Last week, in honour of the Windows 7 launch, we covered Microsoft's biggest successes in the computing field. This week, in the interest of balance, we're looking to the company's dark side..

Microsoft has never been known to make mistakes in the past, but never was it more apparent than with Vista - and no matter the promises and the hype, Vista never truly delivered.

Microsoft has admitted that Windows Vista is shipping with a bug that was first discovered in Windows machines in 1999.

As Vista and Windows 7 share the same core code, Microsoft has decided to merely nudge up the version number (Windows Vista was 6) so that applications are tricked into thinking it's Vista they're dealing with

People are still willing to queue up in the middle of the night to buy the first few copies of Windows 7

The much-criticised Vista operating system losing market share even before Windows 7 arrives.

In the September issue of PC Authority, we gave you the inside scoop on how the Windows 7 Release Candidate stood up to our tests. Here's a recap of our gaming benchmark results

Systems experts with stop watches have poured cold water on Microsoft's claims that its Windows 7 operating system boots up faster than Vista..

Gone is some of the bluster as Microsoft makes a surprisingly down-to-earth Australian launch presentation for Windows 7 today

Keen to forget the PR nightmare that was Vista, Microsoft may have committed yet another blunder: Windows XP users will not be able to upgrade to Windows 7 without a totally clean install.

PC gamers are among those most likely to benefit from any improvement in raw performance, so does Windows 7 bring any glad tidings for 3D action aficionados?

Touch is the key buzzword for Windows 7, but what does the new OS offer on the entertainment front?

BitLocker first reared its head in Windows Vista, but the scope of the encryption software has been extended in Windows 7. Since Vista's launch, lost or stolen USB drives have become an enormous security liability.

With Windows 7 arriving soon, is now the time to upgrade to 64-bit? Here's the first part of our guide to everything you need to know

The single biggest reason for existing laptop owners to upgrade to Windows 7 is something unique to this release: it actually requires less horsepower than Vista. That's good news for netbook owners!

Stuart Turton spends the second day of his one week odyssey with Linux, battling Fedora and DVD playback troubles, while trying valiantly not to go back to the relative 'safety' of Vista, as frustrations start to boil over.

The company promises that Windows 7 will be the best version of its operating system yet, critical acclaim has often eluded Redmond. We've decided to count down the ten best products ever to come out of Redmond, from DOS 5 to Flight Simulator and NT 4.0

Linux is turning up in everything from netbooks to Dell PCs, but is it actually fit to replace Windows? Stuart Turton spends a week with Linux to find out.

Not quite the consumer/business crossover it aims to be, but there’s a lot to like in this clever mix of old-style business laptop and feature-packed modern machine

How important is RAM size to the way we use 64-bit Windows? And are there other ways to get around the problem? We offer a couple of tips to get you through your 64-bit RAM blues.