes affecting the compatibility of certain PC games, and unclear assurances by Microsoft that certain computers shipping with XP prior to launch would be "Vista Capable" (which led to a class action lawsuit), among other critiques. As such, adoption of Vista in comparison to XP remained somewhat low.[13][14][15] In July 2007, six months following the public release of Vista, it was reported that the next version of Windows would then be codenamed Windows 7, with plans for a final release within three years.[16][17]Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, suggested that Windows 7 would be more "user-centric".[18] Gates later said that Windows 7 would also focus on performance improvements.[19]Steven Sinofsky later expanded on this point, explaining in the Engineering Windows 7 blog that the company was using a variety of new tracing tools to measure the performance of many areas of the operating system on an ongoing basis, to help locate inefficient code paths and to help prevent performance regressions.[20]Senior Vice President Bill Veghte stated that Windows Vista users migrating to Windows 7 would not find the kind of device compatibility issues they encountered migrating from Windows XP.[21] An estimated 1,000 developers worked on Windows 7. These were broadly divided into "core operating system" and "Windows client experience", in turn organized into 25 teams of around 40 developers on average.[22]
In October 2008, it was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the operating system.[23][24] There has been some confusion over naming the product Windows 7,[25] while versioning it as 6.1 to indicate its similar build to Vista and increase compatibility with applications that only check major version numbers, similar to Windows 2000 and Windows XP both having 5.x version numbers.[26] The first external release to select Microsoft partners came in January 2008 with Milestone 1, build 6519.[27] Speaking about Windows 7 on October 16, 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed compatibility between Windows Vista and Windows 7, indicating that Windows 7 would be a refined version of Windows Vista.[28]
At PDC 2008, Microsoft demonstrated Windows 7 with its reworked taskbar.[29] On December 27, 2008, the Windows 7 Beta was leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent.[30] According to a performance test by ZDNet,[31] Windows 7 Beta beat both Windows XP and Vista in several key areas, including boot and shutdown time and working with files, such as loading documents. Other areas did not beat XP, including PC Pro benchmarks for typical office activities and video editing, which remain identical to Vista and slower than XP.[32] On January 7, 2009, the x64 version of the Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) was leaked onto the web, with some torrents being infected with a trojan.[33][34] At CES 2009, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Windows 7 Beta, build 7000, had been made available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers in the format of an ISO image.[35]
The release candidate, build 7100, became available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers, and Connect Program participants on April 30, 2009. On May 5, 2009, it became available to the general public, although it had also been leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent.[36] The release candidate was available in five languages and expired on June 1, 2010, with shutdowns every two hours starting March 1, 2010.[37] Microsoft stated that Windows 7 would be released to the general public on October 22, 2009. Microsoft released Windows 7 to MSDN and Technet subscribers on August 6, 2009, at 10:00 am PDT.[38] Microsoft announced that Windows 7, along with Windows Server 2008 R2, was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009. Windows 7 RTM is build 7600.16385.090713-1255, which was compiled on July 13, 2009, and was declared the final RTM build after passing all Microsoft's tests internally.[39]
Features
New and changed
Windows 7 live thumbnails
Among Windows 7's new features are advances in touch and handwriting recognition,[40] support for virtual hard disks,[41] improved performance on multi-core processors,[42][43][44][45] improved boot performance, DirectAccess, and kernel improvements. Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter),[46] a new version of Windows Media Center,[47] a Gadget for Windows Media Center, improved media features, XPS Essentials Pack[48] and Windows PowerShell[49] being included, and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion for length, weight, temperature, and several others.[50] Many new items have been added to the Control Panel, including ClearType Text Tuner[51] Display Color Calibration Wizard,[52]Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, and Display.[53]Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds), which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer. ReadyBoost on 32-bit editions now supports up to 256 gigabytes of extra allocation. Windows 7 also supports images in RAW image format through the addition of Windows Imaging Component-enabled image decoders, which enables raw image thumbnails, previewing and metadata display in Windows Explorer, plus full-size viewing and slideshows in Windows Photo Viewer and Windows Media Center.[54] Windows 7 also has a native TFTP client with the ability to transfer files to or from a TFTP server.[55]
The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the old Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with the ability to pin applications to taskbar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons. These buttons also enable Jump Lists to allow easy access to common tasks.[56] The revamped taskbar also allows the reordering of taskbar buttons. To the far right of the system clock is a small rectangular button that serves as the Show desktop icon. By default, hovering over this button makes all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop.[57] In touch-enabled displays such as touch screens, tablet PCs, etc., this button is slightly (8 pixels) wider in order to accommodate being pressed by a finger.[58] Clicking this button minimizes all windows, and clicking it a second time restores them.
Window management in Windows 7 has several new features: Snap maximizes a window when it is dragged to the top of the screen.[59] Dragging windows to the left or right edges of the screen allows users to snap software windows to either side of the screen, such that the windows take up half the screen. When a user moves windows that were snapped or maximized using Snap, the system restores their previous state. Snap functions can also be triggered with keyboard shortcuts. Shake hides all inactive windows when the active window's title bar is dragged back and forth rapidly (metaphorically shaken).
