Windows 7 is Coming!
The August 2009 issue of PC World says Windows 7 will be released October 22. You'll soon be hearing about all the new features in this version. See "Microsoft Windows 7: A closer Look at Your Next OS": http://www.pcworld.com/article/152898/microsoft_windows_7_a_closer_look_at_your_next_os.html In the meantime PC World suggests how you can get some of the features of Windows 7 while still using Vista or XP. Most of them are free! (Disclaimer: This is their recommendations, I have not tried them. - Bill)
PERFORMANCE
● Faster Booting: Twice as fast as Vista
Add RAM, at least 2 GB
Install Startup Delayer http://find.pcworld.com/63013
Reinstall Windows (see: http://find.pcworld.com/63015 )
(I like to hibernate most of the time and only shutdown twice a week)
● Less Bothersome User Account Control: (Vista Only) Vista bugs you constantly.
Try Norton UAC http://www.symantec.com/norton/theme.jsp?themeid=labs_uac&header=0&depthpath=0
Try UAC Snooze: http://find.pcworld.com/62540
● Faster Performance: Slightly faster than Vista.
Disable some Vista features: http://find.pcworld.com/63016
Clean your system with CCleaner: http://find.pcworld.com/63017
(I like Advanced System Care http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html )
● Fewer System Notifications: Limits system tray pop up notifications.
In Vista you have to modify the Registry! See: http://find.pcworld.com/63214 then get the magazine, page 79.
In XP use TweakUI, see: http://find.pcworld.com/63018
FEATURES
● Media Streaming: Available over the Internet.
Try Simple Media Streaming, see: http://find.pcworld.com/63019
Or Orb, see: http://find.pcworld.com/63021
● ISO Burning: Single file of archived contents.
Try ISO Recorder, see: http://find.pcworld.com/60794
Or Active ISO Burner, see: http://find.pcworld.com/63023
● Improved Windows Paint: Thoroughly remodeled.
Try GIMP, see: http://find.pcworld.com/63024
(My grandson took a photography class in high school and they used GIMP in the class.)
Or Paint.net, see: http://find.pcworld.com/63020
● Calculator: Completely rebuilt.
You can get the Windows 7 version at: http://find.pcworld.com/63211
Or try eCalc, see: http://find.pcworld.com/63028
● Windows Search: Find documents, emails, and the like.
It's in Vista and XP users can get it with Corpernic Desktop Search, see: http://find.pcworld.com/63030
● Windows XP Mode: Run "old" XP applications.
In Vista try Microsoft's Virtual PC, see: http://find.pcworld.com/63032
● Internet Explorer 8: Faster and more secure than 7.
It works with Vista and XP, download at: http://find.pcworld.com/63029
LOOK and FEEL
● Aero Snap: Drag a window to the edge of the screen and it will resize to half the screen.
Download it at http://find.pcworld.com/62546
● Invisible Windows: Show desktop button at bottom of screen.
Try AeroPeek, see: http://find.pcworld.com/62547
● Window Shake: Click, hold and shake back and forth the title bar of any window and the others will minimize, repeat
to restore.
Try Aero Shake from Lifehacker, see: http://find.pcworld.com/62542
● The Pinnable Taskbar: Pin applications and documents to the task bar.
Not available in XP, in Vista you can get an equivalent, see the magazine on page 82.
● Icons-Only Task Bar: No text means more room for open windows.
You have to modify the Registry! See: http://find.pcworld.com/63214 then get the magazine, page 84.
● Thumbnail Previews: Run mouse over icon above and preview contents.
In Vista install EnhanceMyVista, see: http://find.pcworld.com/62544
Not available in XP
● The Windows 7 User Interface: The sum of the above.
Vista is close and using some of the above will make it closer.
In XP try the Seven Transformation Pack, see: http://find.pcworld.com/63033 BUT, make sure you have SP3 and create
a restore point before you start.
WHAT YOU CAN'T GET
● Device Stage, recognizes external devices like cameras, phones, et.
● Home Group, simplifies home networking.
● Jump Lists, Fast access to recent documents.
● Libraries, Special folders that categorize other folders
● One-click Wi-Fi, Easy access to available hot spots
The following is taken from the Windows Secrets Newsletter • Issue 209 • 2009-08-06
BEST SOFTWARE
Give Vista the
best features of Windows 7
|
By Ian "Gizmo" Richards
With all the hype about the upcoming release of Windows 7, it's easy to lose track of the fact that Windows 7 is not really a new operating system but rather Vista with many of the bugs fixed — Vista Mark II, if you like. What most people don't realize is that it's possible to tweak Vista to offer a number of the most important benefits of Windows 7 without spending a cent. |
Freeware tweaks let you speed up Vista
Most users would agree that the two worst aspects of Vista are its
sluggish performance and the annoying confirmation pop-ups generated by the OS's
User Account Control (UAC). However, both these Vista problems can be addressed
by using readily available freeware utilities.
Of course, Windows 7 offers numerous improvements over Vista other than just
faster performance and better UAC control. But many Vista users may find the
value of these additional features insufficient to justify the cost of an
upgrade, providing they can get their current version of Vista to run faster and
with less UAC annoyance.
Taming Vista's User Account Control applet
Let's face it: all those Vista UAC authorization requests are a real
pain. That's why many users turn off UAC via the User Accounts Control Panel
applet.
