Windows Seven Productivity Tools

Ten Reason Why Windows 7 is Better Than Vista

1. Boots Faster Than Vista
   
   
   
   
   
   When tested with identical configuration and software packages, Windows Vista took 37 seconds to boot from boot screen to log in screen. There Windows 7 took only 27 seconds, exactly the same as our good ol' bugged buddy Windows XP but with many more features.
   
   This is attained by loading device drivers in parallel instead of keeping it sequential.
2. Battery Life and Wireless Connectivity Optimization
   
   Windows 7 is supremely optimized for battery conditions and process management. It manages wireless radios better allowing them to drop below 100% power draw while managing the connection. The effort behind OS kernel is also evident. The CPU can sometimes run at a lower frequency and stay idle for long. This results are a minimum of 11%-15% better battery life for Windows 7
3. Home Networking (or any kind of Networking) is Simpler
   
   
   For home users without a lot technical know-how, networking has been made simpler in Windows 7. A new feature called HomeGroup allows all Windows 7 computers on a network to share files, printers, and other resources more easily. Thanks to Libraries (collections of certain types of files, such as music, photos, or documents), you can access files anywhere on the HomeGroup network as if they were stored locally, and you can search across the whole HomeGroup.
   
   Windows Media Player in Windows 7 can stream the music and videos on one PC in the network to another, and even play back songs from iTunes libraries on other computers.
   
   Connecting to a wireless network is also easier; now you can click the wi-fi icon in the system tray and select a network from the list, instead of opening up a separate dialog box to make the connection.
4. The User Account Control Is a Lot Less Obtrusive and Annoying
   
   Vista was a little like having your wife or mother hanging over your shoulder constantly warning you of impending danger. Phrases such as "Are you sure you want to do that?" became a common, everyday annoyance as Windows warned you of every potential pitfall. Of course it was all well-meant, just like your mother, but eventually you learned to tune out the warnings. The security nanny has not completely gone from Windows 7 but it's a lot more restrained. With Windows 7 Microsoft has give back some of the control to users so they can change how and when warnings are displayed. And the warnings tend to be be more informative.
5. The Interface and Everything Else is Slimmer and Trimmer
   
   Vista tried so hard to be all things to all people that it often completely missed the point. Eventually the bloat seemed to simply overwhelm users as they navigated through every possible extension and application known to humans. With Windows 7, Microsoft has dispensed with the bloat in two ways. The one decision was to remove unnecessary applications from the default install. So things such as calendaring and contacts programs that clogged up Vista are removed and instead users are given the option to download them from the Internet. The other simplification is the desktop. It's hard to say exactly why it feels lighter and faster but the immediate impression is of speed rather than bloat.
6. The Amazing New Windows 7 Taskbar
   
   Developers call the vastly improved new Windows 7 Taskbar , the "superbar". It takes the taskbar functionality entirely in a new direction. It's no longer merely a window manager-just a place to manage open windows and by proxy, open applications. It's now a bona fide application launcher.
   
   
   
   

7. Search and file management are much improved

   
   
   Earlier versions of Windows practically forced to organize all of your files and documents under the Documents folder in your user account. Not so with Windows 7. Instead of organizing your files and folders in a Documents folder, there is instead an overall Libraries folder, under which separate Downloads, Music, Pictures, and Videos areas can be found.
   
   You can now include folders from other locations on your network in your Libraries. For example, if you have three PCs, and you would like to be able to see all of your work files from all those PCs in one location, you can drag them to your library. Those folders will still live in their original locations but will also show up in your library
   
   As for search, from your Windows 7 machine, you can easily search through other PCs on your network. Place the folders from another PC into a library, do a search on that library, and you'll search the other PC's folders
   
   Also, search results are easier to scan, and offer more information for each file. It's also much easier to filter searches using file name, author, and file type, because those filters appear just underneath the Windows Explorer search box when you put your cursor into the box.

8. Windows 7 Does Everything Faster
   
   One of the biggest complaints about Vista was its speed --- even with Aero Glass turned off, users said it was sluggish. That's not the case with the Windows 7 beta; it's quite speedy. I have Windows 7 installed on a laptop with a 1.83 duo core CPU and 1 GB of RAM, and it's plenty fast, certainly faster than Vista was. And if I turn off Aero Glass, it's exceptionally responsiv
9. Windows 7 Includes a Real Backup Program (for the first time of any Windows)
   
   Windows Backup allows you to make copies of data files and also create a system image which includes your system settings, programs and files. In Windows 7, you can choose your custom location for the data backup and whether or not to include the system image during backup.
10. The Jump List will improve your productivity
    
    
    Jump Lists are a new feature in Microsoft Windows 7 that are designed to make it easier to find what you want and perform common operations associated with an application.
    
    Jump Lists appear on the Start menu as well as on the Taskbar when you right-click on an icon/
    

    Right-click an application's icon in the taskbar or click a small arrow next to its icon in the the Most Recently Used application list, and you'll find the Jump List..

    You'll see a history list of the most recent open files -- or Web sites, in the case of Internet Explorer -- as well as a variety of tasks associated with that application. It makes finding files and performing various tasks much faster.