Action Center, which replaces Windows Security Center in Windows XP and Vista
When the Action Center flag is clicked on, it lists all security and maintenance issues in a small popup window
Windows 7 includes 13 additional sound schemes, titled Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata.[60] Internet Spades, Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers, which were removed from Windows Vista, were restored in Windows 7. Users are able to disable or customize many more Windows components than was possible in Windows Vista. New additions to this list of components include Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player 12, Windows Media Center, Windows Search, and Windows Gadget Platform.[61] A new version of Microsoft Virtual PC, newly renamed as Windows Virtual PC was made available for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.[62] It allows multiple Windows environments, including Windows XP Mode, to run on the same machine. Windows XP Mode runs Windows XP in a virtual machine, and displays applications within separate windows on the Windows 7 desktop.[63] Furthermore, Windows 7 supports the mounting of a virtual hard disk (VHD) as a normal data storage, and the bootloader delivered with Windows 7 can boot the Windows system from a VHD; however, this ability is only available in the Enterprise and Ultimate editions.[64] The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) of Windows 7 is also enhanced to support real-time multimedia application including video playback and 3D games, thus allowing use of DirectX 10 in remote desktop environments.[65] The three application limit, previously present in the Windows Vista and Windows XP Starter Editions, has been removed from Windows 7.[66] All editions include some new and improved features, such as Windows Search, Security features, and some features new to Windows 7, that originated within Vista. Optional BitLocker Drive Encryption is included with Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise. Windows Defender is included; Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus software is a free download. All editions include Shadow Copy, which—every day or so—System Restore uses to take an automatic "previous version" snapshot of user files that have changed.[67]Backup and restore have also been improved,[68][69] and the Windows Recovery Environment—installed by default—replaces the optional Recovery Console of Windows XP.[70]
A new system known as "Libraries" was added for file management; users can aggregate files from multiple folders into a "Library". By default, libraries for categories such as Documents, Pictures, Music, and Video are created, consisting of the user's personal folder and the Public folder for each. The system is also used as part of a new home networking system known as HomeGroup; devices are added to the network with a password, and files and folders can be shared with all other devices in the HomeGroup, or with specific users. The default libraries, along with printers, are shared by default, but the personal folder is set to read-only access by other users, and the Public folder can be accessed by anyone.[71][72]
Windows 7 includes improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API[73] to provide multilingual support (particularly in Ultimate and Enterprise editions). Microsoft has also implemented better support for solid-state drives,[74] including the new TRIM command, and Windows 7 is able to identify a solid-state drive uniquely. Native support for USB 3.0 is not included due to delays in the finalization of the standard.[75] At WinHEC 2008 Microsoft announced that color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit would be supported in Windows 7 along with the wide color gamut scRGB (which for HDMI 1.3 can be converted and output as xvYCC). The video modes supported in Windows 7 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB.[76][77]
For developers, Windows 7 includes a new networking API with support for building SOAP-based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET-based WCF web services),[78] new features to simplify development of installation packages and shorten application install times.[79] Windows 7, by default, generates fewer User Account Control (UAC) prompts because it allows digitally signed Windows components to gain elevated privileges without a prompt. Additionally, users can now adjust the level at which UAC operates using a sliding scale.[80]
Removed
Certain capabilities and programs that were a part of Windows Vista are no longer present or have been changed, resulting in the removal of certain functionalities; these include the classic Start Menu user interface, some taskbar features, Windows Explorer features, Windows Media Player features, Windows Ultimate Extras, Search button, and InkBall. Four applications bundled with Windows Vista — Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Calendar and Windows Mail — are not included with Windows 7 and were replaced by Windows Live-branded versions as part of the Windows Live Essentials suite.[81][82]
Editions
Windows 7 is available in six different editions, of which the Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate were available at retail in most countries, and as pre-loaded software on new computers. Home Premium and Professional were aimed at home users and small businesses respectively, while Ultimate was aimed at enthusiasts. Each edition of Windows 7 includes all of the capabilities and features of the edition below it, and adds additional features oriented towards their market segments; for example, Professional adds additional networking and security features such as Encrypting File System and the ability to join a domain. Ultimate contained a superset of the features from Home Premium and Professional, along with other advanced features oriented towards power users, such as BitLocker drive encryption; unlike Windows Vista, there were no "Ultimate Extras" add-ons created for Windows 7 Ultimate.[83][84][85] Retail copies were available in "upgrade" and higher-cost "full" version licenses; "upgrade" licenses require an existing version of Windows to install, while "full" licenses can be installed on computers with no existing operating system.[86]
The remaining three editions were not available at retail, of which two were available exclusively through OEM channels as pre-loaded software. The Starter edition is a stripped-down version of Windows 7 meant for low-cost devices such as netbooks. In comparison to Home Premium, Starter has reduced multimedia functionality, does not allow users to change their desktop wallpaper or theme, disables the "Aero Glass" theme, does not have support for multiple monitors, and can only address 2GB of RAM.[85][87]Home Basic was sold only in emerging markets, and was positioned in between Home Premium and Starter.[83][84] The highest edition, Enterprise, is functionally similar to Ultimate, but is only sold through volume licensing via Microsoft's Software Assurance program.[88][89][90]
