by Eileen Grace

Created on: April 11, 2009

The Beta version of Windows 7 is a solid, fast-performing, stable operating system, far more usable than would usually be expected of an operating system still in beta testing.

*New Features in Windows 7

The first thing you'll notice once the desktop loads is the new taskbar. It's been completely revamped for this version of Windows. The Quick Launch bar is now gone, not just disabled. By default here are three application launcher icons on the task bar: Internet Explorer (IE), Windows Explorer and Windows Media Player. You can add any others you want by simply dragging them onto the taskbar.

A major change in Windows 7 is the behavior of icons on the taskbar. They also serve as status indicators for open applications: if you have multiple tabs open in IE, for example, the icon will change to an overlapped stack of the number of instances you have open, and hovering your mouse over the IE icon will display a thumbnail of each tab, hovering your mouse over a thumbnail will display a full-sized preview and clicking on either the thumbnail or preview will open that window. Progress bars are also shown on the taskbar icons, so there is no need to keep, for instance, a download window open to keep track of an ongoing process.

Another new interface feature is Aero Peek, a replacement for the Show Desktop feature in previous versions of Windows. The activator for Aero
Peak is a small rectangle to the right of clock. If you hover your mouse over that rectangle you can see the desktop with outlines of your open windows. Clicking on the rectangle minimizes all open windows.

The right-click menu for icons on the taskbar has been changed, it now includes "jump lists." Jump lists include a list of the most recent open files (documents, web pages, media files, etc.) for that application as well as the option to open the application, pin or unpin it, or close any open windows. The start menu also has jump lists - there is an arrow to the right of any application on the start menu with a jump list, click that arrow and you'll get the same set of options.

The shutdown button has also been tweaked in Windows 7. There is an arrow button to the right of he main shutdown button, clicking this arrow brings up a list of options: Switch User, Log off, Lock, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate.

*Hardware Compatibility

One of Microsoft's goals with Windows 7 was to not have the same hardware issues that Vista and two generations back Windows 2000 had. They seem to have largely succeeded. All my hardware

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