Windows 7 has been out in the wild for quite sometime now.
Many people have had a taste of what it has to offer. Windows 7 brings with it a number of improvements in key areas.
Here are some of the Windows 7 new features that stand out in the latest version of the popular operating system.
Taskbar and Jumplists
There are lots of tweaks to the Taskbar. The taskbar buttons are icon only by default, they group by default. You can pin applications to the taskbar, user Ctrl + <number> to invoke pinned applications. Applications now support jumplists, which help you launch a particular file or url from the button directly. The taskbar buttons show a progress indicator if the application is displaying a progress bar and many more.
Libraries
Libraries are like virtual folders. A library can draw its content from multiple folders. For example, if you have your Music stored under more than one folder across various drives, you can see them consolidated into a single virtual folder or library. Libraries can help you manage clutter and organize files the way you like while still being able to view them inside a single location. Details here.
Windows XP Mode
Windows 7 offers something known as the Windows XP mode. What Windows XP mode is that it allows you to run a fully functional copy of Windows XP from within Windows 7. It is essentially the same as running Windows XP virtual machine inside a virtualization software like VirtualBox. You need to download additional files and make sure your computer can support Windows XP mode. Details here.
Desktop and Theming
Desktop and Theming got a major overhaul with Windows Vista. Windows 7 manages to add new features to those changes. Themes are now easier to create and share. Right click on the desktop and click Personalize and you can access every aspect of the themes from the resulting window. Windows can now natively rotate the wallpaper choosing one from the collection you specify. There are also a number of themes available online as well.
Aero Snap and Aero Peek
Aero Snap and Aero Peek help you work with multiple open windows easily. Aero Snap can snap windows to the sides or the top, making them cover the entire screen or exactly half the screen. Just hold the title bar of a window and drag it to one of the edges of the screen. Aero Peek on the other hand lets you peek through all the open windows so that you can see you desktop easily. Aero Peek can be activated using Win + Space key or by hovering the mouse pointer over the bottom right corner of the taskbar.
Media Streaming
Apart from inclusion of new codecs to support even more filetypes, Windows Media Player can now be used to stream media files. The streaming can take place within your network or over the Internet as you please. You can stream to other computers as well as devices that are compatible with Windows 7. Details here.
The HomeGroup
Its not a stretch to own more than one computer these days. If you have more than one computer at your home you would most likely want to put them on a network so that you can share Internet Connection, share music, videos and pictures. Windows 7 now creates a HomeGroup that all other Windows 7 machines can be a part of and the network is up and running in a snap. You also get a password to control access to your home network.
There are a host of other features and under the hood improvements that you may not notice in day to day use. It supports more hardware, boots faster, runs snappier. The games, media center and accessories like Paint and Calculator have been updated as well. Overall it wouldn’t be wrong to consider it the best Operating System from folks over at Redmond. There is nothing stopping you to hold on to the previous version of Windows and bypass Windows 7 altogether as was the case with Windows Vista.
What are your favorite Windows 7 new features?
MakeUseOf Recommends
More articles about:
Hide 16 Comments
The “Libraries” feature is a bit scary to me. I don’t think encouraging people to continue making a mess of there file system by giving them “a way out” is really the right thing to do.
Perhaps a comprehensive clean-up tool to help people organize their files/directories would be a better feature.
I agree with you P. When I explain Libraries to the “average” user, they get this puzzled look on their face. They say they understand, but it’s obvious this is a concept for the more advanced user.
About XP mode, this is something Microsoft should shut up about. There are many XP users that see this XP mode and think to themselves “why should I upgrade to 7 if one of it’s great features is XP mode which is the OS I’m currently running.”
Totally agree with P! People should understand the basics of their folder structure must better. Rather than dumming it even further down than My Documents already did, learning where to put your files should be as “normal” as keeping house. It can get messy at times, but you should know where to put things once you start to clean up. Perhaps the operating system (whichever one you want to use) should ask whether you want to create a special folder for your work or not, as well as the filename. More useful than asking “do you really want to exit” when you have deliberately chosen to do so.
That feature would be useful to me but not because I’m too lazy to properly organize, but because I save the space on my computer for the important things and put the lesser stuff on an external hard drive. So music that I’ve bought in digital format rests on the computer’s HD, while music that I have the CD’s for is on my external HD — which has needed reformatting a couple of times and so I’m not taking any chances. :P And then there’s music from games (both bought and made) saved in their program folders or project folders, respectively … Being able to access all of those locations at once would be useful for someone whose organization strategy is more than just “All Music Here”. :)
Great article – I agree 100%. However, Microsoft has fixed one thing while blowing up another, as usual: Windows 7 computers don’t always pick up XP computers on the network. Seems as if Microsoft wants you to upgrade every computer to Windows 7 whether you want to or need to or not.
I like Windows 7 a lot but XP Pro on my other computers isn’t appreciated by my Windows 7 computer. Google the issue, and you will find an almost unlimited supply of people having the same problem.
Windows 7 is so nice interface. It looks so beautiful.
I much more like windows7. It’s Looking very good. many extra option here.
Jumlist will seem interesting. I will try it soon.Windows switcher gives you a Mac feel on your desktop. You can download it at insentient.net
Jumplists will seem interesting. I will try it soon.Windows switcher gives you a Mac feel on your desktop. You can download it at insentient.net
Jumlist will seem interesting. I will try it soon.Windows switcher gives you a Mac feel on your desktop. You can download it at insentient.net
Jumplists will seem interesting. I will try it soon.Windows switcher gives you a Mac feel on your desktop. You can download it at insentient.net
I wouldn’t say XP Mode is a ‘noticeable’ feature though it’s a very useful one. Anyway, a great article! :)
Windows 7! Giving you all the stuff Mac users have had for years!
not?
I like windows 7.Why? Because it’s major change for me.I’m a 7 user for about 1 week and half.I used xp for 6 years and it got really old.So when I bought a new pc I went to 7.I like it cause it’s a big difference.If I would have used vista before maybe I wouldn’t care that much.But jumpin’ directly to 7 is something really grand.I reccomand it.