What's new in the latest Windows 7 build? I'm asked this question every time there's a new build out and I see it asked on forums, too. Usually, the response is brief because it's really hard to spot all the changes when you're just using the new build.
That's exactly why I've put this post together: I have Windows 7 build 7000 on my laptop, and Windows 7 build 7048 on my desktop, and I've gone through trying to spot as many changes as I can. That's not to say that this list is a comprehensive one, but it's a solid start, and I encourage you to leave feedback in the comments as I will be reading all of them before I do a more thorough comparison between the beta to the RC.
Build 7000 was compiled on December 12, 2008, at 2:00pm and the leaked build 7048 was compiled on February 19, 2009 at 6:45pm, so there is over two months of work to cover. This is not about the new sound schemes, sample videos, sample pictures, and wallpapers; this is about the UI and feature changes between both builds. Although I do mention some fixed bugs, I'm mainly focusing on tweaks that are "tangible" as opposed to the thousands of bugs that have been fixed.
In the comparison screenshots, I have tried to keep build 7000 on the left and build 7048 on the right, or build 7000 above and build 7048 below. Also remember that the "Send Feedback" link has been removed in build 7048, so that's an easy way to remember if there is a window title bar visible.
Start Menu
The Start Menu button had a huge change from XP to Vista: the "Start" text was removed and the Start Button "orb" was created. That orb has been tweaked in Windows 7, and the above screenshot shows that Microsoft has opted for a more vibrant look between build 7000 and build 7048. From top to bottom, the different buttons are based on how you are interacting with the orb: normal, mouseover, and clicked.
This one I can't quite put my finger on, but for whatever reason Microsoft decided to put Computer and Games together in 7048, moving it up from its previous grouping below. Also, Devices and Printers has swapped places with Default Programs. The shutdown menu button looks identical between the two builds when you aren't interacting with it, but upon mouseover or click, there's a distinct white border around the button in 7048. The additional options are still the same: Switch user, Log off, Lock, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate. The last one isn't showing up for me in 7048, but that is probably because it's installed on a desktop as opposed to a laptop.
While not turned on by default, you can add two more entries to the Start Menu in build 7048 that you could not in build 7000: Homegroup and Downloads. Furthermore, you can now set the maximum number of jumplist items.
Taskbar
This screenshot just shows that the default number of jumplist items for 7048 is 10. New items bump older items off the list.
I don't quite understand the logic behind this tweak, but basically build 7048 allows you to pin items to programs that aren't associated with that file extension. For example, you can pin a bitmap image to Notepad and even though Paint is set to open it by default, it will now open in Notepad.
Just like in the Quick Launch bar in previous versions of Windows, build 7048 lets you hold down the shift key when dragging an item over a program's icon to have that program open it (think "open with").
This change is hard to spot at first, but if you look closely, the notification color has been made slightly brighter; Microsoft says this is because users complained they were missing when an application wanted attention.
Finally, here's a very odd tidbit I noticed. If you rename a program and then pin it to the taskbar, it will be renamed back to its previous name. For example, I took UT2004.exe, renamed it to bla.exe, and then pinned it to the taskbar. On build 7000, when I right clicked on the taskbar icon, the program was called bla, but on build 7048, it was UT2004. Yippee for minor changes!
Keystrokes and shortcuts
In build 7000, Windows Key (Winkey) + E opens up the Libraries folder and so does choosing your username from the start menu. This has been tweaked back to how it was in Vista: the former sends you to the Computer and the latter sends you to your username's folder (%username%).
While I can't exactly screenshot this, it is still worth noting. In build 7000, hitting Winkey + 1 would launch the first application in the taskbar. Build 7048 goes a little bit beyond that. While hitting Winkey + 1 still launches the first application if it's not launched, if it is launched, it will minimize it or restore it accordingly. If you want to launch another instance, instead of right-clicking on the icon and choosing the application's name, you can also hit Winkey + Shift + 1. If you have two or more instances open (or two or more tabs), the Winkey + 1 keystroke now switches between them as opposed to minimizing or restoring.
Alt + Tab
Speaking of keystrokes, this is probably the most-used keystroke in Windows, so of course Microsoft has been tweaking it. In these screenshots I don't bother including build 7000 because it is the typical Alt + Tab window from Vista. In build 7048, however, Microsoft has added the Aero Peek functionality to it. The screenshot on the left shows Paint and WordPad open. The right one shows what happens when you Alt + Tab to the desktop: it looks as if your cursor is over the Aero Peek button in the bottom right. Letting go (or clicking on Desktop) will take you there just as it normally would: the change here is strictly aesthetic
This improvement is most evident when you're switching between applications that are overlaying each other. To the left you can see what it looks like when you have WordPad open and you're switching to Paint, and to the right is what it looks like when you're switching back. This makes it even easier to find the application you want to switch to.
