Windows 7 Makes New Things Possible
Windows 7 builds on Microsoft investments in next-generation user interfaces, moving beyond the mouse and keyboard to enable you to use your PC with multi-touch gestures, handwriting, or voice. New media capabilities make your computer a great hub for experiencing audio, video, and pictures throughout your home and, thanks to a new feature in the Release Candidate, over the Internet at remote locations.
Windows 7 also gives you more control over your computing experience. It provides a clean and uncluttered desktop, as well as more options than ever to customize and personalize your PC.
Engage with Your PC? Windows Touch
Windows Touch is designed to enhance how you engage with your PC.
Enhancements in the Release Candidate are discussed as follows:
Windows Touch Improvements
In Windows 7, controlling the computer by touching the screen provides visual feedback for touch and multi-touch gestures. Improvements to Windows Touch in the Release Candidate include the following:
In the Release Candidate, you can now drag your finger across taskbar thumbnail previews and trigger a peek at the related window. Also, the Show Desktop button supports a press-and-hold gesture that will expose your desktop. A regular tap in both these scenarios still commits to the switch.
The ability to zoom in on an image by moving two fingers closer together, or zoom out by moving two fingers apart has been added to Windows Explorer. Using these zoom gestures, you can easily switch between view modes such as zooming from Small icons to Extra Large icons.
The Release Candidate now supports multi-touch for the soft touch keyboard so that you can enjoy a more realistic experience, such as pressing multiple buttons simultaneously?like SHIFT +
You are familiar with right clicking a mouse to see a context menu. The Release Candidate includes a new, fast multi-touch gesture to access a context menu. Simply touch an item with one finger and use another finger to tap.
You can now use Windows Touch to drag, drop and select text inside Web sites that scroll both horizontally and vertically.
More Media, More Places
The Release Candidate includes several improvements to the Windows Media® Player and introduces an exciting new feature called Remote Media Streaming which allows you to enjoy your home digital media collection when you are outside your home.
Windows Media Player Improvements
Enhancements to Windows Media Player that you?ll find in Release Candidate include the following:
Now Playing Mode.
Microsoft changed the name of the Lightweight Playback Mode to Now Playing Mode and the experience is even cleaner. A visual update provides a more compact view so it fits even better into a small window on your desktop.
Improved Content Filtering.
Some files types, such as Apple?s lossless .M4A or H.263 MPEG-4 content cannot be played by the Windows Media Player. In the Release Candidate, content that cannot be played will no longer appear in the music or video library view, and will be listed in the ?Other Media? library in Windows Media Player.
Many digital cameras use the .MOV file format to capture video so the Windows Media Player in Windows 7 now provides support for most .MOV files that are produced by those digital cameras.
Many new devices do not have optical drives and play content directly from the hard drive. The Release Candidate makes it possible to resume playback on these devices just as you can easily resume playing a CD or DVD after an interruption.
You Control Your Desktop
You want your desktop to be your own. You control what gets placed where as you use your PC, so your desktop stays clean and reflects your personal preferences. Improvements for the Release Candidate include the following:
Aero Themes
Windows 7 includes even more new themes, so you?ll have more options for making your computer reflect your personal taste. New wallpapers include landscapes, nature, architecture, characters, and scenes. Each theme includes rich backgrounds, glass colors, a unique sound scheme, and a screen saver.
Viewing Gadgets and Icons
Windows 7 makes gadgets easy to use, enabling you to position them anywhere on the desktop and make them smaller or larger. The Aero Peek feature lets you see behind open windows on your desktop to view your gadgets quickly. Sometimes, you may want to hide desktop icons and see only your gadgets. Now, with the Release Candidate, you can easily separate desktop icons from gadgets and hide one or the other by using the Desktop View setting.
Globally Relevant
The Windows 7 Release Candidate has even more desktop themes tailored to different regions and languages, with special wallpapers, sounds, and Aero Glass colors to provide a more locally relevant experience.
Windows XP Mode (NEW!)
The Release Candidate provides you the flexibility to run many older Windows XP applications in a virtual Windows XP environment on a Windows 7-based PC. Called Windows XP Mode, this new feature requires an additional download.
