Windows 7 netbook – Pros and Cons

Microsoft is all set to launch yet another operating system, on October 22, 2009, but can it truly succeed all other previous versions? With plenty of windows 7 new features , Windows 7 offers a flashy interface, but will it be able to make a stir in market due to its performance, compatibility and features? Let us discuss in this article.

The new operating system, Windows 7 has been designed to fix all the troubles faced by users in older versions especially in Windows Vista. Microsoft has worked hard on the design to make the Operating System impressive. To quite a great extent, Microsoft was able to manage it. Changes like new Taskbar and Aero Peek of Windows 7 might take time to get accustomed to but these changes certainly makes the Operating System much easier and convenient to use.

Windows 7 is not only about the additions but there are several capabilities and programs that were a part of previous version of Operating System but are not included in this one. For instance, there are no warnings related to troubleshooting issues and potential security problems, any more. Also, the distinctive feature of Quick launch which enabled a one-click access to programs has been eliminated from the Windows 7 versions.

A few of the new features of the Windows 7 operating system include:

• Accessibility improvements: With improved speech recognition and a new Magnifier utility, Microsoft has reorganized the accessibility features in Windows 7.
• Backup and Restore: Windows 7 have got streamlined and simplified stellar backup and restore features. Windows 7 supports both data backup and image-based system backup, similar to Windows Vista but this time the UIs are more segregated.
• Improved Taskbar: The Taskbar has been dramatically enhanced. The small icons and text labels for applications currently running on the system that appeared in previous versions are replaced by larger, unlabeled icons in the new Taskbar of Windows 7; which reduces the clutter on the Taskbar. You also have the option to reorganize the positioning of icons in the taskbar
• Jump List: Jump List, another new feature of Windows 7 lets you perform several tasks within an application without having to open that application.
• Bitlocker To Go: This is full-drive encryption feature. It was introduced by Microsoft in Windows Vista and has been updated in Windows 7 to support even the removable USB storage devices like pen drives and portable hard drives

On one hand if there are advantages of this Operating System, there are a handful of disadvantages too. If you feel that the advantages are enough to satisfy you to upgrade, go ahead.

microsoft ie8 on windows 7

IE 8 in Windows 7 has faster speed, enhanced security and increased performance. The newly introduced features of IE 8, like accelerometers, instant search and web slices make it stand out ahead of others. Even if we compare it with its own previous versions, IE 8 is far better. There is privacy option which when enabled lets you explore the sites without saving any temporary Internet files. You also do not have to worry about the browsing history that is saved in History folder. Quick tab enables you to view all opened website tabs under one Window.

IE8 helps users find the information faster. With new address bar, improved search tabs, privacy options and Favorites bar, IE 8 brings more information with less trouble. With remarkable improvements, IE 8 is a must-have for your computers and laptops. Get ready for never before web experience with new Windows 7.

Main components of IE 8:
Accelerators: Now, its easy to map an address, forward a link, or look up a word with an online dictionary. By highlighting the text and then clicking the blue Accelerator icon you can then make your choice of action. The blue Accelerator icon is available with many popular online Web sites.

Address Bar: The Address Bar has been improved to show greater accuracy in the Web sites that you visit and use. Have you ever visited to a site and mistyped it, only to have it come up each time you try and go to the correct site? Now, you can delete it by clicking on the red X to remove the site address. You can also start typing a site that you might not remember the correct address and matches that you've recently typed will appear.

Automatic Crash Recovery: It allows you to open multiple tabs, even if a Web site or add-on causes one tab to crash. IE8 will remain functional, dropping the tab. If the problem is bigger than just one tab, IE8 will be automatically reloaded so that you are returned to the pages that were originally tabbed.

Back Button: It will bring you back to the beginning or Home page of the site instead of being brought back screen by screen.

Compatibility View: Some Web sites may not have upgraded yet and these sites may not show text properly while working with IE8. In order to see the Web site content in its intended design view, you can click the Compatibility View toolbar button to easily view the site.

Deleting Browsing History: Now, you can save browsing history and cookies in your Favorites folder. This helps you to keep your Favorite Web sites and cookies available for viewing and use, while keeping the History folder clear.

InPrivate Filtering: With the InPrivate Filter setting located on the Safety menu, you can select to have your privacy protected.

How to make system folder in windows 7

When Windows 7 is installed on the computer, it builds three system folders. Program Files folder, many programs including the programs and tools that come with Windows 7 install the files they need in its subfolders. When you install a program, you are given the freedom to decide a different folder. After the program is installed, you cannot move, copy, rename, or delete the program folders and files. In case you do this, the program will not run, and you will not be able to uninstall it.

The next is User account folder, the first time you log on to the computer with a new user account, Windows 7 builds a folder for you within the Users folder it contains 12 subfolders as AppData, Contacts, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Favorites, Links, Music, Pictures, Saved Games, Searches, and Videos. Its 12 subfolders contain the data that defines your user profile. As you work with your computer and change Windows, it saves data and settings specific to your user profile in these folders. In addition to the user account it has folders for each user of the computer, it also contains a Public folder, the data present in it is accessible to anyone logged on to the computer.

