Diskpart If you want a flash drive to be bootable, you have to use a utility like diskpart to do that. Then copying an install DVD to it will make it act as bootable install media for Windows.

A. Make a bootable flash drive by opening a Command Prompt, 'Run as Administrator', to run these commands: diskpart select disk 2 ('list disk' to determine number) clean create partition primary select partition 1 active format fs=fat32 assign exit

B. Copy DVD to the Flash Drive xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\

DiskPart is one of the most powerful Windows. It allows you to accurately manage the partitions, resizing them, their assignment and their formatting. It can be incorporated into a script, and most importantly, may itself execute scripts. It is essential to restructure the USB key and is a formidable weapon to automate deployment of Windows on parking machines.

Before you can use DiskPart commands on a disk, partition, or volume, you must first list and then select the object to give it focus. When an object has focus, any DiskPart commands that you type act on that object.

You can list the available objects and determine an object's number or drive letter by using the list disk, list volume, and list partition commands. The list disk and list volume commands display all disks and volumes on the computer. However, the list partition command displays only partitions on the disk that have focus. When you use the list commands, an asterisk (*) appears next to the object with focus. You select an object by its number or drive letter, such as disk 0, partition 1, volume 3, or volume C.

Warning

The DISKPART command is for an informed public that already have a minimum knowledge about partitioning and formatting disks and the use of command-mode "command prompt". Misuse of this command can cause the loss of your data on your disks. We do not recommend beginners to use DISKPART. Most DiskPart functions are available as user- friendly Windows interface by clicking the right button on "My Computer" (or "Computer" on Vista) and selecting "Manage from the context menu" before selecting the module "Disk Management".

DISKPART is present in XP, Vista and . However, the XP version is more limited because it does not offer advanced features for resizing partitions, for example.

To start DISKPART, do the following:

- On Windows XP Go to Start> All Programs> Accessories Click Command Prompt.

- For /Windows 7 Go to Start> All Programs> Accessories Right click on the Command Prompt icon Select Run as administrator from the context menu. Trouble shoot

Startup Repair Tool in Windows 7

A lot of times if Windows can’t boot properly because of a hardware change, unexpected shutdown, or other errors, it will come up with the Windows Error Recovery screen. This gives you the option to go into Startup Repair or try to boot Windows normally.

If Windows won’t boot properly and doesn’t give you the Error Recovery screen, you can get into it manually. Power the computer completely down, and when you power it up again, keep hitting the F8 key until you see the Advanced Boot Options screen. Once you get to this screen, highlight Repair Your Computer and hit Enter.

You will see the message…Windows is loading files… Next choose the right keyboard . You’ll need to log on as a local user, or as administrator if you want to access the command prompt too. Now you have different System Recovery Options to choose from. Click on Startup Repair to begin the troubleshooting process as it can detect and fix problems. Startup Repair begins the scan and attempts to repair the system. Be patient while it finishes, sometimes it can take a while for it to complete. In this particular instance a is recommended. You don’t have to use this option, you can cancel it and allow the tool to keep trying to fix the issue. The System Restore process starts and returns system to a time when it worked correctly. You should have a few different date ranges to choose from, but you’ll want to select the most recent one. After it’s been restored, you’ll get a message indicating it was successful and you need to Restart. After it’s been restored, you’ll get a message indicating it was successful and you need to Restart. The option to send the error details to . Windows 7

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search Windows 7 Part of the family

Screenshot of Windows 7 Ultimate Developer Microsoft Website Official website Releases RTM: July 22, 2009 Release date Retail: October 22, 2009 (info) 6.1[1] (build 7600.16385.090713-1255[2]) Current version (2009-10-22; 2 months ago) (info) Source model Closed source / Shared source License MS-EULA Kernel type Hybrid Update method Platform support IA-32, x86-64 Support status Mainstream support Further reading • Development of Windows 7 • Features new to Windows 7 • Features removed from Windows 7

•

Windows 7 is the latest public release version of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, and media center PCs.[3] Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009,[4] and reached general retail availability on October 22, 2009,[5] less than three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista. Windows 7's counterpart, 2008 R2, was released at the same time.

Unlike its predecessor, which introduced a large number of new features, Windows 7 was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being fully compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista is already compatible.[6] Presentations given by Microsoft in 2008 focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned with a new , referred to as the Superbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup,[7] and performance improvements. Some applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, including Windows , Windows , , and , are not included in Windows 7;[8][9] most are instead offered separately as part of the free Windows Live Essentials suite.[10] Contents

[hide]

• 1 Development o 1.1 Goals • 2 Features o 2.1 New and changed features o 2.2 Removed features • 3 Antitrust regulatory attention o 3.1 Editions • 4 Reception • 5 Editions • 6 Marketing • 7 Hardware requirements • 8 See also • 9 References

• 10 External links [edit] Development

Main article: Development of Windows 7

Originally, a version of Windows codenamed Blackcomb was planned as the successor to Windows XP (codename Whistler) and Windows Server 2003. Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. However, an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn," was announced for 2003, delaying the development of Blackcomb.[11] By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb. After three major viruses exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period in 2003, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold while developing new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn (Windows Vista) was also restarted, and thus delayed, in August 2004. A number of features were cut from Longhorn.[12]

Blackcomb was renamed Vienna in early 2006[13] and again Windows 7 in 2007.[14] In 2008, it was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the .[15][16] There has been some confusion over naming the product Windows 7,[17] while versioning it as 6.1 to indicate its similar build to Vista and increase compatibility with applications that only check major version numbers,[18] similar to Windows 2000 and Windows XP both having 5.x version numbers.[19]

The first external release to select Microsoft partners came in January 2008 with Milestone 1, build 6519.[20] At PDC 2008, Microsoft demonstrated Windows 7 with its reworked taskbar. Copies of Windows 7 build 6801 were distributed at the end of the conference; however, the demonstrated taskbar was disabled in this build.

On December 27, 2008, Windows 7 Beta was leaked onto the via BitTorrent.[21] According to a performance test by ZDNet,[22] Windows 7 Beta beat both Windows XP and Vista in several key areas; including boot and shutdown time and working with files, such as loading documents. Other areas did not beat XP; including PC Pro benchmarks for typical office activities and video editing, which remain identical to Vista and slower than XP.[23] On January 7, 2009, the 64-bit version of the Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) was leaked onto the web, with some torrents being infected with a trojan.[24][25] At CES 2009, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Windows 7 Beta, build 7000, had been made available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers in the format of an ISO image.[26] The Beta was to be publicly released January 9, 2009, and Microsoft initially planned for the download to be made available to 2.5 million on this date. However, access to the downloads was delayed because of high traffic.[27] The download limit was also extended, initially until January 24, then again to February 10. People who did not complete downloading the beta had two extra days to complete the download. After February 12, unfinished downloads became unable to complete. Users could still obtain product keys from Microsoft to activate their copies of Windows 7 Beta, which expired on August 1, 2009. The release candidate, build 7100, has been available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers and Connect Program participants since April 30 and became available to the general public on May 5, 2009. It has also been leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent.[28] The release candidate is available in five languages and will expire on June 1, 2010, with shutdowns every two hours starting March 1, 2010.[29] Microsoft stated that Windows 7 would be released to the general public on October 22, 2009. Microsoft released Windows 7 to MSDN and Technet subscribers on August 6, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. PDT.[30] Microsoft announced that Windows 7, along with R2, was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009. Windows 7 RTM is build 7600.16385, which was compiled on July 13, 2009, and was declared the final RTM build after passing all Microsoft's tests internally.[4] "The launch of Windows 7 has superseded everyone’s expectations, storming ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the biggest-grossing pre-order product of all-time, and demand is still going strong," claimed managing director Brian McBride, Amazon UK on October 22."[4]

[edit] Goals

Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, suggested that this version of Windows would be more "user-centric".[31] Gates later said that Windows 7 would also focus on performance improvements.[32] Steven Sinofsky later expanded on this point, explaining in the Engineering Windows 7 blog that the company was using a variety of new tracing tools to measure the performance of many areas of the operating system on an ongoing basis, to help locate inefficient code paths and to help prevent performance regressions.[33]

Senior Vice President Bill Veghte stated that Windows Vista users migrating to Windows 7 would not find the kind of device compatibility issues they encountered migrating from Windows XP.[34] Speaking about Windows 7 on October 16, 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed compatibility between Vista and Windows 7,[35] indicating that Windows 7 would be a refined version of Windows Vista.[35] [edit] Features

[edit] New and changed features

Main article: Features new to Windows 7 The new , which replaces Windows Security Center

When the action center detects a security threat, it displays a thumbnail with problems listed.

Windows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi- core processors,[36][37][38][39] improved boot performance, DirectAccess, and kernel improvements. Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter), a new version of Center,[40] a Gadget for , improved media features, the XPS Essentials Pack and Windows PowerShell being included, and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion. Many new items have been added to the , including ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, and Display.[41] Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds), which encompasses both of the computer. The default setting for in Windows 7 has been criticized for allowing untrusted software to be launched with elevated privileges by exploiting a trusted application.[42] Microsoft's Windows kernel engineer Mark Russinovich acknowledged the problem, but noted that there are other vulnerabilities that do not rely on the new setting.[43] Windows 7 also supports Mac-like RAW image viewing through the addition of WIC-enabled image decoders, which enables raw image thumbnails, previewing and metadata display in Windows Explorer, plus full-size viewing and slideshows in and Window Media Center.[44]

The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with pinning applications to the taskbar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons. These buttons also enable the Jump Lists feature to allow easy access to common tasks.[45] The revamped taskbar also allows the reordering of taskbar buttons. To the far right of the system clock is a small rectangular button that serves as the Show desktop icon. This button is part of the new feature in Windows 7 called Aero Peek. Hovering over this button makes all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop.[46] In touch-enabled displays such as touch screens, tablet PCs, etc., this button is slightly wider to accommodate being pressed with a finger.[47] Clicking this button minimizes all windows, and clicking it a second time restores them. Additionally, there is a feature named Aero Snap, that automatically maximizes a window when it is dragged to either the top or left/right edges of the screen.[48] This also allows users to snap documents or files on either side of the screen to compare them. When a user moves windows that are maximized, the system restores their previous state automatically. This functionality is also accomplished with keyboard shortcuts. Unlike in Windows Vista, window borders and the taskbar do not turn opaque when a window is maximized with applied. Instead, they remain translucent.

