Strengthen user experience with Windows 7

Windows 7 is expected to prove as one of the best operating system released by Microsoft as unofficial beta version fulfills the promise of being good. Though the percentage of the users who thinks that Windows Vista is good is less but there are users who believe that Windows Vista is far more stable and usable operating system than XP.

Microsoft released and made available beta and one release candidate for public testing process for Windows 7 which is the largest shareware trial period offered by any and it does not prove to be irritating as Vista was. Microsoft is providing the users with six versions of Windows 7: Starter, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, OEM, and Enterprise but basically three versions are being promoted by Microsoft Research Redmond that are Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.

According to the users experience, approximately all seems to be completely satisfied with beta version and it appears that in Windows 7 Microsoft has tried to built on Windows Vista strengths and addressed most of its weaknesses. Windows 7 installation is not a problem at all and it boots too quickly. In addition to its main partition, Windows 7 is also provided with 200MB partition that reduces the anxiety of the user by availing them extra space to store data without using any external drive.

Both 32-bit and 64-bit systems will be supported by Windows 7. The minimum system requirements for the 32-bit include a 1 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB available hard-disk space, and a DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver whereas 1 GHz processor, 2 GB RAM, 20 GB of free space on your hard drive, and a DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver will be required by 64-bit system. Many ways to install Windows 7 has been offered by Microsoft. Computers are coming with installed operating system, the user can upgrade from Windows XP or Vista, or can do a clean installation. And if you are in a dilemma if your computer would support Windows 7, download and run Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to check the compatibility.

The desktop performance is very much enhanced in Windows 7. Many reports that are released and states that Windows 7 is faster than Vista seems to be true. As far the users experience, they are facing no problem in installation and in launching applications, downloading files, in web browsing and doing other tasks. The one of the selling point of Windows 7 is the more flexible and less irritating User Account Control (UAC). Microsoft has reduced the actions that prompt you resulting it making less annoying for the users. Microsoft has done many changes but the biggest change is the User Account Control “slider” setting which results in less annoyance and more security. But if you want it as it was you can easily do it with Windows 7 new Action Center.

Windows 7 is already coming with pre-installed anti-spyware package which provides security and defend your PC against malicious malwares. Microsoft has made Windows 7 more simplistic which provide unified experience to the users for common tasks. Business users, who rejected Vista and still working on XP, need to check how new operating system works in their environment.

Windows 7 classic – Pros and Cons

Microsoft is all set to launch yet another operating system, on October 22, 2009, but can it truly succeed all other previous versions? With plenty of windows 7 new features , Windows 7 offers a flashy interface, but will it be able to make a stir in market due to its performance, compatibility and features? Let us discuss in this article.

The new operating system, Windows 7 has been designed to fix all the troubles faced by users in older versions especially in Windows Vista. Microsoft has worked hard on the design to make the Operating System impressive. To quite a great extent, Microsoft was able to manage it. Changes like new Taskbar and Aero Peek of Windows 7 might take time to get accustomed to but these changes certainly makes the Operating System much easier and convenient to use.

Windows 7 is not only about the additions but there are several capabilities and programs that were a part of previous version of Operating System but are not included in this one. For instance, there are no warnings related to troubleshooting issues and potential security problems, any more. Also, the distinctive feature of Quick launch which enabled a one-click access to programs has been eliminated from the Windows 7 versions.

A few of the new features of the Windows 7 operating system include:

• Accessibility improvements: With improved speech recognition and a new Magnifier utility, Microsoft has reorganized the accessibility features in Windows 7.
• Backup and Restore: Windows 7 have got streamlined and simplified stellar backup and restore features. Windows 7 supports both data backup and image-based system backup, similar to Windows Vista but this time the UIs are more segregated.
• Improved Taskbar: The Taskbar has been dramatically enhanced. The small icons and text labels for applications currently running on the system that appeared in previous versions are replaced by larger, unlabeled icons in the new Taskbar of Windows 7; which reduces the clutter on the Taskbar. You also have the option to reorganize the positioning of icons in the taskbar
• Jump List: Jump List, another new feature of Windows 7 lets you perform several tasks within an application without having to open that application.
• Bitlocker To Go: This is full-drive encryption feature. It was introduced by Microsoft in Windows Vista and has been updated in Windows 7 to support even the removable USB storage devices like pen drives and portable hard drives

On one hand if there are advantages of this Operating System, there are a handful of disadvantages too. If you feel that the advantages are enough to satisfy you to upgrade, go ahead.

