I hibernate my laptop which is the most power efficient option available and works closest to turning off the computer completely. Hibernation saves the computer’s current state to disk.  When you start the computer, it returns Windows 7 to the way it was. The load time is much faster too, instead of going through the entire boot process of starting from scratch, you are back at the desktop in no time and operating like you never left.

By default, the Power Option is set to Shut down, to change that follow the instructions below.

Click Start, type: taskbar

Hit Enter on your keyboard

Go to the Start Menu tab, click in the Power button action: list box and choose from one of the available options. Click Apply and OK confirm changes.

From now on you will see only Hibernate or whatever you choose as the default option. You can always go back and change it when you don’t need it.

How to Change the Default Start Menu Power Options (Quick Tip) is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

What is Jump List?

A Jump List is a contextual menu built into applications pinned on to the Start menu or the Taskbar when you right click on a program or folder or hover a recent item on the Start menu. Jump List functionality varies across programs, some might include standard functionality while others might include unique functionality specific to that application. Common functionality includes recently accessed files, some Jump Lists will include a Task you can actually ‘Jump into’ when you start the program.

How to access a Jump List for a program on the Taskbar?

For this example, I am going to be using Microsoft Word pinned to the Taskbar. Say I have a document I would like to access that I was recently working on? All I need to do is right click the Microsoft Word shortcut and it will display a list of the most recently accessed documents, see below:

Another lovely feature of Jump list items with a program such as Microsoft Word is that when you hover over the item itself, it provides a description of its location.

Windows 7 Quick Tip: How to Show More Recent Documents on a Jump List

How to access a Jump List for a program on the Start Menu?

Again we are going to be using Microsoft Word. In this case, I have Microsoft Word as a recent program item on the Start menu, if I want to access a document, all I have to do is hover its icon and the menu will expand to reveal the most recently accessed documents. See below:

Jump List Unique Functionality

Programs such as Internet Explorer 8 offers unique Jump List capabilities, in addition to accessing my recently visited websites, I can even Start a private mode session which will provide a secure browsing site that does not leave any cached information behind when you end your web browsing session.

Unique Jump List benefits in Internet Explorer

With the recent release of Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft is introducing greater synergy between the desktop and web. One of the great ways of doing that is by building app centric functionality into Internet Explorer 9 ready websites. When You pin a shortcut to one of your favorite websites on the Windows 7 Taskbar, you will be able to access Jump List functionality too. Take a look at just a couple websites that support it:

Windows Live Hotmail and Twitter Jump Lists

How to Pin Hotmail To Your Windows 7 Taskbar

Windows Media Player

Media Player also provides some basic Jump List functionality for accessing recent media such as videos or audio. You can even access your recent Play Lists or your last Play Lists you listened to.

How to Pin an item to your Jump List

You will notice that the Jump List share similar functionality with the ‘Recent Items’ menu. They do, but it’s the personalized experience you are able to have with each application to gain better and quicker access to capabilities built into the program. Another highlight is pinning items to your Jump List. For instance, I work on a lot of drafts in Windows Live Writer that I do not immediately publish. Often times, there is a file in that Jump List I would like to have immediate access to, but the more documents I create, this will push the older documents off the Jump List. A quick work around for that is to Pin the documents I consider my favorites I can always have access to.

To pin a file, just right click the application, hover over the item, and click the thumb tack next to the file name. You will now notice a new category called Pinned with your file listed.

If you would like to remove an unwanted Item on one of your Jump List, just right click it and click ‘Remove from this list’

Power User tips:

You can keep the contents of your Jump List private if you often work with sensitive information, especially on shared or public computers.

To clear lists

1. Click to open Taskbar and Start Menu Properties. (Or right click on your Taskbar and select properties.)
2. Click the Start Menu tab.
   • To prevent recently opened programs from appearing in the Start menu, clear the Store and display recently opened programs in the Start menu check box.
   • To clear recently opened files in the Jump Lists on the taskbar and Start menu, clear the Store and display recently opened items in the Start menu and the taskbar check box.
3. Click OK.

You can also drag files from a Jump List into another program. For example, suppose I am authoring an email message and I would like to attach a document I have listed on my Microsoft Word Jump List?

To do this, right click the Jump List, select the Item on the Jump List, hold down your left mouse button, then drag and release into the body of the email message.

The document will be automatically attached.

