Table of Contents

Intro

What It All Means: Windows 7 Review
So much anticipation has led up to the arrival of Windows 7, aka The Redeemer. But does it live up to the hype? Here we pass judgment, and then, because we like you, we give you a super-quick tour of its best features and tips.

Chapter 1

The Real Cost of Upgrading to Windows 7
Now that prices are announced and it's time to think about upgrading, here are all the different considerations you'll have to make. It's as smart a Windows upgrade as there ever was, but do your homework!

Chapter 2

How To Use Windows 7, or Why The New UI Is So Great
Windows 7 is Microsoft's biggest user-interface overhaul since Windows 95. It's no surprise, then, that even Windows veterans could use a crash course on how to use it.

Chapter 3

Device Stage Hardware Fun, Plus More Productivity Tips
Device Stage, the instant recognition of cameras, printers and other peripherals, is candy for the gadget-addicted, but knowing what works and what doesn't definitely matters.

Chapter 4

Windows Media Player and Media File Compatibility
Music and movies—not only are they more important than they were when Vista came out, but they also come from more sources in more formats. Windows 7 attempts to master them all.

Chapter 5

Couch Tricks: New Features for Windows Media Center
Our favorite "10-foot" media software shows up in Windows 7 with loads of new features—if you haven't yet seen why Media Center makes even TiVo look dated, you better pay attention.

Chapter 6

Important Changes to Networking and Security
When it comes to life online, there's no way to underestimate advances in networking and security. Windows 7 is full of them, and it pays to know what they are and how to use them.

Chapter 7

Natural Interfaces: Pen, Touch and Multitouch
Windows 7 comes of age at a time when the keyboard and mouse are giving way to newer more instinctive controls—luckily, it's got many of those controls built right in. Bonus: Here's a first look at the fun Surface-like Windows 7 Touch Pack which may soon be available on all touch PCs.

Chapter 8

Got Troubles? Here's How To Shoot 'Em Down
Even a good operating system can be bad once in a while. During the Beta test, we had our share of issues. Here's a discussion of many of the problems that can be solved, and a few that can't.

Is there something missing, a discussion you were hoping to have but aren't seeing here? We want to be thorough, so let's have it. Go ahead and hit us up, either in direct emails or to our tips line, with the subject "Windows 7 Guide."

DEVICE STAGE
Many operating systems have pre-installed drivers for printers, scanners and other products, but Device Stage takes the concept to a ridiculously thorough level, with not just drivers but specialized icons, pop-up menus and XML pages full of things you can do with your camera, printer, scanner, phone or whatever.

Devices and Printers
Everything you plug in or can reach via Bluetooth or the network appears in the Devices and Printers page, clickable from the Start menu. Gadgets that have been programmed for Device Stage appear with specific icons representing them; those that haven't still get one of many different icon categories. Click once on anything on the page, and the contextual ribbon menu at the top changes to reflect the functions of the device you clicked.

Services Splash Page
When you double-click a Device icon, you get a pop-up splash page decorated by the company who made the gadget, usually with functions you can do on your computer (browse files, import pictures, customize your printer) and stuff you have to go out to the web to do (order ink, visit online gallery, etc.). Though some of the services are nice, they can get shamelessly promotional. You probably won't spend a lot of time on this page, though, because most options are reachable in an even better way, via the taskbar.

Taskbar Icon and Menu
The real meat of Device Stage is found in the amazing Windows 7 taskbar itself. Here, you can see what's connected, and instead of launching some big cumbersome window, you can right-click the icon itself and get most if not all of the services right there in a pop-up. The only thing better would be the ability to customize the stuff that appears in that menu, but it's a start. Not all devices automatically show up in the Taskbar, probably because it could get annoying to have a Taskbar full of stuff. Cameras always do, but printers only do when they're in use, or when you double-click them from the Devices and Printers page.

Availability of Device Stage Content
The big hitch here is that the device manufacturer, be it Canon, Motorola or Apple, has to build a splash page and a services list. If they don't, you get a generic icon and generic services (open folder, import content, etc.). Our guess is that most manufacturers will get on board, but it's early. Also, though supported devices do show up instantly when plugged in, some services, like advanced printing and scanning features, require the install disc, so it's not always a guaranteed automatic play.

[More Device Stage details and images]

Multiple Monitors
Got an extra monitor lying around? Hook it up brainlessly using Windows 7 in literally two steps.

FILE PRODUCTIVITY TIPS
Once files are off your devices and onto your computer, there are new integrated ways to work with those files. Here are some tips for extra productivity:

ISO Burning
Yep, ISO disc burning is native to Windows 7. Meaning you no longer have to pay money—or hunt for something free—to manipulate disc images that you should have been able to manage in the OS ages ago.

Those Pesky DOCX Files
WordPad now opens the XML Word Doc files that not even earlier versions of Word itself can. It's good news, though to be honest, if you've upgraded to Windows 7 without upgrading to Office 2007, there's something amiss.

Send To
It may not be as sexy as Play To, but Send To can be helpful in pushing and pulling files around your system and your network. As Lifehacker points out, holding down the Shift key expands those options.

TASKBAR
The taskbar is our favorite new UI element of Windows 7. It's the biggest change from Windows past, and in our view, the best. But it might result in some confusion at first because it groups applications that are open and those that aren't into one big party—the theory is that it shouldn't matter if it's already running or not if you wanna open it. That might kinda remind you of OS X's Dock, but it works a bit differently and definitely still operates on the Windows paradigm. Combined with Aero Peek, which makes every window on the desktop transparent except the one you're highlighting at the moment, you can find any window nearly instantly, no matter how many windows your desktop is buried under.

