"Windows 7 was built around your feedback, so you'll see a lot of things you've asked for. You asked us to make everyday tasks faster and easier, make your PC work the way you want it to, and make new things possible. And that's exactly what we're doing." Improved taskbar and full-screen previews Spoiler The taskbar at the bottom of your screen is what you use to switch between the applications you've got open. In Windows 7 you can set the order in which the icons appear and they'll stay put. They're easier to see, too. Click once on the new large icons or bigger preview thumbnails and you're ready to go. You can even see a full screen preview before switching to the window. Get the picture: See what's open with previews and easily control your Windows experience with the new Taskbar. Jump Lists Spoiler With Windows 7, we focused on keeping the things you use most right in front of you. One example: The new Jump List feature. It's a handy way to quickly reach the files you've been working with. To see the files you've used recently, just right click on the icon on your taskbar. So right-clicking on the Word icon will show your most recent Word documents. Plus, if there are other files you want to keep handy, you can just pin them to the Jump List. A leap in efficiency: Jump Lists provide quick access to common tasks New ways to work with Windows Spoiler Windows 7 simplifies how you work with the windows on your desktop. You'll have more intuitive ways to open, close, resize, and arrange them. You can drag open windows to screen borders, so you'll no longer have to click on tiny objects in the corner of a window to make it do what you want. Maximize a window by dragging its border to the top of the screen, and return the window to its original size by dragging it away from the top of the screen. Drag the bottom border of a window to expand it vertically. It's easy to copy files or compare the contents of two windows by dragging the windows to opposite sides of the screen. As your cursor touches the edge, the window will resize to fill that half of the screen. To see all your desktop gadgets, just drag your mouse to the lower right corner of your desktop. That'll make all the open Windows transparent—making your desktop, and the gadgets on it, immediately visible. Want to minimize all your windows? One click and it's done. Now you see them Now you don't: See through to the desktop with invisible windows Internet Explorer 8 Spoiler Available now, Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 helps you do what you want online, faster. With innovations to the address bar, search, tabs, and the Favorites bar, Internet Explorer 8 brings you more information, with less effort. Instant Search Spoiler To start, as you type a search request you'll immediately start seeing relevant suggestions from your chosen search provider, complete with images when available. The twist: search will also use your browsing history to narrow the suggestions. You'll start seeing search results while you're typing. If you see what you're looking for, you can go right to the list without finishing the request. Accelerators Spoiler There are online services you use all the time. Like getting a map. With Accelerators, you can highlight a bit of information on any page, click on the blue Accelerators icon, and choose from a variety of services relevant to the information you selected. So if you highlight a business address and right click, you can use an Accelerator to get a map right there. The Live Maps Accelerator will show a map preview directly on the page. Web Slices Spoiler With Web Slices you can instantly see changes on a website without going to it. Use a Web Slice to monitor things like auction items, sports scores, entertainment columns, and weather reports. When the content you're watching changes, Internet Explorer 8 delivers updated information directly to a Web Slice in your Favorites Bar, so you can see it right away. Windows Live Spoiler With Windows 7, some features previously included in the operating system are now available for download through Windows Live Essentials, a set of free applications available for your PC and supported by Windows 7. You can download Windows Live Messenger, Photo Gallery, Mail, Writer, Movie Maker, and more. With these great applications, you can improve your Windows experience, and benefit from faster delivery of these features and services. Windows Live Photo Gallery Better device management Spoiler One of the great things about PCs is how they let us use such a wide array of devices. In the past, you had to use several different screens to manage different types of devices. But With Windows 7, you'll use a single Devices and Printers screen to connect, manage, and use whatever printers, phones, and other devices you have on-hand. All together now: See all your devices in one spot! Spoiler A new technology in Windows 7 called Device Stage takes device management a step further. Device Stage helps you interact with any compatible device connected to your computer. From Device Stage you can see device status and run common tasks from a single window. There are even pictures of the devices which makes it really easy to see what's there. Here's a list of products that take advantage of Device Stage. Device Stage puts device features front and center HomeGroup Spoiler Setting up a home network can be complicated. With PCs running Windows 7, a home network will be easier to setup and a lot more useful. HomeGroup makes it easier to connect to other computers and devices on a wireless home network, so you can share files, photos, music, and printers throughout your home. To use HomeGroup, you’ll need to have at least two PCs running Windows 7. Once you've set up a homegroup, you can use the Network and Sharing Center to choose what you share with other homegroup members. Decide whether to join an existing network Easily explore content on other devices on the network Extended battery life Spoiler Performance improvements are about more than speed. For example, your laptop battery lasts longer with power-saving features, such as adaptive display brightness, which dims the display if you haven't used your PC for a while. Bright idea: With a display that dims