All editions aside from Starter support both IA-32 and x86-64 architectures; Starter only supports 32-bit systems.[85] Retail copies of Windows 7 are distributed on two DVDs: one for the IA-32 version and the other for x86-64. OEM copies include one DVD, depending on the processor architecture licensed. The installation media for consumer versions of Windows 7 are identical; the product key and corresponding license determines the edition that is installed. The Windows Anytime Upgrade service can be used to purchase an upgrade that unlocks the functionality of a higher edition, such as going from Starter to Home Premium, and Home Premium to Ultimate.[83] Most copies of Windows 7 only contained one license; in certain markets, a "Family Pack" version of Windows 7 Home Premium was also released for a limited time, which allowed upgrades on up to three computers.[91] In certain regions, copies of Windows 7 were only sold in, and could only be activated in a designated region.[92]
Support lifecycle
Support for Windows 7 without Service Pack 1 ended on April 9, 2013, requiring users to update in order to continue receiving updates and support.[93] Microsoft ended the sale of new retail copies of Windows 7 in October 2014, and the sale of new OEM licenses for Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate ended on October 31, 2014. Professional currently remains available to OEMs, primarily as part of downgrade rights for Windows 8 and 10 licenses. OEM sales of PCs with Windows 7 Professional preinstalled ended on October 31, 2016.[94] The sale of non-Professional OEM licences was stopped on October 31, 2014.[95] Mainstream support for 7 ended on January 13, 2015. Extended support will end on January 14, 2020.[96][97] On September 7, 2018, Microsoft announced that Windows 7 will get three more years of support after January 14, 2020 if users pay for the Extended Security Updates (ESU) service, however this only applies to users of the Professional and Enterprise editions of Windows 7.[98]
System requirements
| Component | Operating system architecture | |
|---|---|---|
| 32-bit | 64-bit | |
Processor | 1 GHz IA-32 processor | 1 GHz x86-64 processor |
Memory (RAM) | 1 GB | 2 GB |
Graphics card | DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM driver model 1.0 | |
| Free hard drive space | 16 GB | 20 GB |
Optical drive | DVD-ROM drive[100] (Only to install from DVD-ROM media) | |
Additional requirements to use certain features:[99]
Windows XP Mode (Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise): Requires an additional 1 GB of RAM and additional 15 GB of available hard disk space. The requirement for a processor capable of hardware virtualization has been lifted.[101]
Windows Media Center (included in Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise), requires a TV tuner to receive and record TV.
Extent of hardware support
Physical memory
The maximum amount of RAM that Windows 7 supports varies depending on the product edition and on the processor architecture, as shown in the following table.[102]
| Edition | Processor architecture | |
|---|---|---|
IA-32 (32-bit) | x64 (64-bit) | |
| Ultimate | 4 GB | 192 GB |
Enterprise | ||
Professional | ||
| Home Premium | 16 GB | |
| Home Basic | 8 GB | |
| Starter | 2 GB | N/A |
Processor limits
Windows 7 Professional and up support up to 2 physical processors (CPU sockets),[103]
whereas Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium editions support only 1.[104] Physical processors with either multiple cores, or hyper-threading, or both, implement more than one logical processor per physical processor. The x86 editions of Windows 7 support up to 32 logical processors; x64 editions support up to 256 (4 x 64).[105]
In January 2016, Microsoft announced that it would no longer support Windows platforms older than Windows 10 on any future Intel-compatible processor lines, citing difficulties in reliably allowing the operating system to operate on newer hardware. Microsoft stated that effective July 17, 2017, devices with Intel Skylake CPUs were only to receive the "most critical" updates for Windows 7 and 8.1, and only if they have been judged not to affect the reliability of Windows 7 on older hardware.[96][106] For enterprise customers, Microsoft issued a list of Skylake-based devices "certified" for Windows 7 and 8.1 in addition to Windows 10, to assist them in migrating to newer hardware that can eventually be upgraded to 10 once they are ready to transition. Microsoft and their hardware partners provide special testing and support for these devices on 7 and 8.1 until the July 2017 date.[107]
On March 18, 2016, in response to criticism from enterprise customers, Microsoft delayed the end of support and non-critical updates for Skylake systems to July 17, 2018, but stated that they would also continue to receive security updates through the end of extended support.[108][109] In August 2016, citing a "strong partnership with our OEM partners and Intel", Microsoft retracted the decision and stated that it would continue to support Windows 7 and 8.1 on Skylake hardware through the end of their extended support lifecycle. However, the restrictions on newer CPU microarchitectures remain in force.[110][111]
In March 2017, a Microsoft knowledge base article was discovered which implies that devices using Intel Kaby Lake, AMD Bristol Ridge, or AMD Ryzen, would be blocked from using Windows Update entirely.[112][113] In addition, official Windows 7 device drivers are not available for the Kaby Lake and Ryzen platforms.[114][115]
Security updates released since March 2018 contain bugs which affect processors that do not support SSE2 extensions, including all Pentium III processors. Microsoft initially stated that it would attempt to resolve the issue, and prevented installation of the affected patches on these systems. However, on June 15, 2018, Microsoft retroactively modified its support documents to remove the promise that this bug would be resolved, replacing it with a statement suggesting that users obtain a newer processor. This effectively ends future patch support for Windows 7 on these systems.[116][117]
Updates
Service Pack 1
Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) was announced on March 18, 2010. A beta was released on July 12, 2010.[118][119][120] The final version was released to the public on February 22, 2011.[121] At the time of release, it was not made mandatory. It was available via Windows Update, direct download, or by ordering the Windows 7 SP1 DVD.[122] The service pack is on a much smaller scale than those released for previous versions of Windows, particularly Windows Vista.[123]
Windows 7 Service Pack 1 adds support for Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX), a 256-bit instruction set extension for processors, and improves IKEv2 by adding additional identification fields such as E-mail ID to it. In addition, it adds support for Advanced Format 512e as well as additional Identity Federation Services.[124][125] Windows 7 Service Pack 1 also resolves a bug related to HDMI audio and another related to printing XPS documents.[124]
In Europe, the automatic nature of the BrowserChoice.eu feature was dropped in Windows 7 Service Pack 1 in February 2011 and remained absent for 14 months despite Microsoft reporting that it was still present, subsequently described by Microsoft as a "technical error". As a result, in March 2013 the European Commission fined Microsoft €561 million to deter companies from reneging on settlement promises.[126]
Platform Update
The Platform Update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 was released on February 26, 2013[127] after a pre-release version had been released on November 5, 2012.[128] It is also included with Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7.[129]
It includes enhancements to Direct2D, DirectWrite, Direct3D, Windows Imaging Component (WIC), Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP), Windows Animation Manager (WAM), XPS Document API, H.264 Video Decoder and JPEG XR decoder.[127] However support for Direct3D 11.1 is limited as the update does not include DXGI/WDDM 1.2 from Windows 8, making unavailable many related APIs and significant features such as stereoscopic frame buffer, feature level 11_1 and optional features for levels 10_0, 10_1 and 11_0.[130]
Disk Cleanup update
In October 2013, a Disk Cleanup Wizard addon was released that lets users delete outdated Windows updates on Windows 7 SP1, thus reducing the size of the WinSxS directory. This update backports some features found in Windows 8.[131]
Windows Management Framework 5.0
Windows Management Framework 5.0 includes updates to Windows PowerShell, Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC), Windows Remote Management (WinRM), Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). It was released on February 24, 2016.[132]
Convenience rollup
In May 2016, Microsoft released a "Convenience rollup update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1", which contains all patches released between the release of SP1 and April 2016. The rollup is not available via Windows Update, and must be downloaded manually. This package can also be integrated into a Windows 7 installation image.[133]
Since October 2016, all security and reliability updates are cumulative. Downloading and installing updates that address individual problems is no longer possible, but the number of updates that must be downloaded to fully update the OS is significantly reduced.[134]
Reception
Critical reception
Windows 7 received critical acclaim, with critics noting the increased usability and functionality when compared with its predecessor, Windows Vista. CNET gave Windows 7 Home Premium a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars,[135] stating that it "is more than what Vista should have been, [and] it's where Microsoft needed to go". PC Magazine rated it a 4 out of 5 saying that Windows 7 is a "big improvement" over Windows Vista, with fewer compatibility problems, a retooled taskbar, simpler home networking and faster start-up.[136]Maximum PC gave Windows 7 a rating of 9 out of 10 and called Windows 7 a "massive leap forward" in usability and security, and praised the new Taskbar as "worth the price of admission alone".[137]PC World called Windows 7 a "worthy successor" to Windows XP and said that speed benchmarks showed Windows 7 to be slightly faster than Windows Vista.[138] PC World also named Windows 7 one of the best products of the year.[139]
In its review of Windows 7, Engadget said that Microsoft had taken a "strong step forward" with Windows 7 and reported that speed is one of Windows 7's major selling points – particularly for the netbook sets.[140]Laptop Magazine gave Windows 7 a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and said that Windows 7 makes computing more intuitive, offered better overall performance including a "modest to dramatic" increase in battery life on laptop computers.[141]TechRadar gave Windows 7 a rating of 5 out of 5 stars, concluding that "it combines the security and architectural improvements of Windows Vista with better performance than XP can deliver on today's hardware. No version of Windows is ever perfect, but Windows 7 really is the best release of Windows yet."[142] The New York Times,[143]USA Today,[144]The Wall Street Journal,[145] and The Telegraph[146] also gave Windows 7 favorable reviews.
Some Windows Vista Ultimate users have expressed concerns over Windows 7 pricing and upgrade options.[147][148] Windows Vista Ultimate users wanting to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 must either pay $219.99[149] to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate or perform a clean install, which requires them to reinstall all of their programs.[150]
The changes to User Account Control on Windows 7 were criticized for being potentially insecure, as an exploit was discovered allowing untrusted software to be launched with elevated privileges by exploiting a trusted component. Peter Bright of Ars Technica argued that "the way that the Windows 7 UAC 'improvements' have been made completely exempts Microsoft's developers from having to do that work themselves. With Windows 7, it's one rule for Redmond, another one for everyone else."[151] Microsoft's Windows kernel engineer Mark Russinovich acknowledged the problem, but noted that malware can also compromise a system when users agree to a prompt.[80][152]
Sales
In July 2009, in only eight hours, pre-orders of Windows 7 at amazon.co.uk surpassed the demand which Windows Vista had had in its first 17 weeks.[153] It became the highest-grossing pre-order in Amazon's history, surpassing sales of the previous record holder, the seventh Harry Potter book.[154] After 36 hours, 64-bit versions of Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate editions sold out in Japan.[155] Two weeks after its release its market share had surpassed that of Snow Leopard, released two months previously as the most recent update to Apple's Mac OS X operating system.[156][157] According to Net Applications, Windows 7 reached a 4% market share in less than three weeks; in comparison, it took Windows Vista seven months to reach the same mark.[158][159] As of February 2014, Windows 7 has a market share of 47.49% according to Net Applications; in comparison, Windows XP had a market share of 29.23%.[160]