The Windows 7 taskbar.

For developers, Windows 7 includes a new networking API with support for building SOAP-based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET-based WCF web services), [49] new features to shorten application install times, reduced UAC prompts, simplified development of installation packages,[50] and improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API.[51] At WinHEC 2008 Microsoft announced that color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit would be supported in Windows 7 along with the wide color gamut scRGB (which for HDMI 1.3 can be converted and output as xvYCC). The video modes supported in Windows 7 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB.[52][53] Microsoft has also implemented better support for solid-state drives,[54] including the new TRIM command, and Windows 7 is able to identify a solid-state drive uniquely. Microsoft is planning to support USB 3.0 in a subsequent patch, support not being included in the initial release due to delays in the finalization of the standard.[55]

Internet Spades, Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers, which were removed from Windows Vista, were restored in Windows 7. Windows 7 includes 8 and 12.

Wikinews has related news: Windows 7 will allow users to disable Internet Explorer

Users are also able to disable many more Windows components than was possible in Windows Vista. New additions to this list of components include Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, , and the Windows Gadget Platform.[56] Windows 7 includes 13 additional sound schemes, titled Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata.[57] A new version of Microsoft Virtual PC, newly renamed as Windows Virtual PC was made available for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.[58] It allows multiple Windows environments, including Windows XP Mode, to run on the same machine, requiring the use of Intel VT-x or AMD- V. Windows XP Mode runs Windows XP in a virtual machine and redirects displayed applications running in Windows XP to the Windows 7 desktop.[59] Furthermore Windows 7 supports the mounting of a virtual hard disk (VHD) as a normal data storage, and the bootloader delivered with Windows 7 can boot the Windows system from a VHD.[60] The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) of Windows 7 is also enhanced to support real-time multimedia application including video playback and 3D games, thus allowing use of DirectX 10 in remote desktop environments.[61] The three application limit, previously present in the Windows Vista Starter Edition, has been removed from Windows 7.[62]

[edit] Removed features

Main article: Features removed from Windows 7

A number of capabilities and certain programs that were a part of Windows Vista are no longer present or have been changed, resulting in the removal of certain functionality. Some notable Windows Vista features and components have been replaced or removed in Windows 7, including the classic user interface, and InkBall. Four applications bundled with Windows Vista — Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Calendar [63] and Windows Mail — are not included with Windows 7, but are instead available for free in a separate package called Windows Live Essentials which can be found on the Microsoft website. [edit] Antitrust regulatory attention

As with other Microsoft operating systems, Windows 7 is being studied by United States federal regulators who oversee the company's operations following the 2001 United States v. Microsoft settlement. According to status reports filed, the three-member panel began assessing prototypes of the new operating system in February 2008. Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research said that, "Microsoft's challenge for Windows 7 will be how can they continue to add features that consumers will want that also do not run afoul of regulators."[64]

[edit] Editions

In order to comply with European antitrust regulations, Microsoft has proposed the use of a "ballot" screen, allowing users to download a competing browser, thus removing the need for a version of Windows completely without Internet Explorer, as previously planned.[65] In response to criticism involving Windows 7 E and concerns from manufacturers about possible consumer confusion if a version of Windows 7 with Internet Explorer were shipped later after one without Internet Explorer, Microsoft announced that it would scrap the separate version for Europe and ship the standard upgrade and full packages worldwide.[66] As with previous versions of Windows, an N version, which does not come with Windows Media Player, has been released in Europe, but only for sale directly from Microsoft sales websites and select others.[67] [edit] Reception

In July 2009, in only eight hours, pre-orders of Windows 7 at Amazon.co.uk surpassed the demand Windows Vista had in its first 17 weeks.[68] It became the highest-grossing pre-order in Amazon's history, surpassing sales of the previous record holder, the seventh Harry Potter book.[69] After 36 hours, 64-bit versions of Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate editions sold out in Japan.[70] Two weeks after its release, it was announced that its market share had surpassed that of Snow Leopard, released two months previously as the most recent update to Apple's Mac OS X operating system.[71][72] According to Net Applications, Windows 7 reached a 4% market share in less than three weeks. In comparison, it took Windows Vista seven months to reach the same mark.[73]

Reviews of Windows 7 were mostly positive, praising its usability when compared to its predecessor, Windows Vista. CNET gave Windows 7 Home Premium a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars,[74] stating that it "is more than what Vista should have been, [and] it's where Microsoft needed to go". PC Magazine rated it a 4 out of 5 saying that Windows 7 is a "big improvement" over Windows Vista, with fewer compatibility problems, a retooled taskbar, simpler home networking and faster start-up.[75] Maximum PC gave Windows 7 a rating of 9 out of 10 and called Windows 7 a "massive leap forward" in usability and security, and praised the new Taskbar as "worth the price of admission alone".[76] PC World called Windows 7 a "worthy successor" to Windows XP and said that speed benchmarks showed Windows 7 to be slightly faster than Windows Vista.[77] PC World also named Windows 7 one of the best products of the year.[78] In its review of Windows 7, Engadget said that Microsoft has taken a "strong step forward" with Windows 7 and reported that speed is one of Windows 7's major selling points particularly for the netbook sets.[79] LAPTOP Magazine gave Windows 7 a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and said that Windows 7 makes computing more intuitive, offered better overall performance including a "modest to dramatic" increase in battery life on laptop computers.[80] Techradar gave it a 5 star rating calling it the best version of Windows yet.[81] The New York Times,[82] USA Today,[83] The Wall Street Journal,[84] and The Telegraph [85] also gave Windows 7 favorable reviews.

Some Vista Ultimate users have expressed concerns over Windows 7 pricing and upgrade options.[86][87] Windows Vista Ultimate users wanting to upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 must either pay $219.99[88] to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate or perform a clean install, which requires them to reinstall all of their programs.[89] [edit] Editions

Main article: Windows 7 editions Windows 7 is available in six different editions, but only the Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate editions are available for retail sale to consumers in most countries.[90] The other editions are aimed at other markets, such as the developing world or enterprise use.[90] Each edition of Windows 7 includes all of the capabilities and features of the edition below it.[90][91][92][93][94] All editions support the 32-bit (IA-32) processor architecture and all editions except Starter and Home Basic support the 64-bit (x86-64) processor architecture. The installation media is the same for all the consumer editions of Windows 7 that have the same processor architecture, with the license determing the features that are activated, and license upgrades permitting the subsequent unlocking of features without re-installation of the operating system.[95] This is the first time Microsoft has distributed 2 DVDs (1 DVD for IA-32 processor architecture, the other DVD for x86-64 processor architecture) for each edition of Windows 7 (Except for Starter and Home Basic). Users who wish to upgrade to an edition of Windows 7 with more features can then use to purchase the upgrade, and unlock the features of those editions.[91][95][96] Some copies of Windows 7 have restrictions, in which it must be distributed (If not, sold or bought) and activated in the geographical region (One of the geographical regions can be either: Southeast Asia; India; or Latin America and the Caribbean) specified in its front cover box.

Microsoft is offering a family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium (in select markets) that allows installation on up to three PCs.[97] The "Family Pack" costs US$259.99 in the United States[98]; it was available at a cost of US$149.99 for some weeks when it was first introduced.[97]

On September 18, 2009, Microsoft said they were to offer temporary student discounts for Windows 7. The offer will be running in the US and the United Kingdom, with similar schemes available in Canada, Australia, Korea, Mexico, France and Germany. Students with a valid .edu or .ac.uk email address can apply for either Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional, priced at $30 or £30.[99][100] [edit] Marketing

Microsoft has marketed the whole of Windows 7 as "making your PC simpler." However, the different editions of Windows 7 have been designed and marketed toward different types of people. Out of all the different editions (Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate), the Starter edition has been designed for netbooks, Home Basic for the developing world, Home Premium designed and marketed for normal home users, Professional for businesses, Enterprise for larger businesses and Ultimate for corporations and enthusiasts. TV commercials advertise Home Premium's use in the home. [edit] Hardware requirements

Microsoft has published their minimum specifications for a system running Windows 7. [101] Requirements for the 32-bit version are much the same as recommendations for premium editions of Vista, but the 64-bit versions are higher. Microsoft has released an upgrade advisor that scans a computer to see if it is compatible with Windows 7.

Minimum hardware requirements for Windows 7[101] Architecture 32-bit 64-bit Processor 1 GHz 32-bit processor 1 GHz 64-bit processor Memory (RAM) 1 GB of RAM 2 GB of RAM Graphics Card DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM driver model 1.0 (For Aero) HDD free space 16 GB of available disk space 20 GB of available disk space Optical drive DVD drive (only to install from DVD/CD Media)

Additional requirements to use certain features:[101]

• Windows XP Mode requires an additional 1 GB of RAM, an additional 15 GB of available hard disk space, and a processor capable of hardware virtualization with Intel VT or AMD-V enabled. • Windows Media Center (included with Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate), requires a TV-tuner to receive and record TV.

