Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Reviews

By 

William W. Davis “famousdavis” –

  

  

  

I’ve been using Windows 7 since its beta release, but my laptop’s been running the final version for weeks now. I really disliked Vista and preferred XP still, but Windows 7 has tipped the scales…finally. Windows 7 has been reliable and it’s snappier than Vista. Windows 7 sips laptop battery power so my 1-year-old Dell XPS M1530 runs longer under Win7 than it did under Vista. But what I really like about Windows 7 are the new and improved features it offers. Here’s a list of my favorites:

#1 VIRTUAL LIBRARIES
With virtual libraries, the special folders like Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos have all become libraries. Instead of being a physical storage location, they’re indexes that point to one or many locations on the computer you’re using, as well as other computers you’re networked with. In a home setting, where you’re running Windows Home Server, you can now easily direct file stores to your server. Also in the home, housemates can easily see each others’ data by including their respective folders in one another’s libraries. When you search a library, you’re searching your computer and any other computer that has folders you’ve added to your library. You determine which physical location will be the default location for saving new files to your library. This is, for me, the single best feature of Windows 7, and is an excellent reason to upgrade.

#2 START SEARCH
The Start Search has been improved in Windows 7 so results appear instantly as soon as you click the Start button, and then either type the name of a program on your computer, or a task you’d like to perform (like, “change my display settings”). No more hunting folder hierarchies to find that elusive program, or spend time figuring out where Microsoft has placed something in the Control Panel. This is a tremendous time-saver.

#3 AERO SNAP
The Aero user interface has three new tricks — Shake, Peek, and Snap — but only Aero Snap is a major leap forward. Have you ever tried comparing the contents of two windows together, side-by-side? It’s painful to do because you have to fiddle with resizing the two windows. With Aero Snap, now all you do is grab the title bar of one window, sling it to the left, and Windows 7 will automatically resize the window to fill-up one-half of your screen display. Do the same with a 2nd window by slinging it to the right, and it’ll fill-up the right-side of your display. You can start comparing two windows in…an Aero Snap. Aero Shake and Peek are cute, but not nearly so helpful.

#4 TASKBAR
Gone is the Quick Launch bar that too many people didn’t know existed. Now, the whole Taskbar is a quick launch bar — drag and drop any program icon onto the bar, and you’re one click away from starting the program. Also, it’s so easy to move the taskbar around now. I keep it on the left vertical on my computer. Gone is the system tray, too — Notification Area takes its place. The Action Center alerts you to anything you need to do to keep your computer working smoothly.

#5 PROGRAM COMPATIBILITY
Any program can be run in one of many compatibility modes now. Windows 7 has a wizard that will help you pick the right, earlier version of Windows under which to run an older program — just right-click on the program icon and choose “Troubleshoot Compatibility”. Or, You can do the same thing more quickly by right-clicking on a program icon, click the Compatibility tab, enable Compatibility mode, and select the earlier version of Windows you want to run with your program.

#6 STICKY NOTES
Less functional that the Vista Sticky Notes — which nobody used — but now I actually use Sticky Notes to put reminders on my Desktop. They’re quick, easy, and work just like a regular Post-It note only you don’t get fingerprints on your screen!

#7 JUMP LISTS
There are two kinds — Jump lists that let you quickly pick a task to perform, and Jump lists to quickly select a document to open and edit in the associated program. Jump lists include most recently used files, or you can pin your own files, too. These are nice time-savers.

#8 SAVED SEARCHES
In Windows Explorer, you can create filtered searches and then save them in your Favorites for later use. This is handy to find filtered data in the future. When you re-execute the search, it creates a dynamic results set (so your search is never stale).

#9 CONTENT VIEW & ARRANGING
Also in Windows Explorer, two new features. Now you can arrange a folder into subdivisions by date (great for your pictures folders!). You can use the Content view to combine thumbnails of files along with details that usually are found only in the Details view.

#10 USER ACCOUNT CONTROL
Most everyone hated UAC in Vista (even though it helped to keep your computer safe). In Windows 7, Microsoft tamped down the annoyance…

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