Windows 7: Don't Discount the Little Things!
Windows 7 is coming. Having written a book on Windows XP and Windows Vista, I often get asked if it would be worth upgrading to Windows 7. I’ve been using Windows 7 for a long time in pre-release form and I’ll confess, it is my favorite of the Windows operating systems. Windows 7 avoids the issues that plagued Windows Vista’s release. Additionally, its little features make it hard to live without once you’ve started using it.
Before talking about Windows 7, it is worth mentioning Windows Vista. When Windows Vista was released, it was definitely worth avoiding. There was a lack of hardware support — drivers were missing or didn’t work. This meant that many peripherals you might have attached to your computer wouldn’t work correctly. The issues were fixed by the companies that make the hardware, and now Vista actually seems to be a stable operating system that is worth using.
If hardware works on Windows Vista, then it should work on Windows 7 without issues. For this reason, Windows 7 is positioned to be a lot more stable than Vista was on release. It is also why you shouldn’t expect to see the huge amount of bad press you saw when Vista was released.
I stated that the little features of Windows 7 are hard to live without once you start using them. Once you start using features like snap, jump lists, shake, and the Show Desktop features on Windows 7, you’ll find you miss them when you use a computer with older operating systems.
SNAP
Snap is a new feature of Windows 7 that lets you drag a window to the edge of the screen. This will then “snap” the window to the edge. This is extremely useful if you want to compare things in two windows side by side. You can simply drag one window to the left and one to the right. If you move it towards the top of the page, you can make the window go full screen.
SHAKE
Another feature that is as fun as it is useful is the shake feature. With this, you can click on a window’s title bar and then shake your mouse while holding the button down. This shakes the window you are clicking on. The result of this is that all other windows are minimized, thus clearing the desktop of everything except that window. If you shake the window again, all the other windows are shown.
SHOW DESKTOP
It has become more common to have gadgets on your desktop. Such gadgets might show the time, stock values, the weather, or a variety of other things. Of course, most of us have several windows on our desktops, thus blocking the gadgets. With Windows 7, you can move your mouse cursor to the bottom right corner. This will hide the windows so you can see the desktop. You’ll actually still see outlines where the windows are, but you won’t see the windows themselves. When you move the mouse back to the desktop, the windows will return.
THE NEW TASK BAR
Windows 7 also has a new task bar. This is a contentious change from previous versions of Windows, but if you are like most people, you’ll like the results after you start using them. In Windows 7, the task bar and quick launch bar from previous versions have been combined. Additionally, you’ll find that the wide, wordy icons in the task bar are gone for squarer, concise icons. When you hover over these icons, if there are open windows, you will see a preview displayed. These are not just static previews, but views of the actual windows. You can even click the little close buttons in the preview to close them, or if you hover over the preview, you’ll see a full preview displayed on the desktop.
Another simple feature of the task bar is that if you don’t like the order of the icons, you can simply drag them to the order and locations you want them. You can also drag icons and shortcuts to the task bar. These will then work for launching the application with a single click.
And wait, there is even more with the Task bar. If you right click, you’ll find that there are a lot of options displayed for the application. This includes a jump list of items related to the icon. For example, with Internet Explorer, you’d get a list of the frequently visited places, the ability to launch Internet Explorer “In Private”, and much more. With a program like Microsoft Word, when you right click on the toolbar option, you’ll see the most recent documents you’ve worked with. This all makes it easy for you to do things quicker and easier.
AND MORE...
Snap, shake, show desktop, and the new task bar are all things that seem simple and somewhat trivial. To some extent they are; however, when you start using them, they become like power locks and power windows in a car. These are features that are not necessary, but once you get use to them, you come to expect them. In fact, you don’t realize how important things like power windows and power locks in a car are until you get into a vehicle without them. Then you quickly realize how valuable such little options can be. Are the similar options in Windows 7 worth the price of an upgrade for Windows? By themselves, not likely, but they sure do help make the decision easier!
- Bradley L. Jones
Microsoft MVP
Author: Windows Live Essentials and Services: Using Free Microsoft Applications for Windows 7
