If you haven't experienced the frights of Vista firsthand, you've no doubt heard about them: how it takes forever to power up and shut down, how the software constantly nags you, how it hogs precious PC resources and how it's incompatible with all-too-many third-party peripherals and programs.

Throngs of PC users found Vista so scary that they stuck with the Windows XP operating system Microsoft launched in 2001, a lifetime ago in the tech world.

Microsoft doesn't have to apologize for Windows 7. Vista's replacement represents a monster leap forward. It's Vista done right -- at last. Microsoft claims hundreds of small improvements, and a few big ones.

"We'll see what happens when Windows 7 is with (customers) all day every day, but I'm cautiously optimistic that we really have hit the right note there," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told me in a phone interview.

What you'll notice is that Windows 7 is snappier than its predecessor, more polished, and simpler to navigate. Screens are less cluttered. It has better search. Windows 7 rarely nags. I've been testing various versions for months on numerous computers. It sure seems more reliable so far. With a few exceptions, compatibility hasn't been a major issue.

It's worth pointing out that Vista received decent notices when it first came out, and Microsoft repaired some problems with the much maligned operating system over time. Despite the fact that it periodically drove me bonkers, I'll probably invite scorn by suggesting Vista sometimes got a bad rap.

But make no mistake. Windows 7 is better. I've run a bevy of third-party programs on Windows 7 machines, including Apple's iTunes, Google's Picasa, Mozilla's Firefox and Intuit's Quicken, without incident. Same goes for connected HP printers, a Canon digital camera, and smartphones such as the iPhone and Palm Pre.

Windows 7 boasts some nifty touch-computing enhancements that I'll elaborate on in a future column. But you'll have to fetch free e-mail, calendar, photo, instant messaging and video-editing programs online from Windows Live Essentials; such programs used to be included in the operating system. Manufacturers may preload some of these.

Windows 7 shows up as Apple continues to run scathingly funny Macintosh ads lampooning PCs. The ads work in part because they indeed strike a raw nerve among the Windows crowd. Apple recently launched a new operating system of its own, Mac OS X Snow Leopard. I have long preferred the Mac operating system to Windows -- and still do. Macs are more attractive, and it's hard to beat the bundle of programs Apple includes. Macs haven't been hit with the malware that has plagued Windows. But the improvements in Windows 7 narrow Apple's advantage, and in a couple of instances Microsoft moves past its rival. (continued...)

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