Microsoft Windows 7: A Guide to Windows 7 with advanced features

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Windows Aero is a type of user interface, and although it looks similar to the older interface in many ways, it is actually quite different. The first thing many users notice about Windows Aero is that it looks better than the older Windows style. Using the GPU makes it easier to enable special effects in the interface, and these effects are used to enable new functionality.

Although you may not realize it at first, Windows Aero has numerous useful features that make it easier to use Windows 7. Right-click on your Desktop and then click Personalization. This will open a window that is dominated by a selection of themes. The Windows Aero themes will be at the top. When you pick a theme your computer will instantly change to that theme. Microsoft has added some new features to Windows Aero in Windows 7. These new features range from kind of cool to incredibly useful. One feature added is Aero Peek.

This was touched on briefly in the taskbar chapter. On your taskbar you will find a blank rectangle on the right. Hovering your cursor over this will cause all of the windows you have open to become transparent — this is the Aero Peek feature. The Aero Peek feature can also be accessed through open programs on your taskbar. Then hover over a thumbnail to activate Aero Peek. Another new and hilarious to use feature is called Aero Shake. To activate Aero Shake you just need to grab a window with your mouse cursor and shake it like a dog shakes a chew toy.

Grab the window and drag it back and forth rapidly. All of your windows except for the one that you are using will be minimized. Although you might feel a bit silly using this one in a busy office, it is actually a convenient feature. This new feature is activated by dragging a window to either side of your monitor and holding it there for a second.

If you drag a second window to the right side of your monitor it will be automatically sized to take up the right hand of the screen. This is immensely useful when you need to compare the contents of two windows. Aero Snap will also automatically maximize a window if you drag it to the top of the display. The ease with which Aero can be customized is a major improvement over previous versions of Windows.

Windows XP was a real pain to mess with because many parts of the interface had to be adjusted independently if you wanted to customize the appearance of the operating system. Windows 7 provides customization options that are easier to understand. This will open a window that displays the themes available. At the top there is a section called My Themes. This is where any themes you create and save will appear. Below that are the pre-loaded Aero themes. Note that with the exception of the Windows 7 theme, all of the pre-loaded themes include a wallpaper slideshow.

To customize the appearance of Aero, find Windows Color at the bottom of the Personalization window.

Click on it to open the Windows Color and Appearance window. Picking one of these will cause the Windows Color and Appearance window to change to the color you selected as a means of demoing the color.

Below the color suggestions is a checkbox labeled Enable Transparency. This should be on by default. You will also see a slider labeled Color Intensity. This slider dictates how bright the color you select for Windows Aero will be. If you place it all the way to the right the color you select will be nearly opaque, even with transparency on.

The color mixer lets you make your own custom colors for display by Windows Aero. Last, but far from least, is Advanced Appearance Settings. Opening this will open an old-fashion Window Color and Appearance window. You can change the colors of menus, hyperlinks, scrollbars, and more. Windows 7 also lets you customize the appearance of your desktop with a variety of wallpaper options. To access these options you will again need to open the Personalization window by right-clicking on your desktop and then clicking Personalization.

At the bottom of the Personalization window you will find the Desktop Background option. Click on this top open the Desktop Background window.

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As has been the case for years now, you can select any image you like and use it as a wallpaper. When you select an image to be a wallpaper you have the option to Fill, Fit, Stretch, Tile or Center the image. These options have the following effects. The image is not stretched, however, so some parts of the image will not appear if the image does not have the same aspect ratio as your monitor.

You can also make wallpaper slideshows in Windows 7. If you hover your cursor over an image a checkbox will appear in the upper left hand corner. If you click on this checkbox, and the click the checkbox of another image, a drop-down menu will become active at the bottom of the window. This dropdown box lets you select how quickly Windows 7 will change between the wallpapers you selected. There are settings that range from 10 seconds to 1 day. You can also select to either have the wallpapers randomly shuffled, or you can let them display in order.

One important, but often forgotten, feature in Windows 7 is Libraries. Libraries are a new method of storage that is unlike anything found in Windows before. A Library is not a folder. Instead it is a collection of folders that have their contents pooled together in a common area. Windows 7 comes with four default libraries called Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos.

At first glance a Library looks a lot like a folder. When you open a Library you will be able to see all of the folders and documents in the Library.

You can add files and folders directly to the Library as well. However, the structure of the Library does not necessarily have anything to do with the structure of the files and folders on your hard drive.

This subtle change can make a world of difference in a number of situations. You have some documents that you would like to share with other computers on your network, so you place them in your Public Documents folder. Under normal circumstances this could end up being a real pain in the butt because your documents would be scattered over two locations, making it more difficult to organize them.

