After a long silence induced by several long travels, I come back to you to share my observations on the newly installed Windows 7. Last week, I have been in Redmond and had a quick installation of the new operating system of Microsoft.

My first impressions were very favorable: my portable computer became faster and more fluid. The colors of the display seemed clearer and enhanced and the navigations across open windows was facilitated by .  There are many features that  I appreciate highly – such as the enhanced security, single sign on and voice recognition. I had no error messages or any stalling on my computer since the installation.

As an early adopter, Dr Bill Crounse, previously noted that Enterprise users will find a lot to like.  With DirectAccess, Windows 7 makes it easy to connect to corporate resources without going through a Virtual Private Network.  Windows BitLocker™ protects sensitive data (which is just about everything in healthcare) on internal and external drives while advanced network backup and Encrypted File System also protect sensitive data. BranchCache™ decreases the time remote workers need to open files running on the corporate network.  AppLocker helps IT staff prevent unauthorized software from running on corporate machines.

All these new features will delight professional users and will enhance usability and security of data for health professionals. The starting and shut down time is diminished and the navigation between applications is very quick. While this would appear as simple features, the professional applications will largely benefit from a quicker and robust Operating System.

Please take a tour on the Windows site for more information by visiting resources on the web. The commercial version will appear on 22nd of October. I hope that you will all enjoy it.

Octavian Purcarea