Info Tech Guide

Windows 7 Screen Shot

Windows 7 is the Microsoft Windows operating system released commercially in October 2009. In development, Windows 7 was known by the code names "Blackcomb" and "Vienna." It follows the previous (sixth) version of Windows, called Windows Vista.

Like previous versions of Windows, Windows 7 has a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows you to interact with items on the screen using a keyboard and mouse. However, Windows 7 is also includes a feature called "Windows Touch" that supports touchscreen input and multitouch functionality.

You can also zoom in on an image by touching it with two fingers, then spreading your fingers apart. Windows 7 is bundled with several touch-ready programs that are designed for touchscreen use.


The search feature in Windows 7, called "Windows Search," allows you to see results of searches as soon as you start typing in the search box. Windows Search categorizes the results by file type and displays text snippets that indicate where the search phrase was found in each result. After the search results are returned, it is possible to narrow the results by filtering them by date, file type, file size, and other parameters. You can search local drives, external hard drives, and networked drives all using the standard Windows Search interface.

Windows 7 Editions:

• Windows 7 Home Premium - the standard version installed with most home PCs and includes all of the features listed above.
• Windows 7 Professional - typically installed on business computers and includes all the Home Premium features as well as additional features such as Windows XP mode (XPM) and Domain Join.
• Windows 7 Ultimate - the most complete version, which has all of the Professional features as well as BitLocker data protection and additional language support.

Windows 7 features:

• DirectAccess for Mobile Workers - Allows IT administrators to update Group Policy settings and distribute software updates any time the mobile device has Internet connectivity, whether or not the user is logged on. DA supports multi-factor authentication and encryption.
• XP mode - Allows older applications designed for Windows XP to use a virtualized version of the XP operating system. To the end user, the applications seem to be running right on the Windows 7 desktop.
• BranchCache - WAN optimization through more effective use of local, read-only caches.
• BitLocker To Go - Extends on-disk encryption and key management techniques to portable storage devices.
• Virtual hard disk support - Allows you to mount a virtual hard disk (VHD) and interact with it as if it were a physical drive.
• Enterprise Search - Extends search to remote document repositories, SharePoint sites and Web applications.
• AppLocker - Allows IT administrators to use Group Policy to specify rules about what software applications can be run on a particular user's desktop.
• Enhanced VDI - Allows administrators to use the same master image for both remote clients using virtual desktop infrastructure and traditional desktop computers.

Windows 7 System requirements:

• 1GHz processor or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64)
• 1GB of RAM for 32-bit or 2GB of RAM for 64-bit
• 16GB of hard disk space for 32-bit or 20GB for 64-bit
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher.