INTRODUCTION :-
Windows 7 (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) will be the next iteration of Microsoft Windows, an operating system produced by Microsoft Corporation for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, netbooks[1] and media center PCs.[2] Representatives of Microsoft estimated in 2007 that Windows 7 would have a three-year development time frame following the release of its predecessor Windows Vista, but that the release date would ultimately be determined by product quality.[3]
Unlike its predecessor, Windows 7 is intended to be an incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista is already compatible.[4] Presentations given by the company in 2008 have focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup,[5] and performance improvements. Some applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, most notably Windows Movie Maker and Windows Photo Gallery, will not be included in Windows 7, but will instead be offered separately as part of the freeware Windows Live Essentials suite.
FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS :-
- The biggest visible result of all this is the taskbar. The taskbar in Windows 7 is worlds apart from the taskbar we’ve known and loved ever since the days of Chicago.
Text descriptions on the buttons are gone, in favor of big icons. The icons can—finally—be rearranged; no longer will restarting an application put all your taskbar icons in the wrong order. The navigation between windows is now two-level; mousing over an icon shows a set of window thumbnails, and clicking the thumbnail switches windows.
- Right clicking the icons shows a new UI device that Microsoft calls “Jump Lists.”
- Jump lists provide quick access to application features. Applications that use the system API for their Most Recently Used list (the list of recently-used filenames that many apps have in their File menus) will automatically acquire a Jump List containing their most recently used files. There’s also an API to allow applications to add custom entries; Media Player, for example, includes special options to control playback.This automatic support for new features is a result of deliberate effort on Microsoft’s part. The company wants existing applications to benefit from as many of the 7 features as they can without any developer effort. New applications can extend this automatic support through new APIs to further enrich the user experience. The taskbar thumbnails are another example of this approach. All applications get thumbnails, but applications with explicit support for 7 will be able to add thumbnails on a finer-grained basis. IE8, for instance, has a thumbnail per tab (rather than per window).
Window management has also undergone changes. In recognition of the fact that people tend only to use one or two windows concurrently, 7 makes organizing windows quicker and easier. Dragging a window to the top of the screen maximizes it automatically; dragging it off the top of the screen restores it. Dragging a window to the left or right edge of the screen resizes the window so that it takes 50% of the screen. With this, a pair of windows can be quickly docked to each screen edge to facilitate interaction between them.
- Peeking at the desktop is particularly significant, because the desktop is now where gadgets live. Because people are increasingly using laptops, taking up a big chunk of space for the sidebar isn’t really viable; Microsoft has responded by scrapping the sidebar and putting the gadgets onto the desktop itself. Gadgets are supposed to provide at-a-glance information; peeking at the desktop, therefore, becomes essential for using gadgets.
- Peeking at the desktop is particularly significant, because the desktop is now where gadgets live. Because people are increasingly using laptops, taking up a big chunk of space for the sidebar isn’t really viable; Microsoft has responded by scrapping the sidebar and putting the gadgets onto the desktop itself. Gadgets are supposed to provide at-a-glance information; peeking at the desktop, therefore, becomes essential for using gadgets.
- The taskbar’s system tray has also been improved. A common complaint about the tray is that it fills with useless icons and annoying notifications. With 7, the tray is now owned entirely by the user. By default, new tray icons are hidden and invisible; the icons are only displayed if explicitly enabled. The icons themselves have also been streamlined to make common tasks (such as switching wireless networks) easier and faster.
- The other significant part of the Windows UI is Explorer. Windows 7 introduces a new concept named Libraries. Libraries provide a view onto arbitrary parts of the filesystem with organization optimized for different kinds of files. In use, Libraries feel like a kind of WinFS-lite; they don’t have the complex database system underneath, but they do retain the idea of a custom view of your files that’s independent of where the files are.
RELEASE DATE :-
Windows 7 will be released in six editions, although only two of them, the Home Premium and Professional editions, will be most emphasized. The names given to them will be the same as in Windows Vista, except for the Business edition which will become Windows 7 Professional.
Only Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate editions will be available at retail stores and through most OEMs. Home Basic will only be available to emerging markets, Enterprise only through Volume Licensing and Starter only to selected OEMs[citation needed]. Microsoft has yet to announce the pricing for the editions.
Each successive edition will include all the features of the more basic editions. As a result, upgrading from one edition to another will be simplified and more seamless.
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