First look at Windows 7's User Interface [Archive]

Shadowstorm

10-28-2008, 11:11 AM

Good article over at Ars detailing UI changes of Windows 7. I thought people would be interested.

At PDC today, Microsoft gave the first public demonstration of Windows 7. Until now, the company has been uncharacteristically secretive about its new OS; over the past few months, Microsoft has let on that the taskbar will undergo a number of changes, and that many bundled applications would be unbundled and shipped with Windows Live instead. There have also been occasional screenshots of some of the new applets like Calculator and Paint. Now that the covers are finally off, the scale of the new OS becomes clear. The user interface has undergone the most radical overhaul and update since the introduction of Windows 95 thirteen years ago.

http://media.arstechnica.com/images/windows7/Windows%20Media%20Player%20JumpList.png

http://media.arstechnica.com/images/windows7/Jump%20Lists.png

Pretty awesome.

Jump lists provide quick access to application features. Applications that use the system API for their Most Recently Used list (the list of recently-used filenames that many apps have in their File menus) will automatically acquire a Jump List containing their most recently used files. There's also an API to allow applications to add custom entries; Media Player, for example, includes special options to control playback.

This automatic support for new features is a result of deliberate effort on Microsoft's part. The company wants existing applications to benefit from as many of the 7 features as they can without any developer effort. New applications can extend this automatic support through new APIs to further enrich the user experience. The taskbar thumbnails are another example of this approach. All applications get thumbnails, but applications with explicit support for 7 will be able to add thumbnails on a finer-grained basis. IE8, for instance, has a thumbnail per tab (rather than per window).

Source (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081028-first-look-at-windows-7.html).

Wraith

10-28-2008, 11:27 AM

More screens:

Page 1 (http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_m3_screens.asp)
Page 2 (http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_m3_screens_02.asp)
Page 3 (http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_m3_screens_03.asp)
Page 4 (http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_m3_screens_04.asp)
Page 5 (http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_m3_screens_05.asp)

http://www.winsupersite.com/images/win7/win7_m3_ms_07.jpg

http://www.winsupersite.com/images/win7/win7_m3_03.jpg

http://www.winsupersite.com/images/win7/win7_m3_21.jpg

http://www.winsupersite.com/images/win7/win7_m3_31.jpg

Schnoogs

10-28-2008, 11:56 AM

Looks a LOT like Vista...which isn't a bad thing I suppose.

itchyeyes

10-28-2008, 12:57 PM

I like that widgets are now on the desktop, but I'm not too keen on the new "glass" taskbar yet. Some of the UI decisions seem interesting, like the new "peak" function. The multi-touch seems pointless for an OS that will be in primarily desktop machines. I like that they're unbundling aps like that picture viewer since I rarely use MS aps that stuff anyways. It will be interesting to see if they can really get the OS lightweight enough to run on netbooks like they're claiming they will.

I think that MS if going to run into a similar situation with Windows 7 as they did with Vista. They may get the XP crowd to finally move on, but I'm not seeing a lot here that's going to compel Vista users to upgrade.

Also, it's worth pointing out that the pictures in the 2nd post are from the laptop variant, which looks a lot more like Vista than the desktop version they showed off, and is shown in the 1st post.

NoName

10-28-2008, 01:23 PM

It looks nice, but then again my complaint of Vista wasn't how it looked.

Wraith

10-28-2008, 01:51 PM

My take on this is a bit more nuanced. Clearly, Windows 7 is to Windows Vista as was Windows XP to Windows 2000. And that's true on a number of levels. The version numbers point to little in the way of changes: Windows 7's 6.1 is comparable to XP's 5.1. In both cases, Windows 7, and XP, the system was essentially a highly tweaked version of its predecessor. And in both cases, the underlying core of the OS (the kernel plus support code) is largely unchanged from that of its predecessor. So from a technical standpoint, Windows 7 is a minor upgrade. From a usability standpoint, however, Windows 7--like XP--is a major upgrade, one that erases problems with its predecessor and brings with it a slew of new capabilities, most of which are quite welcome, and some of which are laugh out loud excellent. That's especially true for consumers, who are going to be quite pleased with what they see this time around.

