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Windows 7 Taskbar & More (Video)

Windows 7 is being hailed as the operating system that Microsoft finally got right. Time will tell of course, but there's sure a lot to like at first glance. We got some demonstrations of a few of the end user productivity enhancements from Microsoft. In the first part of our video demonstration, we'll look at the new Taskbar and similar features.

You can see the video demonstration and interview below.

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You can also read Paul McDougall's story from earlier today on what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had to say about Windows 7.

Microsoft has redesigned the task bar to be a far more efficient tool. For one thing, you can see both the applications that are running and the ones you might want to load -- a handy way of keeping some of your favorite tools within a buttons-click of launch. More important, as you scroll over applications in the Taskbar you can see the documents you have open. For example, you can see the Internet Explorer tabs you have open, and even interact with them (for instance, you can close the tab).

Another good feature is Jumplists -- when you right click on an application in the Taskbar, you're shown the most recent files.

Microsoft is also making things easier for all you multi-taskers, running several windows at a time. If you want to clear the clutter you've made, Aeroshake lets you grab a window, shake it, and the others will simply fall away (they minimize). Snap is another organizing mechanism; it lets you take any two documents and snap them side by side (so you can more easily cut and paste or compare) -- just drag one window off to the right side of the desktop and the other to the left and they line up automatically, each taking up half the screen.

Fritz Nelson is an Executive Editor at InformationWeek and the Executive Producer of TechWebTV. Fritz writes about startups and established companies alike, but likes to exploit multiple forms of media into his writing.

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