The top 10 tricks and shortcuts in Windows 7
Having recently started working with Windows 7 on a regular basis I must admit that it have really started to like it. Here’s a short primer on the best improvements and shortcuts for all those new to Windows 7:
1. Minimise quickly with a shake
During the course of a working day you will definately end up with many, many open windows on your desktop. Minimizing them to find the one you needed was a annoying task. In Windows 7 you can use the Aero Shake feature to minimise everything at once. Simply grab the title bar of the window you wish to keep open and give it a shake.
2. Sensible mousclicks & shortcuts
- Windows key + Left: docks current window to the left side of the screen.
- Windows key + Right: docks current window to the right side of the screen.
- Windows key + Up: maximizes and/or restores foreground window.
- Windows key + Down: minimizes active window.
- Windows Key + L : lock the computer.
- For those lucky people with a multi-monitor setup, Windows + SHIFT + Left (or Right) will shift a window from monitor to monitor.
3. Ctrl+tab – Walk through the application windows
You want to access one of the ten browser windows you have open, but there are so many other programs running that Alt+Tab makes it hard to pick out what you need. The solution? Hold down the Ctrl key while you click on the browser icon. Windows 7 will then cycle through the browser windows only. Of course this works with any application that has multiple windows open.
4. Another one of those, please
If you’ve already got an application open and you want to open a second instance of the same application, you don’t have to go back to the start menu. You can simply hold down the Shift key while clicking on the taskbar icon and it will open a new instance of the application rather than switching to the existing application. Another way to do this without touching the keyboard: middle-click with the third mouse button on the corepsonding icon.
5. Reorder it all
Nothing in the Taskbar is fixed, you can reorder it all. Whether they’re pinned shortcuts or running applications, simple drag them into the order you want them to be. You can open a new instance of the first five icons in the taskbar by pressing Win+1, Win+2, Win+3 etc. You can also rearrange system tray icons. Reorder them on the tray or move them outside or back into the tray.
6. Burn baby, burn!
Windows 7 finally introduces a feature that other operating systems have had for years – the ability to burn ISO images to CDs or DVDs. And it couldn’t be much easier to use. Just double-click the ISO image, choose the drive with the blank disc, click Burn and watch as your disc is created.
7. Switch to a projector
Windows 7 now provides a standard way to switch your display from one monitor to another, or a projector – just press Win+P or run DisplaySwitch.exe and choose your preferred display.
8. Run As
Hold down Shift, right-click any program shortcut, and you’ll see an option to run the program as a different user. This isn’t really a new feature – Windows XP had a Run As option that did the same thing – but Microsoft stripped it out of Vista. As a sysadmin I’m happy to have it back so I can actually install stuff on my users machines without logging them out…
9. Block annoying alerts
Just like Vista, Windows 7 will display a warning if it thinks your antivirus, firewall or other security settings are incorrect. But unlike Vista, if you disagree then you can now turn off alerts on individual topics. If you no longer want to see warnings just because you’ve dared to turn off the Windows firewall, say, then you can change this all in the Action Centre.
10. Screen calibration
Windows 7 finally includes the option to calibrate your display. Calibrating your display ensures that the colors are displayed correctly on your monitor. You can control factors such as gamma, adjust brightness and contrast and color balance. Access the Display Color Calibration(DCC) tool from the Control Panel: Start -> Control Panel -> Appreance and Personalization -> Display -> Calibrate color and then just follow the wizard.
