Stories by Yardena Arar and Harry McCracken

In pictures: What's new in Windows 7?

Windows 7 — Microsoft's long-waited successor to Windows Vista — is expected to ship in 2010, if not earlier. Until now, the software giant has remained tight-lipped on the features in the new OS.

Windows 7 first look: A big fix for Vista

What if Microsoft waved a magic wand and everything people hated about Windows Vista went away? You might have an operating system that you liked--and that's what Microsoft appears to be striving for with Windows 7. We checked out an early beta of the future OS, and though at this point many features are either missing or works in progress, the improvements to everything from user interface to memory management look highly promising.