Top new features included with the Windows® 7 Operating System

Some of the new features available with the Windows 7 operating system include:

• Improved taskbar and full-screen previews: You can pin any program to the taskbar so it’s always just a click away, and you can rearrange the icons on the taskbar just by clicking and dragging. The icons are considerably bigger. Hover over the icons and see thumbnails of every file or window that is currently open in that program, and if you hover over the thumbnail, you will see a full-screen preview of that window.
• Desktop enhancements: Before, when you wanted to compare two open windows, you had to manually resize your open windows to show them side by side. With Snaps, you can simply grab a window and pull it to either side edge of the screen to fill half the screen. Snap windows to both sides, and it’s easier than ever to compare those windows. Another thing you may want to do is quickly see your gadgets or grab a file from your desktop. To see your desktop just move your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop. That will make all the open Windows transparent so your desktop is immediately visible. If you want to get all but one window out of your way, grab the top of that window, shake it and all the other open windows will minimize to the taskbar. Shake the window again, and they all come back.
• Jump Lists: A handy way to quickly reach the files you've been working with. To see the files you've used recently, just right click on the icon on your taskbar. Plus, if there are other files you want to keep handy, you can just pin them to the Jump List so they will always appear. That way, the documents you are likely to want are just a couple of clicks away.
• Device Stage: Helps you interact with any compatible device connected to your computer. From Device Stage you can see device status and run common tasks from a single window. There are even pictures of the devices which makes it really easy to see what's there. Device manufacturers can customize Device Stage. For example, if your camera manufacturer offers a custom version of Device Stage, when you plug your camera into your computer, you can see things like the number of photos on your camera and links to helpful information.
• HomeGroup: Makes connecting the computers in your home a painless process. HomeGroup is set up automatically when you add the first computer running the Windows 7 operating system to your home network. Adding more computers running the Windows 7 operating system to the HomeGroup is an easy process. You can specify exactly what you want to share from each computer with all the computers in the HomeGroup. Then, sharing files across the various computers in your home and many other devices is as easy as if all your data were on a single hard drive. So you can store digital photos on a computer in your den and easily access them from a computer anywhere in your home. Similarly, once in a HomeGroup, the printer in your den is shared automatically with all of the computers in your home.
• View Available Network (VAN): Makes viewing and connecting to all of your networks simple and consistent. VAN allows you one-click access to available networks, regardless of whether those networks are based on Wi-Fi®, mobile broadband, dial-up, or your corporate VPN.
• Power management Improvements: Improves battery life by adding power-saving enhancements, such as Adaptive Display Brightness, which dims the display if you haven't used your computer for a while. Other improvements include using less power to play DVDs and using processing power more efficiently.
• User Account Control (UAC): Choose when to be notified about changes to your computer. UAC notifies you before changes are made to your computer. The default UAC setting notifies you when programs try to make changes to your computer, but you can now control how often you are notified by UAC by adjusting the settings.
• Action Center: A new, integrated Control Panel experience that gives you a central place to go for tasks and notifications associated with keeping your computer running smoothly. It makes it easier for you to fix problems yourself by providing a new streamlined experience for addressing notifications and managing computer issues.
• Play To: Just open Windows Media® Player, right-click on what you'd like to hear, select Play To, and you'll see a list of devices and PCs on which you can play your music, like your network-connected stereo. In most cases, if your media receiver doesn't support the file format for your media, Windows 7 automatically converts that content into a format that your media receiver can play. Windows Media Player even offers controls to manage that device, such as play, stop, and skip tracks so your computer becomes your remote control.
• Windows Touch: While great for a lot of tasks, using a keyboard and mouse is not always the easiest way to do things. If you have a touch-screen monitor, you can just touch your computer screen for a more direct and natural way to work. Use your fingers to scroll, resize windows, play media, and pan and zoom.
• Turbo Scroll: With a streamlined user interface and support for new content types and digital TV, Media Center makes watching TV, movies, and other video content on your computer easier than ever. Using Turbo Scroll, you will be able to find your favorite shows super-fast. Just hold down the right-arrow key and you'll zip through content listings.