On March 4, 2010, Microsoft announced that it had sold more than 90 million Windows 7 licenses.[161]
By April 23, 2010, Windows 7 had sold more than 100 million copies in six months, which made it Microsoft's fastest-selling operating system.[162][163] As of June 23, 2010, Windows 7 has sold 150 million copies which made it the fastest selling operating system in history with seven copies sold every second.[163][164] Based on worldwide data taken during June 2010 from Windows Update 46% of Windows 7 PCs run the 64-bit edition of Windows 7.[165] According to Stephen Baker of the NPD Group during April 2010 in the United States 77% of PCs sold at retail were pre-installed with the 64-bit edition of Windows 7.[165][166] As of July 22, 2010, Windows 7 had sold 175 million copies.[167] On October 21, 2010, Microsoft announced that more than 240 million copies of Windows 7 had been sold.[168] Three months later, on January 27, 2011, Microsoft announced total sales of 300 million copies of Windows 7.[169] On July 12, 2011, the sales figure was refined to over 400 million end-user licenses and business installations.[170] As of July 9, 2012, over 630 million licenses have been sold; this number includes licenses sold to OEMs for new PCs.[171]
Antitrust concerns
As with other Microsoft operating systems, Windows 7 was studied by United States federal regulators who oversee the company's operations following the 2001 United States v. Microsoft Corp. settlement. According to status reports filed, the three-member panel began assessing prototypes of the new operating system in February 2008. Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research, said, "[Microsoft's] challenge for Windows 7 will be how can they continue to add features that consumers will want that also don't run afoul of regulators."[172]
In order to comply with European antitrust regulations, Microsoft proposed the use of a "ballot" screen containing download links to competing web browsers, thus removing the need for a version of Windows completely without Internet Explorer, as previously planned.[173] In response to criticism involving Windows 7 E and concerns from manufacturers about possible consumer confusion if a version of Windows 7 with Internet Explorer were shipped later, after one without Internet Explorer, Microsoft announced that it would discard the separate version for Europe and ship the standard upgrade and full packages worldwide.[174]
As with the previous version of Windows, an N version, which does not come with Windows Media Player, has been released in Europe, but only for sale directly from Microsoft sales websites and selected others.[175]
References
^ LeBlanc, Brandon (July 22, 2009). "Windows 7 Has Been Released to Manufacturing". Windows Experience Blog. Microsoft..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ LeBlanc, Brandon (October 22, 2009). "Windows 7 Arrives Today With New Offers, New PCs, And More!". Windows Experience Blog. Microsoft.
^ LeBlanc, Brandon (February 9, 2011). "Announcing Availability of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1". Windows Experience Blog. Microsoft.
^ Thadani, Rahul (September 6, 2010). "Windows 7 System Requirements". Buzzle. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
^ abc "Microsoft Support Lifecycle". Support. Microsoft. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
^ abc Rose, Stephen L (February 14, 2013). "Windows 7 RTM End Of Support Is Right Around The Corner". Springboard Series Blog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on May 2, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
^ "Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Timelines Shared at Computex". News Center. Microsoft. June 2, 2009. Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
^ "Desktop Windows Version Market Share Worldwide | StatCounter Global Stats". StatCounter Global Stats. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
^ Lettice, John (October 24, 2001). "Gates confirms Windows Longhorn for 2003". The Register. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
^ Goodwin, Bill (August 15, 2003). "Businesses are left reeling after a triple strike by Blaster, Nachi and the Sobig virus". Computer Weekly. TechTarget. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
^ Bishop, Todd (August 28, 2004). "Microsoft cuts key Longhorn feature". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
^ Thurrott, Paul (February 14, 2007). "Windows "7" FAQ". SuperSite for Windows. Penton Media. Retrieved January 5, 2008.
^ "They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know". The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
^ "The 15 Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007". PC World. IDG. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
^ "Vista Resistance: Why XP Is Still So Strong". PC World. IDG. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
^ Foley, Mary J (July 20, 2007). "Windows Seven: Think 2010". ZDNet. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
^ "Next version of Windows: Call it 7". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
^ Levy, Steven (February 3, 2007). "Bill Gates on Vista and Apple's 'Lying' Ads". Newsweek. Archived from the original on March 31, 2007.
^ Gates, Bill (May 7, 2007). "Bill Gates: Japan—Windows Digital Lifestyle Consortium". News Center. Tokyo, Japan: Microsoft.
^ Sinofsky, Steven (December 15, 2008). "Continuing our discussion on performance". Engineering Windows 7. Microsoft. Retrieved December 18, 2008.
^ Oiaga, Marius (June 24, 2008). "Windows 7 Will Not Inherit the Incompatibility Issues of Vista".
^ Sinovsky, Steven (August 18, 2008). "The Windows 7 Team". Engineering Windows 7. Microsoft. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
^ Fried, Ina (October 13, 2008). "Microsoft makes Windows 7 name final". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
^ "For Microsoft's Windows, 7th time's a charm". CBC News. October 2008. Retrieved October 27, 2008.
^ Castle, Alex (October 15, 2008). "Microsoft Justifies Its Windows 7 Naming Decision". Maximum PC. Future US. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
^ "Why Call it Windows 7?". worldstart.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
^ Cunningham, Ian (December 3, 2008). "Windows 7 Build Numbers".