So I'm going to give Microsoft a pass on this one. Windows 7, in many ways, is indeed a major Windows release. And if you're an XP holdout, this is the version you've been waiting for. It's a better Windows than Vista. And that's saying something, because despite all the Vista detractors and libelous Apple advertisements, Vista is actually quite good. But yes, Windows 7 is better.http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_preview.asp

Shadowstorm

10-28-2008, 02:26 PM

It looks nice, but then again my complaint of Vista wasn't how it looked.

What was your complaint with Vista?

Goronmon

10-28-2008, 02:34 PM

I already enjoy Vista, so an even better version is certainly welcome.

muddi900

10-28-2008, 02:36 PM

Damn you Microsoft, you promised a new kernel!

Wraith

10-28-2008, 03:38 PM

As to those hoping for a lighter build, it looks like your dreams may come true. Windows 7 Chief Steve Sinofsky held up his "personal" laptop during the demo. It was running Windows 7 flawlessly on a 1 GHz processor netbook (probably using a VIA processor) with only 1 GB of RAM. It was running very smoothly, with over half the RAM free to use.

However, Microsoft is equally emphasizing power, with support for up to 256 CPUs.http://www.dailytech.com/Windows+7+Features+Revealed/article13309.htm

Carlos

10-29-2008, 02:24 AM

It looks nice, but then again my complaint of Vista wasn't how it looked.
I agree.

I especially love this part:
http://media.arstechnica.com/images/windows7/Jump%20Lists.png
I hope w7 has a "lite" version of the system itself, because I won't buy the damn thing if its a huge memory hog.
Damn you Microsoft, you promised a new kernel!
They did? Why are they wasting time NOT making a new, coded-from-scratch kernel.

Shadowstorm

10-29-2008, 06:28 AM

I hope w7 has a "lite" version of the system itself, because I won't buy the damn thing if its a huge memory hog.

As to those hoping for a lighter build, it looks like your dreams may come true. Windows 7 Chief Steve Sinofsky held up his "personal" laptop during the demo. It was running Windows 7 flawlessly on a 1 GHz processor netbook (probably using a VIA processor) with only 1 GB of RAM. It was running very smoothly, with over half the RAM free to use.

I'm wondering if you read the Ars Technica article.

Lithium Flower

10-29-2008, 10:11 AM

Only 1 GB of RAM? Only? =/

Schnoogs

10-29-2008, 10:13 AM

Only 1 GB of RAM? Only? =/

Good luck running that in 64 bit though....64 bit pointers for the loss ;)

fitbabits

10-29-2008, 10:37 AM

Microsoft should have stopped at XP and just continued adding features to it ad infinitum.

cppcrusader

10-29-2008, 12:52 PM

Microsoft should have stopped at XP and just continued adding features to it ad infinitum.

I agree, after reading the Ars Technica article, I'm not looking forward to Windows 7 as much now.

Dragging a window to the top of the screen maximizes it automatically; dragging it off the top of the screen restores it. Dragging a window to the left or right edge of the screen resizes the window so that it takes 50% of the screen. With this, a pair of windows can be quickly docked to each screen edge to facilitate interaction between them.

I really don't like the sound of this. Automatic resizing of my windows is just going to be a giant pain in the ass.

All applications get thumbnails, but applications with explicit support for 7 will be able to add thumbnails on a finer-grained basis. IE8, for instance, has a thumbnail per tab (rather than per window).

This just makes it sound like Windows 7 has vast potential to be a cluttered mess. While I don't use IE, if I were to use it like I do FF I would have at minimum 3 - 5 thumbnails in the taskbar and at the extreme 20 - 30, and that's just web pages.

Schnoogs

10-29-2008, 12:54 PM

I really don't like the sound of this. Automatic resizing of my windows is just going to be a giant pain in the ass.