Features of windows 7

Will Windows 7 stand up to the expectations of the users and will prove to be a perfect Operating System? This is a question which is yet to be answered. After encountering problems with Windows Vista, many people are apprehensive about the new member of Microsoft family. Microsoft has tried its best to overcome the problems that users faced with Vista along with the set of new features that will prove to be helpful in enhancing user experience.

There are many factors that indicate that the new OS will prove to be better than all other previous versions. After a slow Vista, Windows users are desperately waiting for a faster system, something just like Windows XP or better. Microsoft has granted this wish to the users. Windows 7 is fast. It boots itself within 30 seconds. When compared with boot time of Windows Vista, Windows 7 is far better. Built-in Internet Explorer of the new OS is also much quicker than its previous versions. But only being faster is not enough for users to upgrade their systems. Of course, not!

Windows 7 is much more stable than others. Many people who have used this version claim that they have never encountered the blue screen of death on their system. Moreover, the computers having a low performance configuration and hardware specification, will also be able to work with Windows 7 (while Vista failed to run on it) as it has minimal hardware requirements.

Windows has sometimes been criticized to be an unsecure system in many aspects. Hackers have been targeting Windows systems for a long time now. Many enhanced security features have been added by Microsoft in its new OS that determines how sensitive it is about security and protecting its users' data and privacy. New security applications have been introduced to the users to keep their private data secure and at bay from unauthorized hands. Internet Explorer 8, which comes as a default browser with Windows 7, creates a more secure environment for internet users.

Apart from these improvements, users interface has been extensively enhanced. Many features like jump lists, appLocker, BitLocker to Go, Improved desktop contribute to simplifying and securing the day to day tasks. Hence, Windows 7 is a better Operating System with enhanced performance that comes as a blessing for users.

Jump List of new Windows 7

Jump Lists, a new feature included in Windows 7 operating system having the facility to perform certain common operations associated with an application and also to make it easier to find what a user want. Jump Lists on the new Windows 7 appears on the Start menu and on the Taskbar. Jump Lists added a profit of boosting in the computing efficiency. Windows XP users assumes Jump List feature as a modified My Recent Documents menu. But in actual My Recent Documents gives only a small piece of what the Jump List provides.

Jump List is basically included to give the user with an fast access to the documents and tasks associated with the users applications. Thus the Jump Lists can be considered as application specific Start menus. Jump Lists gives the same functionality whether of its look on the Start menu or on the Taskbar. Generally the Jump List has the facility to close one or all windows, a list of recent documents, access to specific tasks etc.

Just take a look at the Jump Lists for several applications including Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, and many others. In the new Windows 7, Internet Explorer is integrated with the Taskbar and has a Jump List. As the Quick Launch bar is not present in the Windows 7 operating system, the taskbar works as a point to launch applications. As when the user right-click on the Internet Explorer icon, a Jump List will be seen, which displays two sections called as Tasks section and the Destinations section.The History category is contained in the Destinations section and the Taskbar tasks are shown in the Tasks section.The Close Window task is added to the Tasks section after releasing the Internet Explorer. You can pin a specific item to the Jump List, if it is needed to keep a specific item from the History category.

Windows Media Player, has a Jump List and is also integrated with the taskbar by default. Windows Media Player Jump List looks and works a little different. There are two separate panels in tasks section of Windows Media Player. The Tasks panel contains User tasks and Taskbar tasks, whereas the Destinations panel consists of Frequent category. This Frequent category gives the frequently used locations in the Windows Media Player.