However, if have both folders added to the Documents Library they are by default in Windows 7 , you will be able to view all of the documents from both folders in one location. In the upper right hand corner of an open Library you will find an Arrange By drop- down menu. These are fairly broad categories that will cover the needs of many users, but you can create a new Library. To do this you will need to be in the Library directory.

The Library directory can be found in Windows Explorer. Right-click on an empty space in the directory and then hover over the New option. This will open up the Library option. Click on it to create your new Library. You can also manage libraries by dictating what folders will be included in a Library. Right-click on a Library and then click on Properties. This will open a window that displays the folders included in the Library. Click on the Include a Folder option in order to browse for and add a new folder. To remove a folder you simply need to click on it and then select the Remove option.

The final management option here is the Set Save Location option. Remember, Libraries are not folders, so in reality you are not saving files or folders to a Library when you drag them to or create them in that Library. You are actually creating them in one of the folders that is part of the Library. You can select the folder that will be used for this by clicking on one of the folders displayed and then clicking the Set Save Location option. Like every version of Windows, Windows 7 includes Paint, a very basic image editing program.

Features new to Windows 7

Paint has received a minor overhaul for Windows 7, however, that is instantly noticeable when you open the program. This user interface is designed with a ribbon of interface options at the very top of the program. The interface options that are most commonly used are larger, while less commonly used options are smaller.

There are also a few new features. These brushes allow users to create different textures and effects while editing a photo. The shapes that are created using the Shapes tool are anti-aliased to make them appear smooth, a first for Paint. Wordpad is also included in Windows 7, of course, and it has had the same Ribbon interface applied to it.

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Although the interface makes Wordpad appear much more modern than the version found in Vista and XP, the functionality of Wordpad remains almost identical to previous versions. The only notable change is that Wordpad can now save documents to the OpenText Format, and this means you can open Wordpad saved documents with OpenOffice.

Wordpad still lacks a spellchecker, and for this reason it still only suitable for extremely basic word processing. If you open the Calculator in Windows 7 you will find that it has the same interface as previous versions of the Calculator. However, the Calculator in Windows 7 has a few extra functions that were not previously available. The Calculator can now emulate a Scientific, Programming or Statistics calculator.

New Unit Conversion and Date Calculation features have also been added. Finally, the Calculator supports four functions that are labeled Worksheets. These Worksheets let you Calculate mortgage payments, determine the cost of a vehicle lease, and calculate your fuel economy in miles per gallon or liters per kilometer. The interface is not dramatically different, so you should be able to understand the new version quickly. The biggest interface change is related to the inclusion of Libraries, which are now used to sort music instead of a proprietary library database format.

Most of the changes to Windows Media Player 12 are under the hood. The new player adds support for H. This additional support plugs the largest gaps in the file support of previous media player versions. The player also now supports the ability to stream shared media files from your network. Some features from previous versions have been removed. The Advanced Tag Editor has also been removed, although you can still edit metadata by right-clicking on a file. This is not an error or the result of doing anything wrong during the installation process.

Windows 7 simply does not come with some programs that were included in Vista. These features were removed because they have been incorporated into a new package of programs called Windows Live Essentials. Windows Live Essentials includes update versions of these programs, with the exception of Windows Calendar. The Windows Live Essentials package also includes some additional programs. Parents can set restrictions on how children browse the Internet.

It can also be used to monitor web activity. It offers basic messaging functionality and can be used for voice chat. Folders that are synced on separate computers will automatically communicate with each other using the Internet. A file placed in a synced folder on one computer will be transferred to all synced computers. Installing Windows Live Essentials will add the software missing from Vista and then some. Note that while the Essentials package does include all the software listed above it is possible at least for now to download each program individually. User Account Control was one of the most hated features of Windows Vista.

This was unfortunate, because it was also one of the best security advancements that Windows Vista brought to the table.

Controlling the Indexer

UAC is back in Windows 7, but it has had its default settings changed. Then new default setting is the second most secure. It will only set off a notification if a program tries to make changes to your computer. You can also slide the bar down a notch so that notifications are still made, but your desktop is not rendered inactive when the notification prompt appears. This is also less annoying, but it is less secure because a malware program that triggers to the alert will have an easier time continuing to work in the background.

Features new to Windows 7 - Wikipedia

Finally, you can turn UAC off entirely. This is not recommended. Malware that manages to gain control of your computer will be able to make changes to your Windows settings without your knowledge. A Free Windows Antivirus.

