With Microsoft’s Windows 7 being touted as ‘a whole new computing experience,’ the Thursday-released beta version of the operating system’s Upgrade Advisor allows the users to find out whether their computer will be able to effectively run the soon-to-come OS.

Upgrade Advisor, a free utility that takes a few minutes to run, and tests the compatibility of the users’ computers with the forthcoming OS, has been made available by Microsoft in English, on its official web site.

Once downloaded and installed, the Upgrade Advisor opens a screen that asks the users to connect all their external devices - including hard drives, cameras, MP3 players, USB devices, printers, and scanners – so that the program can determine whether their systems will be able to run the OS.

Elaborating on the benefit of the program, Microsoft spokesman Brandon LeBlanc said in a blog post: “Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor examines a PC's processor, memory, storage, and graphics capabilities, identifies known compatibility issues with installed software and devices and finally provides guidance on how to resolve those issues if possible.”

Though the Upgrade Advisor runs both on Windows Vista and Windows XP Service Pack 2, users running XP would have to do a clean install of the Windows 7 RC and the OS, while the Vista computers can directly upgrade to the OS.