User enhancements from Microsoft Windows XP to Microsoft Windows 7 – May 2010

Microsoft Windows 7 is the newest generation of Microsoft Windows operating systems, released in 2009. It has many new features to improve the way you use your computer. Windows 7 is now becoming the new standard for Windows as XP stole the spotlight from Windows 98. It provides a more manageable user interface for multitaskers and better search capabilities. It really takes the best of what Windows XP had and adds form and function.

When Windows XP came out, Microsoft got it right, slick interface and fast operating system. There really wasn’t much to complain about, for the most part it was easy to point and click. Today, we are much more multitasking oriented. We install many more software applications, we save Gigabytes of music and video, and we want to find everything at the click of a button. Windows XP can no longer keep up with us. Windows 7 has in-window search features with updated caching for faster results. You can open apps in seconds without even using your mouse. Browse files in eight different view arrangements! With the Window Snap feature, live multi-view taskbar icons, sidebar, and transparent windows, there are some great Windows XP additions.

Let’s start with the looks. At first glance you will notice that you have a sidebar. The sidebar on the right of your screen can contain mini apps like a calculator, calendar, clock, notes, weather, etc. You’ll notice that the launch bar is semi-transparent and there may be quick launch icons on the left that are larger than you remember. Quick launch buttons now look like normal open windows, except they look matte, not shiny, to indicate that they haven’t been launched yet. Let’s say you open two Internet Explorer windows. You will notice that the matte icon changes to a glossy icon. By hovering over the Internet Explorer icon on the taskbar, you can reveal a nice square globe window that contains live previews of each browser window. This will give you a visual reference of which window you want to open without taking up as much space. This is valid for other applications that can open multiple instances. To the right of the launch bar are already launched apps and notifications like your antivirus and internet connectivity. In Windows 7, you can choose to have these icons saved in separate floating boxes, only visible when you click the expansion arrow. This will save space on your launch bar if you normally have a lot of launch apps.

Now to the new search features. If you click the Windows icon on the left, the start button, you can now type the program you want to start and Windows will find it. So if you want to quickly open an instance of Mozilla Firefox, just click the Windows icon on your keyboard to bring up the start menu, type Firefox, and then press Enter. Alternatively, to open an instance of Windows Calculator, just type calculator or calc. The search doesn’t end there, every window you open has a search bar located at the top right. When you type in this bar, Windows will search that folder and any folder within that folder for a file that contains that text in its name. This is much easier than the old method on XP where you had to jump through menus. Not only can you search easier, you can search with speed. Windows 7 uses Superfetch, a service to cache your most-used files so your computer can find them faster. It uses additional memory, which is not in use, to save recently closed items, such as Internet Explorer, so that you can open it faster next time. Basically, it improves system performance over time. One more thing you might notice about the menu bar is that when you hover over an app, it can show you recently opened files. For example, if you use Microsoft Word frequently, you will see it located in the first menu of the start panel. If you hover over it, you’ll see your recently opened Word files. This way, each program has its own list of recently opened files, instead of all recently opened files being in one small list.

Windows 7 gives you more than eight different ways to view files, pictures, music, and anything else on your computer. View by content, tiles, detailed, list and small icons through extra large icons. You can also organize and rearrange your files in over 300 formats. Sort by Date Modified and Size, for your everyday files, or dimensions and f-stop for your photography. To do this, right-click anywhere in the details panel and go to more. You can choose from a variety pertaining to the files you are organizing. One of my favorite features added to Windows 7 in window snapshots. To place windows next to each other, simply drag one window to the far right of the screen and one window to the far left. Windows will adjust those windows for a 50/50 side-by-side view. This is much less time consuming than manually setting up two windows for a side-by-side view. Also, move your mouse to the bottom right corner of the screen and click. You have now minimized all open windows and can see your desktop. You can also scroll in 3D through different open windows by holding down the Windows key and pressing Tab.

Your documents file now contains most of what you usually save. Windows XP has My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos files in the My Documents folder. Windows 7 Places, plus Contacts, Desktop, Downloads, Favorites, Links, My Documents, Saved Games, and Searches in that folder. It’s not really called My Documents anymore because there’s a My Documents folder inside; rather, it’s called your user file. Now that you have everything in one place, it’s easier to keep track of all your files.

As you can see, there have been a number of improvements for users from Windows XP to Windows 7, many of them very useful. It’s fast and fun to watch with new capabilities that improve workflow. The ability to perform a search in any window, coupled with the speed of Superfetch, and now you can find all your files with ease. After you find what you’re looking for, you can view it in more than 8 different ways and arrange them into 300. It has live multi-window previews in the launch bar, along with the 3D window to change what you’re looking at. It also works in parallel with the window fit function. There are many good reasons to upgrade to Windows 7 today. If these features sound useful to you, maybe it’s time.

A cordial greeting,

erik mjelde