Here's how it works: When you hold your cursor the icon of an open program in the taskbar (it'll have a hint of gloss it, while unopened apps are dull and non-glassy), a live preview thumbnail will pop up for every window it has open, and in applications coded for it, like Internet Explorer, a thumbnail of every open tab, too. When you hover over a thumbnail, it brings that window to the front, and makes everything else transparent, so you know it's the one you're looking for (or not). [More Taskbar details and images and why Windows 7 Taskbar beats Mac OS X's Dock]

Jump Lists
In applications coded to take advantage of the jump list, when you right-click an icon, you'll get a pop-up menu where you can quickly select common functions. In Internet Explorer, it shows your recent browsing history; in Windows Media Player, it'll let you play recent videos; and Windows Explorer will give you quick access to pinned and frequently used folders and files. Expect jump lists to be more useful as new apps are released for Windows 7 that build functions into the jumplist.

Aero Peek

Aero Peek, which we talked about above, is a big part of what makes the new taskbar so useful. When you highlight the thumbnail preview of an app window that you might wanna open, it makes every other open window transparent, so you get a clear view of the window you're looking at. Or, if you highlight a small button on the bottom right corner of the taskbar, every window will become see-through, for a quick peek at your desktop or gadgets, Windows 7's free-floating widgets (more on those below).

Pinning
Gone is the Quick Launch bar, where you used to store shortcut buttons to your favorite apps. Now they just hang out on the taskbar with open applications. When you "pin" something, like an app or folder, it's got a permanent spot on the taskbar for easy access. When the app is running or the folder is open, the icon has a glossy sheen over it. One quirk with folders: If you try to pin more than one to the taskbar, they're all collapsed into a single "Windows Explorer" icon. Also, if you pin a file to the taskbar, it's actually pinned to the icon of the program that opens it, so you'll have to right-click that icon to pop up the jump list (see below) and select it from there.

WINDOWS
Here's where we really get into what makes Windows 7's UI really special and so different from past Windows versions—the way you handle and manage windows, and by extension, applications. It'll change your life! Maybe! Okay, not really. But it will give you a warm feeling in your tummy. Or that could be the Mexican food you ate last night.

Aero Shake
Shake, rattle and roll, sucka. Aero Shake is the new UI thinger that's useless-but-neat. Grab whatever window you want to be the only one you see, and shake it. Everything else will be minimized. But then you have to have re-open all of 'em, so not that useful overall. Correction: Shaking again will revive all of the windows. Aero Peek, which we talk about above, is better.

Maximize/Minimize aka Aero Snap

Maybe it's just a side effect of splitting my time on a Mac, but I don't really maximize windows that much anymore, and I think the new Windows UI makes you less likely to do it, too, since it's easier to deal with having tons of windows open and scattered around your screen. But if you do wanna make a window of an open app or document swallow your entire monitor, just grab it and drag it to the top of the screen. You'll get a slick little animation indicating that when you let go of the mouse button, the window will blow up to cover your whole screen. To unmaximize, just grab the top of window and pull down—it'll instantly go back to its original size. Snazzy, no?

Also, on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, there's a sliver of button you should check out. When you hover over it, it'll make every open window go all transparent so you can see your desktop. Click the button, and everything will be minimized. [More Maximize and Minimize details and images]

Left/Right Alignment aka Aero Snap, Part Deux
Another Aero snap feature: Drag a window to the far left or right of your screen, and when your cursor touches the edge, it'll make that window take up exactly half of your screen. Nice, especially on widescreen monitors.

DESKTOP/BASICS
Really, Windows 7's isn't too different from the Windows you've known and loved (or loathed) for years. It just has a handful of new UI features scattered throughout that make it easier than ever to multitask with Windows, with the side effect of making it look modern and kinda neat, too. Here's a rundown of the new ooie GUI hotness and what it does.

Gadgets

Gadgets, widgets, whatever you want to call them, they're little mini-applications strewn across your desktop that do useful things like tell you how cold it is outside, in case your apartment is like mine, where you leave all the windows open because your radiator is crazy hot and you're almost fooled into thinking it's 70 degrees outside, but really it's like 20. In a former life (i.e., Vista) they were like little ducks in a row, sitting on the sidebar by default, but now they're free-floating on your desktop, where they're more useful. I just wish there were more useful gadgets to download—now that they don't suck, maybe you'll see them start to come out. [More Gadgets details and images]

Themes
Microsoft has made themes—the unified look across your PC, like the color of windows and your wallpaper—more prominent than ever in Windows 7, and much easier to save, download and swap out too, depending on your mood. Just right-click on your desktop and press personalize, then you can change them, or Microsoft will direct you to where you can download more. Or, if you wanna be more pro, check out Lifehacker's guide to Windows 7 themage.

Shortcuts
There's a slew of new keyboard hotkey shortcuts that use the Windows key, making it feel useful for the first time ever. (And I've been using Windows for like, ever.) Two you should memorize right now: Win+T cycles through apps on your taskbar for quick access to programs, and Win+G brings all of your gadgets to the front. Check the whole list here.

Windows Explorer Preview
The preview pane was actually in Windows Vista, but Microsoft made it hard to find. Not so in Windows 7. Just press the little button above. It shoots out to the side a preview image of whatever file you've got selected, like a picture, movie, or even yes, documents, so you don't have to open 'em to see what's inside. [More Windows Explorer Preview details and images]

WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER
Windows Media Player is never going to be the prettiest girl in school, but Windows 7 gives it a few upgrades that definitely makes it more useful.

File Compatibility
For starters, Windows 7 now supports more types of media files, now including AAC in the audio department, and H.264, DivX and Xvid in video, with no third-party download needed. It also supports all of the formats it did before, including the earlier MPEG stuff and of course anything Microsoft had a hand in, not just WMA and WMV, but VC-1, too. This ability to read so much comes in handy in Play To, obsessively covered down below.

New WMP Interface
Though we haven't dwelt on it, Windows Media Player's interface was subtly redesigned. Not only is there a neat pop-up mini music player for when you want to see what's playing but you're doing other stuff, there's also a new set of tabs on the right-hand side, including a Play, Burn and Sync. The differences are subtle at a glance, but for people who were heavy WMP11 users, this new version, WMP12, has much improved workflow. (Ars Technica did a nice detailed walkthrough of the new WMP interface, if you're interested.)

