Year in Review: Top tech stories of 2009

As ever, it's been a busy year for tech. Not only did we have long-awaited launches like Windows 7 and expected troubles from the recession, but there were also a few surprises.

Google had a hectic year, between Street View and Android, but then shocked many by announcing it's own operating system - lining itself up to take on Microsoft.

Meanwhile, Microsoft took aim at Google's search dominance, teaming up with Yahoo and launching the surprisingly good Bing.

All in all, it was a fascinating year in an always captivating industry. Read on for our full roundup of the top news of the year.

The economy hits IT jobs

The economy: it's the cloud that's hung over the IT industry all year, leading to job cuts and strikes, and dampening sales.

While enterprise hardware has taken a massive hit, consumer friendly devices like netbooks and smartphones have shone, suggesting many aren't willing to give up their tech no matter how bad the economy gets.

Still, the industry will be happy to see the back of this year, the worst since the dotcom bust earlier the decade. Even though brighter skies are ahead, most don't think the industry will recover to previous highs.

Windows 7

When Microsoft launches an operating system, it’s always big news. When they launch a good one, it’s even bigger news.

So the followup to Vista was unsurprisingly one of the major stories of the year. When the beta was unveiled at CES in January, millions rushed to download it, leaving Microsoft to extend the availability so more people could get their hands on it.

The beta earned a glowing review from us as well as nearly everyone else out there, ramping up the anticipation for it’s eventual release. The full version was released to businesses and manufacturers this summer ahead of the OS hitting retail shelves in October.

And was the final version any good? It was. It even held its own compared to Apple’s Snow Leopard and the latest Ubuntu, which is something the gladly forgotten Vista couldn’t have managed.

Street View arrives in the UK

Google brought its Street View photo mapping service to the UK in March, sparking off privacy concerns as many asked if we should be worried about photos of our homes being made so easily accessible.

The Information Commissioner’s Office gave the site the green light, noting people could request to have images removed, but that didn’t stop one village from taking its own action against the site. Broughton made headlines by blocking the Street View camera car from taking snaps on its streets.

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