These are some of the powerful ways you can start using Windows 7 efficiently and take advantage of its productive capabilities.

How to use Windows 7 Jump Lists is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

Jump Lists are contextual menus built into Taskbar and Start Menu list displaying your most recently accessed files along with common Task in some apps you can quickly start (jump into). In Windows XP, your only option was either the Recent Items menu (which still exist in Windows 7), the application File menu recent list or searching for the in a folder.

Jump List in Windows 7

There are several applications I use day in day out, Microsoft Word, Windows Live Writer and Paint are a few examples. There are either articles I am currently working on or would like to reference. As I write more articles, the oldest ones will be removed from the list. If you want to keep more items in the list you can change that easily, here is how you do it.

1. Right click your Taskbar (or click Start, type Taskbar, hit enter on your keyboard).

2. Click Properties > Start menu (tab) > Customize

3. Under Start menu size, enter the number for the amount recent items you would like to see displayed in your Jump Lists

4. Click OK > then Apply and OK

Increased Jump List size

The Jump List will now display more recent items for you to access.

Windows 7 Quick Tip: How to Show More Recent Documents on a Jump List is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

Taskbar

What is the Taskbar? First introduced in Windows 95 as a replacement for Program Manager that was a part of previous Windows releases, it houses your running applications as buttons that you can use to switch between windows on screen. Releases of Windows over the years have added new features and functionality such as the ‘Quick Launch’ desk band in Windows 98, ‘Taskbar Grouping’ in Windows XP and ‘Taskbar Thumbnail previews’ in Windows Vista. Windows 7 combines all those innovations and made them even better. When you load the Windows 7 Desktop for the first time, everything might seem familiar except for the Taskbar which has grown a few inches in size. Shortcuts for applications such as Internet Explorer and the User Folder might look like enlarged Quick Launch icons; well it’s a combination of both. By default, application shortcuts, running applications and non-running applications are not labelled. In previous versions of Windows, a running program would display an icon along with the name of the button on the Taskbar. The Windows Team have changed this based on the probability of users experience identifying programs by clear pictorial representations, the Internet Explorer ‘e’ for web browser, a blue ‘w’ for Microsoft Word, the stacked CD icon with the play identifier for Windows Media Player.

Taskbar with interactive Thumbnail Previews

Improved ways of controlling Notification Behaviour

Of course, if you don’t recognize a program shortcut on your Taskbar, you can hover over its icon which displays a floating balloon describing its purpose. One of the immediate benefits I discovered using the improved Taskbar with applications is a feature called Jump List. What it does is combine the ‘Recent Items’ menu from past versions of Windows and allows each application to have an individual Recent Items menu or Task list right click contextual menu with common activities that you might often associate with the program. Not all applications currently support the new feature, but I have discovered a handful that take advantage of it immediately, such as Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, Windows Media Player, Windows Live Messenger, Live Writer, Windows Programs such as WordPad, Paint and Notepad to name a few. Not all programs will reveal radical features in Jump List, as programs are updated, third party developers I am sure will add functionality to programs to harness the benefits of Jump List.

Preview your windows without distractions (left), get a glance at your desktop and Gadgets (right)

Right now, users will mostly see ‘Recent files’ for some applications or your browser History for Internet Explorer, you will discover unique functionality in programs such as Windows Media Player which displays a list of Frequent activity such as your recently played media, search queries, artiste played and Task for playing your library of music in shuffle mode. Windows Live Messenger which is available as a part of Windows Live Essentials includes Task such as changing your status, signing in/out, going to your home page, viewing your Windows Live Profile or check your email. Jump List on the Taskbar is not only restricted to applications, Folders also support it too; users can appreciate seeing a list of the most frequently accessed folders within a directory. If you want to add your favourite application, you can do so by clicking Start, right click a program from the recent programs list or all programs and click the ‘Pin to Taskbar’ link.

