When I began writing this review two and a half months ago, I knew that I was in it for the long haul. My most obvious goal was to complete the review in time for the Windows 7 launch, which I've done, but I also had a secondary, perhaps more important motive in mind: I was hoping to rediscover something that had become very familiar by stepping through it again bit-by-bit so I could determine where this release fared in the scheme of both previous Windows releases and the competition.

Put simply, Windows 7 is greater than the sum of its parts. And while no software is perfect, Windows 7 is the right product at the right time. It is an astonishing accomplishment, even more so when you compare it to its direct predecessor, Windows Vista, which was (and still is) a fine product, sure. But Vista was also the wrong product at the wrong time, a victim both of Microsoft's mistakes and a lack of acceptance in the marketplace.