PLAY TO
Speaking of "play," one of the most potentially groundbreaking features of Windows 7 is "Play To," the ability to send music, video and photos to any compatible devices on the network, without running any kind of proprietary software, and without any initial setup. Sending a song to a Sonos or a video to an Xbox is—theoretically—just a right-click away.

What devices will work?
The reason things work so well in theory is that they all support DLNA standards for sharing content on a network. You right click a piece of content in Windows Media Player, select "Play To..." and up pops any and all devices that can be commandeered. The good news here is that any media "renderer"—be it a networked photo frame or a PS3—that ends up supporting the standard will be able to receive anything you hurl at it from your Windows 7 box, and you'll even be able to grab content from servers and other computers and play them on the renderer of your choice. The downside is that there will surely be good products that don't support the spec for one reason or another.

What devices work now?
In our testing, we sent music to the Sonos and sent certain video files to the Xbox, though only when the Xbox was running the Windows Media Center Extender software. There are currently a number of other compliant "play to" products—such as the Roku SoundBridge—but since the spec itself isn't finalized yet, it's hard to just run a list. The DLNA itself will soon be announcing compatible products as they either come to market or receive the appropriate firmware update.

What content works?
As I mentioned, the computer can send media files to "renderers" around the network. At this point, it's not clear whether or not the computer can tell if the product can render the file—it sends whatever you tell it, and then returns an error if it can't be played. But soon, the computer itself will know the file compatibilities of devices on the network, and will transcode files on the fly if there's a better fit (say, from DivX to WMA). This stays in the "I'll believe it when I see it" file for now, but it's confirmed to be part of the deal.

[More Play To details and images; for a nice but long-winded video on the subject, click here]

New Context/Details Menu
Most menus share this new look, which pops up whenever you select a song, album, photo or video for playback. In each case, the page looks similar in structure but the information it provides is different. In the case of music here, you can select a track from the album on the first menu; in the secondary "actions" menu, you get choices like "Burn a CD/DVD."

Pictures and Slide Show Creator
Not only has the main pictures browser been tweaked, but now in a new slide show creator, you can hand-pick the photos you want for a slide show on the fly. If you go into the Picture Library, then select "slide shows" from the sub-menu, you can create a new list that puts you in control of the photos in your slide show.

New Video Now Playing Menu
The on-screen context menu while watching videos is also redesigned, and it's pretty unobtrusive. One thing Microsoft figured out with Media Center is how to use a gradual fade as a transition between menus and content in their UI. To check out the new Now Playing bar, just use the left/right keys to move through the options at hand. I'm a fan of it, personally.

Chronological Turbo Scroll for TV Schedules

In most on-screen TV guides, trying to browse a few days ahead is either slow and tedious or so fast you miss your target. In Media Center, the Turbo Scroll feature speeds things up a lot. If you hit the left/right arrow keys for a few seconds while browsing the onscreen guide, the channel listings become a blur, but over that blur appears a marker showing day and approximate time, so you can speed up, then stop on a dime when you get to the spot where you think your show is listed. It's probably quite useful, but as you can see in the video above, it's so cool, you'll do it even if you're not looking for anything.

Alphabetical Turbo Scroll for Music

Similarly, the music player also has a Turbo scroll feature. Again, if you hold down one of the left/right arrow keys while scrolling through any of the categorized music lists for a few seconds, it also begins to zoom through the album cover thumbnails/song titles/artists, with the general section of the Alphabetically organized library that it's in (Ab, Gi, Se, etc...). When you see you're getting close to the name of the album you want, the scroll also stops fast, and you are free to browse.

Video Playback Behind Menus
If you're watching a video (or listening to a song) and you want to exit to the main menu to look at something else, the video (or album art) will continue to play in a slick-looking dissolved background behind the UI. To check it out, just start watching a video or listening to a song, then exit to the main screen while selected media is playing. It's like multimedia multitasking.

Start Menu/Taskbar Launcher
The nice thing about bringing up Media Center in the Start Menu (or right clicking while pinned to the taskbar), is that it displays a list of frequently accessed sections of Media Center. This can be either specific files, like photos and videos, or functions, such as TV. This saves the trouble of having to burrow through 4 menus to get to something you already have in mind. After hitting the Start button, just click the arrow next to the Media Center icon to bring up the secondary list.

Album Art Grid
When you play a song in Media Center, not only is the album art for the selected song shifting from side to side on the screen, but there's a quilt of all the other album covers cascading down behind it in a fluid motion. It's nice to look at, not to mention a bit hypnotic.

Media Center on Xbox
Connecting Media Center to Xbox is pretty simple. You start Media Center on your Xbox, and if you haven't set it up as an extender with another machine already, it will ask you if you want to add one, then give you an 8 digit number. Then, you go into settings in Windows 7 Media Center and select Add extender and plug in that number. The setup process will begin, and voila, you have Media Center on your Xbox. Much of it looks and acts the same as it's Windows counterpart, with one added feature: If you use the Play To feature in Windows Media Player on your PC, it will work with Xbox Media Center. Pretty neat.

Inside Tip: In the beta, we learned that it was better for the Media Center PC to be connected via Ethernet or Wireless N to the router. (The Xbox can be connected wirelessly or via Ethernet, it allegedly doesn't matter.) If you have been experiencing a very sluggy Media Center Extender experience on the Xbox, try ditching slower connections and to your computer.

Virtual Channels
One of Win 7 Media Center's most anticipated new features is virtual TV programming, or virtual channels, that make up the enhanced IPTV features hinted at previously. More than just running promotional 2-minute clips, the goal for Microsoft is to offer on-demand full episodes, possibly even from Hulu and other content providers. MSNBC is currently up and running, and the feature looks promising with a nice looking on-screen guide, regularly updated content and the ability to make on-demand video playlists. You can eventually find these virtual channels under Extras. For now, it's just MSNBC that actually works, but the basic idea of mixing on-demand functionality in media center is pretty awesome.