Color Hot tracking

Appearances Thumbnail Previews

The Taskbar for some persons might seem radical at first, but I have adjusted to it just fine, beyond Jump List, you will discover some cool effects and features when working with your applications. Thumbnail previews have become interactive. Internet Explorer for example which supports tabbed based browsing benefits from it immediately by displaying previews when you hover over its button on the Taskbar without the need to activate the window. You will be able to see a thumbnail preview of all open tab windows along with the ability see a full size preview when you hover the mouse pointer over each thumbnail. It’s a beautiful effect that saves time and makes working in Windows much faster. Applications and folders that are consolidated into groups automatically compose a group of thumbnails. Windows Media Player 12 Thumbnail supports unique functionality such as Previous, Pause and Next controls when playing an album. In addition to Thumbnail Previews, users can benefit from another significant productivity effect; the enhanced ‘Show Desktop’ button called ‘Desktop Preview’ allows you to get a glance at your Desktop or Gadgets by simply hovering the mouse pointer in the right hand corner of the screen. Your windows will immediately become transparent frames revealing the contents of the desktop. Another key feature is the progress bar which has been integrated into folder activities. For instance, when you are copying files from folder to folder or a network location or downloading a program in Internet Explorer, a progress indicator is displayed on the Taskbar button for that activity.

Various Jump List Activities by supported applications.

New Capabilities and Settings

Notification Area or System Tray features new options, in addition to showing full time and date, users can gain more real estate by controlling notification icon behaviours. A ‘Show hidden icons’ button reveals a floating balloon with a small gallery of icons and option for customizing the behaviour. This leads to a new Notification Area Icons Control Panel item. What I like in particular about this new setting is the clear organization of your notifications and ease of controlling the behaviours, from here you can choose to hide or show an icon at all times or show just the notification. To further clarify things, a link to a separate area available just for Windows 7 System Icons such as Clock, Volume, Network, Power and the new Action Center allows you to turn these settings on or off. If you mess something up or get confused, you can simply click the Restore default icon behaviours. The new ‘Eject’ device contextual is more informative too, displaying the name of the device instead of just the drive letter. Safely ejecting a device can be done more confidently too, in prior versions of Windows, you always closed all open programs and windows launched from a USB device before ejecting yet Windows kept insisting that you need to close all activities before removing the device. Now you can ignore that and force a device close and eject without any concern.

Default appearance Always Combine, hide Labels

Combine when Taskbar is full

Never combine

Never combine with small icons 

One of the most requested functionality for the Taskbar over the years has been the ability rearrange your Taskbar buttons just the way you want. Sometimes we have programs setup up a certain way and would like to set a priority over which is closest to the Start button, now you can with a simple drag and drop action rearrange shortcuts and running applications on the fly. The Taskbar adapts the most predominate RGB value of an icon, making each program use a distinguishing colour effect when hovered over. Taskbar Properties appearance includes options for controlling how and where it is displayed on screen. For novices, you can have your Taskbar positioned on the right, top or left of the screen power users can still use the familiar dragging capabilities that you have known since prior releases. Taskbar button behaviour can also be controlled here too, the default layout in Windows 7 is ‘Always combine, hide labels’, in addition to this, there is a more classic look called ‘Combine when taskbar is full’ which simply enables labels with the large pictorial representations. If you want an even more classical yet familiar Vista style layout the third option ‘Never Combine’ along with ‘Use Small icons’ restores this behaviour.

Improved Start menu supports Jump List, along with new Power Option Settings

Start Menu

The Start menu has been through a few changes throughout the years, also introduced for the first time in Windows 95, the most radical update since was Windows XP which featured a two pane menu with links to recent applications along with common locations such as My Documents, Music, Pictures and default applications for common programs such as Web Browsing and Email and the ability to set default programs for common activities such as Email, Music and Web browsing. Windows Vista introduced additional functionality such as built in Search, a Connect to link for all your network connections and a simplified Power Options area. A major departure in Vista was the cascading Programs menu which was replaced by a hierarchical listing of programs and application groups. Windows 7′s Start menu is more about refining these features. The Start menu integrates Jump List functionality similar to the Taskbar.

Detailed Search Results Windows 7 Start menu (above), comparison in Windows Vista (below) click to enlarge

Search is more detailed displaying more categorized results with total listings within each category. New Categories include Documents, Music, Control Panel Items, Pictures and Videos. Appearances have also changed, instead of utilizing just the recently used application pane for search results; the entire pane is utilized for results. An even more simplified Power Options allows users to set the default setting whether you want it to be Shutdown, Hibernate or Sleep, you can still choose another option from a pop out menu. Searching from the Start menu features a new option; you can search for Task Pane links along with the ability to use natural language queries. New Search areas include Public Folder along with the option to display links and menus for Recorded TV and Videos. Old links that have been turned off include ‘Recent Items’ which makes sense since applications carry their own recent activities and the ‘Connect To’ link now replaced by the more convenient Network notification icon which reveals available wireless Networks, Dial up and VPN connections.

