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Hands-On With Windows 7's New Features

Posted by timothy on from the less-sucking-is-good-in-this-context dept.

Barence writes "Microsoft has released the first pre-beta code of Windows 7, and PC Pro has a series of in-depth, hands-on examinations of all the new features. The revamped user interface has clearly gleaned more than a little inspiration from the Mac OS X Dock, but it goes further than the Apple concept with 'jumplists,' new gadgets and an updated system tray. The much-vaunted multi-touch controls were there to play with, and it seemed to work well. Networking has been given the full treatment, with new features HomeGroup and Libraries. Windows 7 debuts a new feature called Device Stage that has the potential to be unbelievably handy ... or a complete disaster. Finally, several new features could make PCs easier to manage and secure for IT departments, such as BitLocker To Go and Branch Cache." All in all, these features together lead some people to the conclusion that Windows 7 will "suck less than Vista" — that last link from reader ThinSkin, who also points to a related sampling of screenshots from the current iteration of Windows 7.

9 of 662 comments (clear)

  1. Capabilities by Divebus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, but can it run all my old viruses?

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    Most of the stuff on /. won't survive first contact with facts.
    1. Re:Capabilities by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Funny

      Actually, it sounds like they will. From TFA: "If it works on Windows Vista, it'll work in Windows 7. The move from Vista to Windows 7 we expect to be seamless."

      Ah good, so it still won't run my old scanner and laserjet printer properly.

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      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  2. handy disaster by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 5, Funny

    Windows 7 debuts a new feature called Device Stage that has the potential to be unbelievably handy ... or a complete disaster.

    Hmmm. I wonder which way Microsoft will take this....

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    This guy's the limit!
  3. Plus ? by ze_jua · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will there be a "Windows7 Plus!" to allow users to create funny themes ?

  4. Re:What's a gamer to do? by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was looking at buying a new gaming rig recently but I refuse to buy an operating system that hobbles the performance.

    I know what you mean--they all hobble performance. Anything past the BIOS is just bells and whistles that ruins my gaming experience completely.

    On a related note, do you know where I can pick up a copy of Tie Fighter that works on IBM's Extended Firmware Interface (EFI)?

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    My work here is dung.
  5. Look familliar... by Bazer · · Score: 5, Funny

    I see the KDE team made leaps and bounds in their Windows port.

  6. Re:Hands on approach by Rod+Beauvex · · Score: 5, Funny

    Get those chair hurling muscles in shape!

  7. Re:What's a gamer to do? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Come on, the hours of setting up boot floppies was like a game unto itself. Ever since gaming moved to Windows, I have never had the thrill of finding that last 10k of base memory to run the latest game.

  8. Re:What's a gamer to do? by c_forq · · Score: 5, Funny

    Then we had to edit the autoexec.bat and config.sys

    Edit? I wrote them from scratch! I still have etched into my brain "SET blaster=A220 I5 D1".

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    Computers allow humans to make mistakes at the fastest speeds known, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns