Workers' Edge

Do you need Windows 7? If you're happy with your current PC—whether it runs Vista, XP, or some other operating system—probably not. But if you're in the market for a new system, there's a lot to like about Windows 7, particularly in the look-and-feel department.

You can read all about Win7's new features on Microsoft's official Windows 7 site. But some of my favorites are the subtle interface tweaks that can be easy to miss.

Starting with the basics
I like to keep the Windows desktop free of icons, so the first change I make to any new Windows setup is to right-click the desktop, choose View, and uncheck Show Desktop Icons. Windows 7 gives me a reason to keep those icons in view. Move your mouse to the far right end of Windows 7's taskbar to "Peek" through all open windows to the desktop.

Windows 7 also lets you "Shake" a window to hide all other open windows and shake it again to get them back. Or "Snap" a window to the top, bottom, left, or right side of the screen to fill that portion of the screen, which is great for comparing files or folders.

The Notification area gets a facelift in Windows 7. To open the new-look Notification Area Icon Control Panel applet, right-click the Start button, choose Properties > Notification Area > Customize. The options to hide icons, always show them, or show only notifications are the same as in Vista, but the interface is slicked up a bit.

The Notification Area Icons options have a new look in Windows 7.

(Credit: Microsoft)

A new icon in Windows 7's Notification area is the Action Center, which centralizes all pending system alerts. Hovering over the Action Center's flag icon displays the number of messages in the queue. The How-To Geek explains how to customize Action Center messages and also provides instructions for disabling the feature.

Jump to a recent file or open window
Previous versions of Windows have offered ways to return to files, folders, and applications that were opened recently. Two new methods in Windows 7 are Jump Lists, which appear when you right-click a taskbar icon, and Aero Peek, which previews files when you over their taskbar thumbnails.

A new look for some old favorites
I've been using Paint and WordPad for so long the programs—both of which have been baked into Windows for years—feel like old friends. I was delighted to see that the versions of these apps in Windows 7 sport ribbons similar to those in Office 2007 programs. Of course, not everyone likes the ribbon interface, but I think it's easier to access the items I use most.

Frankly, I'm just glad Microsoft hasn't remove these Windows stalwarts the way it jettisoned Windows Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, and other formerly-built-in components to create the separate Windows Live Essentials.

Getting a feel for the Windows 7 interface
Perhaps the most impressive interface tweak in Windows 7 is apparent only to touchscreen users. Any iPhone user will appreciate the ability to control screen elements by using your fingertips to drag and tap elements on the display. CNET Senior Associate Editor Seth Rosenblatt gives a video demo of Win7's touch features.

But touch will be a novelty until significant numbers of PCs with touchscreens arrive. As Ina Fried explains in her Beyond Binary blog, consumers have balked at the added price of touch-enabled systems. However, as the price of touchscreens drops and software arrives that takes advantage of the feature, you may find yourself spending less time clutching your mouse.

I got a kick out of the recent headlines stating that Microsoft wants to make the next version of Windows less annoying than Vista. Talk about setting the bar low!

Most of the things that bug me about Windows are easy to fix--the lack of a Run option on Vista's Start menu is an example. To put Run back on the menu, right click the Start button, choose Properties, click Customize under the Start Menu tab, scroll to and check "Run command," and click OK twice.

Here are three other Windows irritations that I finally got around to addressing, though a cure for the first one has eluded me.

Shift to unlock the Caps Lock key
There are plenty of keyboard-remapping utilities that can disable the Caps Lock key and make other changes to your keyboard layout. You can also find downloadable Registry files (.reg) that disable Caps Lock, the Windows key, Insert, and other keys people find useless.

I tried a half-dozen of each, and none of them worked with my HP laptop, the machine whose Caps Lock key I'm forever hitting by accident. It's a shame that there's no easy way to disable this key, which does me absolutely no good.

Yet Vista and XP let you turn off Caps Lock not by pressing the key a second time, but by pressing the Shift key, which is the way the keys work on typewriters. I'm sure there was an army of former Royal and IBM Selectric users clamoring for this option!

In case you're curious, you change this setting in Vista by opening the Regional and Language Settings applet in Control Panel (not the Keyboard applet, of course). Click the Keyboards and Languages tab, choose "Change keyboards," and click the Advanced Key Settings tab. (The options are slightly different in XP, and you may need to add a second keyboard via the settings under the General tab.)

Under "To turn off Caps Lock," select "Press the SHIFT key" and click OK twice.

Use the Shift key to turn off Caps Lock by changing this setting in Vista's Regional and Language Settings applet.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Put an Address bar in your taskbar
I'd be lost without my Address bar, which I rely on more than shortcuts and bookmarks to return to sites, files, and folders. I can get to a lot of these resources in Vista simply by pressing the Windows key, typing their name, and pressing Enter once Windows retrieves them.