There is a more standard type of Jump List connected with Paint, as when Paint releases its icon appears on the Taskbar. When the user right clicks on the icon, a Jump List appears containing the standard taskbar tasks, the recent category and others. When the multiple specimen of Paints are executing at a time there is an item, usually the last item which provides an option to close all windows.

In other development, Windows 7 is less faulty than its predecessor, but also a better product. It suffers from none of the aimless feature like Vista upon, and none of the aimless uncertainty that followed Vista's five-plus years of development. That the public reaction to Windows 7 has also been universally positive, another comparison with Vista is also gratifying.

Enhanced Firefox for Windows 7

Things move speedily online, and Firefox has made the engine that can run to make sure you can keep up: Firefox 3.5 is more than twice as fast as Firefox 3, and ten times as fast as Firefox 2. As a result, Web applications like email, photo sites and your favorite social networks will be more responsive.

Firefox 3.5 offers several enhanced features:

Security and Privacy

When this feature is enabled, you won’t leave a single browsing fingerprint behind for others to discover. If you give a second thought about having visited a certain Web site, this feature, you can remove every trace of that site from your browser. Firefox protects you from viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware. If you accidentally access an attack site, it will warn you away from the site and tell you why it isn’t safe to use. Clear all your private data or just your activity over the past few hours with a few quick clicks. You have full control over what to delete, and then your info is gone for good—on your own computer or the one at your local library.

In another development, To Windows 7 users of the new beta release of Firefox, three new features are available to them. Firefox 3.6 beta 1 introduces improved previews for both the new Windows 7 taskbar and the tabs.

The taskbar previews for tabs delivers Firefox into parity with Internet Explorer 8 which allows users to see and choose their open tabs via Aero Peek. The limitation with this feature is how it effects the display when you've got a high number of tabs open. As you open more tabs, their preview panes would shrink.

Others will require a bit of fiddling while the taskbar preview will work without manually changing settings in about:config. Therefore, they're not recommended for new users, or for those who just aren't comfortable tweaking the about:config.

As long as you have three or more tabs open, the improved Control + Tab will show you a preview window of your tabs. To activate it, go to about:config, search for browser. ctrlTab. Previews, and to change it from False to True, double-click on it.. Then restart Firefox, and the CTRL+Tab hot key will give you Aero-style preview pane of your tabs.

A revision to the List All Tabs feature provide it a visual component mimicking CTRL+Tab. Using Control + Shift + Tab combo, you can pull up a CTRL+Tab tab preview window that combines a search box. As you type in the name of the tab you want to call up, it will filter the tabs. Enter or the left mouse button will take you to the tab directly. To activate this one, go to about:config, search for browser.allTab.previews, and double-click on it to change it from False to True. Then restart Firefox.

You can also disable the Windows 7 taskbar preview by going to about:config, search for browser, Taskbar, previews, enable, and double-click on it to change it from True to False.

Remember that this is a beta and be prepared for Firefox to break compatibility with many add-ons.

Major applications in Windows Media Center

A favorite band probably spend a good bit of time conceptualizing on their album art. Pay credit to this creative innovation, and give the media center something to show when these tracks are playing, by embedding album art in the MP3 collection. A trial was put through the basics in the 2007 guide to beating your MP3 library into shape , and the best sources and tools for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems in a 2008 album art guide. Any tool used, having album art consistent across a library might feel a bit obsessive. There's a certain assurance payoff when the TV displays similar art as an iPod.

Another thing is that commercials are worth their short time commitment, but at times you just want to watch exactly 24 minutes of pure television. So one would like to have the option of removing commercial ads from recorded TV. Windows 7 Media Center plug-in Lifextender does the trick inside your hooked-up PC, while DVRMSToolbox runs through Media-Center-recorded files on its own, and can then export them to more generally usable formats than Windows' locked-down system.

Boxee is the basic XBMC media center application with a different look and an enhanced social flair. It also has the ability to support a lot of independent content creators and independent developers, whether by the official App Box, by adding repositories of new apps, or through stand-alone RSS feeds. Great sources for Boxee application have been covered and content in a quick Boxee guide.

