Seven things you may not know about Windows 7
LOS ANGELES--While Windows 7 has gotten plenty of attention over the past two weeks, there are some features in there that haven't gotten as much attention. I wrote on Friday about a new programming interface for location-based services. Here are seven more features that caught my eye.
1. Standard approach to mobile broadband
Windows 7 treats cellular modems as a standard connection, much like a Wi-Fi network, popping them up in the same available wireless networks dialog.
Sierra Wireless has already said it will support the new approach, which should make life much easier for road warriors (myself included). One of my few gripes about the prebeta Windows 7 laptop I'm using is that it doesn't recognize my relatively new USB Sprint modem.
2. Help with public Wi-Fi spots.
This was a little feature I discovered on my own. With many public Wi-Fi hot spots, once you connect to the network, you have to do something in your browser, such as agree to certain terms or enter a password. Windows 7 pops up a notification that tells you that, although you have to be connected to the network, more action may be needed and it gives you a direct link to open your browser.
When logging onto a Wi-Fi network that requires additional information via a browser, Windows 7 pops up this warning. (Click on image for a short photo gallery.)
(Credit: CNET News)
3. Windows Troubleshooting
Sure, it would be better if your computer worked problem-free. But, acknowledging that's not the case, Microsoft has added a central place in Windows 7 to try to figure out what went wrong and why.
Among the kinds of problems that Windows Troubleshooting aims to help solve are issues with networked printers, detecting hard drive problems, and even some proactive things, like figuring out how much life a laptop battery has before it will likely need to be replaced with a new battery.
4. New sensor support
Windows 7 adds base-level support for all kinds of sensors, from GPS, to ambient light sensors, to accelerometers. Light sensors, for example, can now be used not only to light up a keyboard, but an application could sense daylight and make type larger so that it's easier to read.
At WinHEC, Microsoft handed out 700 free sensor developer kits that included a light sensor, touch pad, and accelerometer. The kit was a big hit with the developers, prompting one of the only long lines of the show.
5. Improved battery life and playback of DVDs
Microsoft is trying to do a couple things to make the DVD-playing experience better in Windows 7.
First and foremost, it has changed things so that DVD movies just start playing, as opposed to bringing up a long list of options.
Second, the company has worked to adjust power settings while playing back movies to enable better battery life.
"I'm hopeful it will have battery life equivalent to a portable DVD player," Microsoft's Jon DeVaan said in an interview. The issue is personal, he said. If Microsoft can reach its goal, he might be able to only bring a laptop on outings. "I hope to spare my back on family trips," he said.
6. Windows Biometric Framework
According to a press release from fingerprint sensor make AuthenTec, the operating system features improved biometric support that should enable a more standard way for fingerprint management applications to work with fingerprint readers in Windows 7.
"This provides ease of fingerprint sensor integration for PC manufacturers and a more consistent user experience," AuthenTec said in its release.
7. Enhancements to Windows Media Center
Microsoft hasn't given up on its dream of having Windows gain a prominent spot in the living room and its main effort in this area--Windows Media Center--is back in Windows 7.
BetaNews has a look at some of the new features, including support for H.264 video, an on-screen keyboard, and better method of scrolling through large libraries.
No word on whether the new Media Center will offer the long-anticipated support for DirecTV.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
Unless these core issues are addressed, I don't care what bells and whistles they add.
The only DRM that exists in Windows is support for, you can download and play every single illegal program, photo, music to your hearts desire and nothing will come of it.
It allows you to play back content that the manufacturer themselves has included. for example you wouldn't be able to play back certain movies or files on Linux or OSX unless you downloaded the software to do so, thats all the DRM that is in Vista is.
Second, if you even bothered to read anything about Windows 7 you would know that its running on a Netbook with 1 gig of ram and runs well.
Get a job and quit complaining.
And until you learn to RTFA no-one will take you seriously.
Actually, just forget about it. No-one is ever going to take you seriously.
The other point is perfectly valid. I spent this weekend toying with Vista (SP1 w/ all the patches), OSX (Hackintosh-style), and Ubuntu 8.10 on a new corp-issued Dell Latitude. All were x86_64-bit versions. 2GB RAM, Core Duo 2, and Intel GMA...
Vista ran like an amputated pig compared to OSX (which wasn't even built for the thing), and Linux (which was screamingly fast).
The real funny part was, Vista required the most time downloading drivers (for pretty much everything - vidcard, sound, wireless, you could almost name it - if it weren't for Dell's website the thing would have limped even worse and half the laptop would be unusable). OSX required a kernel tweak for 3d acceleration. Ubuntu required nothing - it all ran perfectly right out of the box.
All I can say is, for all you idiots out there that claim Vista to be the best, maybe you should try using other OSes, because you've definitely settled for crap.
