Jump Lists
When you right-click an application icon in the taskbar, Windows 7 will display a list of menus known as Jump Lists. Jump Lists contain several default options as well as a list of tasks and destinations that you can perform within the selected application. For example, Figure 2-5 shows the Jump List of the Control Panel application. It contains a section called Recent that displays a list of recently used applications in the Control Panel. Figure 2-5. The taskbar showing the list of recent...
Aero Peek
In Windows 7, mousing over an icon in the taskbar whose application is running reveals the live thumbnails of all the opened windows of that application. For example, Figure 2-1 shows the live thumbnails of all the IE windows currently open when the mouse is moved over the IE icon. If your computer or Windows edition is not Aero-capable or if you've chosen a non-Aero theme , you will instead see a list of open window titles. Figure 2-1. Aero Peek displays live thumbnails of all opened windows...
Linking Online IDs
In the previous section, you saw how Hotmail automatically signs you in using the credentials saved in the Credential Manager. The Credential Manager also allows you to link your login user account with an online ID explicitly such as those given by your email service provider so that you can sign in to these services automatically. This is done via online ID providers. An online ID provider associates your Windows login with an online ID so that when you access your online service you do not...
The Credential Manager
Windows 7 includes a feature known as the Credential Manager to help users save their credentials to a vault. Although this is not a new feature, in this version it has the ability to back up and restore the vault. In the Credential Manager, all the credentials are stored in a secure location known as the Windows Vault. To use the Credential Manager, go to Control Panels-User Accounts and Family SafetysCredential Manager. There are three types of credentials you can store using Credential...
SmartScreen Filter
In IE7, Microsoft introduced the Phishing Filter, via which IE will try to warn users when they attempt to visit known phishing sites. In IE8, Microsoft has replaced the Phishing Filter with a feature called the SmartScreen Filter, which is still essentially a phishing filter, but with some advancement When a phishing site is detected, IE8 will display the warning page shown in Figure Figure 6-25. Figure 6-25. IE8 detecting a phishing site Figure 6-25. IE8 detecting a phishing site You can also...
Windows Disk Image Burner
In previous versions of Windows, you needed a third-party application to burn an ISO image to your CD or DVD. In Windows 7, this capability is built right into the OS. By default, you can double-click an ISO image and Windows will display the prompt shown in Figure 8-27. Figure 8-27. The Windows Disc Image Burner Select the CD DVD burner, insert a disc, and click the Burn button to start burning your CD DVD.
Smart Address Bar
The Address bar in IE8 is now much smarter than its predecessor. In addition to typing websites' URLs, you can now type in keywords and it will search across your History, Favorites, and RSS Feeds and display all matching sites that you have visited previously see Figure 6-1 . http oreilly.com catalog , Shift Enter IPhone App Development Workshop - T, Webcast iPhone Hacking - Intermediate., http training, orerlly.com introiphoneapp This feature is very useful for finding pages that you have...
Windows PowerShell
In Windows 7, the Windows PowerShell application is included by default. The Windows PowerShell is an extensible command-line shell application that executes applications written in its associated scripting languages, allowing IT administrators to easily automate and administer their IT infrastructure. Think of Windows PowerShell as the command prompt with which most Windows users are familiar on steroids a very powerful one indeed. Windows PowerShell is available as a separate download for...
Using the Credential Manager
Note that the Credential Manager is designed to work with resources such as servers and websites that make use of the Credential Manager API to retrieve the username and password from the Credential Manager. A good example is Windows Live Hotmail. When you first log in to Windows Live Hotmail, you have an option to save the password to your computer. When you check the Remember my password link see Figure 4-9 , the credential Windows Live ID and password, in this case is automatically saved...
Troubleshooting Sleep Mode Problems
If you use Windows 7 for some time, you may realize that your computer will suddenly wake up from sleep mode, or that the battery of your notebook computer drains very quickly. The possible causes of these symptoms are many and are often difficult to troubleshoot. Figure 8-25. Viewing the recordings as a slideshow Figure 8-25. Viewing the recordings as a slideshow Windows 7 includes a very useful tool to troubleshoot potential problems with your computer that may cause unexpected drain on the...
Windows Compatibility Mode
If you have trouble running applications designed for the previous versions of Windows, you can also use the Windows 7 Compatibility Mode to run them in Windows 7. Using the Compatibility Mode, you can configure an application to try to run in the version of Windows that it was written for. To configure an application to run in Compatibility Mode, right-click the application's shortcut, .exe, or installation program, and select Properties. Next, select the Compatibility tab and you should see...
Installing Windows Using a USB Hard Drive
You can install Windows 7 using a USB hard drive. The following steps show you how to prepare your existing USB hard drive for installing Windows 7 1. Connect your USB hard disk to your computer. 2. Launch the Disk Management application available in Windows. - In Windows Vista, the Disk Management tool is found under Control Panel Administrative Tools Computer Management. In TLv Windows 7, type disk management in the Start menu to launch it. 3. Locate the USB hard drive and right-click it see...
Calibrating Your Display
Windows 7 includes two cool tools to calibrate your display for text and graphics. These tools are especially useful for notebook computer screens, as they make your display much sharper. These two tools can be launched using Control Panes Appearance and Personalizations-Display. The two tools can also be launched via the command line cttune.exe and dccw.exe. The cttune.exe application the Adjust ClearType text link on the left of the window helps you to calibrate your display for displaying...