Hands-On with Windows 7
Posted 01/15/09 at 12:30:00 AM by Will Smith
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Once more unto the breach, dear friends. The first iteration of Microsoft’s next operating system has arrived, and things are looking up for the Windows faithful. In fact, the first beta of Windows 7 is so reliable and responsive that it reminds us of the early Windows XP betas. With less than 12 months to go before launch, Windows 7 is in much better shape than Vista was at the same time, and it feels like a much more usable operating system than even XP did during its beta phase.
So what’s new with Windows 7? The first thing you’ll notice is a completely overhauled user interface. The Taskbar, which has worked more or less the same way since Windows 95, has changed. Instead of having separate areas for the Quick Launch toolbar and running applications, the new Taskbar combines the two in a way that’s similar to OS X’s Dock. Start an app, and its icon will show up in the Taskbar. Hover over it, and you’ll see a ton of useful info about it, including recently opened files and thumbnails of all the open windows. Move your mouse over a thumbnail and everything else on the screen except that window fades out, making it simple to find things on even the most cluttered desktop. Say you like having your favorite apps in the Quick Launch area—with Windows 7, you can pin apps to the Taskbar, and they’ll remain there whether they’re running or not.
What else is new? Homegroups make sharing printers and files between the computers on your network dead simple, without mucking around with NTFS permissions and user accounts. Libraries let you collect all your important files in one place. The new navigation column in Windows Explorer gives you speedy access to the locations on your PC and network that you use most. Gadgets embed directly on the Desktop instead of the Sidebar. The notification area on the Taskbar (where all the small icons for running applications show up) puts spammy or misbehaving apps in a holding pen where they won’t annoy you. Oh, and UAC is much less annoying—we’re even using it.
Additionally, there are dozens of small tweaks to the OS that, taken alone, don’t amount to much but combined make a significant impact on your end-user experience. For example, Windows 7 will ship with an array of common audio and video codecs, including H.264, AAC, and DivX. Also on the media front, the built-in streaming server can handle all the formats that the Xbox 360 uses. You can sort and search your files by perceived type—that is, the type of content in the file rather than the file format. The Action Center corrals many of the system warnings that previously would have popped up in disparate locations. Drag a window to the top edge of the screen to maximize it. Drag it to the right side of the screen and it expands vertically to fill your screen. When you open a communication app or game that uses the microphone, Win7 reduces the volume of all other apps. The Shut Down button has even made its triumphant return to the Start menu.
Don’t get too excited yet. Even though Windows 7’s first beta surpasses Vista in many ways, we still know very little about the final OS. We don’t have a firm release date or even know the number of different flavors there will be (we’re hoping for one, but that’s probably a pipe dream) or what it will cost. However, we’ve learned enough from the first beta to leave us cautiously optimistic that Windows 7 will be more XP than Vista.
The single biggest change in Windows 7 is the new Taskbar. It combines the QuickLaunch bar and the old-school Taskbar into one hyperfunctional notification area. Hover over an open application and you’ll see a handy menu showing thumbnails of all open windows associated with that app. Hover over a thumbnail, and Windows fades the rest of the clutter away, leaving just the window you’re looking for. Windows 7 will ship with support for all popular codecs, including H.264, AAC, and DivX. Still no word on Blu-ray support, though!
We frequently have five, 10, or even 20 windows open at once. Windows 7 includes much-needed UI tweaks that make it easy to manage tons of open apps and windows. That’s perfect for power users and neophytes alike.
While we’d prefer an OS that let us control whether system notification apps run at all, this is the next best thing. Now you can hide notification apps entirely, see notifications from them, or treat them exactly as you did in Vista or XP.
Libraries allow you to combine the contents of multiple folders on your hard drive into a single folder analog for convenience. You can create your own Libraries and even save files to them (they’ll show up in a folder you specify).
Want to take a quick peek at the Gadgets embedded in your desktop? Just hover your mouse over the lower right corner of the screen. Software widget enthusiasts will be pleased to know that Windows 7 moves Gadgets from Vista’s Sidebar to the Desktop.
The new Action Center puts all the assorted warnings, alerts, and other operating system noise in one convenient location. In addition to more info, you can also choose to archive or ignore annoying messages.
The apps that remain integrated with Windows (Mail, Photo Gallery, Messenger, and Movie Maker are now part of the downloadable Windows Live Essentials) all got the Ribbon treatment, à la Office 2007.
Jump lists give app developers a way to show context-sensitive information about their apps directly on the Taskbar. For example, Word displays a list of recently accessed files.
