More on Windows 7
Well, as promised I'm back with some more in-depth technical musings on Windows 7. Now that I've had a few days to get acclimated with the new operating system I'd like to share the details with you so that you know what you have to look forward to.
Once your system is loaded you are sure to notice the enhanced taskbar. The new Windows 7 Taskbar features interactive thumbnails and preview windows for minimized applications. Progress is shown directly on the Taskbar so you don't need to restore the minimized window to see that your application is working. The Taskbar also has a preview feature that allows you to preview the window on the desktop. It has a much smoother almost Mac OS design and feel to it, so it has the cool factor working in its favor also.
[caption id="attachment_130" align="aligncenter" width="385" caption="The Windows 7 Taskbar"]
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Jump Lists are another new feature of the redesigned taskbar. These lists serve as frequently used functions for the program in your task list. For example, if you look at the Jump Lists for your favorite word editor you are likely to see a list of recently opened documents or if you examine explorer’s Jump List you will find a list of frequently opened locations.
[caption id="attachment_134" align="aligncenter" width="376" caption="Windows 7 Jump Lists"]
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Vista users might notice a change in the UAC in Windows 7. It UAC seems far less annoying and provides more visual clues (it dims your desktop when prompting for your input). Windows also has an improved privilege model. Even if you are a user of the Administrator Group most tasks are run with regular user privileges (even with UAC turned all the way down). The Action Center also helps you maintain performance on your computer by gathering all system notices into one place.
[caption id="attachment_132" align="aligncenter" width="381" caption="Windows 7 Action Center"]
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As I noted in my previous post, you will experience better performance over all with Windows 7. One of the reasons for this is that the Service Control Manager can now start and stop services based on specific system events or triggers. Now, when you are not using a service, it won't take up resources. This helps speed up load time as the SCM has less to start up when your system loads.
Improved graphics are another reason for better performance. Aside from the introduction of WARP10 they’ve also increased the video pipeline, introduced better DirectX / GDI Functionality and added new DVXA Video Processing capabilities (for HD Video Formats). Videos look crisper in Windows Media Player when compared to other media players that I’ve used on the platform (VLC).
As Windows 7 have been built for the immediate future we see that Microsoft is on the way toward dropping the mouse and keyboard as the primary input method in favor of multi-touch devices. This isn't suprising given the success of the iptouch and this new direction and shift is one of the reasons I think for the immediacy of the Windows 7 release. Microsoft must launch a system geared toward multi-touch and Windows 7 is it. Even without this capability you will see the effects of this new direction. Bring a window to the top of the screen and it maximizes, bring it to the side of the screen and it prepares it for side-by-side comparison. I find the prospect of having a multi-touch computing in the immediate future is really exciting.
That about rounds up the features I’ve noticed on Windows 7. Here are some other things to look forward to as it continues to develop and come out of beta.
If you're interested in a more in depth look at the operating system, check out this interview with Mark Russinovich 'Inside Windows 7' on Channel9.
Once your system is loaded you are sure to notice the enhanced taskbar. The new Windows 7 Taskbar features interactive thumbnails and preview windows for minimized applications. Progress is shown directly on the Taskbar so you don't need to restore the minimized window to see that your application is working. The Taskbar also has a preview feature that allows you to preview the window on the desktop. It has a much smoother almost Mac OS design and feel to it, so it has the cool factor working in its favor also.
[caption id="attachment_130" align="aligncenter" width="385" caption="The Windows 7 Taskbar"]
[/caption]Jump Lists are another new feature of the redesigned taskbar. These lists serve as frequently used functions for the program in your task list. For example, if you look at the Jump Lists for your favorite word editor you are likely to see a list of recently opened documents or if you examine explorer’s Jump List you will find a list of frequently opened locations.
[caption id="attachment_134" align="aligncenter" width="376" caption="Windows 7 Jump Lists"]
[/caption]Vista users might notice a change in the UAC in Windows 7. It UAC seems far less annoying and provides more visual clues (it dims your desktop when prompting for your input). Windows also has an improved privilege model. Even if you are a user of the Administrator Group most tasks are run with regular user privileges (even with UAC turned all the way down). The Action Center also helps you maintain performance on your computer by gathering all system notices into one place.
[caption id="attachment_132" align="aligncenter" width="381" caption="Windows 7 Action Center"]
[/caption]As I noted in my previous post, you will experience better performance over all with Windows 7. One of the reasons for this is that the Service Control Manager can now start and stop services based on specific system events or triggers. Now, when you are not using a service, it won't take up resources. This helps speed up load time as the SCM has less to start up when your system loads.
Improved graphics are another reason for better performance. Aside from the introduction of WARP10 they’ve also increased the video pipeline, introduced better DirectX / GDI Functionality and added new DVXA Video Processing capabilities (for HD Video Formats). Videos look crisper in Windows Media Player when compared to other media players that I’ve used on the platform (VLC).
As Windows 7 have been built for the immediate future we see that Microsoft is on the way toward dropping the mouse and keyboard as the primary input method in favor of multi-touch devices. This isn't suprising given the success of the iptouch and this new direction and shift is one of the reasons I think for the immediacy of the Windows 7 release. Microsoft must launch a system geared toward multi-touch and Windows 7 is it. Even without this capability you will see the effects of this new direction. Bring a window to the top of the screen and it maximizes, bring it to the side of the screen and it prepares it for side-by-side comparison. I find the prospect of having a multi-touch computing in the immediate future is really exciting.
That about rounds up the features I’ve noticed on Windows 7. Here are some other things to look forward to as it continues to develop and come out of beta.
- Focus on devices (the Device Experience Platform).
- Focus on distributed computing (Federated Search and Windows Web Services).
- Support for Open Packaging conventions (Office Open XML File Formats).
- Gadgets on the desktop (the Sidebar is gone but Gadgets remain).
- Powershell 2 by default.
If you're interested in a more in depth look at the operating system, check out this interview with Mark Russinovich 'Inside Windows 7' on Channel9.
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