So this was a look at using the new Taskbar and Start menu and realizing its new benefits. It’s radical for the better. It makes application switching less of a puzzle while also enhancing the general user experience of working with your programs in a more convenient way. The Taskbar has come a long way since its days of ‘it works just like switching channels’. Users expect a rich experience and the compelling aesthetics such as interactive thumbnail previews and enhanced search functionality provide a cohesive application experience for end users.

Using the Improved Taskbar and Start Menu in Windows 7 is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

Welcome

As with every new install or first time use of Windows, the first interactive experience is logging in. Depending on how your PC is setup, you might or might not see the Account Screen when you start your Windows session, for those who do, here is a look at some of the changes:

When Windows XP was released back in 2001, it was seen as a major upgrade that focused on ease of use and friendliness, the Welcome sequence and log on screen featured warm, inviting thumbnails that easily identified your account and log in name. With Windows Vista, Microsoft made a few changes by changing the layout and removed a few things. Your accounts are displayed in horizontal layout, instead of the vertical view from XP. Some other functionality introduced in XP such as your amount of unread email notifications are not displayed in Windows 7. A nice welcome optional feature is CTRL-ALT-DEL command, which adds secure log on protection that can be managed through Group Policy (depending on the edition of Windows 7 you have installed) when unauthorized individuals or key loggers attempt to steal your account information. Also, you cannot take a screenshot of the Account Screen like you did in Windows XP. The Classic NT/2000 Log On dialog is not an option in Windows 7 for obvious reasons, if you log on to Domain to access a business network, there are some slight changes which I will take a look at in a future post.

Desktop

The first thing you see when you log on with your credentials is the Desktop, you will of course notice familiar experiences like your personal background. But you might see some other differences, like Gadgets. With Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced Sidebar Gadgets which are small (some cases) web based applications that provide quick access to information such as the latest news from your subscribed website’s, a slide show, Clock, CPU/Memory monitor, Weather and others that are included by the manufacturer of your PC. Gadgets are fun to use and you can get many more from www.gallery.microsoft.com, you can position them anywhere on the Desktop, resize them or just snap them to any side of your screen. You can quickly access them when you are within an application by using the hot keys ‘Windows key + G’ or ‘Windows key + space bar’ to see them on your desktop.

Taskbar & Start menu

The Taskbar first introduced in Windows 95 has been significantly enhanced, instead of features like Quick Launch, and labeled buttons, the Taskbar uses detailed icons to represent shortcuts and running applications. I will take a look at in a future post.

Tip: Want a more familiar look to Windows XP? You can achieve this by right clicking the Taskbar, click ‘Properties’ > Taskbar (tab) > check under Taskbar appearance ‘Use small icons’. In the Taskbar buttons: list box, click ‘Never combine’ > click Apply and OK.

The Start button has been redesigned using a universal symbol that every PC user can understand. Instead of translating the word ‘Start’ in hundreds of languages, a simple effective pearl logo represents the keypad to accessing your programs and files. With Windows 7, Microsoft has removed some of the legacy that you have been seeing in previous releases. For instance, the Start menu does not include the option of Windows Classic anymore and with good reasoning considering the clean look in addition to its accessible design, along with its built in Instant Search capabilities the Windows 7 Start menu is much friendlier and easier to use.

All Programs

Along with the Start menu, is the All Programs Group, in Windows XP, you had cascading menus, that would often go off the screen if you had many applications installed. Windows Vista introduced a hierarchical view that makes it easy to browse through all the programs installed on your computer. With Windows 7, you don’t even have to go to the All Programs group, just search for the program name using the built in Instant Search box integrated into the Start menu.

Certain menu functions have been hidden such as the Run menu, which you can easily access by using the Windows Key + R command or you can find it under the Accessories menu. The ‘Connect To’ menu which stores all your available network connections in Windows XP has been replaced by the more convenient and more accessible (View Available Network) connections menu situated in the notification area. Simply click the display icon and you will see a list of all your available connections: Dial-up, Hi-speed Broadband, VPN etc.

Network Notifications

Back in Windows XP, Network notifications were identified by two blinking displays. Windows 7 displays only a single Monitor (display) or Wireless signal bar icons indicating when a connection is available. I personally don’t like it, I thought Vista’s Network icon was just perfect and quickly identified when you were connected to the Internet, Network or not connected at all.

