Fact Sheet: Windows 7 for End Users

The new taskbar in Windows 7 puts you in control, and helps you get to the programs and files you need more quickly. Each open window appears as a graphic thumbnail that expands to a full-screen preview when you hover over it with your mouse. Icons are bigger, too, making it easier to select them with a mouse or with the new touch features in Windows 7. You can place each program exactly where you want it on the taskbar and pin frequently used applications or files for quick access.

Jump Lists — there’s one for each program on your Start menu and Windows Taskbar — make it easier to find what you want. They’re automatically populated based on how often you do things and how recently you did them, so you’ll spend less time looking for your favorite song or that file you worked on yesterday.

Commonly used resources are available within easy access and without desktop clutter. It’s easy and intuitive to navigate, arrange and work with multiple windows on the desktop. With Aero Peek, hover your mouse over the far-right side of the Windows Taskbar and all your open windows become transparent, so you can easily see your desktop. With Snap, drag open windows to the border of the screen to automatically re-size them, and snap two different windows to the left and right borders for a perfect comparison. With Shake, click on a window pane and shake your mouse to minimize all other open windows, and shake again to restore the windows to their original sizes.

Touch is built into the fabric of Windows 7 and available on specific touch-enabled PCs. With a touch PC, you can zoom in on an image by moving two fingers closer together or zoom out by moving your fingers apart. The Start menu, Windows Taskbar and Windows Explorer are touch-friendly, with larger icons that are easier to select with your finger. Browsing the Web with Internet Explorer 8 is easier too — just use your finger to scroll down a Web page or browse your favorite links.

HomeGroup in Windows 7 makes sharing files across the PCs and devices in your home as easy as if all your data were on a single hard drive. Through HomeGroup, PCs running Windows 7 can automatically identify and connect with each other. Once a HomeGroup is established, sharing devices and media throughout your home is easy. For example, the printer in your den is shared automatically with all the PCs in your home, and digital photos stored on a computer in your den can be easily accessed from a laptop anywhere in your home.

Windows 7 customers will benefit from the focus on underlying performance, faster startup, resume and shut down time, and enhanced power management.

Communication and sharing services are fundamental to your Windows experience. In Windows 7, certain functionality that was included in previous versions of Windows will be offered through a suite of free, downloadable applications called Windows Live Essentials, found at http://download.live.com. Access your data offline and do more with your photos, videos and other content you want to share. These applications will be regularly updated to provide innovative functionality and integration with popular Web-based services.

Browsing the Web is the single most popular activity on the PC. Internet Explorer 8 addresses changing user needs through significant enhancements in these main areas: