1. Shake 'em away
Ever had 10 Notepad, two PowerPoint and 50 Outlook windows open? Want to minimize all of them except the most important one? In Windows 7, you can grab the topof the window and shake it about to scare away all of the other open windows. Simple.
2. Jumplists
Jumplists are a new feature that gives you the option to view a list of recently accessed files by application, even when the application isn't open, by right clicking on the application's icon in the taskbar. It also allows you to quickly access a favourite playlist without opening your media player. Jumplists can also be found integrated into the Start Menu.
3. A step forward in previewing
In Vista, hovering over a minimized window on the taskbar would provide a preview of the window. In Window 7, a similar preview pops up which also gibes the option to close a window (within the preview), along with a full-size 'peek'. You can also press Win + T to scroll along previews in the taskbar.
4. Snap into place
Simply drag your window to the left or right edge of the desktop to snap and resize the window to one half of the screen. Drag the window to the top to maximize it. A pretty neat idea made neater by the use of the keyboard shortcuts (Win + respective arrow keys). No longer do you have to frustratingly position the mouse at the edge of the window to resize it.
5. XP Mode
This time, you do not have to slap your head that same way when Vista would not run an XP application. For the XP applications that do not work under Windows 7, you can download XP Mode free from the Microsoft website and run XP applications in an emulated XP environment in Windows 7. Imagine Parallels on Mac OS X without the need to fish out money on an extra OS.
6. An easier and quicker way to adjust multiple displays
Do you constantly connect your computer to different external monitors or projectors, especially at work? Try Win + P, and duplicating or extending your display to the other monitor takes just a second. Win + P present you with an Alt + Tab style menu, which is idea if you give a lot of presentations at work on your laptop.
7. A personalized Stage for your device
With the new 'Device and Printers' button on the Start Menu, devices which are connected to your computer can have their own Stage. This Device Stage presents supported devices with a photo-realistic render and a link to the vendor's website, along with other updates and useful information (such as firmware updates and manuals).
8. (Almost) eliminate the notification area!
What, I can even get rid of the clock and volume icons? Yes. Click the arrow that fives access to the overflow icons in the notification area and click 'customize'. Select each icon and click 'hide icon and notifications' to remove it. Clean.