automatically, you get longer battery life Theme packages reflect your style Spoiler With Windows 7, you start with a clean desktop and get to decide how it looks. We provide the templates, or themes, and you can choose the color or format, including whether you'd like to enjoy a slideshow for your desktop background. New theme packages include rich backgrounds, 16 glass colors, sound schemes, and screensavers. You can download new themes and create your own to share with friends and family. There are plenty of choices to make it yours. By design: Themes give your desktop a personal touch Take control of problems Spoiler Many of you asked us to stop Windows from sending so many alerts and messages and to give you more control over messages. In Windows 7, you get to choose the messages you want to see. Even if you don't change a thing, you'll still see fewer notifications and icons popping up because the Action Center consolidates alerts from 10 Windows features, including Security Center and Windows Defender. Rather than popping up with a message in the lower right of your screen, if Windows 7 needs your attention, you'll see an Action Center icon and can find out more by clicking it. If you don't have time to look at the alert immediately, Action Center will keep the information waiting for you to address later. Choose when you receive notifications Simplifying maintenance, quieting the system: Action Center consolidates notifications Share music and videos Spoiler One of the great things about PCs is how they help you put your pictures, videos, and music in one place. Once everything is in that spot, it's natural to want to share it all with other PCs in your home. Windows 7 helps you do it. Windows 7 introduces new media sharing features that make your PC a great hub for experiencing audio, video, and pictures throughout your home. So, when you set up a homegroup or stream media from Windows Media Player, you can enjoy your music, pictures, and videos on other computers running Windows 7 and other devices in your home. Share your media without losing control Windows Touch Spoiler While great for a lot of tasks, using a keyboard and mouse is not always the easiest way to do things. If you've got a touch-screen monitor, you can just touch your computer screen for a more direct and natural way to work. Use your fingers to scroll, resize windows, play media, and pan and zoom. Large touch-sensitive areas on the Start menu and the taskbar make it easy to use. Touch your computer screen when you'd rather not use a mouse Handwriting recognition additions Spoiler Handwriting recognition takes a big step forward in Windows 7. Beginning with greater accuracy and speed, Windows 7 improves pen input in several ways. You can write math expressions, create personalized custom dictionaries for handwriting recognition, and use the new languages supported in Windows 7. Of course, you can also use the pen to just make a quick list. Just jot it down Information about Windows 7 is preliminary and subject to change. Some product features of Windows 7, such as the ability to watch and record live TV or navigation through the use of "touch," may require advanced or additional hardware. The features and functionality you find in the Beta product may not appear in the final version of Windows 7. ENJOY!
Re: Screenshots of Windows 7 It actually looks pretty good. The handwriting recognizer looks awesome. *Downloads Beta* Thanks for the screenshots.
Re: Screenshots of Windows 7 7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD.iso 51% 2.44 GB Downloading ^ I'm so ready. Lets hope my internet doesn't fail me. :lol: What OS were you using beforehand? Any faster than Vista?
i guess they are running short of ideas... just going with the market flows i guess. still, they so could totally change the interface or something.
I don't think so. I think it just looks more streamlined and smooth, which Mac does too, but that's just because it's pleasing to look at. Other than that I don't see any big similarities.
Windows 7? I wanna ask what that is o_o Something newer than Windows Vista or something? I am unaware. Also I like keeping old MSN looks anyways if they will change, cuz I have a patch that removes their damn ads, smily packs. Yeah I edit my MSN a lot with a patch so I hate new versions. Ad fest much. I prob. won't switch. Also, I hate windows. Enough said.
Windows 7 is the replacement for the failure of Windows Vista. They are spending even more time on this to get it right for their customers. They're releasing it next year, but it is up for beta at their website. If it is good, you might wanna upgrade.
In fact, it's really a "new" version of windows. For the first time since windows 95, they're starting from scratch. No more update of the code, everything is brand new !!! And to add to my previous comment about mac similarities, I know windows just look trendier... but hey, Mac understood this 8 years ago. Windows is late on this one.
I've downloaded beta and there are some minor bugs but I LIKE IT :> :> :> I can't wait to be out of beta and release it on time. This is also good for jerky computers :maha:
Currently using the beta here and its great. Also along with a SSD i get boot times of around 15 seconds
Thanks for uploading the screenies! Oddly enough, it looks a whole lot like what Vista was supposed to look like.
dont hate on windows 90% of people with computers still use it and vista didn't fail i can't ever see myself liking xp as much as i like vista btw macs just got popular about 5 years ago so don't say they were ahead of their time especially when most programs still won't run on them
i see, Microsoft managed to make windows 7 compatible with vista. im still not sure about 100% clean code thou
I think Vista was a COMPLETE copy of a Mac Leopard. The only big difference is that the spotlight search is in the bottum left corner instead of the upper right... Oh, and its .exe instead of .app
I think Microsoft is running out of ideas. Lol, they even put a spotlight search. This really changed my idea of Microsoft, that's lame to copy Apple. I hate Apples originally, now Windows is lame too.
i actually like windows 7... it make my laptop fast, faster than before (using vista) that's my feedback to it