Video Thumbnail Scroll
When you're playing back any HD video, and you're scrolling along the timeline (back or forward arrow keys, or dragging the timeline) there's a thumbnail that pops up, providing visuals on the scene you're about to skip to. It's like fast forwarding while using Netflix streaming, and it's a pretty useful, if subtle feature. I'd love to see it extended to all video playback.

Photo Wall During Music Play Back
When listening to music, if you select to "Play Photos," it will begin a slide show of sorts, that arranges your photos into a giant wall, then pans and zooms through the lot, fading in from grayscale to a full color view.

NETWORKING
Microsoft has tried simplifying its networking solutions overall in Windows 7, added more home-user features, and redesigned certain basic networking interfaces so that they actually kinda make sense.

Wireless Networking
Connecting to new wireless networks is something that has been made significantly easier in Windows 7. In the taskbar's notifications tray, there is a wireless signal icon just like in past Windows versions. But clicking on it now brings up a list of available networks around you. You can connect to an unsecure network, or enter in your security code on a secure network and hit the Connect button. Disconnecting is just as easy.

HomeGroup
HomeGroup is intended as an easy way for multiple computers on the same network to share their files, folders and smart content clusters known as libraries. Properly implemented, HomeGroup could be a step closer to brainless networking, and it makes sense for families.

If you access the HomeGroup tab in the Control Panel, you will be presented with the option (in theory) to create a new homegroup or join a currently existing homegroup. After creating a new homegroup, Windows asks you what libraries you want to share, and gives you a password for other computers on the network who want to join your homegroup. When the new PCs jump on the network, they get prompted to join the homegroup, and are asked for the password.

The strange thing is, other devices will still show up under the general network even if they are not necessarily connected to your homegroup. So while the tool does seem to simplify things, it may not be the last word when it comes to security. We experienced some hiccups in our trials of HomeGroup in Win 7 beta, so we have to see it in the final release to really identify whether it's going to work as billed or not.
[More HomeGroup details and images]

SECURITY
Windows 7 ramps up security options. Vista users will still identify the mostly painless Windows Firewall and Windows Defender mainstays, but Microsoft threw in some new security features—native biometric support and enhanced BitLocker protection, for example—and by letting people pick their level of User Account Control alert messages, Windows 7 aims for a safe but more user-friendly experience. However, by attempting to be more user-friendly, they may have inadvertently compromised some security.

User Account Control (UAC) Settings
Many complained in Windows Vista that User Account Control settings was an annoying feature, especially for people who were used to Administrator status and Administrator-type work. It was a necessary but evil feature. In Windows 7, Microsoft now gives you four different options for User Account Control, which you can access in the Control Panel. You can set the alerts to alert you when programs and you make a change, when only programs make a change, when only programs make a change but never dim the screen, or to never alert you at all. On the user end, it has become more convenient but seems to have compromised in security, since the Windows community has become recently aware that the new UAC is open to malicious scripts. It'd just be a shame to go back to constant UAC alerts in the name of security.

Action Center
Previously, you could access most of your security configurations in the Security Center. In Windows 7, everything from security to maintenance has been corralled into the new Action Center. It's accessible from the notification tray on your taskbar, or from the Control Panel. Here you can manage your network firewall, virus and spyware protection, UAC settings and more, along with basic troubleshooting and recovery. By being able to see everything in one place, Microsoft made it easier to identify potential problems at once. It may sound like your local news channel's 5 o'clock team of do-gooders, but this Action Center is certainly an improvement, and a better way to reach users than previous "centers," like Vista's Welcome Center.

Biometric Devices
Windows 7 comes with in-built support for biometric devices. In the Control Panel, you can set this feature to be turned off or turned on, and you can register fingerprints to act as your log-in password for Windows and other programs—so long as your drivers are working. In beta testing, Windows 7 didn't recognize my laptop's biometric scanner, even after I installed the proper drivers for it. Assuming you've got it working, Internet Explorer gives you the option of logging into sites with a registered fingerprint. This security feature is useful when logging into sites that require sensitive data, such as your bank, especially if you're afraid someone is snooping on you with a keystroke-logger.

BitLocker Drive Encryption
Windows 7 has revamped BitLocker to make it easier to encrypt hard drives. In Vista, BitLocker required you to set up a partition. Now, the BitLocker partition has already been set up. In addition, there is added support for encrypting removable drives such as flash drives. (Yes, they're calling it "BitLocker To Go.") Even if encrypting your desktop drives doesn't make much sense, it makes oodles of sense to lock down easily stolen portable devices such as your laptop and your USB drive. The encrypting process overall also has been simplified, which is great for people who aren't as familiar with BitLocker and general encryption. As was the case with Vista, BitLocker will only be available to Enterprise and Ultimate users.

TOUCH AND MULTITOUCH
In order to make use of the touch interface in Windows 7, you need a compatible PC with a touch monitor and the right drivers. We used an HP TouchSmart PC, which Microsoft has also been using in demonstrations.

In the video below, you can see the basic gestures associated with Win 7 touch:
Tap: A single click with an accompanying droplet-ripple effect
Tap and hold: The equivalent of right-clicking, indicated by a swirling circle around your finger
Flick: Inertial menu or window scrolling set in motion by a quick flick of your finger (there's also a related inertial "toss" behavior for flinging photos and other objects around the screen, where they bounce to a halt)
Type: A pop-up keyboard lets you type for real
You'll also see the multitouch gestures:
Zoom: Spreading or tweezing two fingers to make a picture zoom in or out
Rotate: Swirling those two fingers around to make the photo move
Draw: In Paint, you can even draw with two fingers
As applications harness the multitouch capabilities of the OS, more behaviors (like air hockey) will become apparent.

