Beyond a shadow of doubt, Windows 7 is better than its predecessor Windows Vista in more ways than one. It is faster and consumes less system resources despite maintaining the eye candy. But that's not all. We will tell you exactly why we love it more than any of the previous versions of Windows.
1. No more worrying about missing drivers
The first thing you notice about Windows 7 after installation is that, it is more likely that you will not have to install any hardware driver, as most of it has already been included in the OS. If at all you need an updated driver, you can always get it quickly and without hassle from Windows Update. You are therefore likely to see a clean device manager like shown above as there will be no device with a driver issue or a conflict.
2. Problem Steps Recorder
This is a very important and probably a lifesaving feature of Windows 7. This feature lets you record a particular problem you are experiencing with your PC, so you can send it to someone who may be better equipped to solve the problem. All you need to do is to open the Problem Steps Recorder, click 'Record', after which a screenshot is taken with every mouse click. You can also add comments if required in between. A properly formatted HTML document with all the screenshots in steps and comments is created and placed inside a ZIP archive on the desktop to be attached and emailed to an expert.
3. Pin to Start Menu or Windows Taskbar
While you do not have the Quick Launch Bar, which made things so much convenient in Windows XP, you can easily "Pin" frequently used items and programs to the Start Menu as well as to the Windows Taskbar by simply right-clicking on the item in the Taskbar and selecting 'Pin to Start Menu' or 'Pin to Taskbar' as required. The item or program then becomes readily available and your desktop becomes clutter-free.
4. Superior Touch Navigation
Since "Touch" is the keyword today and an increasing number of gadgets come with a touch interface, it is imperative that the future PC will also move on to such an interface. Windows 7 makes it a point to have better touch navigation. It has a larger taskbar with large icons, which makes it easier to navigate using your finger tips. It also sports multi-touch gestures, similar to the Macbook, on various applications that will dramatically change the way you interact with them. It automatically detects Touchscreen hardware and enhances the size of the Start Menu and icons accordingly.
5. Windows Disc Image Burner
Finally, an ISO image is no longer burnt as a data file to an optical disc, but as an ISO image in this version of Windows. All you need to do is double-click on the ISO image, which starts the Windows Disc Image Burner application. You can select the burner where you wish to burn, in case you have more than one burners installed. You can even verify if the data is burnt properly by checking a checkbox.
6. Snazzy preview or peek panes
In Windows Vista you could preview the minimized window of an application by simply hovering the mouse cursor over the application item in the taskbar. Now, Windows 7 goes a step further. Not only can it show live preview of the application window, you can also see or "peek" at the full size window in the foreground by simply moving the cursor over this mini preview without actually bringing the window to the foreground. There is also a close window X at the upper right corner in the preview pane, so that you can directly close the application this way. Pressing Win + T lets you scroll along previews in the taskbar.
& finally.......
7. Virtual Windows XP
For those of you still in love with XP, fret no more. Like Windows Vista, Windows 7 too will have the same problems running applications meant for XP, but there is something that will make you feel relieved. Microsoft offers an XP Mode for Windows 7, which can be downloaded from Microsoft website, and works in conjunction with Windows Virtual PC, which is also a free download. This is effectively a virtual machine running in this operating system. You can access the complete hardware of your actual PC inside this virtual environment, including the USB flash drives connected to ports and also optical drives. What's more, this comes free, so you don't have to shell out extra for this OS.
