14 DAY TRIAL // Evolving to the next stage in the development of Windows 7, Microsoft will not only introduce changes to the graphical user interface, the start menu performance and the touch capabilities of the platform, but also additional modifications reverberating throughout the platform. While in Windows 7 Release Candidate some changes will be indeed visible, others will not, still, under-the-hood enhancements are just as relevant to the evolution from Beta to RC as those on the surface. According to Chaitanya Sareen, a senior program manager on the Core User Experience team, Windows 7 RC will feature a wide range of improvements affecting components including Windows Explorer, Libraries, Device Stage, Sound, Windows Media Player, Control Panel and Networking.
“The new network experience from the taskbar’s notification area makes it much easier to find and connect to networks. People seem to also really like the wireless signal strength that is available at a glance. In our effort to simplify the experience, we removed indications for some advanced scenarios. Based upon feedback, we’ve decided to introduce a new overlay icon, which now reveals when there is a local connection without Internet access,” Sareen said.
With the advent of Windows 7 Release Candidate, Microsoft will also tweak the Control Panel. The software giant already indicated that the User Account Control would be tweaked in order to increase the protection level of end-users. At the same time, Windows 7 RC computers will be able to auto-lock without the use of a screensaver. Given Microsoft's increasing environmental concerns and the focus to reduce power consumption and the computer's carbon footprint, Windows 7 Beta's power plans included the Balanced and Power saver, although the High Performance option also existed. In Windows 7 RC, the battery flyout menu on the Notifications Area in the Superbar will also display the High Performance option if it is enabled in the Power Options Control Panel.
“In Windows 7 we’ve introduced themes that make it easy to enable a whole package of default combinations or for customers to save their own creations,” Sareen stated. “However, during Beta we heard feedback along the lines of 'I just changed my background or color and I see the change, but I thought it was saved when it really wasn’t.' We added text under each theme to not only aid in identification, but also to provide feedback on the state of a theme. The new 'Unsaved Theme' text also ties better to the nearby 'Save theme' command. These tweaks should make personalization a more predictable and enjoyable experience.”
As far as Windows 7 RC is concerned, users will notice a range of improvements related to Windows Media Player. Enhancements to Internet Radio playback will make the end-user experience more reliable. Media Playback support also advanced with Windows 7 RC is playing nice with AVCHD content and even the .MOV file format. At the same time, Windows Media Player's Now Playing view will be more lightweight and compact in RC.
Windows Media Player in Windows 7 will only display in library view the files that it is designed to play nice with. The player would not feature content that it was unable to playback in Windows 7 RC, Microsoft revealed. The Release Candidate of Win 7 will also allow users to resume playback even if the machine goes to sleep, while Windows Media Player will no longer nag the users for synchronization every time USB sticks or portable media players are connected to the machine.
“What enthusiast doesn’t want to tweak player settings? This was echoed by several comments so we’ve made it easier to access and adjust settings. The equalizer, play speed, SRS WOW and other options are now surfaced via the Now Playing context menu under Enhancements,” Sareen explained. “Media Player’s Jump List provides quick access to the content customers consume. The list becomes even more powerful and complete in the RC now that we also include items launched from Explorer.”
Even with the Device Stage in Windows 7 Beta already offering support of tens of thousand of products, according to Microsoft, the software giant indicated that it would add more in response to the user feedback. Windows 7 RC also features a change to the detection algorithm responsible for identifying new sound devices, and moving the audio stream accordingly.
“In some cases people reported not having any audio device after installing Beta. The problem is that some audio hardware does not work out of the box with our inbox audio class driver. Amazingly there are over 26,000 custom audio drivers and while many are on Windows Update, many are still not. The Release Candidate tightens the Windows Logo test to better ensure clean install delivers baseline functionality for speakers and microphones. Furthermore, we will continue to populate Windows Update with frequently needed drivers,” Sareen pointed out.
Windows 7 RC will support local non-removable FAT32 hard disk drives, as well as NTFS hard disk drives for its Libraries. But, at the same time, pressing the Windows and E keys will no longer take the user to the Libraries, but to My Computer as in Windows Vista. In RC, they will no longer be able to drag and drop items in the Libraries node in the Windows Explorer navigation pane. Microsoft took this decision in order to prevent data loss, since such an action did not in fact copy a certain file or folder to the Library.
“The RC will introduce a new header that updates to reveal the subfolder as one browses a library. Furthermore, the 'Arrange by' views are better expose in the upper right, in proximity of the other view and search controls,” Sareen went on to explain. “We’ve received many requests to further enhance the arrangement views in a variety of ways and we’ve made a number of changes in response to them. For starters, RC makes it easier to switch arrangement views—one can now do so directly from the view context menu, which is the familiar home of switching the view mode, sorting, and grouping. Second, the specific arrangement views themselves have been enhanced for RC.”