The RTM date is looming ever closer. Hopefully in 2 days it will be officially announced at the Worldwide Partner Conference on Monday. Over the course of the last few days, I have read a few articles that proclaim Windows 7 does not have any “killer features.†That would make someone want to upgrade from XP or Vista. I see it otherwise – I have put together a small list of 7 features that I like about Windows 7. If you ask me, any one of these features is worth the upgrade. Read on and and see for yourself.
1. The Taskbar
I have gotten so used to using the new taskbar. That previous taskbars (XP and Vista) seem inadequate. The ability to pin programs and documents to the taskbar is a feature that I can not live without. Let’s not forget jump lists – a very helpful feature for finding commonly used items. Overall the new taskbar is a superb addition to Windows 7 and one of its best features.
2. Aero Features
The new Aero Snap, Shake, and Peak features are great. I use them everyday without thinking about it. It is like second nature now. I wish I had them at work right now (Insert smiley face here). Unfortunately for me I am on an underpowered XP machine that needs RAM like no other.
3. Thumbnail Previews
This is something that you don’t realize you need until it’s not there. At work I do not have them and miss them terribly. I love the fact that they are “live†previews also. It is a big help to peek at a webpage before you maximize it.
4. Media Streaming
Microsoft really tried to make this feature easy for everybody to use. I use it everyday to push stream media to my Xbox 360. I love it and recommend it to all who read this. Try it and you will see.
5. XP Mode
This feature is good for people or businesses who are worried about not having certain applications run correctly in Windows 7. I think Microsoft is on to something with this feature. It might one day be called â€7 Mode†in Windows 9.
6. Homegroup
This is a feature I had to warm up to. My wife wanted access to all my photos, music, and so on. So I set her laptop up on a homegroup with my desktop and now she has access to over 500 GB of media. She loves it and wishes she had something like this sooner. I have to agree with her.
7. It Works
No, this is not a feature, so to speak. But, the fact remains that Windows 7 is a very stable OS that gets the job done. It is light on system resources and pretty quick all around. It boots up and shuts down very fast, who doesn’t like that? I have had zero trouble installing a huge number of programs and games on the Release Candidate (7100). I am mentally urging 10-22-09 to hurry up and arrive. So I can wipe my C drive to a finalized copy of Windows 7.
What features do you the readers like? Comments always welcome.