All of this helps make Windows 7 the least distracting, least intrusive Microsoft OS in a very long time. However, its left pane does sport two new ways to get at your files: Libraries and HomeGroups. Libraries could just as appropriately have been called File Cabinets, since they let you collect related folders in one place.
To benefit from Libraries, you have to customize them. Right-click any folder on your hard drive, and you can add it to any Library; for instance, you can transform the Pictures Library into a collection of all your folders that contain photos.
You can create additional Libraries of your own from scratch, such as one that bundles up all folders that relate to your vacation plans. Libraries would be even more useful if Microsoft had integrated them with Saved Searches, the Windows feature introduced in Vista that lets you create virtual folders based on searches, such as one that tracks down every.
HomeGroups, Swee HomeGroups? Closely related to Libraries are HomeGroups, a new feature designed to simplify the notoriously tricky process of networking Windows PCs. HomeGroups can also stream media, enabling you to pipe music or a movie off the desktop in the den onto your notebook in the living room. To be fair, passwords made up of random characters provide excellent security, and the only time you need the password is when you first connect a new PC to a HomeGroup.
A version that also worked on XP, Vista, and Mac systems would have been cooler. Federated Search, a new Windows Explorer feature, feels incomplete, too. That capability allows you to search sites such as Flickr and YouTube from within Explorer. They are available on the Web, though.
Use a search engine to track them down. UAC aimed to prevent rogue software from tampering with your PC by endlessly prompting you to approve running applications or changing settings. The experience was so grating that many users preferred to turn UAC off and take their chances with Internet attackers. Those who left it active risked slipping into the habit of incautiously clicking through every prompt, defeating whatever value the feature might have had.
Features: Taskbar and Aero Peek 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.
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. Hover over the preview to show a full-size preview of the program, or click on the window to bring it to the front.
Because of the button size, people with touch screens should find it especially easy to use. Jump lists are another new taskbar improvement that make 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. 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 the capability to drag 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.
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 people 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. Windows Media Player and Device Stage 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 require you to associate your computer with your free Windows Live ID. Importantly, it won't require the hardware upgrades that Vista demanded, partially because the hardware has caught up, and partially because Microsoft has gone to great lengths to make Windows 7 accessible to as many people as possible. It's important to note that the public testing process for Windows 7 involved one limited-availability beta and one release candidate, and constituted what some have called the largest shareware trial period ever.
As buggy and irritating as Vista was, Windows 7 isn't. Instead, it's the successor to Windows XP that Microsoft wishes Vista had been, and finally places it on competitive footing with other major operating systems like OS X and Linux.
The three versions that Redmond will be promoting most heavily are Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate, although Starter will also be available to consumers. Windows 7 will support both bit and bit systems. A touch-screen monitor is required to take advantage of the native touch features. Do note that some users have claimed to have limited success running the Windows 7 beta with less than 1GB of RAM, but that's not recommended. Installation Microsoft is offering several paths to install Windows 7.
People can buy a new computer with the operating system already installed, upgrade from Windows XP or Vista, or do a clean install on a computer the user already owns. The clean installation took us about 30 minutes, but that will vary depending on your computer. Vista users merely need to back up their data before choosing the Upgrade option from the install disc. Custom will have the same effect as a clean install, although it'll save your old data in a folder called Windows.
Once you choose Custom, you'll need to select the partition of your hard drive that contains Windows XP, and then follow the instructions to enter your product key and allow the computer to reboot as needed. If you're not sure if your current computer can run Windows 7, you can download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor from Microsoft.
Features: Taskbar and Aero Peek 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. 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. Hover over the preview to show a full-size preview of the program, or click on the window to bring it to the front. Because of the button size, people with touch screens should find it especially easy to use.
Jump lists are another new taskbar improvement that make 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. 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 the capability to drag 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. 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 people 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. Windows Media Player and Device Stage 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. Microsoft provides a number of applications and services to help make the switch easier.
Easy Transfer, which helps migrate user accounts, settings and data, can be used with an external hard drive, dedicated PC-to-PC cable or via a home network. These are all useful tools, although more experienced users may find it unnecessary to use them, especially since even a clean install dumps your previous Windows program and user folders in a separate folder. This is particularly true when doing a clean install, which is no more difficult than installing some dodgy, malware toolbar.
In our experience it will take anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes depending on the speed of your machine. On the whole, though, the Windows 7 installation process is pretty painless and largely idiot proof, too.
This is a pretty fundamental improvement over Vista, made all the better by driver updates now being accessible via Windows Update as well. Despite the various changes made to the user interface in Windows 7 you still get a feeling of familiarity as you hit the desktop for the first time. While not everyone has the luxury of using more than one display, setting up displays is routinely the first thing we deal with when installing a new OS and Windows 7 handles this better than ever before.
Most exciting for the more anal among us, though, is the calibration tool. Since many of us are now using smaller, higher-resolution displays as well, Microsoft has gone to great lengths to improve readability options.
This four-step process shows you examples of text, asking you which one is most readable on your display, then uses your choices to adjust on-screen text accordingly. This is good for those who find their display shows small text particularly poorly. Again this has seen some serious re-designing, introducing a more visually instructive menu and banishing legacy menus that had stuck around since Windows XP.
Also new are Aero Themes, which add the ability to have slideshow desktop backgrounds. And, yes, the new taskbar — where you can now pin program shortcuts — does have a mild whiff of Apple about it, but who really cares? Anyone prone to running a large number of programs at the same time will instantly appreciate the brevity and consistency of the new taskbar.
Multiple instances of the same application are now grouped together — a particular blessing where Windows Explorer items are concerned — and since you can pin your regularly used applications, everything is always in the same place instead of being lost among all the other taskbar items like before. Key to this change is Aero Peek. This gives you a thumbnail view of applications and windows that, as you hover over them, are highlighted on the main desktop at the expense of other windows.
It works beautifully and makes switching between and working with multiple applications a far more fluid, enjoyable experience. Aero Snap is arguably even better. Again, these options are a particular boon to multi-tasking, especially since they can be applied across more than one monitor using shortcuts.
Returning to more positive grounds we have Jump Lists.
0コメント