Windows 7: Menu Bar

The menu bar in Windows 7 looks very different from the menu bar in Windows Vista. Windows 7 gives you much more control over the programs and files that appear on the Start menu, which has been reworked to be essentially a blank slate that you can organize and customize to suit your preferences.

New in Windows 7 are Jump Lists for the Start menu and the taskbar. Jump Lists are lists of recent items, such as files, folders, or websites, organized by the program you use to open them.

In addition to being able to open recent items using a Jump List, you can also pin favorite items to a Jump List, so that you can easily access the programs and files you use every day.

The Start menu includes a search box that you can use to find files, folders, programs, and e-mail messages stored on your computer.

When you start typing a word or phrase in the search box, the search begins automatically, and the search results temporarily fill the Start menu space above the search box.

The search results are organized into groups, depending on what kind of item each result is and where it's located on your computer.

For example, you might see your search results grouped by Programs, by Control Panel tasks, by library (such as Documents or Pictures), and by Files. The top search results—but not all matches—for each group are displayed under a group heading.

You can click an individual result to open that program or file, or you can click a group heading to see the complete list of search results for that group in Windows Explorer.