Did you even read it?

you have to manually drag it to the extent of the screen for it to resize it...hardly sounds automatic if you ask me.

cppcrusader

10-29-2008, 12:58 PM

Did you even read it?

you have to manually drag it to the extent of the screen for it to resize it...hardly sounds automatic if you ask me.

Yeah I read it and that's exactly why I don't like the sound of it. I keep several windows open at once and I'll move them around for one reason or another. I don't want the fucking window to resize just because moved it out of the way for a moment.

Schnoogs

10-29-2008, 01:01 PM

Yeah I read it and that's exactly why I don't like the sound of it. I keep several windows open at once and I'll move them around for one reason or another. I don't want the fucking window to resize just because moved it out of the way for a moment.

This is standard in any tool that supports docking...it's a piece of cake to move the windows how you want and avoid it from doing what it wants.

Much ado about nothing if you ask me.

itchyeyes

10-29-2008, 01:03 PM

Microsoft should have stopped at XP and just continued adding features to it ad infinitum.
The problem with XP was that it's a security nightmare. While SP2 & 3 addressed a lot of issues and it has cooled down a bit, back in 05/06 leading up to the Vista launch MSFT was catching tons of flak over XP. It amazes me how fondly people look back on XP. Sure, in 2008 a mature, patched to the brim XP looks ok next to the infant Vista, but in its early and even middle years XP was not a popular operating system.

cppcrusader

10-29-2008, 01:12 PM

This is standard in any tool that supports docking...it's a piece of cake to move the windows how you want and avoid it from doing what it wants.

Much ado about nothing if you ask me.

There's a difference between dockable windows within an app and docking the standard windows of the OS on the desktop. It just sounds like unneeded clutter to me, not to mention just annoying. Hopefully they'll think ahead and allow it to be turned off, but with this being the first look it has drastically reduced my likelihood of letting go of XP.

Xerxes

10-29-2008, 10:37 PM

Looks a LOT like Vista...which isn't a bad thing I suppose.

Exactly. Might as well call it Windows Vista 2.

Like James said, they probably should have just worked to make a updated version. The same shenanigans OS X is pulling. Vista could have been a .1. If it didn't mess up the gaming as some of you claim. They should be more modular.

itchyeyes

10-30-2008, 04:44 AM

Exactly. Might as well call it Windows Vista 2.

Like James said, they probably should have just worked to make a updated version. The same shenanigans OS X is pulling. Vista could have been a .1. If it didn't mess up the gaming as some of you claim. They should be more modular.
Actually the situations between the XP>Vista transition and the Vista>Win7 transition are quite different. The reasons for Vista's existence are mostly technical. Vista's an entirely new kernal. The reason for that is that back in '05-ish when Vista was being developed security was the main concern and MSFT determined that there were changes that needed to be made to XP at very deep levels, and just couldn't be patched. It had to be a completely new OS built from the ground up with security as a main concern.

The Vista>Win7 transition is more marketing driven. Win7 is essentially a patched version of Vista. The problem is that Vista has taken such a PR beating in its first year and a half, MSFT can't just keep selling the product and tell everyone it's fixed now. Vista has such a horrible brand image now that MSFT has to dump it as soon as they can. So while technically it would actually make a lot more sense for MSFT to just keep patching Vista, from a business and marketing perspective it's a poor route to go.

Wraith

10-30-2008, 06:52 AM

All applications get thumbnails, but applications with explicit support for 7 will be able to add thumbnails on a finer-grained basis. IE8, for instance, has a thumbnail per tab (rather than per window).This just makes it sound like Windows 7 has vast potential to be a cluttered mess. While I don't use IE, if I were to use it like I do FF I would have at minimum 3 - 5 thumbnails in the taskbar and at the extreme 20 - 30, and that's just web pages.My understanding was that each application gets an icon in the status bar, and then you click the icon to pop out the thumbnails for that app. So you'd only have one icon for Firefox, click it, and it'll display a thumbnail for each tab you have open. Sort of like the "Group similar taskbar buttons" in XP, but apps get more control over what's displayed when you click that group.

http://media.arstechnica.com/images/windows7/Windows%20Taskbar%20Previews.png

So even if you have 30+ tabs open, it doesn't really change the taskbar. But you now have the ability to jump to a specific tab from the taskbar expanded view.