Standard editions

Windows 7 Starter The least-featured edition of Windows 7; the Windows Aero is not included, and it isn't available in a 64-bit variant. The desktop wallpaper, and Visual Style (Windows 7 Basic) is also not user-changeable. This edition is available pre-installed on computers through system integrators or computer manufacturers.[10][11][12] Windows 7 Home Basic Windows 7 Home Basic is available in emerging markets such as Bangladesh, Brazil, People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand.[13] It is not available in countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.[13] Some Aero options are excluded along with several new features.[13] Home Basic, along with other editions sold in emerging markets, include geographical activation restriction, which requires users to activate Windows within certain region or country.[14] Windows 7 Home Premium This edition contains features aimed at the home market segment, such as Windows Media Center, Windows Aero and touch-screen controls.[15] Windows 7 Professional This edition is targeted towards enthusiasts and small business users.[16] It includes all the features of Windows 7 Home Premium, and adds the ability to participate in a Windows Server domain.[16] Additional features include operating as a Remote Desktop server, location aware printing, Encrypting , Presentation Mode, Software Restriction Policies (but not the extra management features of AppLocker) and Windows XP Mode.[16] Windows 7 Enterprise This edition targets the enterprise segment of the market and is sold through volume licensing to companies which have a Software Assurance contract with Microsoft.[17] Additional features include support for Multilingual User Interface (MUI) packages, BitLocker Drive Encryption, and UNIX application support.[17] Not available through retail or OEM channels, this edition is distributed through Microsoft Software Assurance (SA).[17] As a result it includes several SA-only benefits, including a license allowing the running of multiple virtual machines, and activation via VLK.[14] Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 7 Ultimate contains the same features as Windows 7 Enterprise, but unlike the Enterprise edition it is available to home users on an individual license basis.[18] Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional users are able to upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate for a fee using Windows Anytime Upgrade if they wish to do so.[7] Unlike Windows Vista Ultimate, the Windows 7 Ultimate edition does not include the Windows Ultimate Extras feature or any exclusive features.[18] [edit] Upgrade editions

Windows Vista can be upgraded to Windows 7 with an in-place upgrade if the processor architecture, comparable edition, and language version are the same.[2][7][19] Windows XP can only be upgraded to Windows 7 via a clean install.[2][7][20][21]. However, in some countries, Microsoft has recommended a clean install regardless of whether going from XP or Vista, with reasoning which has not been made clear.[22]

[edit] Standard upgrade editions

Windows 7 supports upgrading from an applicable version of XP, and Vista to an applicable version of Windows 7 via Upgrade Editions. The options mean that users can update freely from any previous version to any of the new three retail editions of Windows 7: Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate (plus in Europe, and possibly South Korea, these Upgrade Editions also come in optional N versions). Discounted upgrade pricing is only available to current users of XP or Vista.[23]

[edit] Standard upgrade editions (Family Packs)

Windows 7 is available as an Upgrade Family Pack edition in certain markets, to upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium only. It gives licenses to upgrade three machines from XP (any edition) or Vista (Starter, Home Basic and Home Premium editions only) to the Windows 7 Home Premium edition. These are not full versions, so each machine to be upgraded must have one of these qualifying previous versions of Windows for them to work.[24]

[edit] Anytime Upgrade editions

Windows 7 also supports in-place upgrades from a lower edition of Windows 7 to a higher one using the Windows Anytime Upgrade tool.[7] There are currently three retail options available (though it is currently unclear whether they can be used with previous installations of the N versions):[25] Currently, there are no plans for family pack versions of the Anytime Upgrade editions. It's possible to use the Product Key from a Standard upgrade edition to accomplish an in-place upgrade (e.g. Home Premium to Ultimate).

• Starter to Home Premium. • Home Premium to Professional. • Professional to Ultimate. • Home Premium to Ultimate.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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This article is part of a series on Windows 7

New features Removed features Editions Development history

This box: view • talk • edit

Some of the new features included in Windows 7 are advancements in touch, speech, and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, support for additional file formats, improved performance on multi-core processors,[1] improved boot performance, and kernel improvements. Contents

[hide]

• 1 Shell and user interface o 1.1 Desktop o 1.2 Windows Explorer o 1.3 Start menu o 1.4 Taskbar o 1.5 Window management mouse gestures o 1.6 Keyboard shortcuts o 1.7 Font management o 1.8 Devices • 2 Multi-touch • 3 Graphics o 3.1 DirectX o 3.2 o 3.3 Other changes • 4 Core operating system • 5 File system o 5.1 Solid state drives o 5.2 Virtual hard disks o 5.3 Disk partitioning o 5.4 Removable Media o 5.5 BitLocker to Go • 6 Boot performance • 7 Multimedia o 7.1 Windows Media Center o 7.2 Format support • 8 Security o 8.1 Biometrics • 9 Networking o 9.1 Firewall o 9.2 DNSSEC • 10 Management features • 11 Other features • 12 See also • 13 References

• 14 External links [edit] Shell and user interface

Windows 7 retains the Windows Aero user interface and visual style first introduced with its predecessor, Windows Vista, but many areas have seen enhancements.

[edit] Desktop Windows 7's Desktop Slideshow Themes

Support for themes has been extended in Windows 7. In addition to setting the colors of the window chrome, desktop background, desktop icons, mouse pointers and sound schemes, themes in Windows 7 include desktop slideshow settings. A new control panel interface, accessible through the "Personalize" context menu item on the desktop, has been introduced which provides the ability to customize and switch between themes, as well as download more themes from Microsoft's web site. Support for "theme packs" is included; theme packs are cabinet files with an extension of .themepack, and consist of a .theme as well as any number of image, sound, icon, and mouse cursor files.[2] Windows 7 recognizes this file format and will switch the user's theme to the theme contained inside when opened. A Windows 7 theme can also specify an RSS feed from which new desktop background images can be downloaded.

The default theme is titled "Windows 7", which consists of a single desktop background codenamed "Harmony" and the same sound scheme, desktop icons and mouse pointers as Windows Vista. Six new "Aero Themes" are included: Architecture, Characters, Landscapes, Nature, Scenes, and an additional country-specific theme that is determined based on the defined locale when the operating system is installed. The Windows 7 Beta includes themes for the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Japan, South Africa and Australia, and while the theme for the user's home country is the only one displayed in the user interface, the files for all these themes are included in the operating system installation.[3] Each of the themes included with Windows 7 consists of six desktop backgrounds each at 1920x1200 resolution; none of the desktop backgrounds included with Windows Vista are present in Windows 7. The country-specific desktop backgrounds depict both famous places in those countries (such as the Sydney skyline) as well as country scenes. A number of sound schemes are included, each associated with an included theme: Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata.

Additional theme packs are available as free downloads from Microsoft's web site.

Desktop Slideshow

Windows Explorer includes a desktop slideshow that changes the desktop background in a designated amount of time with a smooth fading transition. This feature supports pre- downloaded sets of wallpapers and also supports photo RSS feed. Gadgets

Windows Vista introduced Gadgets and a sidebar which provides the ability to anchor Gadgets to the side of the user's desktop. In Windows 7, the sidebar has been removed, while gadgets can still be placed on the desktop. Windows 7 adds a Windows Media Center gadget to the default collection while removing the Contacts and Notes gadgets.

Managing gadgets is more closely integrated with Windows Explorer, but the gadgets themselves continue to operate in a separate sidebar.exe process.[4] The Desktop context menu includes a new "Gadgets" menu option to access the gadget gallery, and a "View" sub-menu option to show or hide gadgets. Hiding gadgets results in the sidebar.exe process being unloaded, which Microsoft says is a power-saving practice. Unlike Windows Vista, all gadgets run in a single process, which saves memory, and the process is not run at all if the user has no gadgets on the desktop.

Branding and customization

OEMs and enterprises are able to customize the logon screen wallpaper of Windows 7 that is displayed before a user logs on.

[edit] Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer's revised user interface. Libraries

Windows Explorer in Windows 7 supports Libraries, virtual folders described in a .library-ms file that aggregates content from various locations - including shared folders on networked systems if the shared folder has been indexed by the host system - and present them in a unified view. Searching in a library automatically federates the query to the remote systems, in addition to searching on the local system, so that files on the remote systems are also searched. Unlike search folders, Libraries are backed by a physical location which allows files to be saved in the Libraries. Such files are transparently saved in the backing physical folder. The default save location for a library may be configured by the user, as can the default view layout for each library. Libraries are generally stored in the Libraries , which allows them to be displayed on the navigation pane. By default, a new user account in Windows 7 contains four libraries, for different file types: Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos. They are configured to include the user's profile folders for these respective file types, as well as the computer's corresponding Public folders.

In addition to aggregating multiple storage locations, Libraries enable Arrangement Views and Search Filter Suggestions. Arrangement Views allow you to pivot your view of the library's contents based on metadata. For example, selecting the "By Month" view in the Pictures library will display photos in stacks, where each stack represents a month of photos based on the date they were taken. In the Music library, the "By Artist" view will display stacks of albums from the artists in your collection, and browsing into an artist stack will then display the relevant albums.

Search Filter Suggestions are a new feature of the Windows 7 Explorer's search box. When the user clicks in the search box, a menu shows up below it showing recent searches as well as suggested Advanced Query Syntax filters that the user can type. When one is selected (or typed in manually), the menu will update to show the possible values to filter by for that property, and this list is based on the current location and other parts of the query already typed. For example, selecting the "tags" filter or typing "tags:" into the search box will display the list of possible tag values which will return search results.

Arrangement Views and Search Filter Suggestions are database-backed features which require that all locations in the Library be indexed by the Windows Search service. Local disk locations must be indexed by the local indexer, and Windows Explorer will automatically add locations to the indexing scope when they are included in a library. Remote locations can be indexed by the indexer on another Windows 7 machine, on a Windows machine running Windows Search 4 (such as Windows Vista or Windows Home Server), or on another device that implements the MS-WSP remote query protocol. [5]

Federated search

Windows Explorer also supports federating search to external data sources, such as custom databases or web services, that are exposed over the web and described via an OpenSearch definition. The federated location description (called a Search Connector) is provided as a .osdx file. Once installed, the data source becomes queryable directly from Windows Explorer. Windows Explorer features, such as previews and thumbnails, work with the results of a federated search as well.

Miscellaneous shell enhancements

• Windows 7 supports showing icons in the context menu and creating cascaded context menus with static verbs in submenus using the Registry instead of a shell extension. [6] • The search box in the Explorer window and the address bar can be resized. • Certain folders in the navigation pane can be hidden to reduce clutter. • Progress bars and overlay icons on an application's button on the taskbar. • Content view which shows thumbnails and metadata. • Buttons to toggle the preview pane and create a new folder. • Storage space progress bars that were only present for hard disks in Vista are now shown for removable storage devices. • Explorer view control supports multi-width columns in List view. • File types for which property handlers or are installed are re-indexed by default.

[edit] Start menu

The start orb now has a fade-in highlight effect when the user moves the mouse over it.

The search results pane in Windows 7, demonstrating a search for the word "wireless".

