Technology, Gadgets, IT, Games

Microsoft have revealed masses of detail able Windows 7 at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in LA. This is a roundup of all the information we know so far, and projected release dates.

Key highlights are multi-touch, the new taskbar and fixed User Account Control…

• Windows 7 is a new Operating System, but built on Vista
• One big change in the UI is the new taskbar, which instead of just listing open windows, has icons (no text)
• The icons in the taskbar have popups with control interfaces (eg for Windows Media Player).
• When you hover over a program’s icon in the taskbar, all other windows go transparent so you can see through them to the window you’re pointing at
• Gadgets now reside on the desktop, with no sidebar – very useful for those with limited screen space. And you can ‘peek’ at them at any time by making all other windows briefly transparent.
• Window resizing is now automatic – dragging a window to the top of the screen maximises it, and dragging it to the side sizes it to 50% for easy tiling
• The system tray (next to clock) now only displays what you explicitly tell it to
• User Account Control (the annoying “are you sure” nag screens) are now fully customisable per-application
• Documents is no longer a single folder, but a way of accessing all your documents, no matter where they’re stored
• Homegroup uses the Windows Live Mesh to merge your documents across all your PCs and devices
• DirectX now works for 2D graphics, so GDI is no longer required
• When using multi-touch, the start menu gets 25% bigger, to make it easy to use
• There’s a giant on-screen predictive keyboard for touch use
• Even with multi-touch, Windows 7 runs well on a 1GHz netbook with 1GB RAM
• Windows 7 now supports up to 256 cores, as opposed to 32 or 64 in Vista.
• Multiple-monitor management has been refined, and hotkeys are finally incorporated
• Remote Desktop now also works with multiple monitors
• Media Centre has been overhauled with a Zune-like interface, a new Mini Guide during videos and Music Wall artwork screensaver

Developers at PDC received a pre-beta version of Windows 7 today. Real feature-complete betas will start early in 2009. This leads us to believe that Release Candidates will happen in late summer, with a release either side of Christmas 2009. That fits in with the official “3 years from Vista” deadline which is our only official clue so far.

Read – Keynote videos on the PDC site
Read – Technologizer Windows 7 hands-on
Read – Ars Technica Windows 7 interface walkthrough
Read – Laptop Windows 7 hands-on
Read – Windows 7 Media Center revealed