Windows 7

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Windows 7 Part of the Microsoft Windows family Screenshot of Windows 7, showing its desktop, taskbar, Start menu and the glass effect of Windows Aero Developer Microsoft Corporation Website windows.microsoft.com/windows-7 Releases Initial release July 22, 2009; 3 years ago (2009-07-22) General availability October 22, 2009; 3 years ago (2009-10-22) Latest stable release 6.1 (Build 7601: Service Pack 1) (February 22, 2011; 2 years ago (2011-02-22)) Source model Closed source / Shared source License Proprietary commercial software Kernel type Hybrid Update method Windows Update Platform support IA-32 and x86-64 Preceded by Windows Vista (2007) Succeeded by Windows 8 (2012) Support status Further reading Development of Windows 7 Features new to Windows 7 List of features removed in Windows 7 Windows 7 editions

Windows 7 is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, and media center PCs. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available for retail worldwide on October 22, 2009, 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 is succeeded by Windows 8.

Unlike Windows Vista's many new features, Windows 7 was an incremental upgrade designed to work with Vista-compatible applications and hardware. Presentations given by Microsoft in 2008 focused on multi-touch support, an updated Windows shell with a new taskbar, referred to internally as the Superbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, and performance improvements. Some standard applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, including Windows Calendar, Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery, are not included in Windows 7; most are instead offered separately at no charge as part of the Windows Essentials suite.