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Windows has never shipped with an antivirus program included. These users often end up downloading installing a fakeware program that advertises itself as an antivirus but is actually malware. Windows 7 also does not ship with an antivirus program, but Microsoft does now offer a free antivirus program that you can download from the Microsoft website. Microsoft Security Essentials is a pure antivirus component and does not integrate with the other security features of Windows 7 to any significant degree.

It is a simple program compared to the more comprehensive suites from companies like Symantec. It is capable of running virus scans, and it includes Microsoft SpyNet, a cloud antivirus solution that gathers data about known viruses from all computers running Microsoft Security Essentials. It was able to deal with You can buy better protection, but it is worth noting that Microsoft Security Essentials ranked better than some paid security software, such as Trend Micro Internet Security and Kingsoft Antivirus.

Windows Defender is an anti-spyware program built into Windows 7. It is not an antivirus program. It is meant to only deal with spyware, which can be defined as a program that is attempting to gather data from your computer. It is not meant to deal with malware that is attempting to take over or damage your computer — that is what Security Essentials is meant to combat. Normally this screen will simply inform you that your computer is running normally. Windows Defender is set to scan your computer on a daily basis when you install Windows 7, a fact that will be reflected in the Status section at the bottom of the window.

At the top of the Windows Defender window you will see the Scan button, as indicated by the magnifying glass icon. Clicking on it will start a quick scan, while clicking on the arrow beside the icon will open a drop-down menu with some additional scan options. Although you can initiate a manual scan, there is rarely any need to do so if the automatic daily scan is scheduled. If you want to change the schedule of the automatic scans you can do so by clicking on the Tools button, as indicated by the gear icon.

The automatic scanning settings will appear by default. You can adjust the frequency of scans, although you can only choose daily or weekly. You also can choose the time of the scan and the type of scan. Finally, there are two checkboxes at the bottom. The first forces Windows Defender to update its definitions before scanning. This is on by default and should be left on. The second checkbox forces Windows Defender to wait until your computer is idle before scanning.

This is on by default, but can be turned off if you wish. The name of Windows Firewall really says it all. Windows Firewall first appeared in Windows XP and has been receiving updates ever since. One of the changes is associated with the way that Windows 7 handles networking. When you install Windows 7 you will have the ability to create what is known as a HomeGroup.

This concept will be explained more in the next chapter, but it essentially is your home network. Windows 7 has the ability to apply different firewall settings to the HomeGroup than it does to all other networks. This makes it easier to share files and other information between different computers on your home network. This functionality is enabled by default when you create a HomeGroup, so you may never have any reason to actually open the Windows Firewall window. However, if you do want to change your settings, you can do so by opening the Windows Firewall window in the Windows Control Panel.

The fact that Windows Firewall can now treat the HomeGroup differently means that Windows Firewall is now finally a dual-more firewall. When you open the Windows Firewall window you will see options for both your home network and for public networks. Each of these feature sets can be accessed and adjusted individually.

Home networking has always been a bit of a pain in the butt with Windows. Windows 7 attempts to address this by over-hauling how Windows handles home networking, and as part of this over-haul Microsoft has added a new networking feature known as HomeGroup. Your HomeGroup is automatically created when you install Windows 7. All computers that are part of a HomeGroup are able to share information easily. They can also access printers that are connected to other computers that are a part of the HomeGroup. The type of information that is shared can be changed as you desire.

To make changes you need to open your HomeGroup window. There are five checkboxes here, one for each of the default libraries created by Windows 7 and one for printers. You can also share media with devices on your network such as an Xbox if you desire. The checkbox is only available if there are devices connected to your home network that Windows 7 is able to share media with. To add additional computers to your HomeGroup you will need to access the Network and Sharing Center of the computer that you want to add. Whenever they change, it notices and updates its index.

The index allows you to quickly find a file based on the data in the index. However, if you store your important files in other folders — maybe you store your important data a separate partition or drive, such as at D: Use the Modify button to control the folders that Windows indexes or the Advanced button to control other options. To prevent Windows from indexing entirely, click the Modify button and uncheck all the included locations. You could also disable the search indexer entirely from the Programs and Features window.

You can search for files right from your Start menu on Windows 7 or Start screen on Windows 8. Just tap the Windows key and perform a search. From here, you can just click a file to open it.

On Windows 7, files are mixed with other types of search results. On Windows 8 or 8. If you want to perform a search without leaving the desktop in Windows 8. Just use the search box at the top-right of the window. On Windows 8, these options are available from the Search Tools tab on the ribbon.

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