Product: Windows 7 Company: Microsoft Website: http://www.microsoft.com MSRP: See Pricing  Purchase at Amazon.com Review By: Andre Da Costa with Byron Hinson, Robert Stein & Fernando Fhualpa contributing

Let’s admit it; Windows is not the only operating system out there that is generating a lot of buzz lately. Microsoft has enjoyed a luxury of delivering on the needs of consumers and business users worldwide. With Windows 7, there is a lot to enjoy, a snazzy desktop with lots of power and control, power users will definitely feel like the OS was built for them. Novices will appreciate the OS’s focus on simplicity and getting the job done with less effort. As for the other choices out there, GNU Linux has gained a strong following over the past 3 years through its strong connections in the Open Source community along with its focus on usability from the desktop environments GNOME and KDE. The most popular distribution of GNU Linux to date Ubuntu has gained a loyal following along with the tag of being exceptionally easy to use and configure for a novice or a user migrating from the Windows platform. Mac OS X from Apple Inc is another crowd favorite that has always had a loyal following, which has also innovated but lacks the affordability that many PC users crave for in addition to customization and simple choice. Still they are all contenders and even Search stalwart Google is getting into the game with its just announced Linux based Chrome OS expected sometime in 2010.

Why the ‘Poor’ for Ubuntu in Available Software, regardless Ubuntu comes with a lot of its own software programs built by the Open Source community, commercial applications still remain a major obstacle for the Linux platform. Microsoft Office is entrenched on the desktop used by millions of businesses and consumers. Let’s not forget about other programs such as AutoDesk AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite, Intuit QuickBooks, Quicken, QuarkXPress and many enterprise class applications in-house developed and commercially for Windows. Mac OS X suffers from this also, but not as bad as Linux. Backward compatibility still faces the same hurdle under Linux, since referring to backward compatibility, Windows applications is often the case.  Hardware is also a hit and miss for Linux, there is still no guarantee that your collection of devices will work, but there are improvements over prior versions, but still not enough.

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