Aero Snap

So far the new Windows 7 Aero Snap feature is amazing. If only I would have known about this sooner and if Microsoft would have come up with this in a previous version of windows the world would have been a better place much sooner. Anyway, the Aero Snap feature allows you to drag open windows to the left and right sides of your screen and splits the screen in half. Having one window taking up the left side of the screen and the other taking up the right side of the screen. A very great and useful feature if you are a heavy multi-tasker such as myself.

You can even use your keyboard to take advantage of the Aero Snap feature. If you press the windows key and an arrow button you can control what the window will do. So if you press the windows key and left arrow button the window will dock to the left side of the screen, right to the right side, up to maximize, and down to minimize. This is just another great reason to upgrade to Windows 7.

Aero Peek Button

On previous versions of windows most of us have used the quick launch bar to have quick access to our favorite programs. On the quick launch bar there was one button that was important for just about every windows user and it was the show desktop button. Well in Windows 7 that button has been replaced by the Aero Peek button which is located at the end of the taskbar on the right side. If you hover your mouse over the button for a few seconds you will get a clear picture of the desktop without minimizing all of your windows. It has come in handy a few times for me already and will probably continue to do so. Here is a better view of the aero peek button. Also if you click the button it will minimize all open windows.

Aero Themes

A feature that is not really new but has more or less just been redesigned to be easier to use is the Windows 7 Personalization Menu. The menu allows you to easily change wallpapers, window colors, sounds, and screen savers with a few easy options. You can also choose a default theme created by windows. Using themes has made it much easier to make your computer look and feel more personal than ever before. Most of the personalization was available before in pervious versions of windows but were much harder to customize. Now everything seems much easier and more user friendly.

Gadgets

If you have used Windows Vista and are familiar with the gadgets offered and their many features then for you not much has changed. But if you are considering upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 one of the cool upgrade features that you will get to enjoy using is the windows gadgets that are available to you on your desktop.

Basically a gadget is a mini-application that runs only on your desktop. Microsoft has included some by default such as a clock and a CPU and memory gauge. Other ones are available to download online and there is a link inside the gadget program. The easiest way to bring up the gadgets menu is to right-click on the desktop and select gadgets. From here you can enable ones that you have, change their properties, and even download some new ones.

The only changes that have been made in Windows 7 is the ability to place the gadgets anywhere on your desktop. But if you do still like them along the edges of your screen windows will snap your gadgets to the side once you get them within close enough range. Almost like they are being placed within some kind of dock. Gadgets are very handy to use but I’m not a person that uses them very frequently.

New Desktop Background Chooser

One of my favorite small features of Windows 7 is how you are able to select multiple images for your wallpaper and then have them rotate on a slideshow with them changing on a time interval of your choice. For example, if you would choose a folder that has eight images inside of it you can select the images that you would like to include in you wallpaper slideshow and then you can select a time interval when your wallpaper will change. The interval ranges from 10 seconds all the way to a day.

If you also notice in the image below that it’s possible to pause the slide show when you are running on battery power to help save power. Even though this is not really a productive feature as one would say it is kind of nice to not look at the same wallpaper all of the time.

Windows 7: The Taskbar

If you read my earlier post about the Windows 7 desktop and looked at the picture it probably looked very similar to Windows Vista. But if you happened to look at the bottom of the screenshot you would notice that the taskbar seems wider and sports a totally redesigned look. Well that’s exactly what Microsoft did with Windows 7. They completely changed how we interact and operate with the taskbar.

Windows Taskbar

The taskbar is one of the most familiar aspects of Windows. When you open files and programs, their icons show up on the taskbar so you can switch between them. Previous versions of Windows, however, automatically decide where on the taskbar to place each item, and the locations sometimes change with new sessions.

In Windows 7, the taskbar puts what you want to do at your fingertips. You decide where each program goes so you know precisely where to click. When you install a new program, its icon is temporarily placed at the bottom of the Start menu so you can drag it to the taskbar for convenient access in the future. You can pin frequently used programs to the taskbar or even pin a specific document to a program. For example, if you are working on a large document over the course of a week, you might want to pin your word processing program to the taskbar and the document to that program. That way, you’ll always have a fast way to launch the document and continue working.

You’ll see live taskbar thumbnails of each open window so you can keep track of the files and programs you’re using and select them more easily. Rest your cursor on the thumbnail, and Aero Peek brings the full size window into focus. You can also close a window directly from the thumbnail preview window.

When you have a large number of windows open for a program, the open windows for that program are displayed as a list. We’ve enhanced this list view by adding the ability to peek at a highlighted window or even close a window directly from the list. Programs use the new taskbar to provide more information in more intuitive ways. For example, you can see progress bars on a taskbar icon, so that you can stay aware of progress without keeping the window visible.