^ Dignan, Larry (October 2008). "Ballmer: It's ok to wait until Windows 7; Yahoo still 'makes sense'; Google Apps 'primitive'". Archived from the original on October 17, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
^ Nash, Mike (October 28, 2008). "Windows 7 Unveiled Today at PDC 2008". Windows Experience Blog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on November 1, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
^ "Windows 7 Beta 1 Leaked". OSNews.com. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
^ Kingsley-Hughes, Adrian (January 1, 2009). "Windows 7 beta 1 performance - How does the OS compare to Vista and XP?". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
^ Graham-Smith, Darien (January 2009). "Follow-up: Benchmarking Windows 7". Retrieved January 29, 2009.
^ "Leaked Windows 7 RC torrents infected with trojan". SlashGear.
^ Pennington, Kenneth (January 2009). "Windows 7 64-Bit Beta Hits the Web". Archived from the original on January 21, 2009. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
^ Johnson, Bobbie (January 8, 2009). "CES: Steve Ballmer unveils Microsoft's Windows 7 | Technology | guardian.co.uk". The Guardian. London. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
^ Miller, Paul (April 24, 2009). "Windows 7 RC 7100 making its way to OEMs, a torrent tracker near you". Engadget. Aol. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
^ "Windows 7 Release Candidate Customer Preview Program". Microsoft.com. Microsoft. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
^ "When Will You Get Windows 7 RTM?". The Windows Blog.
^ LeBlanc, Brandon. "Windows 7 Has Been Released to Manufacturing". The Windows blog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014.
^ "What's New in Handwriting Recognition". microsoft.com. Microsoft.
^ "Windows 7's support of VHD is all about backwards compatibility". winsupersite.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
^ "Windows 7 Takes More Advantage of Multi-Core CPUs – Windows 7". Windowsvienna.com. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
^ "Windows 7 to get parallel-processing tweaks | All about Microsoft". blogs.zdnet.com. ZDNet.com. September 30, 2008. Archived from the original on February 1, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
^ "Windows 7 to get parallel-processing tweaks". PC Tips/pctipsbox.com. October 5, 2008. Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
^ "Window 7 Enters Parallel Universe". Stunning Mesh. Meks. February 13, 2017.
^ "Tech ARP -3D Gaming Advances In Microsoft Windows 7 Rev. 2.0". Archived from the original on September 26, 2009.
^ Gruener, Wolfgang (January 16, 2008). "Windows Vista successor scheduled for a H2 2009 release?". TG Daily. Archived from the original on January 18, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2008.
^ "Microsoft XPS". prepressure.com.
^ "What's New in Windows PowerShell". microsoft.com. Microsoft.
^ "Seven Windows 7 Calculator features you may not know about". CNET. CBS Interactive.
^ "MSDN Blogs". msdn.com. Microsoft.
^ Laurie, Vic. "Wizard to Adjust the Display Colors in Windows 7". techsupportalert.com.
^ "Screenshots from a blogger with Windows 7 M1". ThinkNext.net. Archived from the original on January 30, 2008.
^ "How to add Mac-like RAW image support to Windows 7, Vista, XP". downloadsquad.com. October 21, 2009. Archived from the original on October 24, 2009.
^ Jessica, Parker. "TFTP Client Install for Windows 7". PCWDLD.com. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
^ "Windows 7 User Interface – The Superbar (Enhanced Taskbar)". Softpedia. November 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
^ Muchmore, Michael (October 28, 2009). "7 Things I'll Miss about Vista—And 7 I Definitely Won't". PC Magazine. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
^ "Touching Windows 7". Engineering Windows 7 Blog. Microsoft. March 25, 2009.
^ Sinofsky, Steven (March 17, 2009). "Engineering Windows 7 : Designing Aero Snap". Microsoft Development Network. Microsoft. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
^ Thurrott, Paul (March 8, 2009). "Windows 7 Build 7048 Notes". Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows. Archived from the original on April 13, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
^ "Beta to RC Changes — Turning Windows Features On or Off".
^ "Windows Virtual PC". Microsoft. Archived from the original on May 3, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
^ "Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 brochure" (PDF). Microsoft. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 25, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
^ Demonstration: Windows 7 VHD Boot. Microsoft. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
[dead link]
^ "Windows 7 Presentation Virtualization: Graphics Remoting (RDP) Today and Tomorrow". Microsoft. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
^ "Let's talk about Windows 7 Starter". Windows Team Blog. Microsoft. May 29, 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
^ "A Guide to Windows Vista Backup Technologies". Microsoft.
^ "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)". Microsoft.
^ "Create and Use a Virtual Hard Disk on Windows 7". Microsoft.
^ Soperus, Marcus (August 9, 2009). "Windows 7 Feature Focus: Recovery Environment". Maximum PC. Future US. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
^ "Windows 7 HomeGroup: Networking Made Easy". PC Magazine. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
^ LeBlanc, Brandon (October 28, 2008). "How Libraries & HomeGroup Work Together in Windows 7". Windows Team Blog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on November 2, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
^ "Windows 7: Writing World-Ready Applications". PDC 2008. 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
^ "Support and Q&A for Solid-State Drives". Engineering Windows 7. Microsoft. May 5, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
^ Crothers, Brooke (November 6, 2008). "Microsoft describes USB 3.0 delays". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
^ "WinHEC 2008 GRA-583: Display Technologies". Microsoft. November 6, 2008. Archived from the original (Office Open XML Presentation) on December 27, 2008. Retrieved December 4, 2008.