[More on touch and multitouch (including a virtual Air Hockey demo)]

PEN INTERFACE AND WRITING RECOGNITION
The Pen interface is similar to the touch interface, with inertial gestures and other new behavior. Though Microsoft's Tablet PC interface has been around for a long time, there are three key additions to the writing software: Custom dictionaries, math recognition and shape recognition.

Custom Dictionaries
This may not sound like much, but custom dictionaries make it easy for people who use Tablet PCs at work to get their weird job-specific terminology across. Think of a doctor and a prescription pad—how many tries does it take for handwriting recognition to tell a hastily written "fexofenadine" from a similarly scrawled "fenofibrate"? In this case, the doc would be able to add the terms, so they become at least slightly more distinct.

Math Recognition
I love this idea, since in all the years that I actually did math, I could never use a computer to do it, because I didn't want to figure out how to use all those symbols and keyboard shortcuts. (Mind you, I haven't done math in centuries, but still, I have painful memories of how confusing it was.) Now you just write the equation, with finger or pen, and you get the equation you want. Most of the time. The Math Input Panel (above) is a stand-alone Windows accessory that will paste into any math-aware application, but there's also a Math Input Control API for integrating into software.

Shape Recognition
Tired of your triangles turned into A's, or your boxy rectangles guessed as D's or E's? Now that the OS actually recognizes shapes, you can draw a flow chart or some kind of diagram and not worry that all your beautiful brainstorming will be converted to the bloody Roman alphabet. Note: We did not test this feature, mostly for an utter lack of need of any kind of flow chart, but it does sound business groovy.

WHAT MACHINES?
While there aren't that many multitouch computers on the market just yet, there are a few. HP has both the TouchSmart PC and the tx2 touch laptop, while Dell has an impressive multitouch-capable laptop too, the XT2. (If you're wondering about the embarrassingly similar names, Dell thought of theirs first.) There are new monitors cropping up all over, too, and as long as they have Windows 7 drivers, they're in business.

Most single-finger touch gestures—including all that fun with inertia—are also pen gestures, meaning most newer Tablet PCs will be able to run Windows 7 and look sharp doing it. If you've already put Win 7 on a Tablet PC and have something to share, please do. We have not had the pleasure.

BEFORE INSTALLATION
You've got to walk before you can fly, friends.

Minimum Requirements
• 1GHz processor
• 1GB RAM
• 16GB open on hard drive
• 128MB graphics memory with DirectX 9 support (optional, to run Aero)

Download a Copy
Windows 7 available from Microsoft until February 10th here:
32-Bit Windows 7 (use if you have less than 4GB of RAM)
64-Bit Windows 7 (use if you have 4GB of RAM or more)
Otherwise, you'll have to use Bittorrent.

Get a Product Key
You get a product key when you sign up to download the beta, but if you've somehow got the beta bits but no product key, go here. They'll set you straight.

Make a DVD or Copy to a Flash Drive
Either burn the Windows 7 image file to a DVD, or put the image file on a 4GB+ USB drive and use a mounting program to load it.

Dual Booting It?
If you want to keep your current OS and programs intact, check out how to set up a dual-booting installation of Windows 7.

INSTALLATION
You have a few options. The simplest is upgrading from your current Windows OS, but that can only be done from Vista. The other two options are a clean install (on a regular machine or on a netbook) and a Boot Camp install on the Mac.

Upgrade Install
This is by far the easiest way to go that will preserve all of your programs. Just create your Windows 7 DVD or flash drive and open the installer on your desktop like any other program. Windows 7 will take over from there.

Clean Install
A clean install is necessary if you are running XP, but it's also great for Vista users who want to start from scratch or would like the peace of mind of dual booting with another OS. To start from scratch, format your drive as you normally would and when you reboot, use a DVD with the Windows 7 installer image burned on it. That or boot from the DVD and follow the Custom options for a clean installation.

If you'd like to dual boot, you'll need to set up a partition first. Lifehacker has a great guide for that. Just make sure the partition is at least 16GB. With a new partition in place, most users will be able to reboot their system with the Windows 7 DVD in the drive and install the OS to said partition. But if you activate the partition and restart before the OS is installed, you could be in for a hell of a long night of troubleshooting.

Netbook Install
Netbooks handle Windows 7 surprisingly well. Just keep in mind a few points. Storage is a premium on most of these systems, so many will not be eligible based upon that criteria (you need 16GB free). And Aero is not happening since these systems lack the video memory. But there's a complicated workaround to activate Aero if you enjoy the torture of a laggy machine.

Boot Camp Install
If you own a Mac, you're looking at a Boot Camp installation of 7. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions can work, but older Macs are best sticking to the 32-bit version. Boot Camp 2.1 supports the 64-bit installation in most recent Pro-branded systems.

Have your Windows 7 DVD (or flash drive with a mounting program) ready, and open up Boot Camp. You'll need to make a new partition that's at least 10GB in size (we'd recommend more, since PCs require at least 16GB). Follow the prompts, and Windows 7 will install.

One catch to keep in mind, however, is that you may need an OS X DVD to load necessary drivers into Windows 7 after installation is complete.

EXTRAS
Set a Backup Drive
Vista made backing up easy, but now you can easily customize just what files and folders you'd like to backup. Go to:
Control Panel -> Backup Your Computer -> Set up backup
It'll guide you from there.

Setup Index Folders
Make sure that Search is including the folders you want...and only the folders you want.
Start -> Search Programs and Files -> Type "index" -> Select "Change Search Options..."

Rock a Second Monitor
Oh, you know you've always wanted to. Now that you have Windows 7, hook up a second monitor in just two steps. Hit Win+P and choose an option. Done!

[More info about Installing Windows 7 and dealing with Boot Camp]

PROBLEM SOLVING AND EASY FIXES
Use Windows 7's Troubleshooting Tool
There's actually a tool, in Control Panel, called Troubleshooting. Open it up and you'll see various options like configuring devices, connecting to a network and checking to make sure your sound card works correctly. We won't go through each individual options here, but it's a very good place to start when you've hit a problem, before you turn to Googling.