Windows 7's Start menu retains the two-column layout of its predecessors, with several functional changes:

• The "Documents", "Pictures" and "Music" buttons now link to the Libraries of the same name. • A "Devices and Printers" option has been added that displays a new . • The "shut down" icon in Windows Vista has been replaced with a text link indicating what action will be taken when the icon is clicked. The default action to take is now configurable through the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window. • Taskbar Jump Lists are presented in the Start Menu via a guillemet; when the user moves his or her mouse over the guillemet, or presses the right-arrow key, the right-hand side of the Start menu is widened and replaced with the application's Jump List. The search box, first introduced with Windows Vista, has been extended to support searching Control Panel items. For example, clicking the Start button then typing "wireless" will show Control Panel options related to configuring and connecting to , adding Bluetooth devices, and troubleshooting. settings for Windows Explorer provide the ability for administrators of an domain, or an expert user to add up to five Internet web sites and five additional "search connectors" to the Search Results view in the Start menu. The links, which appear at the bottom of the pane, allow the search to be executed again on the selected web site or search connector. Microsoft suggests that network administrators could use this feature to enable searching of corporate Intranets or an internal SharePoint server.[7]

[edit] Taskbar

The Windows Taskbar has seen its most significant revision since its introduction in Windows 95. The taskbar is 10 pixels taller than in Windows Vista to accommodate touch screen input and a new larger default icon size, though a smaller taskbar size is available. Running applications are denoted by a border frame around the icon, while applications can be pinned to the taskbar, so that shortcuts to them appear when they are not running. Within this border, a color effect (dependent on the predominant RGB value of the icon) that follows the mouse also indicates the opened status of the application. The glass taskbar is also more transparent. Taskbar buttons show icons by default, not application titles, unless they are set to not combine. Only icons are shown when the application is not running.

The Windows 7 taskbar. Pinned applications The Quick Launch toolbar has been removed from default configuration, but may be easily added. The Windows 7 taskbar is more application-oriented than window-oriented, and therefore doesn't show window titles (these are shown when an application icon is clicked or hovered over, provided there are multiple windows for the application). Applications can now be pinned to the taskbar allowing the user instant access to the applications they commonly use. There are a few ways to pin applications to the taskbar. One can drag and drop the icon onto the taskbar. The other way to do so is by right-clicking the application’s icon and pinning the icon to the taskbar.

The Windows 7 taskbar shows a preview of the window. Thumbnail previews Thumbnail previews which were introduced in Windows Vista have been expanded to not only preview the windows opened by the application in a small- sized thumbnail view, but to also interact with them. The user can close any window opened by clicking the X on the corresponding thumbnail preview. The name of the window is also shown in the thumbnail preview. Another new feature added is the ability to get a "peek" of the window by hovering over the thumbnail preview. Peeking brings up only the window of the thumbnail preview over which the mouse hovers and turns any other windows on the desktop transparent. This also works for tabs in Internet Explorer; individual tabs may be peeked at in the thumbnail previews. In addition to these features, thumbnail previews integrate Thumbnail Toolbars [8] which can control the application from the thumbnail previews themselves. For example, if Windows Media Player is opened and the mouse is hovering on the application icon, the thumbnail preview will allow the user the ability to Play, Stop, and Play Next/Previous track without having to switch to the Windows Media Player window.

Windows Media Player Jump List. Jump list These are menu options available from right-clicking any of the icons on the taskbar or by holding the left mouse button and sliding towards the center of the desktop on an icon. Each application will have unique jump lists which will correspond to the features unique to the application whether it be recent files opened or common tasks. For example, a Microsoft Word jump list might display all the recent documents opened. The Windows Media Player jump list, for example, displays recently played tracks and playlists that have been played. Internet Explorer's jump list displays recent history of websites and the ability to open a new tab or start InPrivate Browsing. Windows Live Messenger's jump list displays select common tasks such as instant messaging, signing off, and changing online status. While up to 10 menu items may appear on a jump list by default, Windows 7 provides the ability to customize this.[9] The redesigned notification area and a balloon notification showing the Action Center messages.

When the action center detects a security threat, it displays a thumbnail with problems listed. Notification area The notification area has been redesigned; the standard Volume, Network, Power and Action Center status icons are present, but no other application icons are shown unless the user has chosen for them to be shown. A new "Notification Area Icons" control panel has been added which replaces the "Customize Notification Icons" dialog box in the "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" window first introduced in Windows XP. In addition to being able to configure whether the application icons are shown, the ability to hide each application's notification balloons has been added. The user can then view the notifications at a later time. A triangle to the left of the visible notification icons displays the hidden notification icons to the user. Unlike Windows Vista and Windows XP, the hidden icons are displayed in a window above the taskbar, instead of on the taskbar. Icons can be dragged between this window and the notification area.

Windows 7 desktop displayed through Peek. Aero Peek In past versions of Windows, the taskbar ended with the notification area on the right side. However, there is now the Aero Peek button, which, when clicked or hovered over with the mouse, displays the desktop and gadgets by turning all windows transparent. This replaces the Show Desktop shortcut in the Quick Launch bar in previous versions of Windows. Aero Peek exhibits the same features used by the thumbnail previews, except it applies them to the desktop. If the mouse hovers over it, all windows are transparent, as shown in the picture. If the button is clicked, all applications are minimized, and when clicked again, they are restored.

[edit] Window management mouse gestures

Aero Snap; Window maximizing and tiling Windows can be dragged to the top of the screen to maximize them and dragged away to restore them. Dragging a window to the left or right of the screen makes it take up half the screen allowing the user to tile two windows next to each other. Also resizing the window to the bottom of the screen or top will extend the window full but retain the width of the window.[10] These features can be disabled via the Ease of Access Center if users do not wish the windows to automatically resize.[11] Aero Shake Aero Shake allows users to clear up any clutter on their screen by shaking (dragging back and forth) a window of their choice with the mouse. All other windows will minimize, while the window the user shook stays active on the screen.[12] When the window is shaken again, they are all restored, similar to desktop preview.

[edit] Keyboard shortcuts

A variety of new keyboard shortcuts have been introduced.[13] [14]

Global keyboard shortcuts:

• Win+Space operates as a keyboard shortcut for Aero Peek. • Win+Up and Win+Down are new shortcuts for Maximize and Restore/Minimize. • Win+Shift+Up vertically maximises the current window • Win+Left and Win+Right snap the current window to the left or right half of the current display; successive keypresses will move the window to other monitors in a multi-monitor configuration. • Win+Shift+Left and Win+Shift+Right move the current window to the left or right display. • Win+ + and Win+ − (minus sign) zoom the desktop in and out. • Win+Home operates as a keyboard shortcut for Aero Shake. • Win+P shows an "external display options" selector that gives the user the choice of showing the desktop on only the computer's screen, only the external display, with the same output on both (clone), or on both displays with independent desktops (extend).

Taskbar:

• Shift + Click, or Middle click starts a new instance of the application, regardless of whether it's already running. • Ctrl + Shift + Click starts a new instance with Administrator privileges; by default, a User Account Control prompt will be displayed. • Shift + Right-click shows the classic Window menu (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc); right-clicking on the application's thumbnail image will also show this menu. If the icon being clicked on is a grouped icon, the classic menu with Restore All / Minimize All / Close All menu is shown. • Ctrl + Click on a grouped icon cycles between the windows (or tabs) in the group.

[edit] Font management

The user interface for font management has been overhauled.[15] As with Windows Vista, the collection of installed fonts is shown in a Windows Explorer window, but fonts from the same font family appear as "stacks" instead of as individual icons. A user can then double-click on the font stack and see the individual font. A preview of the font is displayed as part of the icon as well. New options for hiding installed fonts are included; a hidden font remains installed, but is not enumerated when an application asks for a list of available fonts. Windows Vista had received considerable criticism for including the same "Add Font" dialog that had existed as far back as Windows NT 3.1; this dialog has been removed.

The Font dialog box[16] has also been updated to show previews of the font selection in the selection lists.[17]

The fontview.exe default font viewing application has replaced the "Properties" button with a "Install" button.

[edit] Devices

There are two major new user interface components for device management in Windows 7, "Devices and Printers" and "Device Stage". Both of these are integrated with Windows Explorer, and together provide a simplified view of what devices are connected to the computer, and what capabilities they support.

Devices and Printers

The new Devices and Printers Control Panel.

Devices and Printers is a new Control Panel interface that is directly accessible from the Start menu. Unlike the Device Manager Control Panel applet, which is still present, the icons shown on the Devices and Printers screen is limited to components of the system that a non-expert user will recognize as plug-in devices. For example, an external monitor connected to the system will be displayed as a device, but the internal monitor on a laptop will not. Device-specific features are available through the context menu for each device; an external monitor's context menu, for example, provides a link to the "Display Settings" control panel.

This new Control Panel applet also replaces the "Printers" window in prior versions of Windows; common operations such as setting the default printer, installing or removing printers, and configuring properties such as paper size are done through this control panel.

Device Stage

A Device Stage window showing available options for a Sansa e250 portable music player.

Device Stage provides a centralized location for an externally-connected multi-function device to present its functionality to the user. When a device such as a portable music player is connected to the system, the device appears as an icon on the task bar, as well as in Windows Explorer.

Windows 7 ships with high-resolution images of a number of popular devices, and is capable of connecting to the Internet to download images of devices it doesn't recognize. Opening the icon presents a window that displays actions relevant to that device. Screenshots of the technology presented by Microsoft suggest that a mobile phone could offer options for two-way synchronization, configuring ring-tones, copying pictures and videos, managing the device in Windows Media Player, and using Windows Explorer to navigate through the device.[18] Other device status information such as free memory and battery life can also be shown. The actual per-device functionality is defined via XML files that are downloaded when the device is first connected to the computer, or are provided by the manufacturer on an installation disc.[19] [edit] Multi-touch

Hilton Locke, who worked on the Tablet PC team at Microsoft, reported on December 11, 2007 that Windows 7 will have new touch features. An overview of the multi-touch capabilities, including a virtual piano program, a mapping and directions program and a touch-aware version of Paint, was demonstrated at the All Things Digital Conference on May 27, 2008. A video demonstrating the multi-touch capabilities was later made available on the web on the same day.[20] [edit] Graphics

[edit] DirectX

• 11 is included with Windows 7. It is a strict super-set of Direct3D 10.1, which was introduced in Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008. • and DirectWrite, new hardware-accelerated vector graphics and font rendering built on top of Direct3D 10 that are intended to replace GDI/GDI+ for screen-oriented native-code graphics and text drawing. They can be used from managed applications with the Windows API Code Pack • Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP), a software rasterizer component for DirectX that provides all of the capabilities of Direct3D 10.0 and 10.1 in software.[21] • DirectX Video Acceleration -High Definition (DXVA-HD) [22]

Direct3D 11, Direct2D, DirectWrite, DXGI 1.1, WARP and several other components will be available for Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 by installing the Platform Update for Windows Vista.[23]

[edit] Desktop Window Manager

First introduced in Windows Vista, the Desktop Window Manager (DWM) in Windows 7 has been updated to use version 10.1 of Direct3D API, and its performance has been improved significantly.[24]

The Desktop Window Manager still requires at least a Direct3D 9-capable (supported with new D3D10_FEATURE_LEVEL_9_n [25]device type introduced with the Direct3D 11 runtime).