Here's hoping that Windows 7 runs at least somewhat decently compared to its competition by the time it comes out...
/P
he named 2 things he wanted improved/fixed. 2. not a tirade about how vista and microsoft suck etc, etc, etc...
we as customers/consumers have the right to expect products to improve as time goes on, all he's saying is we won't use said product until it's resolved to his liking, which millions of consumers do everyday with product ranging from coffee to cars.
This is just one of the many problems of the Vista Fanboys. Wrong information and listinging to people who don't know jack.
DRM was implemented in Vista. It's one of the key issues that made drivers (remember that issue with Nvidea cards?) harder to write and implement. This is DRM above and beyond the call of duty.
Then you complained about the guys lack of knowledge about ram requirments. 2gb hits the "Ok we finally have enough to let the dogs out" level. That laptop with 1gb is likely a dog, or stripped of all non essentialy startup and processes to it's less doglike.
Wake up and smell the coffee. Then pay attention to the OS and what it's realy doing.
In my opinion, both vista and OS X 10.5 are a bit bloated and initially buggy releases. The 5 point release updates by OS X and sp1 for vista solved lots of the bugs and both windows 7 and OS X 10.6 are supposed to cut on the bloat, with upgrades to those versions not expected to need hardware upgrades. Unfortunately Linux seems to be heading in the same direction of the other two. For example, an year or two ago a debian or ubuntu install with a full desktop running and without starting any extra applications like firefox, used to use <200MB of ram (not counting the cache, as Linux likes to use as much ram available as cache) But now with the latest Ubuntu, it seems to have crossed 250-300MB. Could be the bling bling in compiz and xorg is one reason, don't know!
I am looking forward to both Windows 7 and OS X 10.6, to see if they both cut the bloat. They both are great client operating systems.
Macs do not last longer than equivalent PC hardware."
I'm writing this comment on a Powerbook Pismo (2000 model) running OS 10.4.11. Run equivalent PC hardware and software. That's an 8 year old PC, with out problems.
#1 is probably not a good idea. Until mobile broadband providers stop having circumstances where rates can skyrocket without notice, confusing users between local connections and mobile broadband ones is going to lead to a lot of high bills and headaches.
...and until Windows Media Center drops the proprietary crap (or opens the specs), it's pretty worthless. VLC works just fine (even in Windows), thanks.
/P
Do you have trouble determining the difference between a cellular modem card and a wireless connection? Are you saying people are so stupid as to be unable to tell the difference? I'm rather suprised you would believe that. If a person bought a cell modem, I think it's a pretty clear indication they can figure this out.
If you don't like Media Center, then don't use it.
If you don't like Microsoft, then go away. It's as simple as that.
There is no need for you to continue to insult people here. Your presence is no longer welcome.
Me? No. A typical user? That's another story.
"There is no need for you to continue to insult people here. Your presence is no longer welcome. "
Whatever, Dan... I realize it probably hurts your feelings that not everyone loves your employer, but that's something you need to deal with - not the rest of us. We're the customer base for your employer (even those of us who don't use Microsoft's products at home)... maybe you and your employer should listen to us for once instead of unleashing you and your cronies unto the Internet in a fruitless defense of what is essentially indefensible?
/P
Macs are waste as soon as they leave the store.
I just built a new PC with parts I salvaged from my 5 year old PC because I wanted to upgrade to Quad core. Even the original Windows XP Home disk was re-activated by MSFT when I told them I did a system upgrade. I got many new parts at a discount and built a PC that will smoke any iMac and I did it all for $600 and it is rock solid and plays Crysis well.
PC`s are the ultimate in keeping parts out of the landfills and in value. These are the reasons why I would NEVER consider any Mac. Jobs locks you in and rips you off. Keep drinking the Kupertino Kool-Aid Mac dweebs. Gaming on a Mac ? Bwahahahahaha ! We can go hand pick a triple SLI board from Frys. Even Quad SLI too ;)
I will agree with you that the standatd ATX or micro-ATX boards with a chassis with full height slots does a better job of keeping stuff out of landfills because for the most part it is amongst the most versatile form factor, but ultimately whether stuff goes in a landfill or not depends upon whether the end user sends their components to the landfill.
I fail to see the relevance of triple never mind quad SLI. Save for 30 inch displays there are plenty of SINGLE cards that perform well enough. Furthermore, because you never get even close to twice the performance with two cards nevermind three times the performance with three cards so you would have to have to select a card that had significantly better performance per dollar than simply buying a higher end card because between buying a more expensive motherboard that actually supports triple or quad SLI (these boards aren't cheap) and taking the overhead of crosstalk between the cards into consideration. It seems rather hypocritical to talk about the environmental issues with AIO computers while not talking about the wasted energy of running three or four graphics cards when one high end card would provide performance that is hard to differentiate from far more power wasting SLI setups.