Make Older Programs Work With Windows 7
This doesn't work 100%, but if you type "Program Compatibility" into the search bar in the Start menu, you'll find a compatibility wizard that helps make older apps work with Windows 7. (Sometimes, you can get to it by right-clicking an application that is having trouble launching.) Once you find your app—which may take a little bit of disk browsing if it's not displaying under the list—you'll choose one of potential issues and which version of Windows it previously worked for. In at least one case, we found that running through this made a non-starting app start up under Win 7, so it's good to know about.

Use Windows 7 Problem Steps Recorder to document your problems
And if you're having any sort of problems with Windows 7 you need a tech-savvy friend or family member to walk you through, try the problem steps recorder. It's an app built into Windows 7 that, when activated, records the button presses and mouse clicks you make in order to generate an HTML-based report of the steps you took to cause a problem. Sending this to your friend who also has Windows 7 will let him diagnose where you've screwed up, so you can STOP DOING THAT.

Diagnose performance issues with the Windows Experience Index
If you feel Windows 7 is running slower than it should, take a look at the Windows Experience Index. With those scores you can tell whether it's your RAM that's making your machine chunk, or your graphics card, or your slow hard drive. Then, replace each part as necessary.

Fix the Installer Bug
If you've been running Windows 7 for a few days and found that you're suddenly unable to install programs, here's how to fix it. It's an MSI installer issue, and all you have to do is open up a command prompt in Administrator mode and type:
reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions /va /f and press enter.

Fix User Account Control-Gadget Conflict
UAC may be decent enough in warning and protecting you of intrusions, but it can also get in the way. One bug in the beta actually turns off your desktop Gadgets if you disable UAC. Here's how you re-enable it.

1. Open the Registry Editor, or regedit.exe. You can search for regedit in the Start Menu.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Sidebar\Settings
3. Right-click and create a new DWORD (32-Bit) Value called AllowElevatedProcess.
4. Right-click AllowElevatedProcess and click Modify. Set the value to 1. Close the registry editor. Your gadgets should work with UAC off now.

PREVENTATIVE MEASURES
Install Antivirus Software
Although Windows 7 is at least as secure as Vista, you're still going to want to install antivirus software on it. The easiest Win 7-compatible one we like is AVG, which runs just fine, protects decently enough and is free.

Turn Off Sleep Mode
It doesn't look like sleep mode has been optimized for all the millions of types of hardware configurations out there now—it is a beta after all. We'd suggest turning it off entirely instead of trying to find out whether or not your machine supports sleep/hibernate 100%. If you don't, you'll have to wake your machine up the hard way.

Tweak settings before they get in the way
SetteMaxer is a utility that's able to to tweak a few settings not easily accessible to the normal user, like disabling auto-reboot on a crash, disabling Windows Defender or disabling UAC. If you don't know what you're doing, you shouldn't tinker.

WARNING
Unfixable: User Account Control Security Hole
Unlike in Vista, there's no warning message when the User Account Control is changed. Someone made a proof-of-concept that exploits this into switching your UAC off and taking control of your machine. There's no workaround for this one unless you raise UAC to MAXIMUM (which is annoying), so be careful.

The main goal of Windows networking is to enable multiple computers on the same network to share files to each other—so you can share your huge, gigantic, cough, legal video files to your friends and family without having to pull out a USB drive or an external hard drive. Previously, setting up a Windows network was akin to getting your teeth pulled out without anesthesia. Homegroups is Windows 7's solution to sharing your libraries, files and folders easily.

In the beta, you can only join a homegroup if you are connected to a Home network (if you are connected to a Work or Public network, you cannot join a homegroup for security purposes). In order to check if you are under a Home network, you can check in the Network and Sharing Center under the Control Panel. In here, you can also check to see if you are part of a homegroup or not. From the Control Panel, you can also access homegroup settings, either under Homegroup or "Choose homegroup and sharing options" under Network and Internet.

Following the instructions seem simple enough in the beta. You create one, select which libraries you want to share, and then Windows will give you a password. This password is needed for other computers who attempt to join the homegroup on the same network.

Working with Jason (both of us running betas of Windows 7), he would attempt to connect to my newly-created homegroup and vice versa. About half of the time, he or I would get a prompt to join the homegroup and input the password. The other half of the time, there was nada. Interestingly enough, even though sometimes it did not detect the homegroup, we were connected and showed up in each other's network in Windows Explorer. When we were finally both in the same homegroup, our libraries were not shared. We fiddled with the Homegroup tabs in Control Panel, which would randomly uncheck our shared libraries to no avail. We checked our permission settings. They were identical. We went into Windows Explorer. Right-clicking on a library and using the "Share with..." option didn't help.

Finally, it worked. The magic button, as it turns out lay on the top tab of Windows Explorer right before the "Burn" button. I was finally able to listen to some Alicia Keys. God, it was a lot of work listening to Alicia Keys.

Homegroup, for us, was not working as Microsft intended—easy—but this is still the beta. If setting up homegroups actually works as intended in the final release, the "easy networking" goal Microsoft set for themselves will be achieved. But in the meantime, it requires a lot of trial and error (much like pre-Homegroup networking) to sort out all the kinks. When homegroups was finally up and running, it was easy enough to share files. But unless Microsoft fixes this feature in the final release, the whole idea of Homegroups will be moot.

The new calculator, in a noticeable change, now has a history of previous inputs. That's more than handy for long equations where your mind gets so confused you forget what step you are on. Also new to Windows 7 is the addition of Programmer and Statistics mode. Since I suck at math and avoid it whenever possible, I can't say much but, "awesome, functions I'll never use or understand." Still, it's better to have too many options than too few, I say.