With a video driver conforming to Windows Display Driver Model v1.1, DXGI kernel in Windows 7 provides 2D hardware acceleration to APIs such as GDI, Direct2D and DirectWrite (though GDI+ was not updated to use this functionality). This allows DWM to use significantly lower amounts of system memory, which do not grow regardless of how many windows are opened, like it was in Windows Vista.[26] Systems equipped with a WDDM 1.0 video card will operate in the same fashion as in Windows Vista, using software-only rendering.

The Desktop Window Manager in Windows 7 also adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors.[27]

[edit] Other changes

Support for color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit is included, along with the wide color gamut scRGB (which for HDMI 1.3 can be converted and output as xvYCC). The video modes supported in Windows 7 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB.[28][29]

DPI settings in Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 are per-user, instead of per-machine as in prior versions of Windows. Additionally, DPI settings can be changed without a restart; a logoff/logon is sufficient.[30] [edit] Core operating system

The following improvements and additions have been made to Windows 7 (and Server 2008 R2) core operating system components:

• AVCHD camera support and Universal Video Class 1.1 • Protected Broadcast Driver Architecture (PBDA) for TV tuner cards • Support for up to 256 logical processors[31] • Fewer hardware locks and greater parallelism[32] • Timer coalescing: Modern processors and chipsets can transition to very low power usage levels while the CPU is idle. In order to reduce the number of times the CPU enters and exits idle states, Windows 7 introduces the concept of "timer coalescing"; multiple applications or device drivers which perform actions on a regular basis can be set to occur at once, instead of each action being performed on their own schedule. This facility is available in both kernel mode, via the KeSetCoalesableTimer API (which would be used in place of KeSetTimerEx), and in user mode with the SetWaitableTimerEx Windows API call (which replaces SetWaitableTimer).[33] • Multi-function devices and Device Containers: Prior to Windows 7, every device attached to the system is treated as a single functional end-point, known as a devnode, that has a set of capabilities and a "status". While this is appropriate for single-function devices (such as a keyboard or scanner), it does not accurately represent multi-function devices such as a combination printer/fax machine/scanner, or web-cams with a built-in microphone. In Windows 7, the drivers and status information for multi-function device can be grouped together as a single "Device Container", which is then presented to the user in the new "Devices and Printers" Control Panel as a single unit. This capability is provided by a new Plug and Play property, ContainerID, which is a Globally Unique Identifier that is different for every instance of a physical device. The Container ID can be embedded within the device itself by the manufacturer, or created by Windows and associated with each devnode, when it is connected to the computer for the first time. In order to ensure the uniqueness of the generated Container ID, Windows will attempt to use information unique to the device, such as a MAC address or USB serial number. Devices connected to the computer via USB (both directly, and indirectly via a USB hub), IEEE 1394 (FireWire), eSATA, PCI Express, Bluetooth, and 's PnP-X support can make use of Device Containers.[34] • 5.0 supports installing and configuring Windows Services,[35] and provides developers with more control over setting permissions during software installation.[36] Neither of these features will be available for prior versions of Windows; custom actions to support these features will continue to be required for Windows Installer packages that need to implement these features. • User-Mode Scheduling: The 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 introduce a user-mode scheduling framework.[37] On Microsoft Windows operating systems, scheduling of threads inside a process is handled by the kernel. While for most applications this is sufficient, applications with large concurrent threading requirements, such as a database server, can benefit from having a thread scheduler in-process. This is because the kernel no longer needs to be involved in context switches between threads, and it obviates the need for a thread pool mechanism as threads can be created and destroyed much more quickly when no kernel context switches are required.

• Windows 7 will also contain a new FireWire (IEEE 1394) stack that fully supports IEEE 1394b with S800, S1600 and S3200 data rates.[38] It will not initially ship with USB 3.0 support due to delays in the specification being finalized, but will support it with future patches from Windows Update.[39]

• The "Trusted Installer" account is used to secure some of the core operating system registry keys in the same way that system files were first secured in Windows Vista. The keys have an access control list applied that prevents other users, including the system, from making changes.

• Windows 7 ships with Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5[40] • The ability to join a domain offline.[41] [edit] File system

[edit] Solid state drives

Windows 7 incorporates many engineering changes to reduce the frequency of writes and flushes, which benefit SSDs as well as traditional HDDs to a lesser extent. Disk defragmentation is disabled on SSDs. Superfetch, ReadyBoost, as well as boot and application launch prefetching are disabled by default on SSDs with good random read, random write and flush performance. These are tools which are designed to improve performance on mechanical HDDs, but have negligible performance benefits on SSDs compared to the extra drive wear they create. Partitions made with Windows 7’s partition-creating tools are created with the SSD’s alignment needs in mind. [42]

Windows 7 makes use of the TRIM command on supported SSDs. This optimises when erase cycles are performed, thereby reducing the need to erase blocks before each write and increasing write performance. However, as of November 2009, hardware support for this command is limited with many drives requiring new firmware or not supporting TRIM at all.

[edit] Virtual hard disks The Enterprise, Ultimate, and Professional editions of Windows 7 incorporate support for the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) file format. VHD files can be mounted as drives, created, and booted from, in the same way as WIM files.[43] Furthermore, an installed version of Windows 7 can be booted and run from a VHD drive, even on non-virtual hardware, thereby providing a new way to multi boot Windows. Some features such as hibernation and Bitlocker are not available when booting from VHD.

[edit] Disk partitioning

The default disk partitioning structure is to create two partitions: the first for booting, BitLocker and running the Windows Recovery Environment and second to install the operating system.[44]

[edit] Removable Media

Windows 7 has also seen improvements to the Safely Remove Hardware menu, including the ability to eject just one camera card at the same time (from a single hub) and retain the ports for future use without reboot; and removable media is now also listed under its label, rather than just its drive letter like it was from Windows Me/2000 - Vista.[45] Also, Windows Explorer now (by default) only shows ports from a card reader in the My Computer menu which actually have a card present.[45]

[edit] BitLocker to Go

BitLocker brings encryption support to removable disks such as USB drives. Such devices can be protected by a passphrase, a recovery key, or be automatically unlocked on a computer [46] [edit] Boot performance

According to data gathered from the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program, 35% of Vista SP1 installations boot up in 30 seconds or less.[47] The more lengthy boot times on the remainder of the machines are mainly due to some services or programs that are loaded but are not required when the system is first started. Microsoft's Mike Fortin, a Distinguished Engineer on the Windows team[48], noted in August 2008 that Microsoft has set aside a team to work solely on the issue, and that team aims to "significantly increase the number of systems that experience very good boot times." They "focused very hard on increasing parallelism of driver initialization." Also, it aims to "dramatically reduce" the number of system services, along with their processor, storage, and memory demands. [edit] Multimedia

[edit] Windows Media Center Windows Media Center in Windows 7 Main article: Windows Media Center

Windows Media Center in Windows 7 has retained much of the design and feel of its predecessor, but with a variety of user interface shortcuts and browsing capabilities.[49] Playback of H.264 video both locally and through a Media Center Extender (including the 360) is supported.

Some notable enhancements in Windows 7 Media Center include a new mini guide, a new scrub bar, the option to color code the guide by show type, and internet content that is more tightly integrated with regular TV via the guide. All Windows 7 versions now support up to four tuners of each type (QAM, ATSC, CableCARD, NTSC, etc).

When browsing the media library, items that don't have album art are shown in a range of foreground and background color combinations instead of using white text on a blue background. When the left or right remote control buttons are held down to browse the library quickly, a two-letter prefix of the current album name is prominently shown as a visual aid. The Picture Library includes new slideshow capabilities, and individual pictures can be rated.

For television support, the Windows Media Center "TV Pack" released by Microsoft in 2008 is incorporated into Windows Media Center. This includes support for CableCARD and North American (ATSC) clear QAM tuners, as well as creating lists of favorite stations.[50]

A Windows Media Center gadget is included as well.

[edit] Format support

In addition to media support in Vista, Windows 7 adds playback of media in MP4, MOV, 3GP, AVCHD, ADTS, M4A, and WTV multimedia containers, with native codecs for H.264, MPEG4-SP, ASP/DivX/Xvid, MJPEG, DV, AAC-LC, LPCM and AAC-HE.[51]

Transcoding is integrated in the Windows Shell — the necessary conversion will happen automatically when a media file is dragged and dropped on the device icon.[citation needed] A new inbox video encoder will support encoding to H.264 1-pass CBR Baseline profile up to 1.5 Mbit/s, 640x480pixels at 30 frame/s. Audio encoder will support Low complexity AAC stereo at 44.1 or 48 kHz sample rate and 96, 128, 160 or 192 kbit/s bit rate. [edit] Security

The Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds) which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer.

A new User Account Control user interface has been introduced, which provides the ability to select four different levels of notifications.[52] Geo-tracking will also be available in Windows 7. The feature will be disabled by default. When enabled the user will only have limited control as to which applications can track their location.[53]

In Windows Vista, the Protected User-Mode Audio (PUMA) content protection facilities are only available to applications that are running in a environment. Because only the application programming interface could interact with this environment, a media player application had to be designed to use Media Foundation. In Windows 7, this restriction is lifted.[54] PUMA also incorporates stricter enforcement of "Copy Never" bits when using Serial Copy Management System (SCMS) copy protection over a S/PDIF connection, as well as with High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) over HDMI connections.

[edit] Biometrics

Windows 7 includes the new Windows Biometric Framework.[55] This framework consists of a set of components that standardizes the use of fingerprint biometric devices. In prior releases of Microsoft Windows, biometric hardware device manufacturers are required to provide a complete stack of software to support their device, including device drivers, software development kits, and support applications. Microsoft noted in a whitepaper on the Windows Biometric Framework that the proliferation of these proprietary stacks resulted in incompatibility issues, compromised the quality and reliability of the system, and made servicing and maintenance more difficult. By incorporating the core biometric functionality into the operating system, Microsoft aims to bring biometric device support on par with other classes of devices.