Considering that the article was about Windows 7 I fail to see what ranting about Macs and Mac OS had to do with the article to be honest.
I have a PowerMac G4 Quicksilver that was made in 2002, and with a processor upgrade it runs Mac OS 10.5 just fine. Would a PC of the same age run Vista fine? That's a big no.
And yes, I have used Vista.
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTU4MCw0LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
Your argument just exploded here.
I imagine the notebook would run on 1GB of ram. Though a person would be cheating him/herself of a lot of what Windows 7 is capable of. A person could easily operate a business, on the road, catch all his/her favorite tv shows, movies, and convince the world the business big and booming.
Having gone from a 35 degree "computer room" 7-11 hertz , 8 bit, 16 bit 32 bit and now a 64 bit. Web surfing was for 16 bit machines. 64 bit machines may still use the ram chips as my 750mhz notebook. Add steroids to those reliable ram chips, and rocket boosters to the "web surfing" .
Call it windows 7 or Vista Ultimate -- Microsoft put it all together in time for the holidays. Be the movies the ones played on the dvd players attached to the tv -- they start as soon as the dvd is in the drive. Or downloaded from your own favorite p2p site -- go for it.
Oh, I'm used to DOS -- I like DOS. I can do things in DOS that can't be done on an NT operating system. Think rocket boosters and steriods -- to an already quick piece of hardware -- and go with whatever the learning curve is -- and have fun with it.
Fingerprint reader? Yeah, ok. It's there. Good idea -- if it would read my fingerprints. Never mind. Lojack was included. What Lojack, Dell and Microsoft can't handle if the local law enforcement is ever called over one missing notebook computer -- can be handled some other way.
Someone mentioned that the notebook has an overheating problem. Huh? This computer doesn't get turned off, except when the updates are installed and it's necessary.
It seems to backwards compatible with XP software. Though not all of that software due to it being a 64 bit machine.
Now if I could figure out how to get it to make coffee, cook applesauce pancakes and do the laundry -- oh - never mind -- that would be the "robots" wouldn't it?
As for E-waste to china? One of the questions was "is this computer going to leave the United States?" China may have Walmart - but they can't get the same computer encryption that we have.
It's less than 60 days old - and I'm still figuring out what it'll do.
Also my wife runs VISTA on allot less hardware, 1GB Sentia - it runs pretty well.
I don't use Unbutu, but previous attempts to get SUSE and RED HAT installed have been nerve racking.
There are people who live to hate. It's sad, but it's true. Those people have closed minds and simply cannot accept that there can be any alternative to their own set mindset. The best you can do is ignore them or point out calmly the misinformation as being what it is.
People aren't nearly as stupid as he would like to believe. They can see him for what he really is.
The only person he is fooling is himself at this point.
Actually, it is your "game" that people don't like. It would be nice to be able to have unbiased discussions about products for those of us that don't equate our self worth with what Operating System we prefer. It is so childish. Your posts just waste space and annoy those looking for real, fair opinions and critiques.
Regardless, Apple is one of the greenest manufacturers out there now. They didn't used to be, but they are moving quickly to being the greenest that you can be as a manufacturer.
..and it's a MOOT point, not MUTE.
this sounds like a list of MS marketing info.
you opt in to get updates that are not from MS. If you do not want the updates then you do not have to choose this option. I am not saying MS gets it right all the time but when a driver is updated let's lay the blame where it is which is the company that built the driver.
I am all for targeting MS or any company when they make mistakes but do not join the other fan club here and blame 1 company for everyone else's problems.
you want us to go backwards and go find every update we need from every vendor without any assistance? Most people would not be know then needed and update with out the notification.
Former MCSE.
The best thing you can do is to NOT get your hopes up for different features, unless they have them in, at least, an M3 build or Alpha-build.
Robert
I will agree with you that UAC needs some refinement, but while this list doesn't list it I know that WinSupersite's reviews of some of the builds have noted that Microsoft is refining UAC.
Some of your other criticisms seem more questionable then the stuff on this list. The Start Menu in Vista is a screen hog? How do you figure? They eliminated the cascading menus so that you could see more stuff in the background. I've seen a lot of requests for UI refinements, but I can't say many people are clamoring to revise the start menu. Furthermore, how do you propose to improve it? The launch menus in Gnome and KDE will cover more of the screen so those aren't the answer. It is easy to say that MS should do something new, but unless you have a substantive idea I don't see your point. In that respect you seem more of a moron than M$.
MS should focus on actually making the software more stable.
Go Linux or Mac. Much better.
When something is stable for one person, it doesn't guarantee that it will be stable for everyone. That's why there are so many complaints of Windows crashing and you still have people claiming that it doesn't.
I have had applications crash from time to time, but that is simply going to happen from time to time.
