Top Windows 7 Features

This articles targets ten greatest features of Windows 7 that should've been in Vista, and know how those ten features will make your life that much better if you're currently thinking the upgrade.

1. Reasonable System Requirements

People were very excited about upgrading their Windows to something that was prettier, more flashy and more intuitive, but they weren't banking on buying an entirely new system in order to do so. The price of Vista was tough enough to swallow, the cost of Vista plus the cost of a system capable of running Vista was too much for some. Microsoft put off a lot of potential customers by demanding such high end hardware to run its Windows, and to compound the issue, many end-users felt that the upgrade wasn't even worth it

Windows 7's requirements are almost same as Vista's. The difference? Windows 7 is coming out in late 2009, whereas Windows Vista launched in early 2007. Windows 7 allows older machines specially those strong enough to handle Vista to run beautifully on a new platform. Even netbooks and Windows XP-based machines are seeing smooth performance on Windows 7, though Vista is still sluggish. The breaking news? Windows 7 does more with what you give it, and it functions smoothly with older hardware that has less to offer it.

2. Streamlined Code Speed

The developers spent an awful lot of time cleaning up background activity in Windows 7 as compared to Vista. In Vista, it always seemed like too much was going on underneath, as if wheels were turning unnecessarily. This led to the Windows being far too resource intensive, as it couldn't do the things it needed to do in a highly efficient fashion.

Windows 7, on the other side, is buttery smooth from boot-up to shut down. Transitions are seamless, application launching is fast and everything just seems to look better. If Vista was a first or second draft, Windows 7 is the final copy after being edited four or five times over.

3. Trust

Windows Vista seemed to question your every move, and while we know its intentions were (it wouldn't want you venturing to some virus-installed website, for example), the incessant nagging grew tiresome very quickly. Vista wanted to check, double-check and sometimes triple-check every single move you made, and while Windows 7 still asks for your permission before doing an awful lot of tasks, it's not nearly as persistent.

4. Aero Peek

Vista was plenty advanced enough to include Aero Peek, but instead, the only thing Aero was good for in Vista was adding a bit of sheen to your desktop while consuming 500MB of RAM in the process. Aero Peek is a Windows 7 feature that enables users to hover over application window groupings in the task bar in order to see what's currently going on. Let's suppose you've got three IE8 windows, two Windows Explorer windows and four Adobe Reader windows open on the desktop. If you roll over the IE8 icon in the task bar, your three IE8 windows pop-up above it; hover over the one you want to maximize, and that windows automatically takes center stage over everything else. What once was chaos is now calm and understandable.

5. Aero Shake

Here comes another Windows 7 feature that sound simple almost too simple to matter yet makes a big difference in daily work. In Vista, you had to either show the desktop and then click on the window you wanted to appear alone, or you had to manually minimize each and every window except your preferred one. Aero Shake enables you grab a window, shake your mouse like a crazy person, and view all of the other windows shrink down into the task bar. It's the Windows equivalent of a stress reliever ball, but it actually increase your productivity.

6. Aero Snap

In case you didn't notice, Windows 7 puts Aero to good use. Instead of just making your windows, desktop and transitions look cooler. Aero Snap is another great feature for quickly re-arranging your desktop into how you'd like it. Using this is simple; you just select a window, move it into the left or right side, and immediately that window resizes to fill precisely half of your desktop space (on whichever side you slammed it into). Do the same process to other window on the opposite side, and bam, you've just maximized your screen space while viewing two documents/web pages/etc.

7. A Smart Task bar

The task bar in Windows Vista was simply a newer version of the task bar in Windows XP. Sure, it worked, but it didn't innovate. And look, you're paying a lot of money for this new OS--surely some innovation should come standard, right? Windows 7's task bar allows users to pin applications launchers and documents to the bar, and it even lets you pin web pages and specific shortcuts on each main icon.

8. A Windows Media Center

For casual users of Windows Media Center, the one in Windows Vista is probably good enough. But for those with multiple TV tuners, a Netflix subscription and a library of movies that runs a few hundred titles deep, there were loads of issues to deal with.

The Windows Media Center within Windows 7 works a whole lot smoother, feels a lot less like a shoe-horned addition to the OS and is actually built to handle extenders such as the Xbox 360.

Windows7's version boasts a slicker interface, faster transitions and integration with far more web content portals. Oh, and did we mention the extra long list of compatible HTPC hardware? Chances are, your TV tuner, sound card and optical drive will work without any extra drivers on Windows 7, and simplicity is always a good thing.

9. Search That Works

Microsoft really enhanced searching in Windows 7, and considering that an operating system is a big, scary world, it makes perfect sense. You'll probably find yourself search for one thing or another on a daily basis, so wouldn't it be good if your Operating system was ready at all times to help you find it?

When it comes to searching Vista was not good enough.. It oftentimes wouldn't search in the locations you needed it to, and many times it would look right over the file you were trying to find. Worst of all, it acted like it needed you to give it a head start by telling in where in the drive to search. Windows 7, on the other side, allows you to simply hit the Windows key and start typing; your text automatically goes into a search field and the gears start turning as soon as you mash the first hey. Windows 7 is far better at indexing material to search, and we've yet to type in something that it couldn't locate.

10. Multi-touch Support

We all know multi-touch wasn't popular in 2007, but it wasn't unheard of. Microsoft's own Surface paved the way for simpler, consumer-oriented multi-touch programs, so we're confident the boys and girls in Redmond know a thing or two about it. Vista simply wasn't designed for touch, which is baffling given the amount of Tablet PCs on the market and the amount of touch-panel PCs that are shipping. Windows 7 rights that wrong, however, added a deep level of multi-touch support throughout the OS.

We believe Windows 7 is an outstanding operating system, and it really improves on the areas that Vista was lacked.