Xerxes

10-30-2008, 11:16 AM

Actually the situations between the XP>Vista transition and the Vista>Win7 transition are quite different. The reasons for Vista's existence are mostly technical. Vista's an entirely new kernal. The reason for that is that back in '05-ish when Vista was being developed security was the main concern and MSFT determined that there were changes that needed to be made to XP at very deep levels, and just couldn't be patched. It had to be a completely new OS built from the ground up with security as a main concern.

The Vista>Win7 transition is more marketing driven. Win7 is essentially a patched version of Vista. The problem is that Vista has taken such a PR beating in its first year and a half, MSFT can't just keep selling the product and tell everyone it's fixed now. Vista has such a horrible brand image now that MSFT has to dump it as soon as they can. So while technically it would actually make a lot more sense for MSFT to just keep patching Vista, from a business and marketing perspective it's a poor route to go.

Wait what are these issues? Everyone, by that I mean PC on the Mac Ads, is talking about Vista issues but I haven't had a one. That pop up thing was annoying but off it went.

Goronmon

10-30-2008, 01:09 PM

Wait what are these issues? Everyone, by that I mean PC on the Mac Ads, is talking about Vista issues but I haven't had a one. That pop up thing was annoying but off it went.The issues were mainly around the poor hardware support for Vista by most hardware manufacturers off the bat. Lots of things just didn't have good drivers, including both Nvidia and ATI hardware. Not to mention lots of software was lazily written based on how XP handled security and had issues with the way Admin permissions worked in Vista. There were some Vista issues that people had that were fixed with the first service pack as well.

Then you have the stuff like UAC that people bitch about because they don't understand why it's a big improvement over how XP handled permissions. Plus, it's "M$" so people quickly jumped on the "Vista sucks, M$ is just stealing your money." hate-train that started up even before the OS was released.

Brady

10-30-2008, 04:58 PM

It is worth noting that the pictures in Wraith's and Shadowstorm's posts are from two different builds of Windows 7.

Wraiths shows the PDC preview release of Windows 7 which is actually pretty far behind the current build. This is what was handed out this week. It looks almost exactly like Vista and many of the new W7 features are watered down or taken out.

Now everything that MS has been showing off is a much more current build and is shown in Shadowstorm's original post. This includes the new taskbar and many more tweaks and features all over the place.

RandoM51

10-31-2008, 02:47 AM

Deja vu. Looks like itunes. You've been down that road before Neo, you don't really want to go there do you?

total

10-31-2008, 03:33 AM

Then you have the stuff like UAC that people bitch about because they don't understand why it's a big improvement over how XP handled permissions. Plus, it's "M$" so people quickly jumped on the "Vista sucks, M$ is just stealing your money." hate-train that started up even before the OS was released.

UAC was a good idea that wasn't implemented well. For the regular Joe it has become another nag screen to click their way through. Which is exactly what it was supposed to stop people from doing. For the advanced user it typically ends up disabled which sucks because you lose some nice security features.

Thankfully MS is revamping UAC: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/microsoft_refining_terrible_uac_experience_windows _7

Wraith

10-31-2008, 07:13 AM

Karak

10-31-2008, 08:03 AM

Looks as interesting as Vista did when they previewed it. Which is to say a little. It will mature just like Vista did I am sure. MY four computers will stay Vista and XP for some time.

jeffbax

11-01-2008, 05:17 PM

My understanding was that each application gets an icon in the status bar, and then you click the icon to pop out the thumbnails for that app. So you'd only have one icon for Firefox, click it, and it'll display a thumbnail for each tab you have open. Sort of like the "Group similar taskbar buttons" in XP, but apps get more control over what's displayed when you click that group.

http://media.arstechnica.com/images/windows7/Windows%20Taskbar%20Previews.png

So even if you have 30+ tabs open, it doesn't really change the taskbar. But you now have the ability to jump to a specific tab from the taskbar expanded view.
Whats this? Microsoft finally solving the usability mess that is the Windows Taskbar? Using one large, extremely easy to recognize icon to represent all windows for a certain type of application without the location of that representation constantly changing? Genius!

