Difference between Windows 7 and Windows 8

Windows 8 vs Windows 7

Windows 7 and Windows 8 both are Operating Systems developed by Microsoft. Windows 8 is not yet released but lot of new features are being discussed on the web. Following are the point wise differences between Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Windows 7

Windows 7 is the latest operating system released by Microsoft.
Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009.
Windows 7 codename was Longhorn
It includes new features like touch and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors,improved boot performance, DirectAccess, kernel improvements, UAC (User Account Control), Windows Action Center, Jumplist, etc.,
It started using Windows Aero.
It removed some features (present in Vista) like classic start menu, taskbar features, windows explorer and windows media player features.
Minimum hardware requirements for running Windows 7 32-bit are 1 GHz x86 processor, 1 GB Ram, 16 GB Hard Disk space and DVD Drive.
Maximum hardware requirements for running Windows 7 64-bit are 1 GHz x86-64 processor, 2 GB Ram, 20 GB Hard Disk space and DVD Drive.

Windows 8

Windows 8 is the upcoming operating system by Microsoft.
Windows 8 will be released in sometime in 2012. It was announced at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
It supports System-on-a-chip (SoC) and mobile ARM processors
It includes new features like Hybrid Boot which uses advanced hibernation functionality far faster shutdown times, Portable Workspace, ability to install Winodws 8 on a USB Storage, Modern Task Manager, native ISO mounting, Modern Reader to read PDF Files, etc.,
It started using Windows Metro User Interface.