6. Windows Biometric Framework
According to a press release from fingerprint sensor make AuthenTec, the operating system features improved biometric support that should enable a more standard way for fingerprint management applications to work with fingerprint readers in Windows 7
WBF was adopted in Vista, as it will be in Win7, as an optional install when setting up the o/s. You can opt out. It's mostly used by enterprise users, not home users, in order to secure confidential or proprietary corporate info - in case an employee loses their laptop.
Microsoft does not consider it a breakthrough - so much so, that they buy the product from www.authentec.com and charge users a few dollars for its inclusion in the o/s.
And, its rather obvious that, all of this ties-in quite directly, both, with Microsofts eventual goals of individual-user-licensing, and perpetual-payment "Software as a Service"... and, quite a few politicians demands for the absolute ability to track virtually everything that is done on computers.
Kinda, makes you wonder where we are being guided... and how well (and for how long) this has been planned... doesnt it..?
One thing I would like to see in Windows 7 is this: Service Pack 1 comes pre-installed, so you don't have to read through a list of the ten reasons why your SP1 installation has failed, over and over again, trying to see why it won't install, like you do on Vista. I say wrap that SP1 into the OS and be done with it.
If you don't want to have to deal with installing service packs why don't you just wait until at least after SP1 comes out. Most recent releases of Microsoft Windows always seem to feel like betas until ~SP1. After SP1 most anything that really should have been resolved before launch has been resolved. Many businesses have had IT policies for years that they don't upgrade to a new version of Windows until at least one service pack. They don't want to be public beta tests so to speak because Microsoft has a bad habit of pushing out Windows releases out several months before they are really ready.
1. It is an evolution of Vista (but more than a simple service pack as some claim)
2. It is also a new OS with new features
It feels as smooth as Vista does but there are some UI elements that need tightened up. You would actually be shocked to see how well it runs considering it is not even in beta stage yet. For those of you who skipped Vista because it isVista, Win7 will probably tempt you to finally upgrade.
One of the major new features which I cannot test is the evolution from single touch to multi touch. This is basically the MS Surface technology now in the core of Windows.
Of course, Media Center is awesome and it is better in this version.
One last note to rudieih, have you actually used Vista for any period of time? i have two Vista machines and they both run smooth and don't crash. One has 1 GB of RAM, the other has 2.5. The early days of Vista were plagued with crashes but MS has smoothed much of that out and so have the device makers with better drivers. One good thing about Win7 is that Vista drivers will work so hopefully we won't go through the same pain as we did before.
Why hasn't he been banned yet?
He has the right to have and post his opinions. Just as it is everyone else's right to think he's an idiot. Let him rant. The more he does, the more he embarasses himself and the less anyone will take any comments seriously. And that's a shame too because some of what he posts is very thoughtful and has useful content. It's just lost amongst the hatred and bile that is normally spouted.
a. A Mac story does not the standard "crap" about Mac's being proprietary compared to Windows. Whatever I happen to think about that POV, I've heard it 1000 times.
b. Ditto MSFT articles that talk about Vista being incompatible and/or requiring hardware, and/or MSFT monopolistic traits.
c. The wonders of linux. Yes, a computer from 1742 now calculates global warming scenarios in 0.02 seconds, thanks to Linux.
d. the inevitable rebuttals to same.
So, in other words, shut up about your gripes wiht linux and bring them to a related article of some sort!
Also, if you want to watch anything live, the trick is to have set those shows to record ahead of time, then play them back on your pc while they are recording, you might be 30 seconds behind the live broadcast but that's no big deal. I did this yesterday so I could watch two nfl games at once. One on my big screen and one on my PC.
Google DIRECTV2PC and you'll find the software.
- by yourpcbytes November 10, 2008 12:22 PM PST
- I had an opportunity to test Windows7 (build 6801) over the last weekend.
- Reply to this comment
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- by AppleSuxLeo November 10, 2008 1:03 PM PST
- That is impressive. It must have built in software that moitors SMART on the HDD.Very cool indeed.
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Showing 1 of 3 pages (130 Comments)One thing i see omitted so far is one big feature that i would like to point out.
I wanted to test Windows 7 on a known working but bad hard drive. I tried to install, and guess what...
Windows 7 installation pointed out that it cannot install because the hard drive is about to fail.
So it has good hard drive detection and monitoring built in!
I could not install on this known bad drive, so i installed it on my spare box as a dual boot config with XP. Ran great about half the day, then it gave me a different message saying that my good hard drive was going to fail. I backed up the little data i needed, and guess what! a day later that hard drive had a head crash!
Another thing to point out, is Windows 7 is more streamlined many things i disliked about vista have been simplified. It's running quick with 1GB of memory on an older P4 1.2Ghz box. Boots faster than Vista too!