If you want to change the
Submitted by ian on Fri, 09/11/2009 - 10:10am
If you want to change the windows 7 settings try Win7Zilla
bug
Submitted by ubuntucuber on Sun, 06/28/2009 - 7:25pm
What ever you do, do not remove IE8
~UbuntuCuber
Windows 7 Home Premium for $50, or Pro for $100
Submitted by u217946 on Fri, 06/26/2009 - 9:39am
The online retailers participating in Microsoft's pre-order Win 7 disc sale starting at midnight Eastern tonight are:
• Amazon
• Best Buy
• Costco
• Fry's Electronics
• Office Depot
• Office Max
• Sam's Club
• Staples
• Tiger Direct
• Walmart
• NewEgg
• Nebraska Furniture Mart (What the?)In Canada, you can hit:
• Staples
• Future Shop
• Best Buy
• London Drugs
• Amazon
• The SourceAnd in Japan, the pre-order is available at:
• Yodobashi Camera
• Amazon
• Yamada Denki
• Bic Camera
• and "all small partners" (whatever that means)
How to get that view on the Pics folder?
Submitted by dcdannyf on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 9:21am
Nice view to preview the photos in the Pics folder. How do you get that? Do you have to get a software that integrates itself into the Win Explorer? Reply if you can. BIG Danny :)
Submitted by spidi25 on Wed, 04/29/2009 - 2:23pm
How do I get that look on the pictures library?
mine looks just like vista,
Hope you can help me, this one looks soo cool
Submitted by ricsgone on Sat, 03/07/2009 - 12:00pm
I was given a Dell Inspiron 5100 laptop. After replacing a defective keyboard, I contacted Dell about obtaining recovery discs for this machine. Even after several calls to customer service and transferring ownership to myself, Dell refused to provide me recovery discs to bring this machine back to factory specs. I then told Dell that the sun don't shine on their head when it comes to their customer support. Anyway, that's my rant and on to a very successful Windows 7 story. After the Dell fiasco, I decided to attempt to install Win 7 on this Dell laptop. I have built many, many systems since my Windows 3.11 days and have come to EXPECT issues whenever you migrate to a new OS from MS. My trepidation and apprehension were very much in-tuned to the much anticipated failure mode given several factors; i.e. This is an older laptop, it's a Beta release and it's Microsoft (previous track recordcomes into play here). Much to my total amazement, Windows 7 loaded perfectly first time out, found everything as far as drivers, connections, etc. and has only provided me with a couple of minor issues. One being, that when you shut the machine down, it does not save your desktop as you had configured it before shutting down the system, and the video card in the laptop won't run most of the screen savers available (for once, it's not an MS issue). Ibuntu is very good, but if you're not a native Linux geek, you may be dazed and confused, or if you're not an OS X Macker hacker, Windows is about your only option. I run multiple OSes on multiple PC's/laptops and have found Win 7 to be very stable, a lot faster than Vista (both 32-bit and 64-bit versions) and very easy to use once you get a good grasp on what's changed and where it's at. It is very intuitive and, in my opinion, very easy to use. After running Windows 7 for a couple of months now, I will be an early adopter when the final release is made. Just my put, but I'm somewhat impressed that the ole MS is trying to get it right the first time.
Wall street Journal
Submitted by trotfox5 on Sun, 02/01/2009 - 9:42am
The tech guy in the journal said that it was a "Multistep process" and that it was much easier to install it on a vista machine. From my research there is no reason to that? I'm dual booting 7 and Xp right now. What did he mean?
Anyone tried some
Submitted by jcollins on Tue, 01/27/2009 - 2:08pm
Anyone tried some BluRay/HD-DVD movies on it? I'm wondering if they did any tweaks to the DRM subsystems. My suspicion was that all the extra coding they did for was part of why why Vista started off so poorly.
Submitted by EarthBoundMisfit on Tue, 01/27/2009 - 6:43am
Registered Linux User #404122 Microsoft has encountered a critical system error and must now shut down. Better get Bill Gate$ on the phone for this one....... [img]http//i35.photobucket.com/albums/d183/NunofyaBidness/404122.png[/img]
One of the staples of Microsoft O/S's of the past was the ability to somewhat customize the look and feel to something you are already familiar with....
In XP...this meant being able to make your Start Menu resemble Windows 98's CLASSIC Menu for example.
Windows 7 is better than Vista.....hands down. I ran it adequately on my old celeron 1.8 gig machine with 650 megs of memory and a 40 gig drive.
Still.....to me its just Vista with a better paint job.
I would prefer that 7 be based on Windows XP's kernel than Server 2003.
The compatibility that existed between XP and Windows 2000 was awesome...and I think Redmond needs to reexplore that.
