Windows 7: Beta 1 Review
Using Windows 7
The very first thing you'll probably notice in Windows 7 will be the new taskbar, a feature I covered in a previous article, so I won't write much about it here. I do want to make an additional comment: it can be confusing the way that shortcuts & running programs are mixed on the new taskbar. In fact, I prefer the 'separate' QuickLaunch menu, and have re-enabled it on my Windows 7 system. I'm used to have my frequently used program shortcuts on my QuickLaunch (not as some people on their desktop), and I also changed the new taskbar to use small icons.
Windows 7 does away with the sidebar from Vista (that saves quite some memory!). The gadgets are still available; you'll have to place them on your desktop though. To quickly view your desktop Microsoft came up with a new functionality called Aero Peek. This functionality lets you see what is behind open windows, which is useful if you want to check data presented by your gadgets. You can access this functionality by mousing-over the new "show desktop" panel at the far right of the taskbar (Figure).
Start Menu
The Start menu in Windows 7 has also undergone some refinement compared to its Vista component. New are the Jump Lists that will appear when you mouse-over items from the Most Recently Used (MRU) list (the left side of the Start menu). The Jump List items will expand to the right-side of the Start menu, allowing you faster access to documents or tasks (Figure). Another change from Vista is that when you use Start Menu Search, the entire Start Menu pane is used to display search results instead of just the left side (Figure).
Windows Vista Start Menu
Windows 7 Start Menu
Microsoft also changed the default action for the Power button. In Windows Vista the default action for this button is to put your system in sleep mode. If you want to actually completely turn off your system you had to select an option from the "fly out" menu which reveals itself after you hover your mouse briefly over the right pointing arrow next to the Start menu's 'lock' button. Shut down is now the default, and other options are available from a fly-out menu like in Windows Vista. Unlike the Power button in Vista, the one in Windows 7 is easily configurable from the Taskbar and Start Menu properties (Figure), and any change you make will be displayed as the title of the Power button. In Vista you had to do this from Vista's Power Options control panel applet.
Some of the included desktop backgrounds:
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