Windows 7: Articles

By John Campbell

You will certainly be surprised at the new look and new features of Windows 7’s Taskbar. First of all, it is larger than its predecessors. Secondly, it no longer contains the Quick Launch toolbar.
 
But that's not all! The Start button has a new name. It is now called the Start Orb. When you move the mouse pointer onto it, it glows!
 
On the re-vamped Taskbar you will find there are three permanent ones already there. They are Windows Explorer, Windows Mail and Windows Media Player. This is Windows 7’s default setting.
 
All the new features are identified in the illustration below.

Remember how you could add applications shortcuts to the old Quick Launch toolbar? Handy wasn’t it! Well, now it’s even better as you can now pin application program icons to the Taskbar itself. When you no longer need a pinned application it’s an easy matter to unpin it. To find out more about this see my article – “Taskbar Pinning and Unpinning”.
 
The Taskbar is now so customizable that you can re-arrange pinned icons.
 
There are several new features associated with the Taskbar.

They are:

• Show Desktop
• Aero Peek
• Flip
• Aero Flip 3D

Show Desktop
In Windows XP, you could quickly see your Desktop by right clicking the Taskbar and selecting Show Desktop.

The New Show Desktop Button
In Windows 7 there is a new method of seeing what’s on your Desktop. On the Taskbar is a vertical button called Show Desktop. It is located at the opposite end from the Start button.

• To take a quick peek at your Desktop, move the mouse pointer over the Show Desktop button. Open windows fade from view, revealing the Desktop.

Note: To get back to your document, move the mouse pointer away from the button and the window you were working in re-appears.

• To go back to the Desktop, click the Show Desktop button.

Using the Show Desktop button:

1. Move the mouse pointer over the Show Desktop button.
2. The screen changes showing you a quick view of what is on your Desktop. 

Aero Peek
This new Windows 7 feature allows you to see thumbnail previews of any open files associated with a running program. You can do this without leaving the application you're currently working on.
 
Move the mouse pointer onto a program button on the taskbar that has one or more open files. You can quickly preview any open document and switch to the one you need by clicking on its thumbnail.

What’s running on your Desktop?

If you have more than one program or document open, your desktop can quickly become cluttered with windows. Keeping track of these windows isn't easy, because some windows might partially or completely cover others.

Switching Windows
There are two ways you can do this. The first method is the old tried and true, Alt+Tab. This is now known as Flip in Windows 7. The second is Aero Flip 3D. This is a one of Windows 7’s new features.

Flip (aka Alt+Tab )
Back in Windows XP, if you wanted to take a quick peek at what applications were running on your computer you used the Alt+Tab method. This method is still available in Windows 7.

1. Hold down the Alt key and press the Tab key.
2. Keep holding down the Alt key and press the Tab key to cycle through the open windows.
3. Release the Alt key to select a window.

Aero Flip 3D
In Windows Vista and Windows 7, Aero Flip 3D provides a quick preview of all open windows –files, folders, and documents. It displays them in a three-dimensional stack displaying without you having to click their buttons on the taskbar.

You can quickly flip through.

1. Hold down the Windows logo key and press Tab key.
2. Keep holding down the Windows logo key and press the Tab key repeatedly to cycle through open windows.
3. Release the Windows logo key to display the window in the front of the stack. Alternatively, click any part of any window in the stack to display that window.

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