Submitted by syquest1 on Sun, 01/25/2009 - 6:50am
I have uninstalled Windows 7 for now so I can play my games. I tried running Fallout 3 in Windows 7 and it crashed every 2 minutes. I did get STALKER Clear Sjy installed but it would never open so I couldnt play it. So for now I am sticking with what has worked for me....VISTA. Hopefully Microsoft gets the bugs worked out for gamers.
Submitted by tampatip on Thu, 01/22/2009 - 6:27am
Has anyone had any experience with gaming on it yet? If so, what are your impressions / fps?
Submitted by NAYRhyno on Thu, 01/22/2009 - 12:24pm
No significant chnges in FPS. I am on an e8400 with a gtx280. I am getting better framerates than i did with vista, but two new nvidia driver updatres since i installed 7 have more to do with that than the OS.
Submitted by Dennis Cummings on Mon, 01/19/2009 - 9:26am
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mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}After reading the posts below and posts on other sites, as
well as several articles on Windows 7, I have to make the following
observations. These come from a week of
testing on two PCs that are almost identical.
Same processor, same amount of ram, same motherboards and running the
same programs at startup in the configuration that I run every day. The only real difference is that Windows 7
32-bit is on one and the other is running Windows Vista Ultimate with
SP-1. Both have all current updates
installed.Boot time to the desktop (when my wallpaper is first
visible). Windows 7 wins by a blazing 3
to 6 seconds. How underwhelming is that?System resources (amount of RAM in use after both systems
are completely booted). Again, the
results are poor. The system using
Windows 7 is using 33 Megs of RAM less than the Ultimate system.At this point I haven't run any other comparisons on the two
systems, but it doesn't seem like it is worth the time and effort. I know
that this is only a Beta release of Windows 7, but it seems to me that, at this
point, it is all about questionable features and not about performance.
Submitted by Haggenator on Sun, 01/18/2009 - 2:17pm
Thanks for the how-to
After installing it on my Asus Eee PC windows would not start right. The screen would just go black but I know it was running in the back ground. I can get into it in safe mode but nothing else. Any help would be great.
Ryan
Submitted by moko on Sat, 01/17/2009 - 7:09pm
they could call it...Windows Longhorn.....what they called it before they wimped out and called it vista....:)
I'm not too sure about the
Submitted by atomaweapon on Sat, 01/17/2009 - 2:34pm
I'm not too sure about the huge task bar. It's a freaking inch big.
Submitted by teh 1337 haxxor on Fri, 01/16/2009 - 2:17pm
Heres how I see it:
1)Windows 7 seems ALOT more responsive and quicker than vista, even running in a virtual environment.
2)It uses about half the system resources as Vista.
3)Much faster boot time.
4)Several good UI tweaks, mostly aimed at users with high res. and/or widescreen monitors.
Bottom line: Microsoft could release it as "Vista SP2", or "Vista 2.0". It looks and feels very similar to vista, with only a couple UI tweaks. Also, why is microsoft even bothering to come out with a 32 bit version? 4 GB of ram is practically mainstream today. And what was the last non 64bit processor released by either Intel or AMD? That was several years ago. Yes, you say what about netbooks? I think that netbooks will need to take a long hard look at linux. Linux has come a long way, and is completely usable with minimized jaunts into the world of the console. I also think that if Microsoft were smart, they would release a DIFFERENT OS specifically tailored to netbooks and/or laptops with non 64 bit processors that would be tuned to run on a small, low res screen with light memory and cpu usage and slow 3d accelerators.
Submitted by jeremy39 on Fri, 01/16/2009 - 9:51am
I partitioned a drive and installed it so as to be able to dual boot and have my XP Pro. Yes, there are a few drivers that have not been created. I found that Windows update actually downloaded and installed the beta driver for my ATI GPU. It recognized and was able to print from my HP1600 printer without installing the driver (something, for some reason, I could not get XP to do). I did have a problem with my onboard Network adapter, but I used EVGA's Vista 64 bit MB drivers which seemed to work. I am liking what I am seeing so far.
I did, however, get one BSOD. I was installing software and downloading simultaneously and it happened. I found the error reporting was extremely slow from gathering the data to transmitting it seemed to take longer than XP.
Submitted by dylanwinn on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 10:05pm
Meh! Still got me eyes on Ubuntu 9.7... Mabe they'll call it Little Llama ;)
Submitted by mikemckay on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 8:23am
PRO: one of 7's useful features is the ability to let you know if your laptop might run out of battery quickly if the battery is bad.
