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From late October 2009, new
computers will start to ship with Windows 7, the latest operating system
from Microsoft. This month we look
at some of the features that may entice you to upgrade:
At Home:
Share nicely – With most homes now
having multiple computers, the ‘HomeGroup’ feature makes it
easier to share printers and files (including music, pictures and
videos). Entering a password
connects your Windows 7 computer into the HomeGroup, and settings control
which files are shared and which remain private.
Take the music with you – Windows 7 and Media
Player 12 allow you to access and play media files from your home PC
remotely via the internet on another computer.
Snap & Shake – Time to teach your
mouse some new tricks! Aero Snap
activates when you drag a window to an edge of your screen. Left or right edges automatically make
the window resize to a full ‘top-to-bottom but half screen
width’ size. Drag to the top
of your screen, and your window will retain its width but stretch out
vertically to fill your screen from top to bottom. Aero Shake lets you literally grab and
shake a window to minimise all of the other open windows on your screen.
At Work:
Find more – The speed of the
Start menu’s search feature has improved significantly. You’ll see search results from
files and Outlook emails stored locally on your computer, including the
text contained within email attachments.
Search also extends beyond just your PC and can be configured to
include results from your company’s network drives and public
websites, using search connectors.
USB secrets – USB storage (in
either keys or portable hard disks) has become more popular for people
working at multiple locations or for storing backups. With BitLocker To Go (in Windows 7
Ultimate edition), you can now secure files on these devices by
encrypting them with a lengthy password.
This password can be remembered on your regular PC, and if
it’s forgotten, a 48 character recovery key can be used on any
Windows 7 PC to restore access to your files. Just don’t lose your recovery key
too!
On The Go:
Performance – Windows 7 requires
less horsepower to run than Windows Vista. Independent publications have reported
that ageing laptops running Windows XP have become more responsive with
Windows 7.
Saving power – Numerous features
have been added to automatically preserve battery life, such as shutting
off power to unused network ports and reducing background
activities. There are also more
tweaks for creating your own power-saving schemes, including setting the
video quality and processor cooling options.
Talk to your local Computer Troubleshooter about your
options for upgrading to Windows 7.
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