Microsoft Windows 7: What the Future Holds
No one knows exactly what you'll see on the Windows 7 desktop (beyond the fact that Internet Explorer 8 is a certainty), partly because Microsoft always adds and removes features until a late stage in development. But a few intriguing hints are out there, and more are emerging all the time.
First, there'll be some new, unspecified integration with the Internet "cloud." Windows 7 will have built-in connections with something like Microsoft's "Live Mesh," a Web-based system for sharing and synchronizing folders, learning the online status of friends and family, and syncing mobile devices with your desktop system. Live Mesh will be available long before Windows 7 ships, but Windows 7 will apparently include syncing features unavailable elsewhere. Of course, Apple's OS X is already packed with comparable sharing and collaboration features. Microsoft wants Windows to catch up.
Next, you'll find automated backup, Microsoft's catch-up answer to Apple's Time Machine. This seems obvious from a leaked screen shot of the new Windows Health Center control panel applet in Windows 7. It looks like the current Security Center applet, but adds an item labeled "Data, Files, Photo, and Music" that indicates whether or not Windows Backup has successfully backed up those files.
