Windows 7 (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) is the next version of Microsoft Windows and the successor to Windows Vista.Microsoft stated in 2007 that it is "scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year timeframe", and that "the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar.
Features new to Windows 7
User interface
Windows 7 retains the Windows Aero user interface and visual style first introduced with Windows Vista, but many areas have seen enhancements.
Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer in Windows 7 presents Libraries for different file types (documents, music, pictures, videos etc). Libraries are virtual folders that aggregate a content from various locations - including shared folders on networked systems - and present them in a unified view. Libraries are accessible from the Start menu, Windows Explorer as well as the Open File and Save File dialogs. Searching in a library automatically federates the query to the remote systems, in addition to searching on the local system, so that files on the remote systems are also scoped by the search. Unlike search folders in Windows Vista, Libraries are backed by a physical location which allows files to be saved in the Libraries. Such files are transparently saved in the backing physical folder.
Windows Explorer also supports federating search to external data sources, such as custom databases or web services, that are exposed over the web and described via an OpenSearch definition. The federated location description (called a Search Connector) is provided as a .osdx file. Once installed, the data source becomes queryable directly from Windows Explorer. Windows Explorer features, such as previews and thumbnails, work with the results of a federated search as well.
Taskbar
The features of the QuickLaunch toolbar have been integrated into the Windows 7 taskbar. The Windows 7 taskbar is more application-oriented than window-oriented. Applications can now be pinned to the taskbar allowing the user instant access to the applications they commonly use. There are a few ways to pin applications to the taskbar. One can drag and drop the icon onto the taskbar. The other way to do so is by right-clicking the application’s icon and pinning the icon to the taskbar.
Applications that are pinned in the taskbar have distinct features.
The preview pane which was introduced in Windows Vista has been expanded to not only preview the windows opened by the application in a small-sized thumbnail view, but to also interact with the preview pane. The user can close any windows opened by clicking the X on the corresponding preview pane. The name of the window is also available in the preview pane. Another new feature added is the ability to get a peek of the window by hovering over the preview pane. Peeking brings up only the window which the mouse hovers within the preview panes and turns any other windows on the desktop into glass. This also works for tabs in Internet Explorer; individual tabs may be peeked at in the preview pane. In addition to these features, the preview pane has decreased the amount of times a user has to click to get to basic features by integrating them into the preview pane themselves. For example, if Windows Media Player is opened and the mouse is hovering on the application icon, the preview pane will allow the user the ability to Play, Stop, and Play Next/Previous track without having to actually open Windows Media Player.
These are menu options available from right-clicking any of the icons on the taskbar. Each application will have unique jump lists which will correspond to the features unique to the application whether it be recent files opened or common tasks. For example, a Microsoft Word jump list might display all the recent documents opened. The Windows Media Player jump list, for example, displays recently played tracks and playlists that have been played. Internet Explorer’s jump bar displays recent history of websites. Windows Live Messenger’s jump list displays select common tasks such as instant messaging, signing off, and changing online status.
The user can choose which notification balloons will be shown. A drag and drop of hidden notifications into the visible notifications will allow the user to change the status of notifications.
The taskbar is 10 pixels taller than in Windows Vista to accommodate the new larger default icon size, though a smaller taskbar size is available. Users do not have the option to go back to the classic Windows taskbar. Running applications are denoted by a white border around the icon. Within this border, a color effect (dependent on the colors the icon uses) that follows the mouse will also indicate the opened status of the application.
In past versions of Windows, the taskbar ended with the notification area on the right side. However there is now a shortcut in order to display the desktop which shows the desktop and gadgets by making all windows into glass. This is a replacement of the Show Desktop shortcut in the QuickLaunch bar in previous versions of Windows. This new shortcut exhibits the same features used by the preview pane except this applies it to all windows.
Methods of input
Hilton Locke, who worked on the Tablet PC team at Microsoft, reported on December 11, 2007 that Windows 7 will have new touch features. An overview of the multi-touch capabilities, including a virtual piano program, a mapping and directions program and a touch-aware version of Paint, was demonstrated at the All Things Digital Conference on May 27, 2008. A video demonstrating the multi-touch capabilities was later made available on the web on the same day.
Also, Bill Gates has said that Windows 7 is also "a big step forward" for speech technology and handwriting recognition.
Virtual hard disks
Windows 7 incorporates support for Microsoft Virtual PC’s Virtual Hard Disk file format. VHD files can be mounted as drives, created, and booted from.
