Time to kill off Vista

Vista needs kicking into touch. It is slow, it demands permission at every step like an insecure child and it still has the truly ridiculous inability to sort files by modified date without unnecessary persuasion.

Its sleep function is temperamental and programs freeze for minutes on end if the wind is from the wrong direction.

But most of all it has been replaced.

Windows 7 is everything that Vista should have been. It is stable, it is highly compatible with software and hardware, it runs faster on the same machines than Vista and it is pleasing to the eye.

Although still in Beta, the Windows 7 is more ready for the mass market than Vista is after two years of its sorry existence. Microsoft should make 7 available the minute it has finished the Beta stage and let both Vista and 7 Beta testers upgrade seamlessly. There are going to be bugs but it has to be better than the present operating system Microsoft want you to buy with your new PC.

What's cool about Windows 7?

• It works.
• It works quickly.
  
• It can join networks without having to get eight different settings just so.
• It doesn't demand attention every second.
• It goes to sleep when asked.
  
• You can order files by modified without faffing.
  
• The task bar has been streamlined similar to quick launch icons. Very effective use of space, borrowing from Mac OS X a little - but in a more subtle way.
  
• If you drag windows to the left or the right of the screen they will maximise to half the screen without having to adjust them to fit exactly.
• The transparency of the Aero interface has been stepped up a fraction to be more like the latest versions of Linux.
• Desktop gadgets can be places individually where you want them.
  

Windows 7 is ready. Bring it on.