“7 Days to Windows 7,” A NetPass Blog Series Day 6: Little Things that Make Big Differences

If you’ve been following our “7 Days to Windows 7” blog series over the past 5 days, you’ve learned a little (or maybe a lot) about some of the enhancements and additions the Windows 7 brings to the table.  So far, we’ve spent time discussing changes in how the environment looks and interacts, improvements in program and driver compatibility, advancements in file conflict handling, security protocol enhancements, and detailing the more intuitive system recovery processes in the new OS.

Today we’ll open it up a bit and talk about seven of the lesser known tips and tricks designed to further enhance user experience that you may not normally notice in Windows 7, but will be happy you discovered once you begin using the new system.

#1 – Eliminating the Projector Display Blues: Anyone who has hooked a computer to a projector for presentations has most likely spent 20 minutes or more on average trying to get the presentation to display on the big screen.  Windows 7 makes this process much easier by introducing the projection shortcut key set – Windows key + P – which launches a window similar to the one shown in figure 1. This screen offers several display options. Just choose the one best for your application and that’s it! The end of the Windows projector display blues.

Note:  The Windows Key (see figure 2) is generally located between the Ctrl and Alt keys in the lower left hand corner of the keyboard.  Don’t have a Windows Key?  You can open the same screen by going to the Start Menu and in the Search Box type displayswitch.exe. 

#2 – “Shake” the Desktop Clutter: This is one of those features you wouldn’t think much about until you started using it.  Sometimes our desktops get with a bunch of open windows. The old way required minimizing each of these windows which as we all know can be time consuming.  In Windows 7, all you have to do is use your mouse to grab a hold of a window’s title bar and give it a “shake” which in turn will minimize all open windows immediately clearing your desktop so you can do what most of us do… open more windows!

#3 – Stop the Start Menu Madness:  Most of us don’t have icons on our desktop for every application we run, so to open some you have to use the Start menu.  This process remains constant in Windows 7.  However, in the new OS, you can now open multiple instances of a program without having to crawl through the Start menu over and over by simply hovering over the program’s icon in the task menu and holding down the Shift key while clicking on it.  Great time saver.

#4 – Enhanced Localized Search: Windows 7 introduces more intuitive search features that are quicker and more accurate.  Now you don’t have to pour through the Start menu (see figure 3) or strain to find the program, file or folder of choice on your desktop.  Just type a keyword associated whatever you need and let Windows 7 find it for you instantly.

#5 – Direct ISO Burn:  An ISO file, or ISO image, is an “image” of an entire CD or DVD. The entire contents of a CD or DVD disc can be perfectly represented in a single ISO file.  In Windows 7, if you download an ISO, you can now burn it directly by double clicking on the ISO file itself.  Windows 7 will open the “Burn Disc Image” dialogue and offer to burn the ISO to disk.  Unlike previous Windows versions, now you won’t need any third party applications to accomplish this task.

#6 –  Opening Tasks without Mouse Clicks through Pinning:  Once a task is pinned to the task bar, you’ll only have to press the Windows key +{corresponding number} which will then open the corresponding application directly from the task bar without having to click it.

#7 – Sharper Text, Easier Reads: Alongside the new look and feel associated with Windows 7, you’ll be glad to know that Microsoft took display a bit further in this new release with the introduction of personal display optimization.  By simply opening the Start menu and performing a search for cttune.exe, you’ll launch a display wizard (see figure 4) prompting you to identify which text looks best FOR YOU. It’ll even display a few screens  essentially performing a “faux” eye exam personalized to your vision to help adjust the text display to more of your liking.

Over the past 6 days we’ve introduced you to enhancements, additions and even a few tips and tricks that you’ll experience in the new Windows 7 Operating System.  Tomorrow is the final day of our series where we’ll present a checklist of things we recommend you do before installing your new Windows 7 software. So don’t miss tomorrow’s post and thanks for visiting http://blog.netpass.com.

NetPass, LLC is an Interactive Advertising and Multimedia Agency located in Central Florida. Information contained in this post has been researched and reported individually by the author. Any statements, opinions, or views expressed herein are the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of NetPass, LLC or its ownership. NetPass, LLC is not affiliated with or contracted by Microsoft or any of its affiliates, wholesalers or distributors for the purposes of this series.