Windows 7 Megathread

[Silver Knight]

Windows 7 is the next major operating system release from Microsoft. The UI has been slightly overhauled and some new features have been added. Apparently the goal of Windows 7 is to be more flexible in terms of system requirements, more customisable, and more updated for future technology.



There are many new features to Windows 7, including

? Relaxed system requirements
? Touch support
? Netbook support
? Blu-ray support
? Improved taskbar (Refered as "The Superbar" in this thread)
? Jump Lists
? Device Stage
? Homegroups
? Internet Explorer 8
? Windows Media Player 12
? Updated Windows Media Center
? Updated standard programs (Paint, calculator, wordpad, etc.)

We'll go into detail of these next.

Relaxed system requirements

Windows 7 requires way less than it's predecessor, Windows Vista. 7 has been seen running on anything from a Pentium 3 to today's most recent hardware, both without a hitch,

Touch support

7 is also designed with touch technology in mind. With HP's touchsmart PCs and some touchscreen monitors available now, more support for these are required. From opening the start menu to browing the web, if you have a touchscreen, you'll definatly take notice.

Netbook support

7 is made with compact computers in mind too. As mentioned above, it runs great on low-end computers, as well as netbooks, which are not exactly the most powerful computers available.

Blu-ray support

Windows 7 will support blu-ray out of the box. No more 3rd party players!

Improved Taskbar

Windows 7's taskbar is unlike any other windows taskbar before. It's bigger, and now organizes open prgrams differently. In cubes. The superbar allows you to pin icons to the taskbar for easier use (Like quick launch but more useful) like a dock, and these icons have "Jump Lists" (We'll get to that in a second). Notification icons can be more customized (You can even make some icons never show baloon alerts), and the start orb has a new glow effect.

Icons in the superbar can either be in squares or regular bars. When you move your mouse over the bars or squares, the mouse pointer acts like a flashlight, lighting up the bar with the dominant RGB color of that icon. When a program needs your attention, the cube goes into "needy state", flashing 7 times in a yellow color to get your attenion.

Windows Media Player no longer has a taskbar integration, but is now built into the icon in the superbar. Moving your mouse over it will pop up a box that tells you what's playing, as well as giving you options to fast forward, go to the next track, go back, and pause what's playing.

Superbar Diagram


Jump Lists

Jump lists are very useful little menus either in the start menu, or on icons in the superbar. Right clicking on the program in the superbar will pop up this list, and possibly give you options for the program. For example, Windows Live Essentials. If you have Live Messenger in your superbar icons, you can right click on it, and it will display options for setting your online status, messaging people, and more.

Device Stage

Device stage is an integration with the hardware you use daily, such as digital cameras, MP3/media players, phones, and more. Simply plug in your device, and windows will pop up a menu with all the stuff you can do, like add songs to your MP3 player, check battery status, transfer media from the device to the computer, and more.

Homegroups

Homegroups allow you to share stuff between compters in your "homegroup". This makes it easier than before to share movies, files, and more.


Internet Explorer 8

Now i know not many people like IE, but with Windows 7, you'll want to use it. IE now puts open tabs in the superbar, so you can switch to them easier. It has touch support too, and you can blog things directly from a page you're on by selecting text and right clicking.

Windows Media Player 12

WMP 12 has a new look, and that's about it.


Windows media center
WMC, according to the new first-run screen, is being redesigned for watching TV on your PC.

Updated standard programs
Paint, wordpad, calculator, and some other standard apps, have been redesigned with the "Ribbon" UI, which is what Office 2007 uses. Finally look different after 14 years of looking the same.



[highlight]Where do i get this?[/highlight]

Go to your favorite torrent site and look for the newest build. Remember to check the comments to make sure it isn't faked.

[kirillarmas]

Its gonna fail like vista.

[Jazer]

Kirillarmas, I've already first hand used the beta and it's amazing. Easily a competitor against OS X.

Vista did not fail to me. It was a rough start just like XP and then everything smoothed out. I've only found one issue with it that really bothers me. But overall, I enjoy using it more than XP.

[Moordact]

i hope it will be released in may in eu..

vista fails for me

[rawrmon]

CANNOT
WAIT
>:DDDDDDDDD

[Dark Angel]

Windows 7 is just fixed and updated Vista.

[rawrmon]

Windows 7 = Vista X 20

[~Ness~]

Rawrmon, hella of a bump.

[rawrmon]

I don't even know what "bump" means:L

[~Ness~]

It means...
Bump
___________________________
This word is posted to a topic tread if the poster wants to re-call attention to the thread.

[Silver Knight]

Rawrmon, hella of a bump.

Quiet So, although, lets get back on topic..

Who here actually plans to buy Windows 7 on release?

[rawrmon]

I'm sticking to XP till W7 is better. So if the first official release is better than XP, I'm buying it.
:)