But I'm much more accustomed to clicking the little arrow to the right of the Address bar text box to select the file or URL from the list that pops up. Or I can just start typing the URL or file name and choose it from those that appear.

To place an Address bar next to your system tray, right-click anywhere in the taskbar and choose Toolbars > Address. (Make sure Lock the Taskbar is unchecked.)

You can resize and move the Address bar--or any other taskbar item--or the entire taskbar, for that matter. I stick with the smallest possible taskbar at the bottom of the screen, but some people like having their taskbar run vertically along the left or right side of their monitor.

Reset your default image editor
I'm a fan of Paint, the simple, no-nonsense image editor built into Windows. Unfortunately, Windows keeps wanting to make Windows Photo Gallery or some other app the default program for opening JPEGs and other image files on my PC.

To change the program that opens by default when you double-click a file of a certain type, right-click the file and choose Open With > Choose Default Program. Select one of the options in the resulting dialog box, or click the Browse button, navigate to the executable file of the program you want to make the default for that file type, and click Open. Make sure "Always use the selected program to open this type of file" is checked (it's selected by default).

For whatever reason, the last time I booted my Vista laptop the network icon was missing from its usual spot next to the clock in the system tray.

I right-clicked the Start button, chose Properties, and clicked the Notification Area tab to recheck this option under "System icons," but it was grayed out.

I found the solution on Colin Cochrane's blog. Here are the steps in a nutshell:

Back up the Registry by creating a restore point.
Press the Windows key, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
Navigate to and select HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify.
Delete both IconStreams and PastIconStream in the right pane.
Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and select Start Task Manager.
Select the Processes tab, choose explorer.exe, and click End Process.
Choose the Applications tab, click New Task, enter explorer.exe in the text box, and press Enter.

Your icons should reappear.

Return missing icons to Vista's system tray by editing the Registry, stopping explorer.exe, and restarting the process via Task Manager.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Another option for taskbar problems is the free Taskbar Repair Tool Plus, which I found on Kelly Theriot's Kelly's Korner.

Tomorrow: the best OpenOffice.org templates and clipart.

Your computer's dashboard is that small row of icons located along the bottom of the screen--at least that's where it's located on most PCs. Windows' taskbar shows you at a glance which applications are open and which programs are running in the background (represented by the icons in your system tray just to the left of the clock, though it's not an exhaustive list).

If you have your Quick Launch toolbar active, you also see shortcuts to open various apps, show the desktop, or perform other operations with a single click. Your taskbar's skills go far beyond simply lining up your shortcuts, however.

To customize your taskbar, you must first unlock it: right-click a blank area of the taskbar and make sure Lock the Taskbar is unchecked. Now you can resize or move the Quick Launch area, the system tray, and other elements residing there. To add an item, right-click the taskbar again, choose Toolbars, and select one of the elements listed.

Customize Windows' taskbar by right-clicking it and choosing an option on the Toolbars menu.

(Credit: Microsoft)

For example, I like to keep my desktop free of shortcut icons, but I still want fast access to items I store there. By placing my desktop in the taskbar, I can open items by choosing them off the menu that appears when I click the double chevrons. I save space by dragging the Desktop toolbar to the right until only the word "Desktop" and the double chevrons are visible.

Instant browser access via the taskbar
Perhaps my favorite Vista innovation (there's a phrase you don't hear everyday) is the search box on the OS's Start menu. Simply press the Windows key and start typing to find a file, a program, or even a Web site.

This feature obviates the need for a separate Address bar at the bottom of your screen, but if you'd like this function in XP or earlier Windows versions, right-click a blank area of the taskbar and choose Toolbars > Address. Drag it to the left or right to make the text box the right size. Now when you want fast access to a site, simply type the URL in the address box and press Enter to open the site in your default browser.

Should you find that your taskbar is getting crowded, just hover the mouse over the top edge until the double-arrow icon appears and drag up. To place the taskbar on either side or the top of the screen, click and hold a blank area of the taskbar and drag it to your desired location.

To make more screen space available to your application windows, set the taskbar to disappear when you're not using it. To do so, right-click the Start button, choose Properties, click the Taskbar tab, check "Auto-hide the taskbar," and click OK. Now your taskbar will appear only when you move the mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen (or wherever you placed the taskbar).

You can also save some room by selecting to group similar taskbar buttons, which combines multiple open windows of the same app rather than placing a separate shortcut for each instance in the taskbar.

Move your taskbar out of view when you're not using it by checking "Auto-hide the taskbar" in the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Freeware to enhance your taskbar
To get even more functionality out of your taskbar, try using one of the many free utilities designed for this purpose. Jessica Dolcourt recommends XNeat Windows Manager, which lets you set certain taskbar windows to appear on top at all times or rearrange the order of windows on the fly. Three other great taskbar utilities are Launchy, Taskbar Shuffle, and RocketDock, which Seth Rosenblatt described in a Download Blog post from last January.

Tomorrow: supercharge Firefox with the Chickenfoot scripting add-on.