A new Control Panel called Biometric Device Control Panel is included which provides an interface for deleting stored biometrics information, troubleshooting, and enabling or disabling the types of logins that are allowed using biometrics. Biometrics configuration can also be configured using Group Policy settings. [edit] Networking

• DirectAccess , a VPN tunnel technology based on IPv6 and IPsec. DirectAccess requires domain-joined machines, on the DirectAccess server, at least Windows Server 2008 domain controllers and a PKI to issue authentication certificates.[56] • BranchCache, a WAN optimization technology. • New Bluetooth networking stack • NDIS 6.20[57] (Network Driver Interface Specification) • Native WWAN support, similar to native WiFi added in Vista. • Wireless Hosted Network capabilities: The Windows 7 wireless LAN service supports two new functions - Virtual Wi-Fi, that would allow a single wireless network adapter to act like two client devices,[58] or a software-based wireless access point (SoftAP) to act as both a wireless hotspot (infrastructure, not ad-hoc mode) and wireless client at the same time.[59] This feature is not exposed through the GUI, however the Virtual WiFi Miniport adapter can be installed and enabled for wireless adapters with drivers that support a hosted network by using the wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow "ssid=" "key=" keyusage=persistent|temporary command at an elevated command prompt.[60] The wireless SoftAP can afterwards be started using the netsh wlan start hostednetwork command. Windows 7 also supports WPA2-PSK/AES security for the hosted network but DNS resolution for clients requires it to be used with Internet Connection Sharing or a similar feature. • SMB 2.1, which includes minor performance enhancements over SMB2, such as a new opportunistic locking mechanism.[61] • RDP 7.0[62] • Background Intelligent Transfer Service 4.0[63]

[edit] Firewall

Windows 7 adds support for multiple firewall profiles. The firewall in Windows Vista dynamically changes which network traffic is allowed or blocked based on the location of your computer (based on which network your computer is connected to). However, this approach falls short when your computer is connected to two or more networks at the same time (as in the case where you have both an and a wireless interface in your computer). In this case, Windows Vista applies the profile that is more secure to all network connections on your computer. This is often not desirable, and Windows 7 fixes this by being able to apply a separate firewall profile to each network connection.

[edit] DNSSEC

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 introduce support for Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC),[64] a set of specifications for securing certain kinds of information provided by the Domain Name System (DNS) as used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks. DNSSEC employs digital signatures to ensure the authenticity of DNS data received from a DNS server, which protect against DNS cache poisoning attacks. [edit] Management features Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE)

Windows 7 contains new technologies and features based on Windows PowerShell 2.0:[65]

• Windows Troubleshooting Platform • Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment • PowerShell Remoting

Other new features include:

• AppLocker (a set of Group Policy settings that evolved from Software Restriction Policies, to restrict which applications can run on a corporate network, including the ability to restrict based on the application's version number or publisher) • Group Policy Preferences (also available as a download for Windows XP and Windows Vista). • The Windows Automation API (also available as a download for Windows XP and Windows Vista). [edit] Other features

• Windows 7 includes Internet Explorer 8 [66] , .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 [67] and a standalone XPS Viewer [68] [69] .

WordPad in Windows 7

• As opposed to the blank start-up screen in Windows Vista, Windows 7's start-up screen consists of an animation featuring four colored light balls (one red, one yellow, one green, and one blue). They twirl around for a few seconds and then join together to form a glowing Windows logo. This only occurs on displays with a vertical resolution of 768 pixels or higher, as the animation is 1024x768. Any screen with a resolution below this displays the same startup screen that Vista used.

• The Starter Edition of Windows 7 can run an unlimited number of applications, compared to only 3 in Windows Vista Starter. Microsoft had initially intended to ship Windows 7 Starter Edition with this limitation, but Microsoft announced after the release of the Release Candidate that it would not be in the final release. [70]

• Calculator has been rewritten, with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion and date calculation. Calculator was also given a significant graphical facelift, a first since Windows 95 in 1995 and Windows NT 4.0 in 1996.

• Many new items have been added to Control Panel including: ClearType Text Tuner, Desktop Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, Action Center, and Display.[71]

• Paint and WordPad both have the new ribbon user interface. Paint supports opening (but not saving) transparent PNG and ICO files, touch screens and realistic brushes.

• includes numerous new features, including an improved RAM usage display, display of TCP/IP ports being listened to, filtering processes using networking, filtering processes with disk activity, and listing and searching process handles (e.g. files used by a process) and loaded modules (files required by an executable file, e.g. DLL files).

• For developers, Windows 7 includes a new networking API with support for building SOAP based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET based WCF web services)[72], new features to shorten application install times, reduced UAC prompts, simplified development of installation packages,[73] and improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API.[74]

• A new font "Gabriola" is included.[75] There is also Office Open XML and ODF support in WordPad.[76] The new Action Center which replaces Windows Security Center

• When a user right-clicks a disc image file, such as an ISO file, the user can click "Burn disc image" and the file will be copied to the disc of the user's choice. Support for image verification is included in the feature. In previous versions of Microsoft Windows, users had to install third-party software to perform disc image burning.[77][78]

• If an application crashes twice, Windows 7 will automatically attempt to apply a shim. If an application fails to install a similar self correcting fix, a tool that asks some questions about the application launches.[79]

• Windows 7 includes a TIFF IFilter optional component that enables indexing of TIFF documents by first performing optical character recognition (OCR), thereby making it is possible to search through the scanned text in TIFF format.

• Windows 7 includes power-saving features, such as adaptive display brightness, which dims a laptop's display when the laptop has not been used for a while. Powercfg.exe /Energy generates an HTML report of the computer's power saving efficiency and checks which devices are preventing the computer from entering the sleep state. Windows 7 can individually suspend USB hubs and supports selective suspend for all in-box USB class drivers [80]

• Unlike Windows Vista, window borders and the taskbar do not turn opaque when a window is maximized with Windows Aero applied. Instead they remain translucent.

• The Command Prompt now adheres to the current Windows theme, instead of showing controls from the Windows Classic theme.

• Internet Spades, Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers, which were removed from Windows Vista, were restored in Windows 7.

• Windows 7 includes Windows Media Player 12, along with new codecs for playing formats such as H.264, MPEG4-SP, ASP/Divx/Xvid, MJPEG, DV, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC-LC), AA.[81] Transcode support has also been added to the shell, with the ability to leverage new hardware acceleration and encryption chipsets.

• Users will also be able to disable many more Windows components than was possible in Windows Vista. New additions to this list of components include Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, Windows Search, and the Windows Gadget Platform.[82]

• Windows XP Mode is a fully functioning copy of Windows XP Professional SP3 (32-bit) running in a virtual machine provided by Microsoft Virtual PC 2010 (as opposed to Hyper-V) running on top of Windows 7. Through the use of the RDP protocol, it allows applications incompatible with Windows 7 to be run on the underlying Windows XP virtual machine, but still to appear to be part of the Windows 7 desktop,[83] thereby sharing the native Start Menu of Windows 7 as well as participating in file type associations. It is not distributed with Windows 7 media, but is offered as a free download to users of the Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions from Microsoft's web site. Users of Home Premium that want Windows XP functionality on their systems can download Virtual PC for free, but must provide their own licensed copy of Windows XP, and will not have the virtual-physical desktop integration offered by XP Mode. The XP Mode feature is intended for consumers not enterprises, as it offers no central management capabilities—Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (Med-V) will be targeted at the enterprise market.

• Native support for Hyper-V virtual machines through the inclusion of VMBus integration drivers.[84]

List of features removed in Windows 7

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Similar to the transition from Windows XP to Windows Vista, certain capabilities and programs that are present in Windows Vista are no longer present in Windows 7 or have changed. The following is a list of features that originated in earlier versions of Windows and included up to Windows Vista. Contents

[hide]

• 1 Windows Shell o 1.1 Taskbar o 1.2 Start menu o 1.3 Other shell features • 2 Windows Explorer • 3 Windows Media Player features • 4 Other Windows applications and features • 5 See also

• 6 References [edit] Windows Shell

[edit] Taskbar

• Icons have been removed from the tooltips for the notification area system icons such as Volume, Network, Power and the taskbar date and time.[1] • Floating Deskbands (was deprecated in Windows Vista, now deskband can be only pinned to taskbar). • Windows Media Player 's taskbar-integrated Mini-player has been removed. The thumbnail preview which replaces this lacks volume control and a progress bar. • The ability to disable grouping (placing next to each other) similar taskbar buttons (for example, Explorer windows). Users can still disable combining multiple taskbar buttons of the same type into one button. • The configurable registry option TaskbarGroupSize, which allowed fine-grained control over taskbar grouping [2] under previous Windows versions is not supported. In Windows 7, users can only configure to either combine buttons, not combine or combine when the taskbar is full. • The number of combined taskbar windows is not calculated and shown next to the combined buttons. • Network activity animation on Network Connections icon in the notification area. • The ability to turn off taskbar window previews (thumbnails) while still using Aero, as was configurable in Windows Vista.[3] • The ability to disable the taskbar's "always on top" setting. • When grouping is disabled, the ability to manage multiple taskbar items using multiselect (Ctrl+click) to tile, cascade, minimize or close the selected group of windows has been removed. • Only two power plans, one of them always being Balanced, are available to choose from the taskbar. The "High Performance" power plan is hidden by default in the Control Panel.

