9 Features You Must Enjoy In Windows 7 RC

• Tweet
• Share
• Email

There is no secret that Microsoft has released Windows 7 Release Candidate a few days ago for the public, and I have to say that it’s looking great. Although the design is not very different from what Windows Vista offers, there are some major changes and great additions in Windows 7. Microsoft promised that they will deliver something better than Vista, however, the company promised the same thing when they unveiled Vista which wasn’t supposed  “feature” as many bugs as XP. Well, Windows 7 RC is here and there are some features which you should definitely enjoy.

1. Of course this list starts with Multitouch. I hope you didn’t think of something else because you would have been awfully wrong. Multitouch is like heaven and we have to thank Microsoft for bringing this feature to us. You can find a lot of computers which support multitouch like the TouchSmart all-in-one PCs from HP, the HP TouchSmart TX2 notebook PC, or the Dell Latitude XT and XT2. There are others too, and they are not as expensive as you might think. Using Multitouch on Windows 7 is great – you can scroll, flick, zoom in, zoom out, and whatever you want to do when you are not in the “mood” of using a mouse or a keyboard. Multitouch is also useful when you access a drawing application as you can select the tools with one hand, and with the other you can just draw and unleash your inner-artist. Last thing about Multitouch: Microsoft confirmed that the feature will be supported by Silverlight on the Internet.

2. The second feature that you shouldn’t miss on Windows 7 is called Libraries. This allows you to keep a library of all your files like pictures, music, videos, or other documents even if they are located on different drives. If you download some photos from a camera in a directory, then you back them up on another drive, and you have to go to Windows Explorer and select Libraries/Pictures and you should see them there.

3. If you think that you are geek, then you must use Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts. Now you can minimize, restore, or maximize by hitting the WinKey + up/down. WinKey + Shift + up/down will maximize and restore vertical size, while WinKey + Shift + right/left will allow you to jump between windows. WinKey + right/left will dock windows to right and left, WinKey + T will allow you to use the arrows to select a window from your taskbar, and WinKey + P will give you the possibility to change the display modes. Hitting the WinKey + Space will show your desktop.

The great part is that there are  keyboard + mouse shortcuts as well in Windows 7, and if you press Shift + Right Click in Windows Explorer on a file, then you will see the “Send To” menu. If you press Shift + Left Click on a random application from your taskbar, then Windows 7 will launch another instance of it. Control key + Left Click on Internet Explorer or Microsoft Outlook will allow you to flick through several windows, and this works with any application which supports multiple windows.

4. The fourth feature on our list is called Homegroup and it is the most simple and most efficient home networking and file sharing program ever developed. First of all, every computer in your network should run on Windows 7, and when you install the OS, you will receive a so-called “Homegroup key” so that you can use it every time you want to access and share files from the machines in your network. The Homegroup feature will also allow you to share printers, and it seems like it works nice and easy without any bugs or security flaws.

5. Thanks to Windows 7 you can easily burn an ISO. You just have to Right Click on a .iso file, then click Burn disc image. Also if you double click on a .iso file, you will get to burn an image.

6. Remember the Homegroup feature? Well, you can also use it for Play To / Remote Streaming feature. First, you have to setup a Homegroup on the computers in your home / network, then you go to Windows Media Player and select “Allow remote control of my Player” from the Stream button. After you do that with all machines in your network, just go to your computer, right click on a song from your Windows Media Player playlist, and select “Play To” to all other Homegroup PCs. That song will play on all or on which computer you want, and you can also control the volume.

“Remote Streaming” gives you the possibility to stream media files like pictures, music, and videos from your machine to the computers on the Internet. Don’t worry as you won’t share these with an unknown user or with someone who would love to publish all your dirty photos, you will associate your computer with a Live ID, then the person whom you want to share your files will associate his computer with the same Live ID, and that’s it.

7. Another interesting feature from Windows 7 is called Desktop Photo Slideshow and it allows you to select a bunch of images that will become your desktop backgrounds. You will set the time in order to change picture every 1,15,30 etc. minutes therefore you won’t get bored of the same wallpaper. You just have to right click on your desktop, go to Personalize, then Desktop Backgrounds, and you can customize your settings from there.

8. This feature and the next one are not available for all users, but this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try them. Remember the Microsoft PDC from last year? Well, if you were present there, then you probably got your hands on one of those Sensors, and on some APIs for the sensors’ platform. You have to setup the sensors and play some video games to test the ambient light sensor, the 8 capacitive-touch sensors, and the accelerometer. These Sensors represent the future, but the future is now and it is called Windows 7.

9. The last feature is the Windows 7 XP Mode. We explained you yesterday that this feature is not available to all machines because not all Intel processors feature Virtualization Technology. Windows XPM allows applications which work only with Windows XP to run on Windows 7 without any problems. This feature was designed for businesses with which need to run XP-only applications on Windows 7.

Well, these are some of the most important features that you don’t have to miss on Windows 7. A few days ago, Microsoft has released the Windows 7 RC, and if you didn’t get it until now, then head over to our Downloads page right here.