CON:Apparently mine is bad....which explains why in the last month i lost about 40 mins of batt life off each charge
It is great, I will be sad when the Beta is over
Submitted by SANMANx on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 8:19am
I took a full backup of my PC at home..haha actually using Windows Home Server...and also transfered alot of my files in raw form to another server I have. I am using windows 7 beta as my primary OS right now and I've had a few issues with drivers like my onboard NIC wouldn't load so i put in a PCI Intel Pro/100 NIC. The first time i installed I had a BSOD with my onboard sound but I started over the next day and Updates got me alldrivers that worked awesome, but the onboard NIC again. I am giving all the feedback I can to do my part in making this the best OS on the planet. It is all hooked up to my xbox 360 and works like a charm. I am afraid I will get so used to it That I will need to buy it at launch at its highest price. Maybe if I send feed back enough they will give me a FREE copy....ya right. I think it is great. XP is nice and all, but I am getting tired of Zune theme and all other themes and just ready for something else. I tranferred all the files back and played with the picture veiwer and windows media center. Other then the early driver problems...it works like a new OS...that was FREE
Markjc
I am Recession Proof
alaskan internet
Submitted by Wild Alaskan on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 1:44am
i want to try the beta really bad but i think the 2.5 GB file is about 1.5 gb over my bandwith cap. it would take days at 112kbs anyways. Im going to try and get a friend from the lower 48 to burn me a copy
Submitted by bochiman on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 12:44am
This article Dual Boot Windows 7 And XP Easily: Windows 7 Installation Directly From XP Without A LiveDVD shows you how to install Windows 7 directly from a previous version of Windows, without burn a DVD. The applications installed in the previous Windows version does not need to be reinstalled: they also work in Windows 7 , just create shortcuts. You will be able to dual boot both operating systems and you will not loose any data.
Submitted by dmateja06 on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 12:24am
never got to mess around too much with vista just because of all the bad reviews so i just stayed away and im the kind of person that likes to try new things... so i installed the Win7 beta and other than my sound not working on my laptop speakers but only through headphones im liking it a lot.... its fresh ....
im running it on a four year old laptop which has on board everything and i up'd the ram to 2 gigs.... and its running very smoothly.... im looking forward to the final release and most likely plan on buying or atleast getting a copy of Win7 to finally get away from XP ( not that there is anything wrong but just need something new)
Classic
Submitted by jediken21 on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 11:57pm
Everyone says they love it, but I for one, HATE the "new taskbar". There so much unused space...what's the point? I liked the classic style windows taskbar with my quick launch and windows seperate. They should make a way to switch back to a classic style of taskbar...if there isn't already (I couldn't find it vOv).
Submitted by samdonia on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 11:15pm
I installed Win7 on a 5 year old computer, expecting it to fail miserably. To my surprize and delight the install went flawlessly. It's even snappier than my wife's dual core laptop with Vista Premium and 2 GB ram. My Win7 computer has an AMD 3200 (single core), 1 GB DDR, and an ATI All In Wonder 9600. Not to mention, I installed Silent Storm - a game that I could never get to run on Vista! Microsoft has me sold and so far my drivers are working wonderfully.
compatibility issues
Submitted by Bravo_18 on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 9:45pm
Again...unless driver support....on old hardware is fixed then maybe i would jump into this bandwagon of Hype...
In reality will all this options are nice to have, but being practical, i dont see any new great thing about the new OS that XP can't do, even if using a 3rd App....people want their moneys worth..
its still on beta..i hope they fix first the drivers compatibilty issues that keeps most system from crashing to the BSOD...
i would like to see is some comaparitive arcticle on how this OS do on benchmarks...specialy on how it manages it resources...not like vista which we all know eats a lot of resources...and disk space...
starting to low end machine to main stream builds...to see how it fares to hardwares driver support...does it maximizes the ones that i have..do i gain more FPS on games...etc..
I hate Micro$oft and I am impressed......So far
Submitted by spurdy on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 9:18pm
Yes it's early, but I have to admit what I've seen so far has really impressed me. I did Beta for Vista and was one of the first ones screaming POS, and now ? We will see, but I was able to install the beta OS in less than 45 minutes, and I only had to do it once. My peripherals work with the VISTA drivers, the task bar is totally kick a**, and I can't get Internet Explorer to work correctly. Yeah that's right IE 8 is still not working right, but the good news is Firefox works like a joedam so maybe M$ should stick to OS.
All I know is this, The economy must be really bad if Microsoft is giving Something to the public for free for 8 months.
Too much unneeded crap....
Submitted by ghot on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 9:11pm
Great every magazine editor will love Windows 7....what about the rest of us.....lets see a 3DMark06 score!
