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What's New In Windows 7

 

 

 

 

 

Save Time with Improved Performance and Reliability

 

Nobody likes to wait. That's why Microsoft focused on fundamentals—especially where speed matters. Windows 7 is ready and responsive. It starts, shuts down, and resumes from standby faster. You’ll have fewer interruptions and can recover more quickly from problems when they do occur because Windows 7 will help you fix them when you want. In short, Windows 7 delivers performance, reliability, and security features—and it's compatible with the same hardware, programs, and drivers as Windows Vista.

 

Extend Battery Life with Power-Saving Features

 

Windows 7 extends battery life for your laptop with power-saving features such as adaptive display brightness, which automatically dims the display when you haven’t used your computer for a while, much like many cell phones do today.

 

  Power saver: Adaptive display brightness extends battery life.

 

Take Control of Problems with Action Center

 

In Windows 7, you’ll see fewer notifications popping up because Action Center consolidates alerts from 10 Windows features, including Security Center and Windows Defender. When Windows 7 needs your attention, you’ll see a new icon in the notification area and can find out more by clicking it. You can choose to respond to the notification or go to Action Center for more details. If you don’t have time to address the issue immediately, Action Center will keep the information waiting for you to address later.

 

  Bringing it together: Action Center consolidates notifications

 

Everyday Tasks Are Faster And Easier

 

Simplified Navigation

 

Improved taskbar and full-screen previews

 

The taskbar in Windows 7 is larger and taskbar icons are easier to see and select. Full-screen previews from the taskbar help you keep track of the files and programs you’re using by showing each open window as a thumbnail. Hover over a file's taskbar icon and you’ll see what the file looks like when it’s open.

 

 

  Get the picture: See what's open with full-screen previews from the taskbar

 

Jump Lists

 

Sometimes you need to do the same things again and again. Jump Lists help you easily find and open the files and programs you use often. You can use Jump Lists on the taskbar and the Start menu to open your most frequently visited websites, recently opened files, and favorite programs with just one click. Put the programs and files you use the most on the taskbar and Start menu so you can open them from the same spot every time.

 

  A leap in efficiency: Jump Lists provide quick access to common tasks

 

New Ways to Work with Windows

 

Windows 7 is smart about how you work with windows. Dragging a window to the top of your computer screen maximizes it automatically. Dragging a window to the side of the screen resizes it for easy side-by-side comparisons to other windows. And dragging the mouse to the lower-right corner of the screen makes all of your open windows transparent.

 

 

Invisible windows: Seeing through to the desktop

 

Easier Home Networking

 

Windows HomeGroup

 

Windows HomeGroup makes it easy to connect to other computers running Windows 7 and devices on an existing wireless home network, so you can share files, photos, music, and printers throughout your home. Use Network and Sharing Center to choose what you share with other members of your homegroup. Set one default printer for your homegroup and another for your network at work. When you join a homegroup, you’ll immediately see other computers in the group, just like the items on your hard drive.

 

 

Better Device Management

 

Device Stage

 

Device Stage lets you see your device status and run common tasks from a single window customized for each device connected to your computer. When you connect a portable device, you’ll see an image of that device on the taskbar. You’ll easily be able to find and use all the features for each device you have connected, so you can synchronize contacts, capture photos, or create ringtones for your cell phone.

 

Devices and Printers

 

Rather than having to use several windows to manage devices, Devices and Printers is the single place to access all of your connected and wireless devices. From here, you can interact with your devices, browse files, or manage settings. When you connect devices to your PC, you’ll be up and running in just a few clicks.

 

  Gathering place: Devices and Printers collects device details in a single location

 

Enhanced Online Experience

 

Internet Explorer 8

 

Improvements to the address bar, search, tabs, and the Favorites bar help you efficiently surf the web and make it easier to find the sites you’re looking for.

Find it fast: Address bar suggestions help you get to sites quickly

Using Web Slices in Internet Explorer 8, you can instantly see changes on a website without going to it.

 

 Always up to date: Get Web Slice information from the Favorites bar

 

View Available Networks

 

With one click you’ll be able to see available networks, whether they’re Wi-Fi, Mobile Broadband, dial-up, or your corporate VPN.

 

 Making connections: See available networks from your desktop

 

Windows Live

 

Windows 7 and Windows Live are made to work together.

Windows Live is a set of free services that you can use to access your contacts, e-mail accounts, profiles, photos, files, and calendars from any computer or web-enabled phone. Some features that were in previous versions of Windows, such as Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery, and Windows Movie Maker, are now available for free through Windows Live. Turning these features into Live services for Windows 7 expands what you can do and makes sure you always have the latest capabilities. Together, these services help you keep your life in sync and extend the reach of your Windows 7 computer.

 

 

 

Make Windows a Better Reflection of You

 

A Clean Start

 

Your first look at the Windows 7 desktop is uncluttered and full of possibilities. You get to design how it looks.

 

 Your place: The Windows 7 desktop

 

Theme Packages

 

Windows 7 provides the themes and you choose the colors and format. New theme packages include rich backgrounds, 16 glass colors, sound schemes, and screensavers. You can download new themes and create your own to share with friends and family. Some theme packages are customized for regions of the world.

 

 

By design: Themes give your desktop a personal touch

 

New Ways To Interact With Your PC—It's Not Just Typing Anymore

 

Windows Touch and Multi-touch

 

Windows 7 lets you work with your hands. With Windows 7 and a touch-sensitive screen, you can touch the screen—rather than use the mouse—for a more direct and natural way to work. Use your fingers to scroll, resize windows, play media, and pan and zoom. Large touch areas on the Start menu and the taskbar make it easy to use.

 

Handwriting Recognition—New Additions

 

Handwriting recognition takes a big step in Windows 7. Beginning with greater accuracy and speed, Windows 7 improves pen input in several ways. You can write math expressions, create personalized custom dictionaries for handwriting recognition, and use the new languages supported in Windows 7.  Of course, you can also use the pen to just make a quick list or a quick calculation. 

 

  Doing the math: Windows 7 can recognize math expressions

 

Media Sharing—Listen to Music and Watch Videos Anywhere

 

When you set up a homegroup or stream media from within Windows Media Player, your music, pictures, and videos are immediately available on the other computers and devices in your homegroup. That’s all you need to do to begin accessing media throughout your home. As you add new computers and playback devices to your homegroup, you’ll be able to share media with them.

 

 

Windows Anytime Upgrade—Easily Add Features to Windows

 

Using Windows Anytime Upgrade, you can upgrade from one edition of Windows 7 to another edition of Windows 7 and add features to Windows, such as Windows Media Center or networking capabilities. All it takes is about 10 minutes. There’s no Windows installation disc, either. Get the upgrade online or at a computer retail store, and unlock your new features using just an upgrade key—with no changes to your current files and settings.

 

In Summary

 

So that’s a peek at just some of the features you’ll be seeing in Windows 7. There’s a lot more to come, so get ready to see even more of what you asked for as Microsoft continues working on Windows 7.