Right click desktop menu
There's a new Rich Text document option in the New menu, but more interestingly there's now a "Show desktop gadgets" option in the menu, separating gadgets from the desktop. You may also notice that the gadget icon has been tweaked. See below for a bigger version.
Gadgets
The ten gadgets that come with Windows 7 seem to perform pretty much the same: Calendar, Clock, CPU Meter, Currency, Feed Headlines, Media Center, Picture Puzzle, Slide Show, Stocks, and Weather. Version numbers for all the gadgets have not changed, though the copyright year has changed from 2007 to 2008. Media Center has a new icon, but that's really only the only change I've noticed.
Sticky Notes
This one isn't exactly a gadget, and so it has been changed more than just getting a new icon. For whatever reason, in build 7048 Microsoft has removed the "New Note" jumplist option that appears in the start menu and taskbar in build 7000. On the flipside, there is now an optional prompt when you hit delete: "Are you sure you want to delete this note?"
Recycle Bin
The only change I found for the Recycling Bin between build 7000 and 7048 is that now when you hit "Restore all items" you get the above prompt, just in case you hit the button by accident.
XPS Viewer
This one gets to keep its icon and the only real change is a UI one: in build 7048, when no file is open, the Find box is grayed out because you cannot interact with it anyways. In build 7000 it appeared as if you could use it when a file was not opened.
Libraries
The "Includes: x library locations" has been renamed to "Includes: x locations" and is now below the Library name, moving the "Arrange by:" section to the far right. This is more readable, though it takes up slightly more vertical space.
Control Panel
There's a new control panel icon that we've seen in various leaked builds after 7000. The "Click on a category or use the Search box to find tasks quickly" text is gone but when you actually switch to "View by: Large icons" or "View by: Small icons" in the top right, the "Adjust your computer's settings" heading is now present in those views. Furthermore, I've noticed that the Notification Area Icons applet has a new icon, the Device Manager applet no longer has the UAC symbol embedded in its icon, and Phone and Modem Options is now just Phone and Modem.
You'll notice in other areas of the Control Panel, like "System," that the old icon is gone from the top left as well, and of course the copyright has changed from 2008 to 2009. The most visible change, though, is the fact that the panel to the left has gone from blue to a white-grey.
Not only is the old control panel icon gone, but "Check for update" and "Updates: frequently asked questions" have also lost their icons. Other than that, Windows Update looks pretty much the same.
You may only see this window once or twice, but Microsoft wants to get it right. The change is an obvious move away from Vista's colors. "Find out what's new in Windows 7" has been renamed to "Go online to find out what's new in Windows 7" and "See more new features" has been changed to "Go online to learn more." This change also results in the removal of the "Go online to Windows.com to get help setting up your computer." Finally, "Learn more about new Windows 7 features" has become more descriptive:
- Discover new features that can help you be productive, stay safer, and have fun
- Find out everything you need to know about setting up your computer
The new HomeGroup icon makes an appearance here as well, and "Download Windows Live Essentials to communicate, share and publish" has been simplified to "Go online to get Windows Live Essentials."
Calculator
The changes to Calculator aren't very significant: the icon has been tweaked, and as far as I can tell the background color is a bit lighter. The screenshot above is of the Programmer Mode (as opposed to Standard, Scientific, or Statistics).
Paint
Before I got around to installing Paint.NET, I fired up Paint to save one of the first screenshots. As you can see, the icon for Paint has also been changed, as well as the "file" icon and every icon in that menu (New, Open, Save , Save as, Print, From scanner or camera, Send in e-mail, Set as desktop background, Properties, About Paint, and Exit). The tiny save icon at the bottom is present in build 7048 regardless of whether or not the file is saved (when it is, information to the right of the icon tells you the file size).
As you can see, the following icons in the Home tab have been updated: Paste, Cut, Copy, Select, Crop, Resize, Rotate, Pencil, Fill With Color, Text, Eraser, Color picker, Magnifier, and Edit colors. Furthermore, fill and outline have switched spots and now include the prefix "shape." In the View tab, the icons Zoom in, Zoom out, 100%, Full Screen, and Thumbnail have been updated. Rulers and Gridlines have lost their icon and gained a checkbox, and the status bar (at the bottom) can now be removed as well.
WordPad
The changes to WordPad are very similar to Paint: a new icon, the same new "file" icon, and every icon in that menu tweaked (New, Open, Save , Save as, Print, From scanner or camera, Send in e-mail, Set as desktop background, Properties, About WordPad, and Exit).
