Windows 7 Details Galore

[mojoman0]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/28/w...k-builds-medi/

Looks like a lot of visual interface changes:

Microsoft's Windows 7 announcement earlier today was followed up by an extensive demo of the new features during the PDC keynote, and since then even more info about the new OS has flooded out, so we thought we'd try to wrap up some of the more important bits here for you. Microsoft seems to have done an impressive job at this early pre-beta stage, folding in next-gen interface ideas like multitouch into the same OS that apparently runs fine on a 1GHz netbook with 1GB of RAM, but we'll see how development goes -- there's still a ways to go. Some notes:

Obviously, the big news is the new taskbar, which forgoes text for icons and has new "jump lists" of app controls and options you can access with a right-click. You can select playlists in Media Player, for example. Super cool: when you scrub over the icons, all the other app windows go transparent so you can "peek" at the windows you're pointing at.

Gadgets now appear on the desktop -- the sidebar has been killed. That makes more sense for all those laptop owners out there with limited screen space, and you can still see gadgets anytime by peeking at the desktop, rendering all other windows transparent.

Window resizing and management now happens semi-automatically: dragging a window to the top of the screen maximizes it, pulling it down restores; dragging a window to the edges auto-resizes it to 50% for quick tiling. Nifty.
The system tray now only displays what you explicitly say it should -- everything else is hidden, and the controls have been streamlined.
User Account Control settings are now much more fine-grained -- you can set them by app and by level of access.

They demoed multitouch features on an HP TouchSmart PC -- it was pretty cool, although the usual nagging "what is this good for / that'll get old fast" concerns weren't really addressed. The Start menu gets 25 percent bigger when using touch to make it easier to handle, and apps will all get scroll support automatically. There's also a giant on-screen predictive keyboard. Again -- could be amazing, but we won't know until it's out in the wild.
We've always known Microsoft intends Windows 7 to run on netbooks, and we got a small taste during the PDC keynote: Windows SVP Steve Sinofsky held up his "personal" laptop running Windows 7, an unnamed 1GHz netbook with 1GB of RAM that looked a lot like an Eee PC, and said that it still had about half its memory free after boot. (We're guessing it was running a VIA Nano, since most Atoms run at 1.6GHz.)

At the other end of the scale, Windows 7 supports machines with up to 256 CPUs.
Multiple-monitor management is much-improved, as is setting up projectors -- it's a hotkey away. Remote Desktop now works with multiple monitors as well.
Media Center has been tweaked as well -- it looks a lot more like the Zune interface. There's also a new Mini Guide when watching video, and a new Music Wall album artwork screensaver that kicks in when you're playing music.

Devs got a pre-beta today; a "pretty good" feature complete beta is due early next year. No word at all on when it'll be released to market apart from that "three years from Vista" date we've known forever.

[npras42]

I was just about to post this. Read all the articles at the bottom of the engadget article and I'm impressed. The new taskbar, system tray, window management, Media Center, networking, even for the first time in my life I can say I'm looking forward to a Media Player that opens videos in a simple mode and in preview panes. I'm not so hot on the design of the Start Menu (I actually really like the one in Vista, I was using the classic menu in XP) and couldn't give a rat's ass about Paint, and a couple of other things.

It all looks very refined, and if they are able to run it on a 1GHz netbook with 1GB RAM with all the facy stuff still functional then it must be at least fairly lean. We've all heard Microsoft's claims before but this is a new kind of spiel they are boasting about now... If they can get a fair few features in to the beta then I would surely give it a go even before the final release - and again that's the first time I've ever considered that from an MS OS.

[johnkeel105]

This is impressive. Improving upon Vista is a good idea. There are many features of it I like. If the performance is as good as it sounds then I cant wait for Windows 7!

[CAUTION]

This is great news, I will be standing in line on Release Day !!

[nekrosoft13]

i hope MS release full feature guide when windows 7 goes beta.

when vista hit beta, MS released 303 page guide explaining all features.

[crainger]

Wonder how upgrade copies will work. Will we have to install XP, then Vista, then 7?!

I wish they'd bring back a quick media check like XP did.

Or will they just have 7, no upgrade, just full 7?

Swift response please nekro.

[npras42]

I didn't think you could ever upgrade an upgrade. If you bought Vista Upgrade then doesn't that usually mean it is the end of the line for you?

[crainger]

No. I went from 98 upgrade to XP upgrade, to Vista upgrade. Vista was the first that required the previous OS installed though. XP just needed a media check.

256 CPU's! I need to buy 254 moar!

[nekrosoft13]

you need 255 more, 4800x2 is one CPU

[crainger]

Bearclaw knows that. Bearclaw just doesn't want to go overboard nekro.

Originally Posted by crainger

Bearclaw knows that. Bearclaw just doesn't want to go overboard nekro.

Thanks Crainger.

He is right Nekro. If I got ALL of them, then I might be tempted to pull a Bigman and get some DDR3 with it. Maybe even a skulltrail board with a built in iPod.