I want to give you an overview of the Operating System, including my experience with it, and want to talk about implementing it and its compatibility with your existing software.

First of all, Windows 7 has the same type of security options that are found in Vista, which makes it more secure and prevents programs from installing on your computer without your approval. This is an important aspect to preventing viruses and hidden spyware on your computer. The creators of Windows 7 have made great strides in reducing the amount of memory (RAM) that the OS uses. It averages 512MB of RAM for the OS. This improvement over Vista's 2GB of RAM makes a big difference in the speed of the computer.

Windows 7 has also made great strides in interoperability. There is a feature called Windows XP Virtual Machine that lets you install applications that won't work on Windows 7 in an XP environment that is launch able from the Windows 7 menu bar. This feature is not available in the Home Premium version of the product.

Speaking of versions, offices should implement the Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate version of the OS to get the full networking and features available in the product for business use.

I have been testing Windows 7 Ultimate, since the first beta was released. I really like it and have found it to be very stable and easy to learn and use. There are some changes to how you do certain things but there is much on-line research information to help review those new features. I have only been using it on a test machine as I strongly believe that you should not put a new OS on a production business machine until the real release has been out and available for 2 - 6 months.

An important thing to understand is upgrade paths. There is NO upgrade path from Windows XP to Windows 7, so our recommendation is that you do not upgrade an XP computer to Windows 7. The upgrade paths are really specific and so you should consult with your IT consultant on the upgrades if you plan to use existing computers. I, for one, plan to stick with the OS that I have on my existing computers and will only implement Windows 7 on new computers.

Here is the information about how JewelCode will be supporting Windows 7.

• CareComplete™ will only be supported on Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate version. Under no circumstances will it be supported on Windows 7 Home Premium.



• CareComplete™ will be supported on Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, starting on December 1, 2009, to allow time for the general release and any urgent updates to roll out to the product so that it is fully stable.



• Installing CareComplete™ on Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate will require scheduling with the installation department. Do not plan on getting it installed the same day that you call or for any urgent needs related to Windows 7. Plan ahead. There will most likely be a rush and we will schedule first-come, first-served, but your date might be out at least a week so don't rush out and put Windows 7 on an important CareComplete™ computer.



• Consider not upgrading important business machines and stick with getting Windows 7 for new computers only. This will greatly avoid the upgrade path issues that exist. For example, if you have XP then your entire computer must be wiped (back up everything very well) and reinstalled with the new OS. If you have Vista Home Premium then you have to buy both Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade and Windows 7 Professional upgrade to get to the right place for CareComplete™.



• You should work with your IT consultant to get your system prepared and, if required, have it on the network, prior to scheduling with JewelCode for your CareComplete™ installation assistance.

If you have any questions about this process please e-mail us at support@jewelcode.com and we will try to answer them for you. This is not a straightforward process and the most important key is planning for success.