Gadgets and the new Aero

...this little guy can run some basic tests

IPv4 settings are unchanged

You can easily check that your settings work properly

Gadgets have also been re-tooled, as the Sidebar from Vista is gone and instead, gadgets are docked directly on the desktop. The gadgets also appear to use fewer resources, further demonstrating Windows 7’s supposed superior resource management.

Windows 7's interface overall is fairly similar to Vista, although the task bar has been re-worked somewhat. Now the system tray icons can be grouped together to keep the clutter down, while there are 3 default quick launch icons: Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, and Windows Media Player. The Show Desktop button has been moved all the way to the right of the clock by the system tray, which assures it is easily within reach and doesn’t get lost amongst your other quick launch icons. The default icon size is pretty big as Microsoft seems to have taken higher desktop resolution into consideration. Not a whole lot has been changed so far however, so if you didn’t like Vista’s interface, chances are you will not like Windows 7 either.

Windows 7 keeps you up to date

No place like home

Tabbed browsing in IE8

This is just a preview of what’s to come with Windows 7 and we promise to have some performance numbers for you as soon as we can. For now though, the main thing to take away is that overall usable performance seems to be snappier and boot times a little bit better than Vista. The interface is tweaked for better functionality, while the UAC has been toned down a bit, although it can still be a pain to deal with. One thing we have to mention is the default desktop resolutions.

By default, Windows 7 did not allow us to set our LCD’s native resolution of 1680 x 1050. First, we had to go into the screen resolution panel and click on Detect display. Otherwise, we were only allowed to select a few ‘safe’ resolutions. We assume this is Microsoft’s attempt at keeping users from running an unsafe resolution. Although it took a little bit of tweaking to get things visually correct, we won’t fault Microsoft for trying to ensure their large scale beta test didn’t turn into a large scale lawsuit aimed at replacing damaged monitors. Take a look at the Windows 7 gallery and let us know what you’d like us to test with the latest OS from Microsoft!

Default Gadget selection

Drag and drop to your desktop

Windows can try to keep your games up to date

Default Games window

Expandable Start Menu

New and Improved MS Paint