But turning off UAC also disables the underlying protection provided by the
program. You're not just stopping the authorization messages, you're turning off
the whole caboodle. For example, with UAC disabled, Internet Explorer can't
operate in its much-more-secure Protected Mode.
So turning off UAC is like throwing out the baby with the bath water: you may
have fewer annoying pop-up messages to click through, but your PC becomes
significantly more vulnerable to malware infection.
Windows 7 addresses this problem by providing finer, more-graduated control over
UAC. There's no way to do the same in Vista, but you can get most of Win7's UAC
benefits by using TweakUAC, a free utility that gives Vista users a third UAC
option. Instead of being simply "on" or "off," TweakUAC can run UAC in the
"quiet" mode. (See Figure 1.) You'll find a download link for TweakUAC at the
vendor's site.
Figure 1. The free TweakUAC utility gives Vista users a third User Account
Control option midway between "off" and "on."
In TweakUAC's "quiet" mode, people using Vista administrator accounts can run
tasks requiring administrative privileges without having to click through the
UAC prompts. All other aspects of UAC operation are unaffected. For example,
standard users will still see the UAC prompts whenever they try to carry out
tasks requiring administrative privileges. Similarly, Internet Explorer will run
in its safe Protected Mode.
For most users, this sounds like a win-win situation. The majority of UAC's
annoying messages will be removed, yet the protection provided by UAC will still
be in place.
Removing the UAC prompts for administrators seeking to carry out administrative
tasks may sound like a good thing, but it does have a downside. TweakUAC's quiet
mode removes any protection against changes made accidentally or unthinkingly by
administrators that may affect the stability of their system.
Now, how important is that risk? That's something every user needs to determine
for himself or herself. For me, the decision was a no-brainer: I use "quiet"
mode and am perfectly happy with that choice. I submit that most experienced
users will do so as well, but if you're uncertain, check out the argument in the
TweakUAC.com
article, "Is the quiet mode of UAC less secure?"
Easy way to disable unnecessary Vista services
One of the main reasons for Vista's slowness is that the OS runs a lot
of programs in the background that you're probably unaware of. These background
programs — or services, as they're more correctly called — start when you boot
Windows and run invisibly and constantly, even when you're doing nothing on your
PC. This eats up a significant slice of your PC's memory and processing power.
Dozens of these services are running at any one time. Worse still, many of them
aren't necessarily needed; they run just in case you might need them in the
future.
Advanced PC users have long been aware of this problem and have found ways to
shut down the services they don't require.
Black Viper is one of several Web sites dedicated to this issue.
However, shutting down Vista services is not a task for the faint-hearted. You
need to know exactly what you're doing, and even then you run the risk of
inadvertently removing a service your system actually needs.
That's where the freeware utility Vista Services Optimizer (VSO) comes in. The
program allows average PC users to stop or disable unnecessary Vista services
easily. Better still, VSO provides advice and guidance on which services are
safe to stop. The program is available for download from the SnapFiles
site.
The VSO home screen provides various options suitable for users with different
levels of technical skill. (See Figure 2.)
Figure 2. The main Vista Services Optimizer screen provides options for
novice and expert PC users alike.
Most people are best served by VSO's Automatic Tune-up option. When you select
this setting, VSO asks you a series of questions about your computer. Based on
your answers, the program will then reboot your PC and stop any services it
believes you don't need.
One of the tune-up options offered is a choice of "standard" or "maximum"
services optimization. For average users, I suggest you select "standard."
Hard-core gamers and others requiring the best-possible performance may want to
try a "maximum" optimization, but do so only if you're prepared to risk creating
some problems.
Should problems occur, use the VSO Rescue Center option to restore your services
to the Vista defaults.
More-advanced users will prefer VSO's Manual Tune-up option. This involves
answering a lot more questions about the PC, but you'll be rewarded with finer
control and greater speed improvements.
So how much improvement can you expect from VSO? I've used VSO on about 20
machines, and the improvements have ranged from small-but-useful to dramatic.
The PCs that seem to benefit most are those with 2GB or less of memory. This
makes sense because each unneeded service you have running consumes memory. If
memory is in short supply, your computer may be doing a lot of paging to your
hard drive, which will definitely impact performance.
Be ready for trouble when disabling services
There are some downsides to using VSO. First and most important, it's
possible — though unlikely — that your PC may become unstable after VSO
optimization. I haven't yet encountered this, but you can't rule out the
possibility. That's why I suggest you fully back up your PC before using VSO.
Second, you may find that your PC works just fine after using VSO but might run
into problems when you install new programs or add new hardware requiring the
use of one of the services you've disabled. However, whenever this happens, you
can use VSO to restart the needed services.
Finally, VSO requires the use of Microsoft's .NET 3.5 Framework. If you don't
already have .NET 3.5 installed, it's a whopping 231MB download. And size aside,
some users just don't like the .NET Framework on principle.
Despite these issues, I suggest you try VSO on your Vista PC. If you back up
properly, you have little to lose and a lot to gain.
Why I've decided to put Windows 7 on hold
So there we have it: A free way to make Vista less annoying, and a free
way to make it faster. I suggest you try both. If you do, I suspect you will not
be quite so keen on paying for a Windows 7 upgrade.
Me? I'm not spending a penny on upgrading to Windows 7. Instead, Windows 7 can
just wait until I replace my current PC hardware, at which time it will come
preinstalled on the new equipment.
In the interim, I'll enjoy my PCs running Vista much more. After tweaking them
in the manner described above, they're now running noticeably faster and with
fewer UAC intrusions.