It’s been two weeks, now, since reporting about my geek-fest weekend with the installation of Microsoft’s new beta operating system Windows 7, the replacement for Windows Vista.

Those that know me well will be surprised when I say “I’m impressed”, as I have a tendency not to express myself in those terms very often – but I’m impressed.

I’ve not managed to find an application that I use that doesn’t run on Microsoft’s new baby and my PC has been running for days on end without a hitch (I’m touching a very large piece of wood, whilst writing this, by the way). Even older pre-Windows XP applications run without issue – it’s very refreshing not to have to wrestle with my computer just to get an old but familiar application to run.

One of my favourite changes in Windows 7 is the way the Taskbar now operates, which allows space for your most used applications combined with the ability to jump directly to an open document.

In some ways, the new Taskbar arrangement is reminiscent of the Mac OS X Dock, but it doesn’t quite operate in the same way and lacks some of the flexibility, but nonetheless I think it works well and reduces the amount of screen clutter.

The Windows 7 beta release also contains the new Internet Explorer 8 – a new version of which has just been released (see http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/default.aspx) – this new release candidate is available to download now, although those running the Windows 7 beta are going to have to wait a little longer for it to be incorporated into a Windows Update.

So, I’ll plough on with my test; let’s just hope that when Microsoft finally lets the new creation onto the streets, it retains all the great features and robustness that I’m enjoying currently.

Perceived wisdom in the industry has it that few IFAs have invested in technology at the Point of Sale. The story goes that investment has been made in the Back Office at a reasonable rate with suppliers such as 1st and IntelliFlo boasting impressive user bases, but that in the front office the investment has been weak outside the largest of distributors.

Examining this theory further shows it might not be so black and white. True, full, auditable, end to end sales systems in the IFA market are rare. These are often expensive and rarely available as ‘off the shelf’ packages in the way Back office solutions are; hence take up is minimal for IFAs who frequently are not sufficiently resourced to implement such solutions. Smaller niche solutions are used at point of sale though and often valued by the end user. In the L&P market, for example quotations, are performed increasingly electronically via extranets and the major portals such as Exweb and Assureweb (admittedly usually back at the office rather than in front of clients). More and more frequently advisers are using sales aids, such as asset allocation tools, found on providers’ extranets. In the mortgage industry sourcing systems such as Trigold and Mortgage Brain are commonly used by advisers and often in front of the client – despite the claim that advisers won’t use technology as “it is a barrier between them and the client”.

So if technology is used in the sales process why the lack of comprehensive Point of Sale solutions in the IFA space?

I put this largely down to this market having been driven for years by the bigger distributors who have all had unique sales processes and in the past the money to tailor systems to meet these processes. True packages, that could be taken off the shelf and implemented with a few days effort simply haven’t existed, and neither have the pricing structures from suppliers to make these systems affordable to the majority of IFAs. This is however changing as traditional Back office players like 1st bring out new products like Adviser Evolution and the existing point of Sale providers like Focus and Crystal ‘productise’ their offerings. The business benefits of implementing more complete solutions in the front office are clear and soon maybe more achievable for many IFAs.

Well, after the excesses of the Christmas and New Year break, I decided to switch on my ‘geek’ mode and have a go at installing Microsoft’s new trail operating system, Windows 7.

Announced at the recent CES event in Las Vegas by Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO , Windows 7 is the replacement for the much maligned Windows Vista. It’s come around faster than previous Windows upgrades – only three years in development, where the norm is around four. For those in the development community, Windows 7 beta has has been around for a few months, but the general public was given the chance to download from the 9th January.

The release had a bumpy ride, with Microsoft servers being overwhelmed, but from about mid-Saturday the download was re-instated. So, I decided to give it a go – after all, it couldn’t be any worse than my experiences with Vista Business Edition (too many to go into here!).

It took about 1 hour and a few restarts – but it works; and for a beta release it works incredibly well.

I love its speed and the new taskbar, where you can pin your favourite applications but also jump straight to opened documents and also pin favourites, too. I’ve not found any application that doesn’t run apart from needing a little tweak to Google’s Chrome browser.

So, in my limited example, it looks like Microsoft have a winner here – the next job will be to attempt to persuade those who have paid for Vista to upgrade again and to undo the negative press around the Vista story.

Let’s see how it goes.