Judy Dauson's List: Windows7

• The New Desktop

   

  While Windows 7 retains the same glassy window style, icons and many other  holdovers from Vista, more users will immediately notice that the taskbar has  changed dramatically. Most notably, Microsoft has stripped out the clutter. A  slightly taller taskbar now accommodates large, squared-off icons (rather than  rectangular labels) in the bar, making it in some ways similar to Mac’s OS X  dock. Every open program gets an icon, but you can also pin your favorites to  hang out on the bottom even when they’re not in use, similar to the quick-launch  area in previous Windows. This helps reduce the visual untidiness that comes  from stringing out program titles in the taskbar itself. And really who needs  them? If you do decide to revert to the old ways, Windows 7 will allow you to  turn off the icon-based system, and also shrink the taskbar back to its original  size.

• Since icons alone don’t tell you what’s going on with your desktop at any  given time, Microsoft has implemented its new Aero Peek feature to fill in the  necessary details. Hovering over any icon (or clicking if you’re in a hurry)  will show the separate thumbnails for each window within any given program, like  different Firefox windows, along with labels (Yahoo, Digg, Downloads, etc.)  above them. Hovering over a thumbnail will take the details a step further by  hiding every window and showing just the one in question to clarify which you’re  dealing with. You can also right-click on any of the taskbar icons to get Jump  Lists, which are basically shortcut lists pertaining to the programs. For  instance, IE will present shortcuts for your last visited sites and tasks, like  opening a new tab, while Windows Media player will let you pause or skip forward  through playlists without actually opening it to full screen.

   

  
• With many users now sporting enormous widescreen monitors, Windows 7’s new  “snaps” feature turned out to be one of the most unexpectedly smart additions to  make the most of all that real estate. Grab any window, drag it to the right or  left edge of the screen, and it will automatically resize to half the screen.  This makes it easy to browse on two screens at once to compare, type in Word  with a browser window next to it, and so on. When you’re done, dragging the  window to a new position automatically returns it to the old size. Additional  options for snapping (akin to those the freeware AllSnap offers)  would still be appreciated, though.
• For those who immediately look at a Windows desktop and want to get to work  making it their own, Microsoft has made that easier, as well. The new  personalization menu features a wide array of attractive built-in themes, plus  the means to switch them up by swapping backgrounds, screensavers, and even  picking a custom color from a mixer for menus and using a slider to determine  its opacity. This isn’t quite a WindowBlinds level of customization, but it’s  easy, and 99 percent of users will probably be thrilled with the results.

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