^ "Windows 7 High Color Support". Softpedia. November 26, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
^ "Windows 7: Web Services in Native Code". PDC 2008. 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
^ "Windows 7: Deploying Your Application with Windows Installer (MSI) and ClickOnce". PDC 2008. 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
^ ab "Opinion: Windows 7′s UAC is a broken mess; mend it or end it". Ars Technica. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
^ LeBlance, Brandon (October 28, 2008). "The Complete Windows Experience – Windows 7 + Windows Live". Windows Team Blog. Microsoft. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
^ Bort, Julie (September 23, 2008). "E-mail, photos, movie making will not be included in Windows 7". Networkworld. The Microsoft Update. IDG. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
^ abc "All Windows 7 Versions—What You Need to Know". ExtremeTech. February 5, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
^ ab "Windows 7: Which Edition is Right For You?". PCWorld. February 3, 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
^ abc LeBlanc, Brandon (February 9, 2009). "A closer look at the Windows 7 SKUs". Windows Team Blog. Microsoft. Retrieved February 9, 2009.
^ Moses, Asher. "Windows 8 upgrade boxes 'mislead' customers". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
^ "Microsoft kills Windows 7 Starter's 3-app limit". Computerworld. IDG. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
^ Thurrott, Paul (February 3, 2009). "Windows 7 Product Editions". SuperSite for Windows. Penton Media. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
^ "Windows 7 will come in many flavors". CNET News. CBS Interactive. February 3, 2009. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
^ "Windows 7 Editions – Features on Parade". Softpedia. February 5, 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
^ "Microsoft prices Windows 7 family pack". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
^ "Geographically Restricted Microsoft Software". Microsoft. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
^ "Windows 7 users: Move to SP1 to continue receiving Microsoft support". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. February 14, 2013.
^ "Microsoft gives OEMs a deadline". ZDNet. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
^ "Windows 7 sales end this Friday". NetworkWorld. IDG. October 28, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
^ ab "Skylake users given 18 months to upgrade to Windows 10". Ars Technica. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
^ Kelly, Gordon (July 10, 2014). "Microsoft To Abandon Windows 7 Mainstream Support. Pressure Builds On Windows 10". Forbes.
^ https://www.extremetech.com/computing/276582-microsoft-relents-confirms-extended-support-option-for-windows-7
^ ab "Windows 7 system requirements". Microsoft. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
^ Any optical drive that can read DVD-ROM media.
^ "Windows Virtual PC – no hardware virtualization update now available for download".
^ "Memory Limits for Windows Releases". Microsoft. Retrieved June 25, 2010.
^ "About Processes and Threads; Scheduling; Processor Groups". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft.A physical processor is the same as a processor package, a socket, or a CPU.
^ "Processor limits for Windows 7". Microsoft.
^ "About Processes and Threads; Scheduling; Processor Groups". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft.
^ Bott, Ed. "Microsoft updates support policy: New CPUs will require Windows 10". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
^ "Microsoft certifies new PCs with Windows 7 to ease enterprises onto Windows 10". PC World. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
^ "Skylake support on Windows 7 and 8.1 given a one-year extension". Ars Technica. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
^ "Microsoft backtracks on Windows 7 support deadline". Computerworld. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
^ Larsen, Shad (August 11, 2016). "Updates to Silicon Support Policy for Windows". Windows business blog. Microsoft. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
^ Jo Foley, Mary (August 11, 2016). "Microsoft extends again support for Windows 7, 8.1 Skylake-based devices". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
^ ""Your PC uses a processor that isn't supported on this version of Windows" error when you scan or download Windows updates". Microsoft. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
^ "Blocking Windows 7, 8.1 updates for Kaby Lake, Ryzen chips appears imminent". Ars Technica. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
^ "Intel's latest CPUs will only support Windows 10".
^ "AMD: Sorry, there will be no official Ryzen drivers for Windows 7".
^ Leonhard, Woody. "Microsoft quietly cuts off Win7 support for older Intel computers". Computerworld. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
^ Bott, Ed. "Microsoft unexpectedly drops Windows 7 support for some ancient CPUs". ZDNet. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
^ "Virtualization Updates at TechEd". Windows Team Blog. Microsoft. June 7, 2010.
^ "Microsoft Announces Windows 7 Service Pack 1". Computerworld. IDG.
^ "Microsoft Releases SP1 Beta for Windows Server 2008 R2". Redmondmag.com.
^ "Announcing Availability of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1". Windows Experience Blog. February 9, 2011.
^ "Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7". Technet.microsoft.com. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
^ "Microsoft: Few issues to address with Windows 7 Service Pack 1". TechRadar UK.
^ ab "Notable Changes in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft. February 9, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
^ "Information about Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2 (Revision 3.1)". Support. Microsoft. February 22, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
^ "Microsoft fined by European Commission over web browser". BBC News. March 6, 2013.
^ ab "A platform update is available for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1". Support. Microsoft. February 27, 2013.
^ "Platform Update for Windows 7 (PRE-RELEASE version)". Download Center. Microsoft. November 5, 2012. Archived from the original on January 10, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
^ "DirectX 11.1 and Windows 7". Games for Windows and the DirectX SDK Blog. November 13, 2012.
^ "DirectX Graphics — Platform Update for Windows 7". MSDN. November 14, 2012.