[edit] Start menu

• Classic Start menu.[4] • Dynamically pinning default Internet browser and e-mail client software programs on Start menu (programs can be manually pinned to the Start menu in Windows 7). [edit] Other shell features

• Advanced search builder UI (Search Pane). • ClearType cannot be turned off entirely in order for the user interface font, Segoe UI, to maintain optimal design for certain shell components and Windows Explorer.[5] Parts of the user interface (such as the start menu and Explorer) still use ClearType regardless of setting. • For security reasons will support AutoRun only on optical media, such as CDs and DVDs. (Later Microsoft released KB971029 for earlier OSes to make AutoPlay Windows 7-like.)[6] • Detection of the discontinued HD DVD format in AutoPlay. • Customized game shortcuts in Games Explorer. [edit] Windows Explorer

• An undocumented incompatible Items view control replaces the List view control [7] used in Windows Explorer and Start Menu breaking applications that customized the Explorer list view control. [8] The Item view also does not support custom positioning, custom ordering, or hyperlinks, which were supported in the Windows Vista list view. [9] Because the control is undocumented, it is not possible for developers to disable auto arrange or customize views. • Each toolbar or desk band is forced to be on its own row in Windows Explorer. The Explorer forces the RBBS_BREAK style for every band. [10] • The entire folder tree view in the navigation pane cannot be collapsed as could be done in Windows Explorer on Windows Vista. • Full row selection cannot be turned off for details view as was possible in Windows Vista. [11] • The Share overlay icon for shared items in Explorer has been removed.[12] • When navigating to a folder from a library, it is not possible to view the folder's contents in the view the user has set or customized. The folder uses the library's view. • It is not possible to set Windows Explorer to remember individual folder window sizes and positions. Each folder window shares the same size, and their position cascades as more windows are opened. • Dotted lines that connect folders and subfolders do not appear as the option to turn off simple folder view is missing.[13][14] • The size of any selected item and free disk space are not shown on the status bar. • When no items are selected in a folder, neither the details pane nor the status bar show the total size of files in the folder. • Icons on the command bar in Windows Explorer and common application dialogs for Open/Save. • Disabling Auto Arrange and Align to Grid is not available in Windows Explorer windows.[15] As a result, users can no longer manually arrange items via drag and drop within a folder; this feature is only available on the desktop. • The Sort bar that appears for any view in Windows Vista only appears for Details view.[16] • Automatic horizontal scrolling in the left pane and the horizontal scrollbar. • The Arrange By/Stack By option is only available for libraries and folders included in libraries. In addition, users can only Stack By predefined categories depending on the library type. For example, users can only Stack By Folder, Album, Artist, Song, Genre, and Rating for the Music library, whereas in Vista, users could Stack By any properties that exist for a file (common examples would be bit rate, year, composer, play count, etc. for audio files). • Sorting in Explorer de-selects selected items.[citation needed] [edit] Windows Media Player features

• Advanced Tag Editor • Color Chooser • Media Link for E-mail • Party Mode • Recently added Auto playlist not included by default [edit] Other Windows applications and features

• Internet Explorer 8 on any Windows version does not support inline AutoComplete in its address bar [17]. • Windows Photo Gallery , Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Mail (in favor of downloading respective Windows Live counterparts[18]) • The web filtering and activity reporting functionality from the in-box parental controls feature.[19] Windows Live Family Safety replaces the web filtering functionality. • The DFS Replication Service included in Windows Vista for peer-to-peer DFS Replication service groups.[20] • The Aurora, Windows Energy and Windows Logo screensavers and most of the wallpapers that shipped with Windows Vista.[21] • Software Explorer feature of Windows Defender [22] • Removable Storage Manager (RSM)[23] (applications dependent on it, such as NTBackup or the NTBackup Restore Tool, cannot back up to physical or virtual tape drives) • [24] • The InkBall game • Windows Ultimate Extras for the Ultimate edition which included Windows DreamScene, Microsoft Tinker, and the Hold' Em poker game among others. Microsoft had initially announced that they will re-offer Tinker and Hold 'Em in the near future.[25] On December 15, only Tinker was made available for free as a - LIVE downloadable game which requires signing in to Windows Live ID. • Microsoft Agent 2.0 Technology • Windows Calendar • The sidebar for Desktop Gadgets was removed, although gadgets align to any side of the screen. • The Contacts, Notes and Stocks Desktop Gadgets have been removed. The Notes gadget has been replaced by , allowing for both text and ink-based notes. An upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 retains the user's notes from the gadget and transfers them to the Sticky Notes program. • The import, export, drag and drop and voice note features in earlier versions of Sticky Notes have been removed. • The Control Panel does not allow configuring port-based filtering although the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security MMC-based snap-in allows this. • Filtering policies in Group Policy to show only a specific operating system or application.[citation needed] • Software Restriction Policies no longer support multiple levels of trust such as "basic user" (only block or allow are still supported); functionality has been superseded by User Account Control and Applocker. • The choose/change font common dialog does not show the type of font (OpenType, TrueType, Symbol font etc.) • Reflection for x64 editions replaced with merged 32/64-bit keys.[26] • The 3D-Bronze, 3D-White, Conductor, Dinosaur, Hands 1, Hands 2, Variations and Windows Animated cursor schemes.

Development of Windows 7

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Development of Windows 7 began when Windows Vista was released. Milestone 1, Milestone 2, and Milestone 3 were sent to Microsoft's partners in 2008. In October 2008, Microsoft gave build 6801 to PDC attendees and a public beta was released in January 2009. The release candidate was available from April 30, 2009 for MSDN and Technet subscribers, and was released to the public on May 5, 2009. The final build of Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009;[1] Technet and MSDN subscribers were able to download it on August 6. On October 22, the operating system was made generally available for public purchase. Contents

[hide]

• 1 History o 1.1 Naming • 2 Focus • 3 Builds o 3.1 Milestones . 3.1.1 Milestone 1 . 3.1.2 Milestone 2 . 3.1.3 Milestone 3 o 3.2 Pre-Beta o 3.3 Beta o 3.4 Pre-Release Candidate o 3.5 Release Candidate o 3.6 Pre-Release to manufacturing . 3.6.1 Build 7600.16384 o 3.7 Release to manufacturing • 4 Service Packs o 4.1 Pre-Service Pack 1 • 5 See also • 6 References

• 7 External links [edit] History

In 2000, Microsoft was planning to follow up Windows XP and its server counterpart Windows Server 2003 (both codenamed Whistler) with a major new release of Windows that was codenamed Blackcomb (both codenames refer to the Whistler-Blackcomb resort). This new version was at that time scheduled for a 2005 release.[2][3]

Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. In this context, a feature mentioned by Microsoft co-founder for Blackcomb was "a pervasive typing line that will recognize the sentence that [the user is] typing in."[4] Later, Blackcomb was delayed and an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn" (named for the Longhorn Tavern between the resorts), was announced for a 2003 release. [5] By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb, including WinFS, the Desktop Window Manager, and new versions of system components built on the .NET Framework. After the 2003 "Summer of Worms", where three major viruses − Blaster, Sobig, and Welchia − exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold in order to develop new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn was also "reset" in September 2004.

[edit] Naming

As major feature work on Windows Vista wound down in early 2006, Blackcomb was renamed Vienna.[6] However, following the release of Windows Vista, it was confirmed by Microsoft on July 20, 2007 that "the internal name for the next version of the Windows Client OS"[7] was Windows 7, a name that had been reported by some sources months before.[6] On October 13, 2008, it was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the operating system.[8][9]

On October 13, 2008 Mike Nash, Microsoft's vice-president of Windows product management said:

The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Simply put, this “ is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore Windows 7 just makes sense.

Coming up with an all-new 'aspirational' name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows. [9][10] ”

Numbering this version of Windows as "7" has confused many users, so on October 14, 2008 Nash clarified his earlier remarks, saying:[11][12]

The very first release of Windows was Windows 1.0, the second was “ Windows 2.0, the third Windows 3.0. Here's where things get a little more ” complicated. Following Windows 3.0 was Windows NT which was code versioned as Windows 3.1. Then came Windows 95, which was code versioned as Windows 4.0. Then, Windows 98, 98 SE and Windows Millennium each shipped as 4.0.1998, 4.10.2222, and 4.90.3000, respectively. So we're counting all 9x versions as being 4.0. Windows 2000 code was 5.0 and then we shipped Windows XP as 5.1, even though it was a major release we didn't want to change code version numbers to maximize application compatibility. That brings us to Windows Vista, which is 6.0. So we see Windows 7 as our next logical significant release and 7th in the family of Windows releases...There's been some fodder about whether using 6.1 in the code is an indicator of the relevance of Windows 7. It is not. Windows 7 is a significant and evolutionary advancement of the client operating system. It is in every way a major effort in design, engineering and innovation. The only thing to read into the code versioning is that we are absolutely committed to making sure application compatibility is optimized for our customers.[12]

[edit] Focus

Microsoft's Ben Fathi stated on 9 February 2007 that the focus of the operating system was still being worked out, and he could only hint at some possibilities:[13]

We're going to look at a fundamental piece of enabling technology. Maybe “ it's hypervisors. I don't know what it is [...] Maybe it's a new user interface paradigm for consumers. ”

Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, suggested that the next version of Windows would "be more user-centric."[14] When asked to clarify what he meant, Gates said:

That means that right now when you move from one PC to another, you've “ got to install apps on each one, do upgrades on each one. Moving information between them is very painful. We can use Live Services to know what you're interested in. So even if you drop by a [public] kiosk or somebody else's PC, we can bring down your home page, your files, your fonts, your favorites and those things. So that's kind of the user-centric thing that Live Services can enable. [Also,] in Vista, things got a lot better with [digital] ink and speech, but by the next release there will be a much bigger bet. Students won't need textbooks; they can just use these tablet devices. Parallel computing is pretty important for the next release. We'll make it so that a lot of the high-level graphics will be just built into the operating system. So we've got a pretty good outline. ”

Gates later said that Windows 7 will also focus on performance improvements:[15]

We're hard at work, I would say, on the next version, which we call Windows “ 7. I'm very excited about the work being done there. The ability to be lower ” power, take less memory, be more efficient, and have lots more connections up to the mobile phone, so those scenarios connect up well to make it a great platform for the best gaming that can be done, to connect up to the thing being done out on the Internet, so that, for example, if you have two personal computers, that your files automatically are synchronized between them, and so you don't have a lot of work to move that data back and forth.

Senior Vice President Bill Veghte stated that Windows 7 will not have the kind of compatibility issues with Vista that Vista has with previous versions:[16]

You've let us know you don't want to face the kinds of incompatibility “ challenges with the next version of Windows you might have experienced early with Windows Vista. As a result, our approach with Windows 7 is to build off the same core architecture as Windows Vista so the investments you and our partners have made in Windows Vista will continue to pay off with Windows 7. Our goal is to ensure the migration process from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is straightforward. ”

Speaking about Windows 7 on 16 October 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed compatibility between Vista and Windows 7:[17]

Our next release of Windows will be compatible with Vista. The key is let’s “ get on with it. We’ll be ready when you want to deploy Windows 7.[17] ”

Ballmer also confirmed the relationship between Vista and Windows 7, indicating that Windows 7 will be an improved version of Vista.[17] [edit] Builds

[edit] Milestones

[edit] Milestone 1

The first known build of Windows 7 was identified as a "Milestone 1 (M1) code drop" according to TG Daily with a version number of 6.1.6519.1. It was sent to key Microsoft partners by January 2008 in both x86 and x86-64 versions.[18][19] Build 6519 was the first build to have textures of a different taskbar, although nobody knew until recently how to enable the new taskbar.[20] Though not yet commented on by Microsoft, reviews and screenshots have been published by various sources.[21][22] The M1 code drop installation comes as either a standalone install or one which requires Windows Vista with Service Pack 1, and creates a dual-boot system.[23] It had the ability to visually pin and unpin items from the Start Menu.

