Windows 7 Feature - Games Explorer

Games Explorer

The Games Explorer in Windows 7 was redesigned to satisfy both casual and hard-core gamers alike. You can now elect to get software updates and news feeds for installed titles. The Games Explorer also tracks wins, losses and other fun stats. 

And don't miss the great new multiplayer games in Windows 7.

Game on: The improved Games Explorer is your first stop for fun in Windows 7.

Windows 7 Feature - Gadgets

Gadgets

Gadgets put information and fun—like news, pictures, games, and the phases of the moon—right on your desktop.

In Windows Vista, gadgets were corralled in the Sidebar. Windows 7 sets them free on the screen, where you can move and resize them as you like. Open windows getting in the way of your gadgets? Use Peek to make them instantly reappear. 

Visit the Personalization Gallery to download free gadgets for Windows 7—you'll find gadgets for traffic, translation, searching the web, and more.

Windows 7 Feature - Email

Email

With Windows 7, you've got new choices for how to use email—along with some changes from what you might be used to in Windows Vista or Windows XP.

Looking for Windows Mail or Outlook Express?

Windows Mail and Outlook Express aren't included in Windows 7. To use your email, you'll need to install a new program. You can download Windows Live Mail for free (if it's not already installed on your PC), or you can get a program from another company.

Once your new program is up and running, you'll be able to import your email into it.

If you've just upgraded to Windows 7 and can't find your email, don't worry—it's not lost. How you retrieve it will depend on the type of installation you've done:

• If you used the Upgrade option during Windows 7 installation, your email data was kept in place along with your other files. You can use the Import Mail Troubleshooter to import your accounts into Windows Live Mail.
• If you used Windows Easy Transfer to migrate your old files and settings, you can also use the import Mail troubleshooter to import your accounts into Windows Live Mail.
• If you backed up data on an external storage device without using Windows Easy Transfer, you'll need to restore  your email files from a backup on your computer. Then you can import your email, contacts, and calendar into Windows Live Mail.

 

Windows Live Mail puts all your email in one place.

What is Windows Live Mail?

Windows Live Mail is a desktop program with some great new ways to manage your email. It's part of Windows Live Essentials, a free download that also includes Messenger, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, and other software that helps you do more with Windows 7. 

With Windows Live Mail, you can read and reply to your email even when you're offline. When you're back online, new email messages will download to your PC, and any messages in your outbox will be sent.

All your accounts in one place

Windows Live Mail puts the email accounts you choose—like Hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo! Mail—in one program, so you can get all your email messages in one place on your desktop. And if you're also using the online services of Windows Live, your calendars and contacts will stay in sync between your PC and the web.

Simple to send photos

With Windows Live Mail, you can send lots of photos without clogging up your friends' inboxes. Instead of giant image files, you send thumbnails of photos that are stored online in Windows Live Skydrive. Your friends can then click the thumbnails to get the high-resolution versions.

Windows 7 Feature - DirectX 11

DirectX 11

Gamers take note: Windows 7 includes a new version of DirectX, the software behind the eye-popping 3-D visuals and immersive sound effects found in many of today's PC games. 

DirectX 11 includes numerous improvements. It's designed to be more efficient, leverage the power of today's multi-core processors, and provide support for sophisticated shading and texturing techniques such as tessellation. The result: smoother 3-D animation, and graphics more lifelike and nuanced than ever before.

To learn more, visit the Games for Windows website. 

To find out which graphics cards are compatible with DirectX 11, go to the Windows 7 Compatibility Center website.

Windows 7 Feature - Device Management

Device management

In Windows 7, working with printers, cameras, phones, music players, and other devices has never been easier thanks to two new features: Device Stage and the Devices and Printers folder.

Device Stage

Think of Device Stage as a home page for your hardware: When you plug something into your PC, you’ll see a menu of popular tasks for that type of device. A multifunction printer, for example, will show options for printing and scanning. In previous versions of Windows, these were often located in separate menus.

It gets better. Manufacturers can customize Device Stage, so for many devices you'll see status information and menu options tailored to your specific model—right down to a slick photorealistic mug shot.

Devices and Printers

The new Devices and Printers folder shows you the installed devices that are connected to your PC, making it a handy way to check on a printer, music player, camera, mouse, or digital picture frame (just to name a few).

It's also the place to add a new networked or wireless device and troubleshoot problems with a device or printer.

Windows 7 Feature - Desktop

With Windows 7, we’ve made it easier to get more done on the desktop.

New ways to juggle windows

Overwhelmed by open windows? Windows 7 comes with three simple yet powerful new features called Shake, Peek, and Snap to help you instantly clear through desktop clutter.

Peek-a-boo: Peek turns open windows translucent so you can see what's on your desktop.

Shake

Ever need to cut through a cluttered desktop and quickly focus on a single window? Just click the top of a pane and give your mouse a shake. Voila! Every open window except that one instantly disappears. Jiggle again—and your windows are back. (Who says the old mouse can’t learn a new trick?) 

Shake, part of the Aero desktop experience, is included in the Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions of Windows 7.

Peek

Peek gives you the power of X-ray vision, so you can peer past all your open windows straight to the Windows 7 desktop. Simply point to the end of the taskbar and watch open windows instantly turn transparent, revealing all your hidden icons and gadgets. 

To quickly reveal a buried window, point to its taskbar thumbnail. Now only that window shows on the desktop. 

Peek, part of the Aero desktop experience, is included in the Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions of Windows 7. 

Snap

Snap is a quick (and fun) new way to resize open windows, simply by dragging them to the edges of your screen.

Depending on where you drag a window, you can make it expand vertically, take up the entire screen, or appear side-by-side with another window. Snap makes reading, organizing, and comparing windows a...well, you get the picture.

Spectacular new wallpapers

We spend a lot of time staring at our PCs. Aesthetics shouldn't just be an afterthought. That's why Windows 7 includes a slew of new desktop backgrounds—wallpapers—that range from sublime to silly. Or try the new desktop slide show, which displays a rotating series of pictures (ours or yours). Your desktop will never be dull again.

Windows 7 makes it easy to express your personality with creative new themes and other custom touches.

Retooled taskbar

Since Windows 95, the taskbar has served as the go-to spot for launching programs and switching windows. Times and PC habits have changed. So in Windows 7, the taskbar has been completely redesigned to help you work smarter, cut clutter, and get more done.

Improvements to the new Windows 7 taskbar include thumbnail previews of webpages, documents—even running video.

Improved gadgets

Gadgets, the popular mini-programs introduced in Windows Vista, are now more flexible and fun. Based on your feedback, we've done away with the Sidebar, so you can stick your gadgets anywhere on the desktop.

Favorite gadgets can go anywhere on your Windows 7 desktop. 

 

Note: Not all features mentioned above are available in all editions of Windows 7.