As you can see, the following icons in the Home tab have been updated: Paste, Cut, Copy, Subscript, Superscript, Text highlight color, Decrease indent, Increase indent, Start a list, Date and Time, Picture, Paint drawing, and Select all. It's also worth noting that Text highlight color and the Text color buttons are now completely drop down menus, as opposed to being a useless button with a drop down menu to the right. In the View tab, the icons Zoom in, Zoom out, 100%, and Word wrap have been updated. Ruler and Status bar have lost their icons and gained a checkbox.
HomeGroup
Of course, there's a new icon that can be seen both in the address bar and under the title "Change homegroup settings." All the settings are the same, though the two UAC icons have been removed (I don't get a UAC prompt for those options in build 7000 anyway) and there is now a HomeGroup troubleshooter (which works much like the Network troubleshooter). Also, under "Share media with devices" the wording has been readjusted to streaming. Clicking on the link below takes you to "Share your music, pictures, or videos with media devices and computers" (build 7000) or "Choose media streaming options for computers and devices" (build 7048).
"Share media as:" has been renamed to "Name your media library," "Media applications on this PC" has changed to "Media programs on this PC and remote connections...," and even "Set up default sharing preferences" is now just "Choose default settings..." For whatever reason, Microsoft has killed the "Prevent my PC from sleeping so that all devices can access my shared files" checkbox option. There's now a link to get back to the HomeGroup settings page, as well as a link for power options. Finally, "Learn more about media sharing" has been renamed to "Tell me more about media streaming" and "Media Sharing Privacy" is now "Read the privacy statement online."
Windows Media Player
As you can see, in build 7048, WMP's controls have been centered, and the right click menu has been changed significantly. "Show List" has been moved to the right click menu and a second "Go to library" option has taken its place. All visualizations have been put into their own menu option (grayed out when not playing something) and more options have been added: "Shuffle," "Repeat," "Video," "Enhancements," "Lyrics, captions, and subtitles," "Always show Now Playing on top," "More options..." and "Help with playback..."
There are two options removed from the Organize menu: "Choose Columns..." and "Restore Columns." The second menu has been renamed from "Share" to "Stream" to match changes in HomeGroup: "Receive media on your network," "Share media with a homegroup," "Share with media devices..." has been changed to "Allow Internet access to home media...," "Allow remote control of my Player...," "Automatically allow devices to play my media...," and "More streaming options..." The last one takes you to the same streaming page covered in the HomeGroup section above.
Internet Explorer
IE8 no longer has the beta tag (nor the RC1 tag we saw in other leaked builds), which is not surprising given that the browser is set to be released for XP and Vista users in the next few weeks. The copyright year has been changed from 2008 to 2009 as well. I also noticed that IE no longer shows images that don't exist with a red X but instead displays a blank box.
Windows DVD Maker
The only change I could find for Windows DVD Maker (even after going through all the options) is a new icon, and I do have to say it's an improvement.
Remote Desktop Connection
The Remote Desktop Connection application didn't even have an icon in build 7000, but it does in build 7048. The "Options" (none of which have changed) arrow has also been moved to the bottom left. Nothing has been tweaked in any of the tabs.
Compatibility
There are three new options in the compatibility menu for running an application in compatibility mode: Windows XP (Service Pack 3), Windows Vista (Service Pack 1), and Windows Vista (Service Pack 2).
PC SafeguardGuest Mode
PC Safeguard, which is used for removing all changes that a user makes during a session (think Internet cafés), has been renamed to Guest Mode, and there's now a note: "To personalize this account, log on and do so before you turn on Guest Mode."
Windows features
In build 7048, there are a lot more options that can be turned off: Internet Explorer 8, Media Features (Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, Windows DVD Maker), Handwriting Recognition (through the Tablet PC Components option), Windows Search, Windows Gadget Platform, XPS Services, and XPS Viewer. This an obvious move to avoid anti-trust lawsuits from the EU: IE (Opera, Mozilla), Windows Search (Google), and XPS (Adobe). Not all of these work as well as they should, so more will be changing in this area from 7048 till the RC build.
Final notes
As a final note, a bug that annoyed me has been fixed: with build 7000, my Vista partition was not visible in My Computer, but in 7048, it finally is. I went through a lot of other applications in both builds looking for visual changes, and as far as I could tell, these were not changed: Snipping Tool, Sound Recorder, Windows Fax and Scan, Sync Center, Default Programs, and all the games (Chess Titans, FreeCell, Hearts, Internet Backgammon, Internet Checkers, Mahjong Titans, Minesweeper, Purble Place, Solitaire, and Spider Solitaire). I didn't look into Windows Media Center very deeply; all I noticed was that it did not start maximized by default in build 7048. If you noticed changes in these applications or in other areas that I've missed, please let me know below in the comments.
Source: arstechnica.com
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