On 20 April 2008, screenshots and videos of a second build of M1 were leaked with a version number of 6.1.6574.1. This build included changes to Windows Explorer as well as a new Windows Health Center.[24] [edit] Milestone 2

According to the TG Daily article of 16 January 2008, the Milestone 2 (M2) code drop was at that time scheduled for April or May 2008.[18] A Milestone 2 build was demonstrated at the D6 conference[25] with a build number of 6.1.6589.1.winmain_win7m2.080420-1634. The build had a different taskbar than found in Windows Vista, with, among other features, sections divided into different colors. The host declined to comment on it, stating "I'm not supposed to talk about it now today".[26]

[edit] Milestone 3

According to , Milestone 3 (build 6780) was shipped to Microsoft employees and close partners in the week of 7 September 2008. Described as visually and functionally similar to Windows Vista by Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet[27] and Stephen Chapman of UX Evangelist,[28] some bundled applications in Milestone 3 now use a ribbon interface similar to that of Office 2007.[29]

Many applications that had been integrated into previous versions of Windows have been removed, including Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Meeting Space, Movie Maker, and Photo Gallery and are available as downloads in the Windows Live Wave 3 beta release.[30] WinFuture.de later leaked 192 images of Windows 7 build 6780.[31] Windows 7 build 6780 Enterprise Edition has since been leaked to the public.

[edit] Pre-Beta

On 8 October 2008, screenshots of Windows 7 build 6801 were leaked.[32] On 28 October 2008, Microsoft distributed Pre-Beta build 6801 (also known as the PDC build) x86 and x64 to attendees at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC).[33] It has since been leaked to bittorrent networks.[34] It features an enhanced taskbar similar to the one in build 6933 although it is disabled by default. An unofficial patch has been released to enable the new taskbar and other hidden features in build 6801.[35][36] The glass window borders in Windows 7 build 6801 have a different blending style, making the colors behind them more saturated. This was removed in build 7000. Also, other features that were present in build 6801 have been removed in later builds like Accelerators, RSS-feed wallpapers and Pen and Touch panning. Microsoft also demonstrated build 6933.winmain.081020-1842 during the PDC, but did not give it to attendees.[37] On 14 November 2008, screenshots of Windows 7 build 6936 were leaked by Winfuture.[38] On 20 November 2008, Microsoft posted screenshots of build 6948 on the Engineering Windows 7 blog.[39] In early December, WinFuture.de leaked screenshots of build 6956, which demonstrated a new bootscreen (since build 6954) and several improvements.[40] At WinHEC in China, screenshots of build 6951 were leaked and an attendee leaked Windows 7 build 6956 x86.[41] Paul Thurrott has posted several screenshots on his website of another build from the 69xx range.[42] On December 10, 2008, Windows 7 build 6936 x64 leaked to the Internet.

[edit] Beta Windows 7 Beta

On December 23, 2008, screenshots of the Windows 7 beta (build 7000) were leaked.[43]. On December 27, the x86 version of Windows 7 Beta build 7000 leaked and quickly spread to torrent sites, and many FTPs. On 5 January 2009, the 64-bit version of the Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) was leaked onto the web.

The Windows 7 Beta was released on January 7, 2009 to TechNet and MSDN subscribers.[44] On January 10, after a short delay due to overwhelming demand, both 32 and 64-bit versions of the Beta were made available to the public until the 10th of February. The build number is 7000.winmain_win7beta.081212-1400. [45] Existing installations of the beta continued to operate until August 1, 2009 with bi-hourly shutdowns beginning July 1.

[edit] Pre-Release Candidate

On February 8, 2009, build 7022 x86 of Windows 7 was leaked to file sharing sites on the Internet by a Microsoft Ukraine employee[46]. On March 1, 2009, build 7022 x64 was leaked. Reviewers have noted that Internet Explorer 8 has been updated to RC1, a few new icons, new animation effects for with new icons and changes to Paint and a faster setup process. The build was completed on January 15, 2009.[47]

A 64-bit build 7048 was leaked on March 2, 2009[48] and the 32-bit build 7048 was leaked on March 6. One notable change of this build is that users now have the ability to turn off functionality of various Windows features, like Internet Explorer, Windows Search, and Windows Media Player via the Control Panel. Ars Technica did a roundup of some of the visual UI changes between build 7000 and 7048 [49] and ZDNet managed to do some performance tests showing build 7048 is superior to build 7000.[50].

On February 26, 2009, Microsoft announced 36 major user-visible changes to Windows 7 since the Beta[51]. On March 6, 2009, Microsoft announced that users will have the ability to turn off even more features than in Windows Vista. Some programs users will be able to turn off include Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, Internet Explorer 8, Windows Search, and the Windows Gadget Platform.[52]

On March 11, 2009, build 7057 x86 was leaked and on March 13, 2009, the x64 version was leaked. Build 7057 was compiled on March 5, 2009.[53] Build 7068 was compiled on March 21, 2009, and is available to select Microsoft Connect testers.[54] On March 27, 2009, build 7068 x86 was leaked and on March 28, 2009, the x64 version was leaked.

On April 7, 2009, the 32-bit version of build 7077, an RC escrow build,[55] was leaked.[56] and the x64 version was leaked two days later, on April 9, 2009.

[edit] Release Candidate

Windows 7 Release Candidate

The Windows Team Blog announced on April 24, 2009 that the Release Candidate would be available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers on April 30 and to the public on May 5. The release candidate was also reportedly given to OEM partners and TAP gold testers.

The Release Candidate, build 7100.0.winmain_win7rc.090421-1700 was leaked to popular file sharing networks in both x86 and x64 editions on April 24, 2009.

On Thursday, August 20th 2009, the Windows 7 Release Candidate download was removed from Microsoft's website. Product keys for the Release Candidate were available until October 21, 2009.[57]

On May 26, an update with 31 languages was available to download through Windows Update.

[edit] Pre-Release to manufacturing

On April 12, 2009, build 7106 leaked in both x86 and x64 in the Chinese language. On April 13, Language Packs for 7106 x86 and x64 for the English language were leaked.[58] Build 7106 was compiled before build 7077 from the RC branch.

Build 7127.0.winmain.090507-1820, built on May 7, 2009, is available to selected Microsoft Connect testers.[59] The 32-bit and 64-bit versions of this build were also leaked to torrent sites on May 14, 2009.

Build 7137.0.winmain.090521-1745, built on May 21, 2009, leaked on May 28 in both x86 and x64 versions.[60]

Build 7201, built on June 1, 2009, leaked on June 3 in both x86 and x64 versions. Build 7229.0.winmain.090604-1901, built on June 4, 2009, leaked on June 11 in both x86 and x64 versions. Language packs for the build are also available on torrent sites.

Build 7231.0.winmain.090608-1900, built on June 8, 2009, leaked on June 11 in x86 VHD format.

Build 7232.0.winmain.090610-1900, built on June 10, 2009, leaked on June 14 in x64 VHD format. Unlike previously leaked builds, this build has a new wallpaper that replaces the betta fish wallpaper, which was the default wallpaper in the Beta and Release Candidate.[61]

Build 7260.0.win7_rtm.090612-2110, built on June 12, 2009, leaked on June 17 in x86 VHD format.

Build 7264.0.win7_rtm.090622-1900, built on June 22, 2009, leaked on June 30, 2009 in both x86 and x64 versions. Language packs for the build are also available on torrent sites.[62]

[edit] Build 7600.16384

Build 7600.16384.win7_rtm.090710-1945, built on July 10, 2009, leaked on July 12, 2009 in both x86 and x64 versions;[63] a Chinese individual uploaded an OEM copy of Windows 7 Ultimate build 7600, reportedly given to Lenovo.[64] The disc image contained the crucial boot.wim file given to PC manufacturers to pre-activate PC’s at the factory. The file contains both the OEM activation certificate and the product key. The OEM-SLP product key is said to be a master product key and can be used to activate PC’s from many brands including HP and Dell.[65]

In a recent blog post, however, Genuine Windows director Alex Kochis stated that the product key is indeed valid but will only activate PC’s from the original manufacturer it has been given to.[66] Kochis went on to say that anti-piracy technologies built into the operating system would detect copies activated with the leaked OEM certificate and product key as non-genuine and would notify the customer that they are running a possibly counterfeit copy of Windows.

It has already been proven however, that the product key and certificate are able to activate Windows 7 build 7600 on many different PC brands.[65] It is not clear however, if copies of Windows installed this way will pass Microsoft's Genuine Advantage check if the product key is blacklisted. If so, OEMs will be forced to recollect PCs manufactured, installed and activated with the key and install different keys. Windows 7 build 7600

[edit] Release to manufacturing

The final RTM build of Windows 7 has a build string of 7600.16385.win7_rtm.090713- 1255, built on 13 July 2009.[67][68] It leaked in both x86 and x64 versions. On 24 July 2009 Microsoft released Windows 7 to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers and system builders) online, followed by MSDN and TechNet Subscribers via download and Microsoft Connect on 6 August 2009. Since the next day, 7 August 2009, companies which bought Software Assurance have been able to download Windows 7 RTM.

Since 16 August 2009, Windows 7 is available to Microsoft Certified and Gold Certified Partners, followed by Microsoft Action Pack subscribers on 23 August. Microsoft has also announced that companies which have a contract with Software Assurance may acquire Windows 7 became available for volume licensing on September 1, 2009. Windows 7 was released to consumers on October 22, 2009.

Language Packs for Windows 7 RTM are available via Windows Update since 25 August 2009.[69] [edit] Service Packs

[edit] Pre-Service Pack 1

Build 7138.0.winmain_sp.090523-2200, built on May 23, 2009, is the first known Service Pack 1 build.

Build 7227.0.winmapoopin_sp.090602-2110, built on June 2, 2009, leaked on June 9 in x86 VHD formats. This build belongs to the winmain_sp branch, which incorporates preliminary changes as a Service Pack 1 build.

Build 7230.0.winmain_sp.090607-2000, built on June 7, 2009, is the latest known Service Pack 1 build.