^ "Breaking News! Reduce the size of the WinSxS Directory and Free up Disk Space with a New Update for Windows 7 SP1 Clients - Ask Premier Field Engineering (PFE) Platforms - Site Home — TechNet Blogs". blogs.technet.com. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
^ "Download: Windows Management Framework 5.0". Download Center. Microsoft. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
^ "Windows 7 now has a Service Pack 2 (but don't call it that)". Ars Technica. Conde Nast Digital. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
^ "Windows 7, 8.1 moving to Windows 10's cumulative update model". Ars Technica. Conde Nast Digital. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
^ Rosenblatt, Seth (July 31, 2009). "Microsoft Windows 7 (Home Premium) Review". CNET. CBS Interactive.
^ Muchmore, Michael (October 22, 2009). "Microsoft Windows 7". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ Smith, Will (October 19, 2009). "Windows 7 Review: XP vs Vista vs 7 in 80+ Benchmarks". Maximum PC. Future US. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ McCracken, Harry (October 19, 2009). "Windows 7 Review". PC World. IDG. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ "The PC World 100: Best Products of 2009". PC World. IDG. October 19, 2009. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ Miller, Paul (August 12, 2009). "Windows 7 review". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ Wollman, Dana (August 21, 2009). "Windows 7". Laptop Magazine. TechMedia. Archived from the original on April 17, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ Branscombe, Mary (August 7, 2009). "Windows 7 review". TechRadar. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ Pogue, David (October 21, 2009). "Windows 7 Keeps the Good, Tries to Fix Flaws". New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ Baig, Edward C. (October 21, 2009). "After Vista, Windows 7 is a giant leap for Microsoft". USA Today. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ Mossberg, Walter S. (October 8, 2009). "A Windows to Help You Forget". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ Warman, Matt (October 20, 2009). "Microsoft Windows 7 review". The Telegraph. London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ Fried, Ina (July 2, 2009). "Some Vista users say they're getting the Ultimate shaft". CNET. CBS Interactive.
^ Keizer, Gregg (July 2, 2009). "Vista Ultimate users fume, rant over Windows 7 deals". Computerworld. IDG.
^ "Shop: Windows 7". Microsoft. October 22, 2009.
^ "Windows 7 Upgrade Considerations". Microsoft. October 22, 2009.
^ Whittaker, Zack (June 12, 2009). "Windows 7 UAC flaw: "Pandora's box of all vulnerabilities"". ZDNet. Archived from the original on June 15, 2009. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
^ Russinovich, Mark. "User Account Control Inside Windows 7 User Account Control". Microsoft. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
^ "Windows 7 flies off virtual shelf". BBC News. July 15, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
^ Johnson, Bobbie (October 21, 2009). "Windows 7 set to break retail records". The Guardian. London. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
^ "64bit版Windows 7は人気でやや品薄、週明けには回復？". October 24, 2009.
^ "October 2009 OS stats: Windows 7 passes Snow Leopard, Linux". ars technica. November 6, 2009. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
^ Lyle, Andrew (November 7, 2009). "Windows 7 surpasses Snow Leopard in under two weeks". Neowin.
^ Fried, Ina (November 10, 2009). "Windows 7 use continues to climb". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
^ "Increasing market share of Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 since the start of beta testing".
^ Warman, Matt (March 5, 2010). "Microsoft sells more than 90 million copies of Windows 7". The Daily Telegraph. UK: Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^ "Windows 7 now fastest-selling Windows OS". ZDNet. April 27, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
^ ab "Windows 7: 150 Million Copies Sold". Windows IT Pro. June 23, 2010. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
^ "150 Million Licenses of Windows 7 Sold, Windows Live Betas Announced". Microsoft. June 23, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
^ ab "64-Bit Momentum Surges with Windows 7". Microsoft. July 8, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
^ "Microsoft: Windows 7 makes 64-bit headway". CNET. CBS Interactive. July 9, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
^ "Windows 7 Momentum Continues: 175 Million Licenses Sold". Microsoft. July 22, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
^ "Celebrating Windows 7 at 1 Year – More than 240 Million Licenses Sold". Microsoft. October 21, 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
^ "Windows 7: 300 Million Licenses Sold". Microsoft. January 27, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
^ Klein, Peter (July 12, 2011). "Microsoft Reports Record Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results". News Center. Microsoft. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
^ Warren on, Tom (July 9, 2012). "Windows 7 hits 630 million licenses sold, now running on 50 percent of enterprise desktops". The Verge. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
^ Keizer, Gregg F. (March 2008). "Windows 7 eyed by antitrust regulators". Computerworld. IDG. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
^ Weiner, Kevin (July 24, 2009). "Microsoft proposes 'Browser Ballot Screen' to the EU". Neowin.
^ Warren, Tom (August 1, 2009). "Microsoft scraps Windows 7 'E' version for Europe". Neowin.
^ "Online Windows 7 store page". Microsoft Store. UK: Microsoft. Archived from the original on September 19, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
Further reading
Bott, Ed; Siechert, Carl; Stinson, Craig (2010). Windows 7 Inside Out. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press. ISBN 978-0-7356-2665-2.
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Microsoft Windows 7. |
- Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Windows 7 SP1 update history
Microsoft Windows family | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
DOS-based |
|  | |||||||
| Windows 9x |
| ||||||||
| Windows NT |
| ||||||||
| Windows Embedded |
| ||||||||
| Windows Mobile |
| ||||||||
| Windows Phone |
| ||||||||
| Cancelled |
| ||||||||
| Related |
| ||||||||
| |||||||||
List of versions
Book
CategoryAuthority control  |
|
|---|