There is also the provision for renaming files so that a user can easily identify them in Windows 7. Media player applications also try their best to find out exactly what TV shows and movies you've got into storage, but then they tend to have a hard time keeping up with the naming schemes deployed by a variety of applications and error-prone humans. Grab an application like MediaRenamer (for movies and television) or TV rename and beat your files into a shape that XBMC, Boxee, Windows, Plex, or any other media center can figure out easily.

The next major feature is the ability to plug-in Hulu into the Windows 7 Media Center. It's is,neverthless, not an officially supported streaming site, like Netflix or CBS, but Hulu's own Hulu Desktop that can be worked into Windows Media Center with a tricky little back-and-forth plug-in. Install Hulu Desktop Integration. One can get an icon for Hulu among your video options. One will will to simply click on it, and Windows Media Center shuts down by itself, it opens up Hulu Desktop; when one is done with the task of watching Hulu, the application than closes that down and re-opens Media Center. This is really something that is clever and also at the same time very helpful.

Ripping DVDs could have never been easier than this with the new Windows 7 Windows Media Center. Instead of finding out halfway through the final disc of The Lord of the Rings ; The Twin Towers that your Netflix disc is scratched and repairing it is beyong you, one could rip the suspect DVD to a digital file and play it from there, all this possible with just a small skip. A tool has been built called DVD Rip to make it a really simple process in Windows, but it's quite easy to pull off with HandBrake or VLC Media Player on Windows, Mac, or Linux systems.

Goal of Microsoft - Windows 7 Everywhere

Microsoft officially launched its long-in-development Windows 7 operating system in New York City on Oct. 22. Although Microsoft became a giant by focusing on many of the new functionalities in Windows 7 but the questions is how fast businesses running Windows XP may upgrade to Windows 7, and what Microsoft’s competition will do in response.

Few years back, Bill Gates revealed Microsoft philosophy that saw a computer running Windows on every desk and in every home. During the Windows 7 launch in New York City on Oct. 22, Microsoft again rolled out that philosophy that Windows running not only on PCs, but also smartphones, televisions and virtually everything else sprinkled through a home or office with a screen.

The official demonstrated Play To, which lets a Windows 7 PC stream various media - including digital photos, music and video - to a handful of screens around a house. He also manifested HomeGroup, a feature that supposedly streamlines home networking and make processes easy such as plugging in devices. He also suggested that, despite of economy slowdown, around 300 million PCs will be sold this year in the U.S., before rattling off the various form-factors that customers could select: netbooks, ultra-thins, traditional notebooks, desktops, and the all-in-one style of PC. The ultimate goal of the company is to make Windows computing into every facet of peoples’ lives.

Since the release of Windows Vista three years ago, the operating-system landscape has changed significantly. Although a number of initial user complaints about Vista were settled by that platform’s later service packs. During Vista failure, Apple was able to gain a few points’ worth of market-share. Although the executives have abolished those gains as virtually a rounding error in Microsoft’s dominance of the market of the operating system.

In addition to Apple, Google is also a potential threat to Microsoft which also faces the prospect of competition from Google, whose Android OS is being slowly announced onto netbooks, and which is supposedly producing Google Chrome OS, a strong browser-based operating system, for launch on low-powered laptops sometime in 2010. These alternatives, along with omnipresent Linux, may not be eating substantially into Microsoft’s operating-system market share, but they remain forewarning of a possible future to which Microsoft seems bound to react.

Microsoft has been taking more and more of its core products to the cloud, as part of that reaction. Office 2010, the next generation of its productivity suite, will include stripped-down, cloud-based versions of Word and other programs, which are accessible through Windows Live. And, Windows 7 has been architectured to interact increasingly with the Web.

Now the question arises that how quickly the enterprise and SMBs (small- to medium-sized businesses) working on Windows XP will be willing to migrate their IT infrastructure to Windows 7. The Microsoft officials are probably wondering the same, even if their product proves to be a hit with consumers, what its rivals will be doing to up the competition.