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Windows 7

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Lead Head:
I've been using the Windows 7 beta for a little over a week now. I can honestly say it is not bad. It doesn't feel like a completely new OS by any long shot, but the subtle improvements over vista make it so much better. No weird quirks, manages resources better (you no longer have to wait 5 minutes after log on to do anything because superfetch is thrashing your HD) Over all GUI transitions and effects are smoother and more polished as well. Fresh install also seems to take up less space. But that may change in the retail versions with more stuff installed.

Annoyances:
UAC, while it is tuned down in 7, it is still annoying when working with potentially protected files on another harddrive (like on my XP install), it asks you for permission to access virtually any file, and I can't find any option along the lines of "Do this action for every file".

Any of the Windows Live (sort of similar to Add&Remove programs in ubunutu, but way more limited) "add ons", such as moviemaker automatically install Live Messenger, and if you select to not to install messenger

The Control panel now has two modes. Crippled and Ridiculously unintuitive. Heres' two pictures showing what i mean
http://hosting03.imagecross.com/image-hosting-08/5476Untitled1.png
http://hosting03.imagecross.com/image-hosting-08/7025Untitled.png

Interesting Bits:
They finally updated paint, to make it match the "Ribbon" interface of their other newer products, such as Office 2007, and added many features that it SHOULD of had years ago. Also, PNG is the default save format, and the compression does not seem to bad at all

http://i44.tinypic.com/2ut1f9g.png

The taskbar has been updated. Programs now get put into their own "square", and you mouse over to see the open windows of that program or folder. (Little image preview). You can also place shortcuts/folders/executeables into the taskbar as quicklaunches, and when clicked upon, the window gets grouped into that quick launch button. If you mouse over one of the little preview images, it makes every window disappear but that one.

Picture demonstrating it. The IE, Folder Icon and the "Play/Windows Media" button are also quick launches.
http://i44.tinypic.com/33my521.png  (The outline you see is an open folder that went invisible)(Also the media controls on the preview should be noted)

I do kind of like the setup, however the biggest annoyance I have with it is that it does not tell you how many windows/instances there are with a little number, in say the corner of the box. Sometimes during normal browsing, I may end up with 4,5,6 instances of Firefox, and I don't even find out until I mouse over the firefox icon.

worker201:
I'm paying quite a bit of attention to the overall graphical look.  It's better.  It now looks like a fairly average modern graphical interface.  But why is average good enough for Microsoft?  Was there some secret stipulation to the Look&Feel lawsuit?  "You guys can use icons and menus and double-clicks and all that all you want to, as long as a) you call it a recycle bin instead of trash, and b) you're not allowed to do high-end cutting-edge design ever again."  Or something like that.  Basically what I'm saying is that Windows 7 (2010) still doesn't look as good as OSX (2001).

Lead Head:
They have also changed the "Gadgets" system. There is no longer a huge bar taking up screen real estate, the gadgets free float around the desktop by default, and of course they can lock to the sides, top etc..

They have also done away completely with the old display properties dialog box. Screen resolution, "Personalize"(Themes and other related settings) can be accessed directly by right clicking anywhere eon the desktop

Here is two more pictures. It comes with a couple of built in color schemes, and wall papers, you can even set it to automatically change the scheme every so often as well. You can see that they are trying to unite all the built in programs in a similar layout using "Ribbon", as you can see with the new movie maker and paint, and the same layout cues are carried out through all the built in programs. Firefox does however look a little of place, but its not too bad. Also note the heavy use of transparency.

http://hosting03.imagecross.com/image-hosting-08/4323Untitled.jpg
http://www.imagecross.com/03/image-hosting-view-08.php?id=84874.jpg

Just the overall feel of the operating system is better then vista. Vista feels very heavy and clunky, while 7 feels much more light weight and snappier.

You wouldn't happen to have any screen shots of OSX would you? I'd like to see what the latest version looks like in terms of styling. Google images is always disappointing when it comes to screen shots

worker201:
Be happy to take Leopard screenshots.  What do you want to see?

SiMuLaCrUm:
That interface doesn't look all that bad. The only thing I would see annoying is the little program squares in the taskbar.

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