Windows 7: Beta 1 Review
Networking
Microsoft has always struggled to simplify networking for home users. For those of you that don't realize it, it is quite a delicate task to get this right, as a connected PC is more vulnerable to all kinds of issues, including privacy (determining if a user has access to certain shared files or folders).
In Windows 7 Microsoft's latest attempt to simplify home networking is the creation of a "Homegroup". After a HomeGroup is set up, sharing files across multiple PCs in your home is as easy as if all your data were on a single hard drive. Computers running Windows 7 automatically identify and connect with each other. Printers are shared automatically with all of the PCs in your HomeGroup. When you join a HomeGroup, you will immediately see other PCs in the group listed under the "HomeGroup" node in the Windows Explorer navigation pane (Figure). You can interact with Libraries shared from other computers in the same way you would do if the items were on your hard drive. You can browse those Libraries, search a specified Library, or select "HomeGroup Users" to search across all the PCs in your HomeGroup.
HomeGroup also enables you to specify exactly which Libraries you want to share. That way you can choose to keep data on a PC private, or to share additional folders with your entire HomeGroup for quick and easy access (Figure).
You can also access an advanced sharing settings interface, from which you can configure related network sharing settings such as network discovery, file and printer sharing, public folder sharing, media sharing, and password protected sharing (Figure).
It works beautifully in Windows 7, but has only limited usefulness for a lot of home users as long as there is no 'add on' that could be installed on previous Windows versions (at least Windows Vista, but preferably both Vista and XP), so that the HomeGroup functionality could be available on those operating systems too. It's just a fact that many home users have multiple operating systems that they cannot or won't upgrade to the latest Windows version.
Microsoft also improved on Vista's Network and Sharing Center. Compared to Vista's Center, you'll notice that the 'Sharing and Discovery' listing has been removed and replaced by the HomeGroup feature discussed above. In place of the Sharing and Discovery listing, Microsoft added shortcuts to some network tasks such as 'Setting up a new connection', 'Connecting to a network', or 'Fixing a network problem'. But as in Vista's Network and Sharing Center, the one in Windows 7 still hides some settings that were more readily accessible in previous Windows versions (like network adapter settings).
Windows Vista Network and Sharing Center
Windows 7 Network and Sharing Center
Windows 7 also includes a new View Available Network (VAN) interface that appears as a Jump List (when you click the network icon) above the network tray icon (Figure). You'll always have one-click access to available networks, regardless of whether those networks are based on Wi-Fi, Mobile Broadband, Dial-up, or your corporate VPN.
User Account Control (UAC)
The decision by Microsoft to implement User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista proved hugely unpopular with users of the operating system. These users had grown accustomed to the non-existing security of prior Microsoft operating systems, and decided they'd rather continue in their set ways (change is hard!). Microsoft's implementation of UAC in the early Vista build left some things to be desired, but after Service Pack 1 this was mostly rectified. Under normal circumstances, users won't experience many UAC prompts, but the damage had been done, and lots of people decided they didn't want Vista just because of UAC (although there is an easy and even somewhat safe way to reduce or totally remove UAC prompts from Vista, see my article Taming Vista's User Account Control).
Microsoft further tuned UAC in Windows 7, and it is now rare to encounter an UAC prompt. Microsoft also included a user interface to UAC which lets users further tune UAC, offering four levels of protection: Always notify, Notify only when programs try to make changes (the default), Notify when programs try to make changes but don't dim the screen (my personal preference), and Never notify (Figure).
Bundled Applications
As you probably heard by now, Microsoft has chosen to remove several applications from Windows 7 that users have come to expect in Windows: Windows Mail, Messenger, Movie Maker, and Photo Gallery, are no longer included in Windows 7. If you want these, they are instead made available as free downloads via Windows Live Essentials (Windows Calendar and Contacts, have also been removed from Windows 7 and have been replaced by functionality in Windows Live Mail). Microsoft defends this move as supporting consumer choice and better coordination with Web services, but it does remove functionality from Windows that users have grown accustomed to.
Windows Media Player
Windows 7 includes Windows Media Player 12 (WMP 12). The best update is in the compatibility of WMP; it now plays AAC audio in addition to MP3 and WMA. For video, it plays MPEG-4, H.264, and XviD/DivX in addition to AVI and WMV. DVD playback has been improved as well: When you pop-in a movie, WMP goes full screen and begins playing the movie automatically.
When you're watching a movie or listening to a song, you can quickly see its title by hovering over the WMP icon in the taskbar. An improved toolbar gives you instant access to playback controls, so you can quickly skip a song or pause playback (Figure). WMP also includes Jump-List functionality on the Start menu and Windows Taskbar to give you quick access to media you use the most (Figure).
WMP 12 also includes a new feature called "Play To" that lets the player control network-connected media devices. All this requires is a device that supports the industry standard DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) 1.5 digital media renderer but it also works with other Windows 7 PCs since Windows 7 supports the DLNA v.1.5 standard. If a device is DNLA v1.5 compliant, you can use your Windows 7 PC to stream media to that device; play back media streamed from that device, or browse and play media on Windows PCs or third-party devices. You can even stream content from one DNLA v1.5-compliant device to another (Figure).
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