Windows 7

[Lazybones]

Built up my work laptop this week on a clean Window 7 build.. Not too many issues doing so, however some native driver support for things like the new Biometric API where missing but have 3rd party options.

One little thing that is nice is that the login / lock screen can now be officially modified by dropping a jpg in a special folder and turning on a reg key... In vista you needed to use a 3rd party app to mod a dll, having native support like this is a nice customization that I plan on using on our corporate standard images.

Only issue so far is that tray apps are hidden by default. I have actually had to go and set some apps to leave their taskbar icon instead of minimize to tray so they better function with the new task bar. I don' want to turn all tray icons back on as it is not really the intent of windows moving forward.

Support for jump lists and tab previews is lacking in 3rd party apps: Chrome 4 beta builds support Jump lists but not previews, Firefox 3.6 beta supports previews (after setting an about:config variable) but will not support jump lists until 3.7 according to the road-map. IE 8 as a native app supports both.

I really like jump lists and this has pushed me to run Chrome 4 beta as my default browser for now.

BTW the Window keyboard shortcuts work great for snapping windows all over the place.

[Lazybones]

From a laptop point of view I can't stress how much better the WiFi network handling is as well as how fast and well functions like suspend and resume work.. I had always avoided suspending my windows laptops since resume took way to long or failed. Now I just shut my laptop and run, it greats me with a login screen almost instantly when I open it..

So far the best part of windows 7 is that is just works!

[Mr. Analog]

I have to agree about the wireless networking, a friend of mine has been having some trouble, we both have the same netbook the only difference is that mine has Windows 7 on it.

[Lazybones]

Another great windows 7 feature
Explore the Problem Steps Recorder in Windows 7
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=849

Creates you screen shots of every major action the user takes, along with text description of the action, as well it lets the user highlight and comment on each action.

[Tom]

Oh, I had a neat experience with Windows 7 recently.

I booted into an install set up for a AMD Phenom II, on an Intel Q6600. It booted. It ran. Though It was crashing, a lot. So I reinstalled anyway. But the fact that it ran, and may have worked perfectly, to be fairly impressive (for windows).

[Thorin]

From a laptop point of view I can't stress [..] how fast and well functions like suspend and resume work

Might also be worthwhile for desktops.  We leave our desktops running all night, although the monitors shut off.  Might be nice to save a few watts for eight to ten hours a day.

[Tom]

From a laptop point of view I can't stress [..] how fast and well functions like suspend and resume work

Might also be worthwhile for desktops.  We leave our desktops running all night, although the monitors shut off.  Might be nice to save a few watts for eight to ten hours a day.

If its a beefy machine it can really make a dent in the power bill here, especially if it just happens to reach 12c/kWh. Imagine a machine that uses 150W at idle, and you're paying 12c/kWh, that's $12.30 you just spent on keeping that machine idle the whole time.

[Mr. Analog]

Another great windows 7 feature
Explore the Problem Steps Recorder in Windows 7
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=849

Creates you screen shots of every major action the user takes, along with text description of the action, as well it lets the user highlight and comment on each action.

That would be invaluable to support people.