The Recent Items menu is no longer displayed because the Start menu intelligently handles this through Jump List which displays a list of the recently accessed or created files in the programs you recently used on the Start menu or shortcuts on the Taskbar when you right click them. Another menu link that is not displayed is Favorites, you can Search the Start menu for your favorite website links or go to your User folder > Favorites to access all your website links.

Tip: If you would like the option of displaying these menus on the Start menu, simply right click the ‘Taskbar’, click ‘Properties’ > select the ‘Start Menu’ tab > click ‘Customize’ > in the dialog displayed, check off the appropriate menu links ‘Connect To’, ‘Favorites’, ‘Recent Items’ and the ‘Run’ command.

User folder

Windows Vista introduced some changes to the account folder structure. If you are familiar with the Documents and Settings folder which stores all the accounts on the computer along with your personal folder data such as My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, My Videos etc, it has now been replaced by  ‘User’. Just like in Windows XP, within each account folder you will find your personal folders such as Documents, Music, Pictures and local settings such as AppData which stores user settings such as cookies, dictionaries, and different types of data for applications you might have installed on your computer.

Another change you might see coming from Windows XP is the Public folder, this replaces your Shared Documents folder where you store information for other users on your computer or network can access. The relevance of Public folder itself has decreased in Windows 7 with the introduction of Libraries which makes it easy to share files and resources with other users on your home network simply by using a password. 

What happened to ‘My’

Instead of using the ‘My’ prefix as a part of personal folders, common content locations are simply represented by their names Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos etc. Former Microsoft employee and Vice President of Platforms, Jim Allchin gave the reason for removing ‘My’:

The company introduced the my” prefix in part to give users obvious places for storing their own files, Allchin said. (Although users can rename the standard folders, and create their own, many tend to stick with the default Windows naming structure.) He acknowledged that the company also was aiming to make the experience more personal.

But now, the my” prefix has become so ubiquitous in the technology industry that it’s no longer the distinguishing characteristic the company hoped it would be. In part, Allchin attributed the situation to the tendency of software developers to adopt the common Windows terminology when making programs that run on the Microsoft operating system.

People got carried away,” Allchin said in a recent interview. Anytime Microsoft does something, everybody wants to do it. … It became a worthless descriptor.”

 Explorer & Address Bar

Windows Explorer has changed significantly, adding more consistency and simplicity across folders. The Standard toolbar and Drop Down menu you are accustomed to seeing have been replaced by the Command Bar, which features contextual task and quick options for managing your folder views. If you want to do occasional task such as copy and move files, you can quickly invoke the Drop Down menu by pressing ‘Alt’ on your keyboard or use drag drop by expanding the folder tree in the Navigation pane.

The Address Bar works more intelligently in Windows 7/Vista, displaying quick shortcut paths within a folder hierarchy called bread crumbs. The enhanced Address Bar features drop-down menus along the current navigation path, enabling you to easily backtrack or navigate forward, anywhere along an address location. Search in Explorer is a major feature, the Instant Search capabilities makes it easy to find files within a folder, Windows 7 in particular introduces some major innovations I will take a look at in a future post.

The Task Pane in Windows XP has also been replaced by the Command Bar, previous functionality can be found there and in the preview pane situated at the bottom of the window which displays file size along with picture, video thumbnails and meta data information. The Navigation pane introduced in Vista features a clean design, divided into 5 common locations such as your Favorites for commonly accessed folders, Computer environment which stores your hard disk, optical media and removable storage. Libraries stores your data folders and aggregates all your personal files there for documents, pictures, music and videos. Network displays all the available computers you can access and shared locations.

Some other common functions and changes you might experience is how files are organized, some quick improvements you will notice include how files are grouped along with changes to things you often did in Windows XP.

• You cannot move around files using drag and drop.
• Alphabetical grouping is now ranged, meaning, instead of listing every file name from A-Z they are conveniently grouped by A-H, G-K etc.

Other file view changes include the removal of Film Strip view, instead you can view large quick previews of your files by clicking the view menu option to the left of the command bar or use your scroll wheel mouse and hold down the Control key to resize files and see large thumbnail previews of pictures and videos.