Multicore CPU support
In Windows 7 Microsoft is intending to increase performance on systems with multiple cores. There will be a noticeable increase in system performance if the load created by executing programs is shared across multiple cores where available. Currently software often cannot take full advantage of multiple cores due to the way in which the software is written and executed. Adapting a program to exploit multiple cores to speed up its execution requires splitting the program into sub-tasks, synchronizing their execution and coalescing the results. Support from the OS and compiler can help in all of the stages.
Boot performance
According to data gathered from the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program, 35% of Vista SP1 installations boot up in 30 seconds or less. [5] The more lengthy boot times on the remainder of the machines are mainly due to some services or programs that are loaded but are not required when the system is first started. Microsoft’s Michael Fortin, a Distinguished Engineer on the Windows team, noted in August 2008 that Microsoft has set aside a team to work solely on the issue, and that team aims to "significantly increase the number of systems that experience very good boot times." They "focused very hard on increasing parallelism of driver initialization." Also, it aims to "dramatically reduce" the number of system services, along with their processor, storage, and memory demands.
Kernel features
Windows 7 is a major topic of technical sessions at WinHEC 2008 and was held on 4-6 November 2008 in Los Angeles The following improvements and additions to Windows 7 (and Server 2008 R2) kernel components was discussed:
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WDDM 1.1
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Direct3D 11
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Desktop Window Manager requires Direct3D 10.1
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NDIS 6.20
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DirectX Video Acceleration-High Definition (DXVA-HD)
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AVCHD camera support and Universal Video Class 1.1
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Protected Broadcast Driver Architecture (PDBA) for TV tuner cards
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Bluetooth audio stack
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Support for up to 256 logical processors
Management features
According to a Computerworld article, new Windows 7 management features include:
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DirectAccess, a VPN tunnel technology based on IPv6 and IPsec
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BranchCache, a branch-office cache system for files stored on central file servers
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BitLocker to Go, which brings BitLocker encryption support to removable disks such as USB drives
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AppLocker, a set of Group Policy settings to restrict which applications can run on a corporate network, including the ability to restrict based on the application’s version number
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Support for Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)
According to Jeffrey Snover, Windows Management Partner Architect, Windows 7 will also contain new technologies and features based on Windows PowerShell 2.0:
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Windows Troubleshooting Platform
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Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment
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PowerShell Remoting
Other features
According to reports sent to TG Daily, the Milestone 1 build of Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors and a new version of Windows Media Center.[10] New features in Milestone 1 also reportedly include Gadgets being integrated into Windows Explorer, a Gadget for Windows Media Center, the ability to visually pin and unpin items from the Start Menu and Recycle Bin, improved media features, the XPS Essentials Pack being integrated, and a multiline Calculator featuring Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion.
Reports indicate that a feedback tool included in Milestone 1 lists some coming features: the ability to store Internet Explorer settings on a Windows Live account, updated versions of Paint and WordPad, and a 10-minute install process. In addition, improved network connection tools might be included.
Many new items have been added to Control Panel including: Accelerators, ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Infrared, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, Windows Solution Center, and Display.
In build 6780, the Windows Security Center has been renamed the Windows Solution Center (Windows Health Center in earlier builds) which encompass both security and maintenance of the computer.
Windows 7 will also contain a new FireWire (IEEE 1394) stack that fully supports IEEE 1394b with S800, S1600 and S3200 data rates.
According to released PDC 2008 (taking place in October 27-30, 2008) session information, Windows 7 discussions will cover "enhancements to the taskbar, Start Menu, thumbnails and their desktop elements", a new networking API with support for building SOAP based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET based WCF web services), new features to shorten application install times, reduced UAC prompts, simplified development of installation packages, and improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API. A tool to burn ISO images to discs is included for the first time.
At PDC 2008, Microsoft announced Instant On, a feature that will reduce the startup time to 15 seconds. This feature is likely to appear in Windows 7 Beta 1.
In addition, a new font, "Gabriola", is included. There is also Office Open XML and ODF support in WordPad.
Microsoft is introducing a new feature called Device Stage which allows hardware developers to put all device information into a single window based off XML. Device Stage will allow users to manage their devices. It will display various information on devices such as battery charge, available storage space, the time and date of a last sync, links to online manuals, and other features unique to the device that is connected.
Windows 7 will also feature a an improved User Account Control which will allow users to select four different levels of notifications.[citation needed] Geo-tracking will also be available in Windows 7. The feature will be disabled by default. When enabled the user will be limited control as to which applications can track their location.
(taken from:http://en.wikipedia.org)