The real highlight of Calculator are the new extra features included. They include Unit Conversion and Date Calculation under the Options menu, which do exactly what it sounds like they do. Under Templates in the same menu, you'll also be able to calculate your gas mileage, lease payment and your mortgage payment. Now, that's handy. At least, I'll be better prepared should I ever decide to own real estate. [Windows 7 at Gizmodo]

View our other Windows 7 tips and our continuing coverage here.

I must warn you, this fix is not for those who don't like to go into their registry. You should probably set a System Restore point or backup your registry before you attempt it. Steps follow below, and are slightly modified from the original for clarity:

1. Open the Registry Editor, or regedit.exe. You can search for regedit in the Start Menu.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Sidebar\Settings
3. Right-click and create a new DWORD (32-Bit) Value called AllowElevatedProcess.
4. Right-click AllowElevatedProcess and click Modify. Set the value to 1. Close the registry editor. Your gadgets should work with UAC off now.

Ah, my one, lonesome, beautiful Weather gadget, how I have missed thee. [diTii.com, thanks Gank!]

View our other Windows 7 tips and our continuing coverage here.

Thanks to the spankin' new Windows shortcuts, all you have to do is physically connect your external monitor through your VGA port or some other port and hit Win+P on your keyboard.

A little pop-up will appear on your desktop and you will be asked to choose between four options:

1. Show destop only on computer display
2. Duplicate desktop onto projector
3. Extend desktop to projector
4. Show desktop only on projector

...and that's all folks. There is something to note, though: if you want your monitor to show a different resolution, you're going to have to manually tweak the resolution yourself. In that case, you'll have to right-click your desktop and go to Screen Resolution. It's, for the most part, simple enough.

(Disclosure: I'm not actually sure how easy it would be for cavemen... maybe I can borrow one from Geico?)

View our other Windows 7 tips and our continuing coverage here.

For those unaware, there are two ways you can stream media to your Xbox: through media center or through your windows media player library. Media Center gives you the advantage of a visually-oriented UI and some advanced features such as live TV and movie rentals. Streaming through the Media Player library, conversely, is an easy, no nonsense way of accessing music and videos.

The problem is, getting everything setup isn't such a breeze. Let's start with Media Center.

In theory, you should be able to start Media Center on the Xbox it will already have a prompt to initiate the setup process (If you already have another MC computer up and running, you can go into the Computer menu under System Settings) In theory, it should offer an eight digit number, which you then plug into the setup screen on the desktop Media Center client, and the rest is taken care of.

This worked the first time, but because the UI on the Xbox media center was painstakingly laggy, I attempted to unlink the Xbox and PC, and try the setup again. A handful of failed configurations took place, and I ultimately had to make sure no trace of previous MC setup attempts were present on either the Xbox or the PC, then clear the Xbox Cache.

After that, it managed to setup OK, but kept saying the bandwidth was extremely low, when it was actually fine. And even after setting it up again, the Xbox Media Center App is really, really slow to navigate over wi-fi. Apparently, according to Microsoft, the beta version of Media Center streams better with your computer hooked up to Ethernet. They say this will not be a problem in the final version, but for now, it is what it is.

Music playback is pretty smooth as it picks up anything in your library, and provides a bright quilt of album art to view in the background while a song plays. Videos show up in your video library, and playback, though there seems to be some freezing, and difficulty with playback controls. The new Play To feature, which uses Windows Media Player on your PC as a remote control also worked well inside Media Center (we'll have more on this feature soon).

As for accessing your files through the Windows Media Player Library, it's as easy to set up as it was on Vista. Except now, all you have to do is go into Windows Media Player, click the Share in the menu bar, and select the share media option up at the top. A box should pop up with a one-click option to enable media sharing, and all the music and videos in your Media Player library should be available to stream via the Video and Music library options in the Xbox interface.

The only problem is that video seems to be finicky. Windows friendly formats, such as WMV, seem to work best, while AVI files tend to have problems. The Media Center team at Microsoft says that the beta version of Media Center isn't handling third party video formats particularly well, especially DivX and Xvid, but they expect to work the kinks out on that soon. Wilson has been able to get a couple of AVI files streaming properly using the above steps, but Jason and I have not, and the video folder registering as empty.

In any case, it may not be perfect yet, but with a bit of tinkering, you can get Xbox streaming working with Win 7.

View our other Windows 7 tips and our continuing coverage here.

Win 7's version activates via a button on the top right of Windows Explorer. It pops out and displays files like music, videos, HTML docs, photos, WordPad docs (but not Word's .docx flies unless you have Word installed) directly in the pane without having to open a separate app. It's not quite as good as OS X Leopard's Quick Look, which does support PDF and Word and Office docs, but it's definitely better than Vista's preview.

View our other Windows 7 tips and our continuing coverage here.

Brandon Paddock, a Microsoft employee working on Windows 7, conveniently lists all of Windows 7 new hotkeys for us, including ones that'll make the new taskbar even easier to use. I'd memorize the taskbar shortcuts, like middle clicking for launching a new window of an open application, along with Win+number—which opens the program pinned to the taskbar that corresponds to it, like if your first pinned program is Firefox, Win+1 will launch it—and Win+G, which brings gadgets to the front, kind of like the Dashboard button on the Mac.

General
Win+Up Maximize
Win+Down Restore / Minimize
Win+Left Snap to left
Win+Right Snap to right
Win+Shift+Left Jump to left monitor
Win+Shift+Right Jump to right monitor
Win+Home Minimize / Restore all other windows
Win+T Focus the first taskbar entry
Pressing again will cycle through them, you can can arrow around.
Win+Shift+T cycles backwards.
Win+Space Peek at the desktop
Win+G Bring gadgets to the top of the Z-order
Win+P External display options (mirror, extend desktop, etc)
Win+X Mobility Center (same as Vista, but still handy!)
Win+#
(# = a number key) Launches a new instance of the application in the Nth slot on the taskbar.
Example: Win+1 launches first pinned app, Win+2 launches second, etc.
Win + +
Win + - (plus or minus key) Zoom in or out.

