I know that I’ve seen basically everyone and their mother do a top features list for Microsoft’s latest and greatest, however in the short amount of time that I’ve been exploring it I’ve seen some cool features that are constantly left out of these lists. Things that I couldn’t do before, and that people who are upgrading from XP (and skipping Vista) may have missed. So, without further Ado, here we go.
- It’s the little things
Okay, so when you enter Windows Explorer in XP where do you end up by default? Is it some random place in the Windows folder that you use <.01% of the time? Well, not in Windows 7. It takes you straight to the Libraries view. Something I just now noticed (since I started writing this sentence) is that when you use the shortcut Windows+E it takes you to the Computer view, giving you a quick glance at all storage devices connected to your computer and how much space is on them. Nice.
More than anything else….the OS FEELS snappy. It’s weird to say that, but stuff just works. where have I heard that before….oh yeah, on retarded mac commercials. Well guess what guys, Windows is there and kicking butt.
Connecting to a wireless network is a breeze now too. That is a big deal, especially if you were used to the 50000 windows you had to click through to connect to a wireless network on Vista.
In addition, many of the classic programs that come with Windows have gotten an overhaul. Wordpad, Paint, Calculator, etc. There are also some new tools that are pretty cool, like sticky notes and a snip tool, which I’ve used to take the screen shots for this post (which I’m writing to test out another new tool in Windows, called Live Writer, which syncs to your blog).Oh, and you can crop in paint now. That makes it infinitely more useful.
- Searching your computer
On both my Vista and XP machines I had the EXCELLENT program Launchy installed to help me quickly get to things. I loved that 
program, however I think it’s going to be going by the wayside with Windows 7. All you have to do is click the (formerly) Start button and start typing…then ~poof~ there are all the things on your computer that have to do with that item; programs, documents, context menus. Another thing that is convenient about this feature is that it searches the control panel, so if you know which menu you need to go to, you can skip the whole searching process and go straight to the menu.
- Use your words.
Im going to write this entire paragraph without touching the keyboard or the mouse. The reason for this this is to demonstrate the benefit of speech to text. While it's still not perfect and there are things that need to be worked out, I could definitely see myself using this (and really using it) for writing long documents. Its not perfectly intuitive yet as far as navigating through menus goes. However it does a really adequate job in understanding the words that I say. Although I've only used it for a day, I can already see improvement in its recognition of my speech. I think this could really be a fantastic tool, and I'm amazed that hasn't been talked about more. As far as accessibility goes I really think this could help the number of people who perhaps have trouble using their hands to get into the computer world.
- Windows Media Center
I know this isn’t necessarily a feature new to Windows 7, however I know that a lot of people are migrating straight from Windows XP and have never gotten the chance to experience this fantastic program for themselves. Let me just say, I think this is the number one reason to go PC over Mac. Here is an example of how amazing this tool can be. I bought a TV tuner card for my desktop for 20 dollars off of Woot.com. When I was running the beta of Windows 7 I used Media Center to schedule to record shows like Battlestar Galactica (Media Center downloads programming schedules automatically) While I COULD watch the shows live on my computer, I preferred to use my computer as a DVR, record the shows, and stream them to my x-box in the living room to watch at me leisure. The process was easy and amazingly convenient. If you haven’t ever used Media Center before, I highly suggest checking it out.
- Control the notifications!
I’ve heard people complain ad nauseum about User Accounts Control in Windows Vista, however I only had to deal with it once (that is, to turn the darned thing off). While that can be tamed marginally easier (although it’s STILL not a big deal) one area of the screen that has been a pain ever since it’s existed has been the notification area. 
However, all that has changed in 7. It’s easy as can be to tell Windows which items you want or don’t want to nag you. The most icons I ever see are the ones you see above (yes it’s too late for me to be awake, give me a break). This is a much-needed enhancement.
- Homegroups
I’ve read about this elsewhere, but this feature really needs to be emphasized in my mind. Networking has been possible for a while, but for the lay person, it doesn’t get any easier than homegroups. We installed Windows 7 on a bunch of our machines at my house, and they are all in the same homegroups. As soon as that happened, I had access to every printer connected to every computer in the house. This is awesome, since mine is out of ink. The Libraries functionality (Windows monitors music, picture, video, and document folders on your computer and conglomerates them into four “libraries” so you can find stuff right away) also works well with homegroups. I can instantly access all of my files on any Windows 7 computer that is in the group.
Now, one negative is that you can only use it on Windows 7 computers. But the way I see it is if you’re gonna buy the OS for one computer, there’s no reason not to do it for all of them. I just don’t understand why you’d do that. Homegroups is easy to use, and a great feature.
- Oh Snap!
This may have been a feature that should go in the little things section, but considering how often I’ve already used this feature I’m giving it it’s own area. Drag a window to the side (or use the shortcut, Windows + right or left key) and it snaps there and takes up exactly half of the screen. Since I have a large monitor, this tool is simply awesome. There is one caveat I need to mention, and that is that it doesn’t quite work with multiple monitors, so if you have more than one screen, don’t expect this to blow your mind quite as well. Another feature getting some fanfare is the shake function, but I honestly don’t see ANY use for it. If you can click on a window, then you can see everything in it. What’s the big deal about getting rid of the rest of the windows? Seems pointless to me, and I have yet to use it at all.
I’m sure there are more, as I’m learning about the OS a little bit every day, but these are the features that are most important to me as a heavy computer user. I likes it, I likes it a lot. In fact, it keeps me up at night I’m so excited to finally get my hands on the finished product.
BONUS: List of Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts, for those of you who need to know them (like me). Lifehacker
-Alex
