5 Great New Features Of Windows 7

Do not worry. This article will not contain the same old blabla that most of the other Windows 7 toplist articles will mention. It will instead concentrate on five lesser known but powerful new features that increase productivity by a large margin.

You might want to check out our article about Windows 7 which has all the information you need to download the beta of the new Microsoft operating system. If you are not convinced yet that this is a good idea read on; You might be surprised:

1. Opening multiple Instances of the same program

Want to open multiple instances of the same program? Maybe a second command prompt or another application that can be opened in multiple instances? Instead of opening the program again the usual way you can simply press the SHIFT key and left-click on the first instance in the windows Taskbar to open a second one.

2. Problem Steps Recorder

If you ever had to do phone support you know how hard it can be to understand what the user on the other end of the phone did and wants. The Problem Steps Recorder is a sweet little tool in Windows 7 that can be used by the user to record his steps.

All that the user needs to do is start the recorder by entering psr in the Start Menu box and click on Start Record in the program interface. Screenshots will be taken from user actions. It is possible to add comments at any time if the user feels so. The whole recording will be saved as a zip file containing a slideshow of the actions.

3. Pin Favorite Folders

Want to add a favorite folders to Windows Explorer to be able to access them faster? Just drag and drop the folder to the favorites menu. It will remain there until you delete it with the delete key again.

4. Moving Windows and such

Windows 7 introduces several new keyboard shortcuts for window management. Some useful ones are:

• [Windows Shift Left Arrow] or [Windows Shift Right Arrow] to move windows from one computer monitor to another.
• [Windows Left Arrow] or [Windows Right Arrow] to dock windows to the left or right side
• [Windows Up Arrow] to maximize a window
• [Windows Down Arrow] to restore or minimize windows
• [Windows Home] to minimize all windows but the active one

5. Shortcuts to start pinned taskbar items

Pressing [Win Number] will start a new instance of a pinned taskbar item. You should also note that the items can be dragged and dropped into different positions easily.