The redesign of the Windows taskbar in Windows 7 is one of the best features. It does make getting things done much easier than before. The ability to drag and drop your taskbar items to the exact place you want them makes things so much easier. I can keep everything I am working on much more organized than before.

Desktop Enhancements

One of the biggest changes that Microsoft has made between Windows Vista and Windows 7 is how users interact with the desktop. They have added various enhancements to allow users to get things done faster and more efficiently. Over roughly the next week I will be looking at many different things that you could pertain to the desktop. The Windows 7 Product Guide does a great job at explaining these enhancements:

Desktop Enhancements

One of the many benefits of Windows is the ability to work with large numbers of documents and programs at the same time. But have you ever had to wade through a dozen open windows to get to the right document? Or had to minimize a number of windows to view a gadget on your desktop? Or do you often line up two windows so that you can easily compare their contents?

With desktop enhancements in Windows 7, working with multiple windows on your desktop is easier than ever. For instance, you can use Aero Peek to get a quick look at your desktop. Simply hover your cursor over the far-right side of the taskbar and all your open windows will become transparent. You can also peek at a specific window to see exactly where it is by either using the live thumbnail previews or by using Windows Flip (ALT + TAB) to quickly cycle through running windows. Pausing on a thumbnail will bring the highlighted window into full size view.

Want to get all but one window out of the way? Try Aero Shake. Grab the top of that window and shake it, and all the other windows on your screen will minimize to the taskbar. Shake the window again to restore the windows to their original sizes.

You can also snap open windows to screen borders, so you’ll no longer have to click tiny objects in the corner of a window to change the window size. Maximize a window by dragging its border to the top of the screen. To return the window to its original size, drag the top of the window away from the top of the screen. To expand a window vertically, drag its bottom border to the bottom of the screen.

Do you sometimes compare the contents of two different windows? That’s easy too. When you drag the top of each window to opposite sides of the screen, as your cursor touches the edge, the window will resize to fill that half of the screen.

As you can see there are many improvements to be seen in Windows 7. The aero snap feature that it describes was something that I just learned about. Microsoft has definitely decided to put the needs of its customers first again by fixing the problems that Windows Vista was plagued with. Overall the appearance of the desktop with Windows Vista looks very similar. The real changes lie in the added features with the desktop.

Windows 7: The Desktop

If you happened to walk by a computer that was running Windows 7 with just a view of the desktop at quick glance you would think that it was Windows Vista. As you can see with the screenshot the view of the desktop shows that Microsoft did make some changes to the operating system but at the same time tried to leave some looks similar to Windows Vista. The most logical reason for doing this would probably be so users don’t get upset over a bunch of unnecessary changes. The Windows Vista desktop works and looks good. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

Free Windows 7 Upgrade for Vista Users

Something that is worth mentioning is for some Vista users they are eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 7. I know there is a time range on when you would have had to purchase your computer and if I’m correct it usually is within a two month time period before the release of Windows 7. There is an article that cnet.com has written about how you can get your free copy of Windows 7. If you just recently upgraded to a new computer and it contains Windows Vista then you definitely need to check out this article. You just might qualify for a free upgrade. And trust me, you won’t miss Vista if you do.

Link: I just bought a Vista PC. How do I get my Free Windows 7 Upgrade? (cnet.com)

Dual Boot Windows Vista and Windows 7

When it comes down to installing the new Windows 7 onto an existing computer you have three ways that you can do this.

1. Perform a clean install and completely get rid of your current operating system. Of course if you have Windows XP then this will need to be done.
2. Perform an "in-place" install where Windows 7 will be placed on top of your current version of Windows Vista.
3. Partition your hard drive and install Windows 7 in a new and separate partition. By doing this you will leave your old operating system intact with no changes to it.

The third option on the list is called dual booting a PC. I know a lot of people that do a similar thing with Linux where they will have some version of Windows installed (normally Windows XP) and then some version of Linux installed (most popularly Ubuntu) all on the same computer. I have done this before in the past and works rather nicely but it can be kind of tricky. Now this does not mean you run both operating systems at the same time because that would be impossible. You cannot boot up both operating systems on startup.

Well for those of you who might be wanting to have the option of trying out Windows 7 without completely getting rid of your old operating system Computer Shopper has put together a nice article that explains how to dual boot Windows Vista and Windows 7. Probably about the only reason someone would want to do this is if they were not sure if they wanted to switch to Windows 7. By dual booting if you decided to switch back all of your old programs and settings are still where you left them. You also don’t have to perform the usual reinstalling of all of your applications. The link to the article is below. Go ahead and check it out for yourself.

Link: How to Set Up a Windows 7 and Vista Dual-Boot System