Posted: 22nd Oct, 2009 By: MarkJ

Microsoft's next major computer operating system,
Windows 7 - a follow-up to the somewhat shaky
Windows Vista, has finally gone on sale around the world today. Unlike its predecessor, Windows 7 actually does appear to be a faster and smoother experience with lower requirements to run. It will also please SkyTV (BSkyB) subscribers with its surprise integration of their broadband video-on-demand
Sky Player service.
The new licensing agreement means that BSkyB's Sky Player online TV service will now be directly integrated into the new
Windows Media Center (
here), offering existing Sky subscribers access to shows from more than 30 Sky channels via the special TV guide (EPG); a minimum 2Mbps connection speed is required. Non-Sky subscribers will have to pay a monthly fee to view the content.
Based on our own Beta and Release Candidate testing of Windows 7 over the past 12 months+, Microsoft's latest operating system looks to be a much better and faster performer than Windows Vista. I haven’t said anything like that since the release of Windows 2000 all those years back, which was a good OS. Most consumers will get Windows 7 with their next PC upgrade.