Didn't think so :/
Posting benchmarks without
Submitted by TheMurph on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 11:59pm
Posting benchmarks without Microsoft's blessing is against the EULA -- hence why you aren't seeing a flood of numbers coming out for Windows 7 just yet.
WHAT!?
Submitted by winmaster on Fri, 01/16/2009 - 9:23am
Posting benchmarks is against the EULA. I HATE YOU MICROSOFT! Gordon, if your reading this, I want to hear a rant about it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Submitted by pfjaco on Thu, 01/22/2009 - 9:16am
Yes the EULA has an item the prohibits the posting of benchmarks for Microsoft beta software, the same item is in the EULA's for their other betas too. However you can use unoffical benchmarks from identical systems for your own research such as boot and shutdown times burn times for dvd/cd etc. For most these real world items are more realavant than 3DMark, but yes it would be nice to see some hardware specific benchs helps to plan upgrade paths. The simple real world things you can do sreveal alot. So far in real world things win 7 is faster; provided your not runing an encobox.
Do not medel in the affairs of Dragons for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup and mustard
Submitted by Wild Alaskan on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 10:21pm
Have fun with these.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=3187
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=3236
http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-7424-view-Windows-7-vs-windows-vista-vs-windows-xp.html
http://lifehacker.com/5082336/windows-7-vs-xp-and-vista-boot-time-benchmarks-updated
Submitted by AlaskaDrew on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 8:32pm
I want something newer. When is Windows 8 coming out?
Submitted by knexkid on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 8:08pm
Want I want to see in Windows 7 is the ability to customize lots of stuff. One person commented on not having text on the task bar. You should be able to customize text, icon, or both. You should be able to revert to old school XP or vista or new interface styles. You should be able to easily turn on and off security options without being yelled at by your computer. You should have the option to have Windows media player, messenger, mail, movie maker, etc to be installed or not (which I think is happening in windows 7). If features aren't used, why bog down your system with them? That is why I prefer XP to Vista. Vista just seemed so bloated with features and junk that I never used and was a pain to get rid of. This needs to be a model for ALL software and OS. I'm hoping to try out the BETA, so we'll find out!
Submitted by SEALBoy on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 9:11pm
Most of what you say is already in there. You CAN customize the taskbar - I brought mine back down to Vista size and added text to the icons, and disable program grouping. It is very close to the Vista taskbar, but still has all the nifty features like Jump Lists and previews.
Messenger, mail, movie maker are not installed by default, but you can download them. Media Player is still included, but it has been compacted and isn't half bad.
You can also turn off security notifications (you can actually do this in Vista as well).
Drivers!!!
Submitted by nsvander on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 7:41pm
I know that it is still a beta, but it is lacking some driver support right now, and I doubt that it will ever get it. I had to download and install drivers for the Wife's computer, for her nVidia 6600 Go, there were no drivers on the CD by defualt, and I just installed the 64 bit version on my machine, and now I have to try and search for the network drivers, its not that cutting edge either, its an Abit IP35-E. The WiFi is a bit wonky too, it will not remember my wireless network to save its life. I have to redo it everytime my wife tries to connect, even though I told it to connect to my network, with out it braodcasting its SSID.
It would appear that this
Submitted by I Jedi on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 7:41pm
It would appear that this new OS obviously helps improve user interaction between the operating system and the user. However, I'd like to see more performance benchmarks on the operating system, as compared to say Windows XP beta and Windows Vista beta. That way we have a more clear image of what to expect when we see this new operateing system sometime this summer, or next year in 2010, which we all hope won't be the case. Finally, I'd like to know more about what makes this OS superior in terms of everything as compared to previous Windows OSs. Good article, Will. Very informative on why they changed up the taskbar so radically, it seems.
I'm still not sure if I'm
Submitted by ArrecBarrwin on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 6:17pm
I'm still not sure if I'm going to like/get used to the icons in the taskbar instead of words =/
Submitted by SEALBoy on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 9:12pm
You can add labels if you want from Taskbar Properties.
Submitted by BETAnut on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 6:11pm
i don't know if theis is just me, but in power save mode, i get less than an hour and a half where i usually get 2 and a half in vista. i really like windows 7, but that will keep me from upgrading.
Submitted by pellier on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 6:31pm
I got much battery life using balanced than I did using power saver in vista, wat laptop do you have? Ive got a dell 1520, it might make a difference.
taskbar
Submitted by Yusonice on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 6:04pm
Now I know why they made the taskbar bigger... For people with larger screen!
I couldn't understand it till i saw the screenshot. Well at least for people with small screen like me, theres an option to return to the smaller, vista-like taskbar.
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