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Windows 7

So I got to try out the newest version of Windows today. First impression wasn't that good. They haven't changed much sense Vista, but this is a pre-beta release so I'm gonna ignore that for now. Either way, here are a few things that I have noticed that where different.

First, there is the "ribbon" that made its debut in Microsoft Office 2007. They have put it in two more applications: Paint and Wordpad. Personally, I hate the ribbon. Maybe because I don't know where anything is and I just need to get used to it. Now, there aren't many menu options that the ribbon has replaced in these two applications, so I think it is better suited here than in MS Office. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea, I just think they could have organized it a bit better.

Next there is a little feature in Windows Explorer (not to be confused with Internet Explorer). If you drag a window to the top of the screen it will maximize it, just as if you had double clicked on the title bar. You can then drag it down to un-maximize it. But thats not all! You can can also drag it to either side of the screen in the same fashion and it will maximize the window to half of your screen, so you can do some split screen editing in different programs.

One thing that took me a few seconds to notice. Something was missing, but I couldn't put my finger on it immediately. Then it hit me. That God awful sidebar is gone. The gadgets are still there, but they don't take up a 5^th of your screen anymore, which is a definite plus.

And speaking of pluses, Microsoft improved the UAC (User Account Control). I'm positive you know what that is, even if you don't know what it's called. Ever see that annoying popup that has two options: "Cancel" and "Allow"? Of course you have. Practically any time you want to install something new the UAC makes its presence known. Well, in Vista you could turn this feature either on (default) or off. In Windows 7 you have a few more choices, now they give you a slider. One side being "Always Notify" and the other "Never Notify" with two levels in between.

Now here is something that could have some amazing potential. There is a new feature that allows you to hook up a sensor (or numerous for all I know) to your computer and be able to interact with your computer via the sensor. Unfortunately, I don't have a sensor to test it out. I just hope that Microsoft doesn't screw this one up. I can see some pretty sweet things coming out of this.

There is one last thing that I noticed and think it is absolutely hilarious. It is more of a tweak than anything else, but now the Windows games that come with the OS (Minesweeper, Solitaire, etc.) have been rated by the ESRB. I can now sleep at night knowing that Minesweeper is rated "E for Everyone".

Unfortunately like I said before, Windows 7 is basically Windows Vista with a few tweaks. I hope they do a bit more (ok, allot more) with this one. It is very early, however, so I won't go on saying how much it looks like vista. I'll wait till they release a more widely-distributed beta in a few years.

I would normally tell you to leave comments and feed back and all that stuff, but I'm currently working on a comment system. NanoCMS doesn't have one built in. I'll get one up eventually. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at zorc...@gmail.com.

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