Taskbar

Some small changes have been made to further improve the new Taskbar. Back in December I wrote a separate article about the new Taskbar, you should read that too.

The Windows 7 taskbar also uses the old Quick Launch keyboard shortcut series (WinKey + 1 to launch the left-most shortcut, WinKey + 2 for the next one, etc), but in the RC, Microsoft added a few new tweaks. For example, if the application that corresponds with the shortcut is already running, pressing the WinKey + number combination corresponding with that application will pop-up an Aero Peek view of the application. And if that application has multiple open windows (or, in the case of IE 8, multiple open tabs), you can continually tap the corresponding keyboard combination to toggle through all the open tabs.

Windows 7 combines running applications into a single button by default, but you can easily change it back to Vista's (or XP's) default of only combining buttons when the taskbar is full. To do so, right-click the Taskbar, select Properties and select Combine when taskbar is full for the Taskbar buttons setting (Figure). Note that you can also select to never combine buttons.

Microsoft further enhanced the Aero Peek feature - which allows you to "peek" at an open window or the desktop while hiding all of the other open windows. In the RC build this feature has been added to the taskbar button overflow lists (Figure) and to Windows Flip (the ALT + TAB window switcher).

Microsoft also made some small changes to the Jump Lists. It added the 'Recent Used' lists to the Jump List of Control Panel, and Internet Explorer's Jump List now sports InPrivate and New Tab options (Figure). Microsoft also added a setting to the "Customize Start Menu" option that let you select the number of items you want to display in Jump Lists, so that you can reduce the size of these lists.

Start Menu

Microsoft only added one subtle change to the Start menu compared to the beta. When you install a new application it's icon will be shown (highlighted) on the Start menu for a short time after you have installed it.

Microsoft made this change to make newly installed applications more discoverable, since it doesn't allow applications to pin themselves to the taskbar during installation.

Desktop

Microsoft increased the number of Aero Themes included in Windows 7. Also included are locale-specific themes; these include new wallpapers, sounds, and Aero Glass colors that are only available in certain locales.

Microsoft also made a change to the desktop that will let you hide your desktop icons, while still showing your desktop gadgets (Figure).

BitLocker Enhancement

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data protection feature that was first made available in Windows Vista (Enterprise and Ultimate) and subsequently in Windows Server 2008.

Microsoft added the description BitLocker To Go to describe the capability to encrypt external drives. BitLocker To Go extends BitLocker data protection to USB storage devices, enabling them to be restricted with a passphrase. In addition to having control over passphrase length and complexity, IT administrators can set a policy that requires users to apply BitLocker protection to removable drives before being able to write to them.

As in previous operating systems, BitLocker Drive Encryption will only be available in the Enterprise and Ultimate SKU's of Windows 7.

  More of the included desktop backgrounds:

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