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The final version of Windows 7 is scheduled for release next year. Here’s a quick look at some of the new features you can expect to see when it’s released.

  1. The new taskbar – In Windows 7 the taskbar, which is the bar that runs along the bottom of your screen, has had a number of changes. To start with there are new large icons and you can simply drag and drop applications anywhere on the taskbar to have them displayed there permanently. There is also a new preview pane which you can activate by hovering your mouse over an icon. Shown below is the preview displaying three open tabs in Internet Explorer, by clicking on any on the thumbnail images you could go straight to that tab.          

     

  2. Jump lists – A jump list is a list that displays your most recently used content for a particular application. You can access a jump list by simply right clicking on the programs icon in the taskbar or clicking on the small arrow next to it in the start menu. So right-clicking on a Word icon would show you a list of your most recently used Word documents, then you could jump straight to file you wanted.

     

  3. New ways to work with windows – Windows 7 aims to make working with Windows more intuitive. For example, if you would like to compare two windows side by side you can just grab one window and drag it off the right side of the screen and it will then snap to the right side covering exactly half, then grab and drag the other window off the left side and it will snap to the left side of the screen. A video demonstration of this and other new ways to work with windows in Windows 7 can be found here.

     

  4. Improved speed and performance– According to the Microsoft site Windows 7 will start up, shut down, resume from standby, and respond faster

     

  5. More compatibility with devices and better device management – When you plug in a device in Windows 7 an icon will appear on the task bar giving you easy access to a lot of options. To see video demonstration of this feature click here.

     

  6. Touch functionality – Microsoft also plans to include touch functionality for touch enabled computers in Windows 7. Click here to see a video demonstration of this feature.

The final version of Windows 7 is scheduled for release next year, but is has been suggested that if the beta tests go well it may be released sooner. To find out more about Windows 7 click here, and be sure to check out the videos.