The Public folder contains nine subfolders as Desktop, Favorites, Library, Public Documents, Public Downloads, Public Music, Public Pictures, Public Videos, and Recorded TV. If you want to make files available to everyone who logs on to the computer, you can save them in the public folders instead of personal folders.

Windows 7 has renamed your personal folders as My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos. These folders are included as a default with the Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos libraries, along with the Public Documents, Public Music, Public Pictures, and Public Videos folders.

The last is Windows folder, most important windows 7 operating system files are stored in this folder. You can view, but if you do not know about it do not change anything. Most Windows 7 users will never need to view the files in the Windows folder.

In Windows Explorer, every folder window shows two elements, the title bar and the toolbar, you can’t hide any of these elements. The title bar always has the following tools for changing and locating the information. Navigation buttons - The Back and Forward buttons are present to move between previously viewed window content, instead of up and down in the storage hierarchy.

The Recent Pages button - It shows a list of folders you have viewed, you can return to any folder by clicking it in the list. Address bar Beginning on the left with the icon representing the item type, the Address bar displays the friendly path to the folder whose contents are currently displayed in the folder window. Clicking the arrow that appears after a folder name displays a list of its subfolders and certain high-level folders; you can switch to another location by clicking it in the list. Clicking the icon displays the absolute path to the folder from the drive.

Search box is present so that you can quickly search for letters, words, or phrases available in the name or information of any file in that folder. Type a search term in the Search box to search it in the folder contents. The Search Results list presents the names of files containing the search term and, for most file types, a content preview and the absolute path to the file is also present. Within the file name and the visible content, the search term is emphasized. Click on the Clear button at the right end of the Search box to clear the search results and return to the folder window information.

Network Support in Windows 7

The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a union of more than 200 companies which are interested in specifying technologies for exchanging media in home networks. The DLNA specifies transport protocols which are based on HTTP and RTP and sets of media formats. Also DLNA architecture is based on the UPnP specification.

DLNA defines roles for the devices like servers, players, renderers and it also defines the protocols that these devices use to discover each other and communicate with each other. Windows 7 applies the DLNA protocols required for communications and media exchange and it also applies several of the DLNA device roles. Your Windows 7 PC will be able to interoperate with a extensive variety of DLNA certified devices like stereo systems, cell phones, DVRs, TVs, game consoles, etc.

There are different ways in which you could choose to use a Windows 7 PC at home because Windows 7 implements several device roles.

Scenario 1:
If you store all your pictures, music and videos on a Windows 7 PC and you have recently acquired a TV with a DLNA logo then you can browse the media library available on the Windows 7 PC using the TV. You can also use the TV to listen to music, watch the video and pictures stored on the PC. This scenario is already available in Windows XP and Windows Vista using Windows Media Player 11.

Scenario 2:
If you have a Network Attached Storage i.e NAS device on which you store your videos, music and pictures then you can use the NAS device as a DMS. You can find the NAS device using Windows Media Player when you open Windows Media Player on a Windows 7 PC and you can also browse the media library available on the NAS device. You can also use NAS device to listen to music, watch the video and pictures stored on it.

Scenario 3:
If you have a cell phone that is capable of taking pictures and can push the pictures to a Windows 7 PC then you can show the pictures to your friends using the large-screen display of the PC without transferring the files to the PC with a USB thumb drive.

Scenario 4:
If you have a stereo system with the DLNA logo then you can play the songs stored on your computer by using Play To feature. If you have a extensive collection of music which has thousands of songs. Because your collection is big and you prefer to search, organize and select songs using the rich capabilities of the Windows Media Player then you can select the songs by simply pushing them to your stereo system using Play To.

If you also have a NAS device containing an additional collection of music and video then you can use the Windows 7 PC to browse the content on the NAS device and push it to the stereo system.

iPhone Synchronization Issues with Windows 7

As Microsoft's new operating system, the new Windows 7 was released worldwide recently. Before its release various people worldwide were keen to check it out. They were excited about what all new features will be added to this operating system such that they would be able to use their existing devices with it without any problem. For example the global Apple Mac owners were very eager to check this operating system. Some were feared about the compatibility issue of their devices and others werer excited to see what new functionalities they will be getting with the new Windows 7 release.

Migrating to a new operating system always develops a confusion and fear about the compatibility of various hardware and software. Various iPhone owners using windows 7 easy connect or Beta or Evaluation version have faced certain iPhone synchronizing issues. They have made their complaints about the iPhone synchronizing issues on the Apple Discussion Board. A large number of users have cited iPhone syncing issues wherein Intel P55 Express chipset was amongst the common configurations mentioned.

