This week we talk some more about Windows 7, the successor to Windows Vista, that many of us will upgrade to over the coming year. Here is a summary of some of the cool and interesting features.
1. BitLocker to Go. Bitlocker encrypts all the data on your USB memory stick or external hard drive. All you do is right click the drive and choose a password. If you lose your stick there is effectively no way anyone can see or access any of the data on it.
2. Drag and Snap windows. Widescreen displays are great for comparing documents side by side, but resizing two Windows to fit on the same screen in XP or Vista is a pain. Windows 7 makes it easy: drag one window to the far left, the other to the right, and the two line up neatly.
3. Location aware printing. Do you carry your laptop between home and work, and always forget to change the default printer each time? Windows 7 knows when you move and changes the default printer accordingly.
4. HomeGroup. This allows homes with multiple Windows 7 PCs to simply and automatically share printers, music, documents etc between each PC without any faffing about with sharing permissions. Files on other Windows 7 PCs can also be searched s if they were stored locally.
5. iTunes Support in Windows media player. WMP can now play iTunes .aac music format.
6. Desktop gadgets. Vista’s sidebar disappears in Windows 7, and now “gadgets” are allowed to be placed anywhere on the desktop.
7. System requirements. Windows 7 will apparently not require huge hardware improvements to install and run. This means you can install Windows 7 on your existing PC without having to shell out for new bits. Good stuff!
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