Click to enlargeThe best thing to happen to Microsoft's public relations in years, Windows 7 is more than just spin. The public testing process, involving one limited-availability beta and one release candidate, too, constitutes what some are calling the largest shareware trial period ever.
Although the look of Windows 7 may seem to be nothing more than some polish applied liberally to the Vista Aero theme, make no mistake: this is a full replacement operating system, and more than just "Vista done right." From driver support to multitouch groundwork for the future, from better battery management to the most user-friendly interface Microsoft has ever had, Windows 7 is hardly half-baked.
The first thing that should stand out is the new taskbar. This is one of the best improvements Microsoft has made--third-party program dock makers are going to have to do some serious innovation when Windows 7 goes public. Besides incorporating the translucent style of Aero, the new taskbar is arguably even better than the Mac OS X dock. It features pinned programs using large, easy-to-see icons; mouse over one and all windows associated with that program appear in preview; mouse over one of those preview panes to reveal an X to close the window; and hover over the preview to show a full-size preview of the program, or click on the window to bring it to the front. When multiple windows from a pinned program are open, a thin line will appear next to the icon, giving users an elegant yet simple way to let them know they've got more than one window in play.
Jump lists are another new taskbar improvement that makes recently opened documents easier to get to. Right-click or left-click and drag on any program icon pinned to the taskbar to see a list of files that you've recently used in that program. In Internet Explorer, this will show recently visited Web sites, although it doesn't yet seem to work in Firefox or other browsers.
If you've noticed the missing Show Desktop icon, that's because it's been baked into the taskbar itself. Mouse over to the right corner; hovering over the Show Desktop box reveals the desktop, and then hides it when you mouse away. Click on the box to minimize all your programs.
Resizing programs has been simplified and improved by dragging a window's title bar. Drag a program window to the top of your monitor to expand it to full screen. If you want to work in two windows simultaneously, drag one to the left edge and one to the right edge of your screen, and they'll automatically resize to half the width of your monitor. Dragging a program away from the top or sides will return it to its original size. This is an entirely new feature in Windows 7, but should prove easy to adopt because it mimics and expands on the maximize/restore button that users have been resizing windows with since Windows 95.
Theme packages also make it much faster to change the look of Windows 7. From the Control Panel, you can change the theme under Appearance and Personalization. Microsoft has created several theme packages to give users a taste for what the feature can do. Click on one to download it, and it instantly changes the color scheme and background--no need to reboot. Users can create their own themes, as well.
One of the biggest new features makes Windows Media Player useful again: you can now stream media files from one Windows 7 computer to another, across the Internet and out of network. Even better, the setup procedure is dead simple.
When you open Windows Media Player, there's a new Stream option on the toolbar. Click it, and you're presented with two choices, both of which require you to associate your computer with your free Windows Live ID. When you've associated a second Windows 7's WMP with that same ID, you can remotely access the media on the host computer. Windows Media Player's mini mode looks much slicker, emphasizing the album art--sometimes at the expense of clearly seeing the controls, but it's a definite improvement.
The new Device Stage makes managing peripherals significantly easier, combining printers, phones, and portable media players into one window. A large photo of the peripheral summarizes important device stats and makes it easy to identify which devices you're using. Device Stage can also be used to preset common tasks, such as synchronization. Device Stage support for older devices makes one of Windows 7's best features applicable to peripherals and externals that don't need to be upgraded. One annoying change is that Bluetooth support no longer comes baked into the operating system. If you need a Bluetooth driver, you'll either need the installation disc on-hand or you'll have to go download it.
A less glitzy but no less important change to how removable drives are handled also can affect your media. Unlike Windows XP and Windows Vista, Windows 7 will no longer AutoRun external hard drives and USB keys when they're connected. This kills off a risky vector for malware infections that has been the bane of many security experts.
Other usability changes to Windows 7 include cold booting and launching programs faster, all from the same hardware that runs Vista. It never hurts to have good hardware, but Windows 7 won't require the hardware upgrade that many Vista users did. Part of that is because the hardware that Vista needed to run is now more common, but it's also because Windows 7 better manages available resources. Aero Peek runs fine on a Pentium 4 used for testing, and it doesn't require 2 GB of RAM, although ancient graphics cards won't do you any good.
There are other little tweaks, too. When you try to use a file already in use, Windows 7 goes beyond Vista and XP by telling you not just that it's being used, but where it's being used so you can manage the situation faster. The bloat-adverse will appreciate that it doesn't come with a slew of Windows Live programs, at least for now. UAC access has been streamlined from Vista, and users familiar with Vista's UAC should find the process to be more streamlined and less annoying, overall. However, one major bug allows UAC to be disabled remotely without notifying the user. Given that the flaw has been publicly known since January 2009, Microsoft doesn't appear to care to fix it.
Windows 7's native search feature has been improved. Files added to the hard drive were indexed so fast that they were searchable less than 5 seconds later. Search result snippets now include a longer snippet, and highlight the snippet more clearly. This should appeal specifically to people who juggle large numbers of long documents, but it's a useful feature for anybody who wants to find files faster.
At the time of testing, we lacked a touch-screen computer to try out multitouch zooming, taskbar previews, and other touch-screen features in Windows 7.
Experts and people or companies who hope to use Windows 7 for business situations will appreciate the new XP Mode. It doesn't have much of a practical application for the home consumer, but if you need to access programs designed for Windows XP that have not been upgraded to Windows Vista or 7, XP Mode creates a virtual environment within Windows 7 that should assuage any fears of upgrading without backward compatibility.
It's not easy to set up once you've downloaded the XP Mode installer. You'll need to double-check that you have the right hardware, and can get the right software. Hardware Virtualization Technology, also known as AMD-V, Vanderpool, or VT-d must be supported for it to work. Motherboards older than two years probably won't work, and even if you do have a newer one you might have to go into your BIOS and activate Hardware Virtualization. CPU-identification utilities that can tell you if you're in the clear or not are available from Microsoft. However, if compatibility is the issue, this hassle will be worth it to you. Users will have full access to peripherals connected to their Windows 7 hardware, including printers, and the clipboard can be used to cut and paste between the virtual operating system and the "real" one.
Judging by the beta and the release candidate, Windows 7 looks like the operating system that we've all been waiting for. Despite its imperfections, it shows a lot of promise for the future while presenting a stable platform that can compete comfortably with OS X and should reassure the world that Microsoft can still turn out a robust and useful new operating system.
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