Get exact time
Get present weather
Your money converter
Type address for map:

Oxford AL Dictionary:

Sitemap (Index to site)
The World's My Home
UEFA Euro 2012 draw
Visiting Europe
Visiting China
Visiting Morocco
Visiting Malaysia
Online hotel booking
Anything to translate?

HOME
Useful tips for YouTube
Your own password
Using RssReader
Using Cobian Backup
Internet/Computer tips
Useful software
Inspiring quotes/ideas

2012 Calendar/Events
Brainteasers
Just for laughs
Email spams and scams
Special characters
Six search engines

Old songs new singers
Deezer playlists
Popular English songs
Popular French songs
Sing with the lyrics
English-Malay Dictionary
Malay language course

Learn Chinese pinyin
Chinese characters
Chinese songs
Malay songs
Contact us

What's new in Windows 7

Each time Microsoft comes out with a new OS it claims that it is better than the previous one (we know that this was not the case with Vista). So now that Windows 7 is replacing Vista, the same claims are being made. Let's hope that it's true this time and that it is not just hype. Some of the new features in Windows 7, which is making its public appearance on October 22, 2009, are:

Pins

Under Windows 7 you can now create a shortcut by right clicking on almost anything and selecting “Pin to Taskbar” or just dragging it to the Taskbar (the bottom line of the screen as shown above). Microsoft claims that "just like tacking notes on a bulletin board, you can use pin to keep the things you need close at hand."

Jump Lists
Windows 7 has a new feature called Jump Lists. When you hover over a program's icon in the Start menu or on the Task Bar, a list of items you’ve worked on recently will appear eg. if you hover over Windows Media Player's icon your recently played songs will appear. The same happens when you hover over the Word or Excel icons or your photo editor. You will find recently open documents or photos that you can click on to open straightaway.

Snap
You can leave many windows open and yet not clutter up your screen by simply dragging their borders to the edges of your screen. Drag them back to full screen anytime you want to or halfway in order to put two windows together side by side.

Libraries
The new feature called "Libraries" puts similar types of files (eg. photos, songs) that are scattered all over your computer together in one location - even when they're in different folders or in your external hard disk. Thus if you have different folders, one for each of your family member's photos, you can choose the ones you like from each of them and you will find them together in one place in the library.

XP still rules
With Windows 7 you can download the Windows XP Mode which allows you to run old software while still under Windows 7 (but this is only true for the Professional and Ultimate versions).

"Goes to sleep" faster
On the positive side, Windows 7 enables your PC to "go to sleep" a tiny bit faster and resumes its earlier state a wee bit faster too.

Sound Recorder

The Sound Recorder in Vista and Windows 7 - stripped of all editing features!
No improvement has been made to the Sound Recorder in Windows 7. It is exactly the same as that in Vista which is devoid of several useful editing features that were present in the Sound Recorder under XP. This is another example of how a new Microsoft OS is not necessarily better than the previous one. Look at the two screenshots to see how it was under XP and how it is now under Vista/Windows 7. (I use the Sound Recorder a lot for the audio files in my Malay and Chinese language courses.)

The same Sound Recorder under XP - older but better because you can control so many things in it. I wonder if the people who make this backward move really make use of it themselves. If you call this progress (by removing useful functions) I really don't know what the word "progress" means!

Run command missing in Windows 7
If you do use the Run command from time to time don't try to look for it in Windows 7. You will not find it under the Start menu. You have to put it back there yourself. To do this you have to right-click on the Windows orb which, by the way used to have a name ("Start") under Windows XP, then click on Customize, after which you have to put a tick on the "Run command" box and validate it. Only then will it re-appear in the Start menu. Are we going forward or backwards with Windows 7, I really wonder.

Not missing but hidden
If you should open two Word documents and have them minimized while you open your Firefox, you will not find an icon of the second document though it is still there simply because it is hidden by the first. Similarly if you should open two sites in Firefox in two separate windows and then go on to use some other program, you will only be able to find the icon of the first, not of the second. This is because some smart guy in Microsoft thinks it is better to just let them overlap so that only the first will be visible. Again someone who switches from XP or Vista to Windows 7 will be completely baffled by this new system.

The Touchscreen
There are a number of other less-than-obvious uses that Windows 7 offers such as the Touchscreen. It will enable you to make use of the state-of-the-art touch-sensitive screens (great for those who like gadgets!). With such a tactile screen you can just throw your mouse away and let your finger do the work in its place!

Conclusion:
After using Windows 7 for nearly two years now I must say that I have not been at all impressed by it. To me it's just another Microsoft tactic to make users spend money in buying the new OS which, apart from the artificialities have really not much new to offer the internet user. Windows XP was a gem and Microsoft would do well to just leave well alone.
Go here for my earlier review of Vista.