Microsoft has confirmed that it plans to release Windows 7 on October 22, and that final development on the product will come to a close by the end of July. Earlier, Microsoft had said that it was aiming for a Q4 release and indicated that Windows 7 would be on store shelves prior to the December holidays. For users who purchase a computer loaded with Windows Vista shortly before the Windows 7 release, Microsoft will offer either a free or low-cost upgrade to Windows 7. The company will also offer an upgrade path from Vista Home Premium. The company does not plan to offer an upgrade path from Vista Home Basic.

Windows 7 To Follow Vista’s Version Path

The company does plan to offer a number of Windows 7 versions, including Starter, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate, taking essentially the same approach it did with Windows Vista. Drivers for Windows Vista should be largely compatible with Windows 7 but the availability of drivers for Windows Vista is still causing some headaches for Microsoft.

Driver Detective can help you manage your Windows drivers. The utility will locate, download and install the correct drivers for your installed hardware. This is a major improvement over Windows’ automatic install program, which often chooses the wrong driver for a piece of hardware. Driver Detective can work in conjunction with Windows Update, however, to ensure that you always have the latest drivers for your computer. Driver Detective will also ensure that you don’t miss critical driver updates, something that can happen with Windows Update.

Driver updates are monitored automatically as well. When a new driver is made available, Driver Detective will locate, download and install that, too. You never need to worry about your drivers being out-of-date. Driver Detective can also recognize those times when a correctly installed driver becomes corrupted, or is accidentally deleted. No worries. Driver Detective will find and replace the non-working or missing driver.

Knowing that your drivers are properly installed, functioning and up-to-date eliminates one potential problem spot for your computer. Having a reliable driver monitoring program can be especially helpful if you’re not technically savvy. Driver problems can occur as the result of a security or operating system update, incorrect driver selection, corruption or accidental deletion.

Driver Detective protects against all of these issues seamlessly. You’ll always have the most up-to-date drivers for your hardware. When problems do occur, you can quickly eliminate driver errors as the source. Consider Driver Detective to be low-cost, always-available technical support for your Windows computer.

Photo Credit: Daniel F. Pigatto