Why didn't anyone think of that sooner :confused:

http://www.guidebookgallery.org/pics/articles/interviewwithjohngruber/docks.big.png

;)

itchyeyes

11-02-2008, 08:12 AM

Wait what are these issues? Everyone, by that I mean PC on the Mac Ads, is talking about Vista issues but I haven't had a one. That pop up thing was annoying but off it went.
Don't ask me, I'm in the "uses Vista and likes it" camp. Personally, I think a lot of the negative perception of Vista is FUD. Things like driver problems have long since been resolved. UAC can be a bit of an annoyance, but its impact has been mitigated since SP1. And while Vista is still a bit demanding in the hardware requirements, anyone buying a new PC today (with the exception of a netbook) isn't going to have any problems running it at all.

But still, there's that lingering perception that Vista is a bad OS, which is kind of what I was getting at. Short of a massive marketing push (one more effective than their current one) that's a perception that Microsoft is going to have a really hard time changing. So while Win7 should probably just be a patch for Vista, it's in Microsoft's interest to just wipe the slate clean so that most people don't associate it in any way with Vista.

Whunpo

11-05-2008, 12:52 AM

Did anyone see this (http://gizmodo.com/5076093/25-features-you-definitely-wont-see-in-windows-7) shop contest?
They were all pretty funny, but this almost had me in tears.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/11/WesCohen.jpg

Wraith

11-05-2008, 01:05 PM

Here's a screenshot walkthrough (http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_m3_install.asp) of the Windows 7 install process (M3 release).

http://www.winsupersite.com/images/win7/win7_m3_install_006.jpg

digitalErich

11-05-2008, 01:13 PM

I was listening to TWiT the other day and Leo had on 3 industry guys who all got betas for Windows 7 and they were all really impressed with it.

digitalErich

11-05-2008, 01:16 PM

Wait what are these issues? Everyone, by that I mean PC on the Mac Ads, is talking about Vista issues but I haven't had a one. That pop up thing was annoying but off it went.
Actually Vista is not a consumer failure by any means. It is an enterprise failure but I question how much of that had to do with Vista itself and more to do with IT infrastructure and where we are with respect to the large IT cycles.

Remember, there's a ton of enterprise systems out there still running 2000. My g/f works for a Fortune 50 company and up until last week her company laptop ran 2000.

Vista had it's bumps early on, but for my money Vista is better than XP.

Shadowstorm

11-05-2008, 01:42 PM

I was listening to TWiT the other day and Leo had on 3 industry guys who all got betas for Windows 7 and they were all really impressed with it.

Yeah. I noticed that as well. That was a good episode.

Wraith

11-06-2008, 03:32 PM

New desktop wallpaper functionality: Desktop Slideshow, at least in build 6801, supports changing of the desktop wallpaper at intervals ranging from 10 seconds to 1 day. For a bit of variation, you can tick the Shuffle checkbox to have Windows 7 randomly pick a wallpaper for you. And to keep from sapping the life out of your laptop, you can choose to pause the slideshow when you’re on limited reserve. Think of this as Dreamscene, but without the ensuing nightmares.

For those of us that don’t have terabytes of imagery to keep your desktop fresh, you have a new source in the Picture location dropdown labeled Feeds. From this interface, you can choose an RSS feed and automatically download fresh images, like NASA’s Large Image of the Day, to your desktop. At time of writing, however, this feature was not completely functional.http://www.withinwindows.com/img/win7slideshow/choose.png

http://www.withinwindows.com/img/win7slideshow/controls.png

Link (http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2008/11/04/windows-7-desktop-slideshow-revealed.aspx)

Source post (http://www.withinwindows.com/2008/11/03/windows-7-to-let-users-create-a-desktop-slideshow-from-files-rss-feeds/) - with video

I'm sure Windows 7 isn't the first to do this, but cool nonetheless.

n3rdXcore

11-06-2008, 03:35 PM

New desktop wallpaper functionality: Link (http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2008/11/04/windows-7-desktop-slideshow-revealed.aspx)

I'm sure Windows 7 isn't the first to do this, but cool nonetheless.

Holy christ I've wanted this for at least five years. There have been times where I would scour the internet for a free program that would do just this, but I never found one to my liking. If anyone knows of any for XP, let me know. :D

NoName

11-06-2008, 03:40 PM

Holy christ I've wanted this for at least five years. There have been times where I would scour the internet for a free program that would do just this, but I never found one to my liking. If anyone knows of any for XP, let me know. :D

A desktop slideshow program? I used to have that back when I was in college. I had a large collection of scantly clad women pictures that would get cycled through 1 per minute.

I had some people over once and we did (attempted?) a power hour once, using the background changing as the timer :D.

Wraith

11-07-2008, 01:22 PM

More solid info that Windows 7 is planned for mid-2009 (http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=13378).Microsoft director Doug Howe showed slides in a WinHEC presentation that all but confirmed a 2009 release -- and even earlier than expected. His slides stated that Microsoft will be releasing Windows 7 mid-year, in time to be included on the machines to be sold during the holiday buying season. Mr. Howe stated, "Definitely the holiday focus is going to be on 7."

11-07-2008, 04:26 PM

Brady

11-11-2008, 06:20 PM

Anyone have any idea how I can install Windows 7 on a virtual machine? I am using VMWare and when I run boot from the DVD it starts the installation process and then when it comes time for it to install it says it can't find any drives to install the OS on. I already preallocated space (16GB) for it install but its says there are no drivers for the drives.

Windows 7 requires an extra 200mb partition for a few system files. Maybe if in your VM you create 2 partitions it will work...

I've been running Win7 for a day or two now and I'm really impressed. For a product that isn't even in beta yet, this thing is pretty damn solid. Also there is a program to enable a few of the disabled features at withinwindows.com So I've got the new taskbar. Definitely hard to get used to at first, but now I'm starting to see why they made a few of the changes they've made.

biosc1

11-12-2008, 12:28 PM

Urizen

11-12-2008, 05:29 PM

A desktop slideshow program? I used to have that back when I was in college. I had a large collection of scantly clad women pictures that would get cycled through 1 per minute.

I had some people over once and we did (attempted?) a power hour once, using the background changing as the timer :D.

What the hell is a 'power hour'?

biosc1

11-12-2008, 05:39 PM

What the hell is a 'power hour'?

How old are you son? Come here and let me tell you about what 'power hour' used to mean.

'Power hour' used to mean that time between 12pm and 1pm that you would race off from college and head down the road to the local strip club where there would be a lot of dances crammed one after the other during that hour, without breaks between dancers...and lunch specials.

Burgers + strippers + one hour of non-stop dances = power hour

Wraith

11-13-2008, 10:44 AM

There's an updated rundown of Windows 7 features (http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/ff.asp), including, of course:DirectX 11. Windows 7 includes the latest version of the DirectX multimedia libraries.

Goronmon

11-13-2008, 10:54 AM

How old are you son? Come here and let me tell you about what 'power hour' used to mean.I've only heard "power hour" in the context of getting a group of friends together and attempting to drink some pre-determined amount of alcohol, every minute for an hour.

Thanasimos

11-13-2008, 11:21 AM

Holy christ I've wanted this for at least five years. There have been times where I would scour the internet for a free program that would do just this, but I never found one to my liking. If anyone knows of any for XP, let me know. :D

For those in the know, Vista already does it, too. I don't know how, and I haven't done it, but a lot of my friends run it.

biosc1

11-14-2008, 03:36 PM

Holy christ I've wanted this for at least five years. There have been times where I would scour the internet for a free program that would do just this, but I never found one to my liking. If anyone knows of any for XP, let me know. :D

There's a sidebar application that does it. I've used it for months.

http://www.widgetslab.com/2007/12/27/vista-sidebar-wallpaper-changer-gadget/