Windows 7: Features

For a while it seemed that even Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) was going to be stripped out of Windows 7 - in the European editions at least - but it's still here. Microsoft's proposal to the European Union is that, at the point of installation, you'll be given a choice between Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and IE8.

A number of programs have gone. There's no email application, no video-editing tool, no calendar, no parental controls, no instant messenger, no photo gallery app. All these formerly bundled items of software have been moved to the Windows Live Essentials group of products - still free, but this time as a separate download.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, everything you need from an OS remains, and with the development team focusing on the core operating system - think ease of use and performance - we're happy to see extraneous features offloaded.

Light entertainment
This isn't to say that Windows 7 has been stripped bare. It does indeed boast a raft of new features - but since they're more relevant to the task of running your PC, they're a little harder to track down. Entertainment junkies will be pleased with Windows 7, for instance, since it introduces a raft of subtle yet important improvements.

Windows Media Player's new streaming features allow you to share songs and videos not just within your home network, but over the internet. Meanwhile, the program's "Stream to" feature allows you to send music from a PC to any player that features a DLNA sticker.

Media Center sees similar additions, including additional support for DivX, XviD and H.264 file types, which means more video will be instantly playable on your PC without hunting around for codecs. There's a neat Gadget to give quick access to recent recordings, direct from the desktop, and a timeline to do the same from within the app itself.

And talking of Gadgets, these are now set free from the restrictive Sidebar of Windows Vista, and can be dropped wherever you like on the desktop.

Advanced users will love additions such as Federated Search - a facility that allows you to search the internet from an ordinary Windows Explorer window. For example, say you want to search for a story you know you saw on this website: we've created a downloadable file that will integrate a PC Pro search into Explorer.

Touching times
Windows 7 also includes more support for touch. With a capacitive touchscreen PC, you can now scroll through lists of files, pinch to zoom web pages and images, and employ flicks and gestures to launch Jump Lists.
The onscreen keyboard is more usable than its Vista counterpart too, with the new multitouch capability allowing you to hold Shift and hit a letter at the same time to get a capital.
Hard hitting

Administrators and business users haven't been neglected. There's a host of improvements in Windows 7 designed to make administering and working with the OS on a daily basis that bit easier.

BitLocker To Go, for instance, extends Vista's BitLocker full-disk encryption to USB flash drives and external hard disks - although only for users of the Ultimate and Enterprise editions. There's also AppLocker, which helps administrators control the execution and installation of software.

Less obvious is the new Windows Biometric Framework, a software stack that all versions of Windows 7 (apart from Starter) use to support fingerprint readers natively. The idea is that users shouldn't have to deal with poorly programmed security tools produced by hardware suppliers to take advantage of, say, encrypted password storage.

Potentially more significant is the fact that the new software components make it easier for third-party software developers to take advantage of fingerprint readers; we could soon see browsers building in support for fingerprint readers, for example.

Windows 7 also places more focus on virtualisation. Part of this is the ability to set up virtual disks - quicker than setting up physical disk partitions (note that only Ultimate can boot from a virtual disk). Another is Windows XP Mode, available in Windows 7 Professional and up, which uses Microsoft's Virtual PC software to seamlessly run programs designed for the older OS.

Every little counts
In addition to all these extras, there's a list as long as an orangutan's arm of small, handy additions you'll come to appreciate more than you might expect.

Windows 7 sees an overhaul of the calculator tool, for example, with a new multiline, editable display. WordPad has been given the Office 2007 treatment with a swanky Ribbon bar replacing the old, static toolbar.

Paint has seen a major overhaul too, with more tools than before and a Ribbon bar again to help with ease of use.

And let's not forget the useful Snipping Tool for taking selective screenshots, and the dull but worthy Problem Steps Recorder, which lets you capture a series of onscreen actions, annotate them and email them in a single file; invaluable for diagnosing technical problems or demonstrating software to new users.

Conclusion
It's perhaps inevitable that some will view the stripping out of major applications as a retrograde step, but Windows 7 does include a lot of new features and improvements (see our comprehensive guide).

More importantly, almost all the additions are relevant to the task in hand; they make the job of working with Microsoft's new operating system on a day-to-day basis a pleasure, rather than a chore.