Posts Tagged ‘Windows’
June 9th, 2010 | 
Author: Come late July, Microsoft will release the first Service Pack for Windows 7, the Redmond outfit announced in a blog post on Monday. However, don’t expect any major performance enhancements, as was the case when the first Service Pack for Vista significantly improved the overall OS experience.
“While the new features for Windows Server 2008 R2 benefit Windows 7 by providing a richer VDI experience, SP1 will not contain any new features that are specific to Windows 7 itself,” Microsoft wrote. “For Windows 7, SP1 will simply be the combination of updates already available through Windows Update and additional hotfixes based on feedback by our customers and partners. In other words, customers can feel confident about deploying Windows 7 now!” Read the rest of this entry »
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Whether you’re a grizzled Windows vet or a relative newcomer, you can always use a trick or two for making things go faster. We’ve compiled our 26 favorite time-saving tips for Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Print out this story and keep it on your desk, under your pillow, or anywhere else.
Classic Windows Tips
Toggle between apps: Use Alt-Tab to switch open programs without touching your mouse. The oldest–and still the best–Windows timesaver.
Navigate app windows: Press Ctrl-Tab to cycle through an application’s windows (or through a Web browser’s tabs). First cousin of the tip above, and probably the most underrated tip ever.
When in doubt, type it out: If you don’t want to hunt through nested menus and the like, you can access most functions, applets, or files the old-fashioned way–by entering them into the Search box. Type Calculator, Control Panel, or even the name of a piece of music on your hard drive, and press Enter.
Full-frontal folders: In Windows Explorer, click Folder Options (located under the Organize menu) to reveal hidden files, show the full path in the title bar, display file extensions, and more.
Unobtrusive updates: Keep your OS current by opening Windows Update (Automatic Update in XP) and setting it to Download updates but let me choose whether to install them. (To get there, press the Windows key and type Windows Update.) That way, you won’t have Windows urging you to restart when you don’t want to (or worse, triggering a restart when you’re away from the PC with an unsaved document open).
Tweak your taskbar: Right-click the Taskbar and choose Properties to find options for switching to the old Start menu, choosing which icons show in the notification area, setting default programs to appear in the Start bar menu, and Read the rest of this entry »