Customize and Personalize

Customizing your Windows experience is a huge part of Windows 7, Windows XP users are probably accustomed to changing their color scheme from Blue Luna, to Olive Green or Silver every now and then along with a wallpaper that came bundled with the OS or from personal pictures or off the Internet. You might even use third party themes. Windows 7 makes the out of box personalization experience richer, increasing the number of theming capabilities many times over from what was included in Windows XP. For example, you can change the color of your Taskbar/Start Menu/windows from the available collection of 16 different colors, expanded themes and wall papers have increased to 8 and along with that you can download many more from a dedicated website provided by Microsoft. The Windows Team have even personalized the themes based on your country and language. Still not satisfied, just create your own, its simple. Along with that you can have multiple wallpapers display at timed intervals. Windows 7 also includes 13 new sound schemes to add a personal touch to common notifications the OS might give out.

As far back as Windows 95 up to Windows XP, we had the Display Properties dialog which hosted the various options such as Themes/Background, Desktop, Screen Saver, Appearance and Settings for customizing your user experience. Windows 7 includes a more convenient vision, instead of a dialog, a natural explorer shell Personalization interface is presented to user with quick access to the various options for customizing the look and feel of Windows. So, if you have a hard time looking for Display Properties, you now know where to look.

How do I manage my programs?!?!

Looking for Add/Remove? Just look under the new item in Control Panel named ‘Programs and Features’. Introduced in Vista, it features a clean, informative Explorer based shell that gives you quick details and options for managing all your installed applications and program updates too. You can view your programs in a number of ways similar to working in the Documents Explorer, program icons can be viewed as tile, list or even very large if you want. Programs and Features provides links to all the updates that Windows installed called ‘Installed Updates’, you can even uninstall an update if you experience a problem. Along with that, you have access to ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ which makes it easy to disable features that come bundled with Windows that you are not using.

Windows Update

In Windows XP, you updated your computer using multiple mechanisms, whether through the individual applications such as Microsoft Word for instance or through the Microsoft Windows Update site. With Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced a dedicated Explorer shell just for Windows Update which provides a broader set of options for downloading, managing updates for not only Windows, but other Microsoft products such as Office and Windows Live products and even hardware drivers for devices such as your printer, video card and networking card.

 User Experience – Aero

Windows XP was the first release in years to introduce a significant change to the interface through its Luna theme, which offered a lighter palette, large, communicative icons and a more friendly design. With Windows Vista, Microsoft took bold steps to make Windows look much sleeker and lighter while also bringing more information to the screen and making it easier for you to focus on the content. Aero Glass depending on if your video card supports it adds a clean design to windows, putting clear emphasis on content. Window frames feature semi-transparent realism, making the interface not only cool but productive to use.

Security

Windows 7 is exceptionally secure and includes a host of built in technologies you won’t find in Windows XP or cannot be provided through a update or Service Pack. When you create an account, you are not given complete privileges, meaning, you are not the sole Administrator of the system. Windows 7 creates what is called a Standard Administrator account with a fair amount of privileges to do common power user task such as installing programs, updates, create other accounts, set restrictions and so on. Microsoft encourages that your daily activities should be performed in a Limited User account for added security.

Where is Outlook Express, Movie Maker, Windows Messenger, MSN Explorer etc…?

Windows 7 did some house cleaning, prioritizing what’s most important, especially in today’s Internet based world. As far back as Windows 95, users have come to expect Windows to include a default email program. Microsoft has taken a different approach by moving programs such as Email and Video Editing to a suite of free services called Windows Live Essentials. Outlook Express has been succeeded by Windows Live Mail, which features a built in calendar, clean interface, easy setup and strong integration with Windows Live which is the successor to MSN Explorer providing an end to end experience from the Windows desktop to the web for managing email, storing personal files and sharing photos with family and friends and a whole lot more. Windows Messenger as you probably would know has been succeeded by both Windows Live Messenger for consumer instant messaging as well as Office Communicator in Enterprise settings. You can find both Windows Live Messenger and the new Windows Live Movie Maker included with Windows Live Essentials and many other services.

If you are interested in learning about Windows Live Essentials, check out my summary here

I hope this introduction to some of the fundamental improvements in Windows 7 will have you up and running. Windows 7 is faster, simpler and more efficient all around. The Windows Team went back to the fundamentals with this release. Users will appreciate both the small and big changes in this release.

A Guided Tour of Windows 7 for New Users is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.