WINDOWS 7 FEATURES:

The New Desktop

While Window 7 retains the same glassy window style, icons and many other holdovers from Vista, but users will immediately notice that the taskbar has changed dramatically. Most notably, Microsoft has stripped out the clutter. A slightly taller taskbar now accommodates large, squared-off icons (rather than rectangular labels) in the bar, making it in some ways similar to Mac’s OS X dock. Every open program gets an icon, but you can also pin your favorites to hang out on the bottom even when they’re not in use, similar to the quick-launch area in previous Windows. This helps reduce the visual untidiness that comes from stringing out program titles in the taskbar itself. And really who needs them? If you do decide to revert to the old ways, Windows 7 will allow you to turn off the icon-based system, and also shrink the taskbar back to its original size.

Hover Over any Icon to View Thumbnails

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Since icons alone don’t tell you what’s going on with your desktop at any given time, Microsoft has implemented its new Peek feature to fill in the necessary details. Hovering over any icon (or clicking if you’re in a hurry) will show the separate thumbnails for each window within any given program, like different Firefox windows, along with labels (Yahoo, Digg, Downloads, etc.) above them. Hovering over a thumbnail will take the details a step further by hiding every window and showing only the one in question, to clarify which you’re dealing with. You can also right-click on any of the taskbar icons to get Jump Lists, which are basically shortcut lists pertaining to the programs. For instance, Internet Explorer will present shortcuts for your last visited sites and tasks, like opening a new tab.

Windows 7 New Snap Feature

If you like Snap, check out two new related features: Peek and Shake.

Windows 7 Gadgets

For those who immediately look at a Windows desktop and want to get to work making it their own, Microsoft has made that easier as well. The new personalization menu features a wide array of attractive built-in themes, plus the means to switch them up by swapping backgrounds, screensavers, and even picking a custom color from a mixer for menus.

Windows 7 has a number of useful gadgets for your desktop. You can customize these desktop gadgets by changing their settings, resizing them, keeping them on top of other windows, moving them anywhere on the desktop, and making other changes.

It is easy, and you will probably be thrilled with the results.

Windows 7 Device Management

A revamped device management window takes much of the confusion out of connecting new devices. Most simple devices like hard drives, thumb drives and webcams will be automatically detected, and show up under this pane alongside other connected items like mice, keyboards and Wi-Fi adapters.