The Windows 7 64 bit operating system used over Intel P55 Express chipset based motherboard have certain problem while synchronizing iPhone with it. The issue is that the iPhone is identified by the Windows 7 system with iTunes 9, but whenever synchronization is tried, an error 0xE8000065 occurs. Intel P55 Express Chipset's USB controller is assumed as the primary reason behind the issue of synchronizing an iPhone with a Windows 7 system.

Various attempts have been made a large group of users, who have tried changing the BIOS settings, and also disabling the Bonjour services, and shifting to the USB hubs, but the problem still persists. In various reviews on Internet, it has been observed that Gigabyte, Asus and MSI motherboards based on Intel P55 chipset too encountered the similar issue as encountered on the Windows 7 system. Now it depends entirely on the companies whether they will come out the with motherborad updates or the leader in this technology, Intel might turn up with a proper solution to fix this issue soon.

In either of the case, Apple need to look into this matter as the new 27-inch iMacs will be featuring Intel Core i5/i7 processor and it may be coupled with the Intel P55-chipset. An update is expected in this concern for those systems which are running the latest Windows 7 operating system on Intel P55-chipset motherboard. Till now no accurate information is available on this synchronizing issue as in whether it is a fault with the Windows 7, 64-bit edition on Intel P55 chipsets which is causing issues.

In another development, unlike the title bar, the toolbar depends on the contents of the folder viewed in the folder window. The buttons on the toolbar represent context-specific commands for working with the folder and its content. For example, the buttons change for compressed folders or if you select one or more files. When more buttons are present than chevrons (>>) appear at the right end of the toolbar. Clicking on the chevrons displays a list of other commands. For every folder window, these features are present. Menu bar If you prefer to organize the list of contents by clicking on the commands on menus instead of using the toolbar buttons and column headers. You can view the Menu bar at the top of the window, below the title bar Navigation pane, this vertical pane is open as a default on the left side of the window.

Microsoft surpasses investor’s expectation in profits

Microsoft announced on Friday that its fiscal first-quarter sales sunk compared with a year ago, but it’s tough moves to cut costs and lay off workers enabled the software company earn a profit that surpasses investors’ expectations. Microsoft, the maker of the Windows operating system — including the new Windows 7 version released Thursday — indicated a net income of $3.57 billion, or 40 cents a share, for the quarter, which culminated on September 30th. Wall Street had expected Microsoft to earn 32 cents a share, quoted a report according to a Thomson Reuters survey.

Microsoft credited part of its rebound to increasing sales of PCs by consumers. While total PC sales were mostly flat in the quarter, compared with a year earlier; consumer sales worldwide hiked by a percentage that was in the mid-single digits. The gains came despite the rise of netbooks, small laptop computers, which have generally used inexpensive versions of Windows XP. Netbooks represented 12 percent of sales to consumers in the quarter, Microsoft added.
The company was aggressive on Windows 7, in part because of thumping advance sales. Indeed, the company deferred $1.47 billion in revenue from presales. Sans that deferral, Microsoft said it would have pocketed 52 cents per share in the first quarter instead of 40 cents. The financial results were revealed before the market opened, and investors quoted Microsoft’s shares up more than 5 percent Friday, to $28. 02.

They expected to see some positive impact from Windows 7, but it is the first it has been crystallized in the numbers. Microsoft hopes to benefit not only from rising demand but also from increasing prices for consumers. A netbook maker will shell out more to install Windows 7 than it would have for Windows XP. And in developed countries, Microsoft has stroked off the low-cost Windows Home Basic, forcing a shift to the more expensive Windows 7 Home Premium. Sales of business computers may be scanty, but Microsoft said it saw some indications that companies would start to replace older machines with Windows 7 models over the next few years.

The software giant reported total revenue of $12.92 billion for the quarter, a 14 percent decline from a year back. Reported sales of Windows sunk by 39 percent because Microsoft will not count revenue on computers sold with the hope of a free upgrade to Windows 7 until the current quarter. Adding the delayed sales back in, Windows sales were $4.1 billion, down 4 percent from a year ago. The company’s sales of software for corporate servers were the same from last year at $3.4 billion. Sales of Office and other business software sunk by 11 percent; to $4.4 billion. That is a lower decline than some investors had thought it to be. Analysts were also contended that the sales at Microsoft’s entertainment and device business were also low for the year at $1.9 billion, given leverage by better-than-expected Xbox game sales.

Despite the large investment in its Bing search engine, revenue from Microsoft’s online operations went down by 6 percent, to $490 million. That unit was Microsoft’s only division to squander money, and the loss of $480 million was 50 percent greater than last year.
Microsoft gave guidance in very huge strokes for the rest of fiscal 2010. It said sales of Windows would be associated with growth in the PC market. Sales of Office and other business products are expected to fall behind the overall PC market. Online ad sales are to commensurate or exceed the online market. Server software sales are expected to grow a little faster than server shipments. And sales of Xbox consoles, games and other consumer devices are likely to be low next year.