Explorer
Alt+P Show/hide Preview Pane

Taskbar modifiers
Shift + Click on icon Open a new instance
Middle click on icon Open a new instance
Ctrl + Shift + Click on icon Open a new instance with Admin privileges
Shift + Right-click on icon Show window menu (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc)
Note: Normally you can just right-click on the window thumbnail to get this menu
Shift + Right-click on grouped icon Menu with Restore All / Minimize All / Close All, etc.
Ctrl + Click on grouped icon Cycle between the windows (or tabs) in the group

Which ones do you think you'll be using the most? Also, does anybody else love that it's called the "Win" key? [Brandon Live]

If you drag your window to the top of the screen, it will maximize and fill the space completely. If you drag it to the left or right edge, it will dock it to that side and take up roughly 60% of the horizontal space (notice the silhouettes of the larger windows). Drag it back down or over in the other direction and it returns to its previous size.

It's especially helpful when you're working on computers with small screens and trackpads, where it can be a hassle to get your cursor over that tiny button to maximize or restore to normal size. Instead of a small space to aim for, you at least have the whole upper bar to work with.

View our other Windows 7 tips and our continuing coverage here.

It's gone! If you've used Vista, you'd be familiar with the fact that Add/Remove Programs is now called Programs and Features, but if you're migrating up from Windows XP, you'd be super confused.

Luckily, if you left your Control Panel view on default (the one that doesn't list out all the icons), it's slightly easier to find.

Hopefully this saved you a few minutes of WTFing as you're playing around with Windows 7.

View our other Windows 7 tips and our continuing coverage here.

Just double click any .ISO image file (which are used to disseminate DVDs of operating systems on the internet, for example) and a utility will pop up, allowing you to burn a disc to your optical drive.

For more sophisticated ISO types that people who regularly Torrent stuff would be familiar with, you'll still have to use other apps like Nero; but for easy Windows 7/Linux OS image burning, this works just fine.

When you connect a supported gadget, like in this case the Epson Artisan 800, you instantly see the icon with its shiny black case and colorful printout. There was no download, this stuff was already cached somewhere. The icon at first had a yellow alert badge, but after a quick troubleshoot wizard, the badge changed to a happy green check mark.

There are three components of Device Stage: An icon in Devices and Printers, an XML page with links to services and apps, and an icon in the taskbar with a nice tidy pop-up menu of device options.

The icon in the Devices and Printers page, which you can easily reach from the the Start Menu. If you can't find your device anywhere else, it will at least be here. If your gadget is not plugged in, its icon is slightly translucent. If it is, you see a clear shiny device. Click on the icon once, and a contextual ribbon at the top of the window changes to give you device specific options. (For the Epson all-in-one, it was "Start scan" "See what's printing" "Manage default printers" etc. For a mass storage device, it's "Browse Files" and "Safely Remove.")

Double-clicking the icon in the Devices page brings up the services page, essentially a webpage that lives in your computer, and can launch both websites and apps. The look and feel is developed by the device manufacturer, though I'm sure there's a nice Microsoft template if needed. As you can see from both its contents and the following, cool taskbar icon, this page is the sort of thing that would probably used most when the gadget is first bought, and forgotten about later.

The taskbar icon is the ooh-aah part of Device Stage. Right click it (or click and swipe upwards) and you get a series of "Tasks"—essentially a summarized version of what the big XML page offers, with some more specific commands too. Printers are pretty obvious, but it will be really fun to see what people can do with cameras and phones, not to mention totally specialized devices like a Slacker portable radio or a Chumby.

Speaking of Chumby, devices don't need to connect via USB. They can connect via the network or Bluetooth, and are given the same rich metadata treatment.

I did notice one thing in particular that probably won't be "fixed" in the final release: Even though the Epson menu offered all of the Artisan 800's functionality, some of the functions brought up error messages like the one you see below. I didn't run the install disc, and I am assuming that the .EXE apps that the launcher couldn't find were ones I needed to install from the Epson's CD. This makes sense: The richer the experience offered by the device manufacturer, the more likely it is that they will try to make you install more of their software. It's too bad that, as far as I know, you can't customize these jump lists, though, because I would love to see a pop up that only had the crap I care about.

Up top, I made a gripe about products only working if they're supported. If they're not supported, they get generic icons and you see the old AutoPlay pop-up from Windows systems past. In other words, it sucks—like this—when they're not supported:

Don't get me wrong. This isn't a complaint about how few gadgets are currently supported by Windows 7 Beta. The list is here, and it's small, but you know damn well it's going to get longer and longer and longer, every week if not every day.

What I am saying is that I have mixed feelings about what Device Stage will mean to consumer electronics companies. One one hand, companies would do well to stop messing around with their own silly proprietary crapware for say, alerting me when I need printer ink, or downloading the photos from my camera. The Device Stage interface, as you can see below, is an elegant way to facilitate those kinds of menial tasks.

On the other hand, though, I hate for this to become some kind of gear mafia. Back in the day, PlaysForSure's website listed a bunch of compatible music players, but it didn't list all of them. People going to the site would have been swayed to buy officially supported hardware, even if it wasn't the best. I am sure in this case that Microsoft will upload all of the content of all those who participate, but I would hate for people to be choosing devices just because of their ability to talk to Windows 7—an inferior printer, say, having a better Win 7 interface than a superior model.

The ideal solution is for all makers of decent gadgets pay some dude $50 to write the stupid XML code for it to appear in Device Stage—I'm told it's ridiculously simple to submit data. Then it would be a given that a hot new device will just show up. But will there be awesome gadgets that—because of inattentiveness on the part of their makers—end up looking like ass in Windows 7? The chances are good. [More Windows 7 at Gizmodo]

UPDATE: I received the Device Stage package for the Nikon D90 (what Steve Ballmer used to demo Device Stage at CES). Here's a gallery of screenshots from that, showing similar functionality. I did have some trouble getting it to load the user's manual, but that is probably something that can be fixed before the official Win 7 launch.