Windows 7 First Impressions

1. Windows 7 First Impressions By Clyde G. Johnson Date: 3-4-2009

2. Installing • Hardware Requirements about the same as Vista. (1Ghz 1gb ram and 16gb disk) • Posts on the web say that it is more efficient on processor and ram than XP! • In Windows 7 they moved the license key to the Windows Welcome page, so you can enter it after the install. • We also provide a better experience when upgrading editions (i.e., from Home Premium to Ultimate) by enabling specific, licensed components, not reimaging the system • The Windows Recovery Environment (RE) is now installed by default in Windows 7

3. Sacrificing Security for Usability • UAC Changes • The administrator now has more control over the level of notification received from UAC • Password complexity is not enabled by default.

4. Bloat ware is not included by default • Some features previously included in the operating system • Are Now available for download through Windows Live Essentials. • You can download Windows Live Messenger, Photo Gallery, Mail, Writer, Movie Maker, and more • YEA!!!!

5. What’s new – ITpro side • Applocker • Specify exactly what programs are allowed to run on user desktops. • VHD can be use as running operating system on bare metal. • Problem Steps Recorder • PSR creates a document for you, complete with screenshots and keystrokes/mouseclicks • BitLocker to Go • extending encryption to removable drives • Powershell v2 and its graphical editor.

6. What’s new – ITpro -Network • BranchCache Overview • Cache WAN content at local office.-distributed or Hosted • HomeGroup • makes it easier to connect to other computers and devices on a wireless home network. • DirectAccess (I think it was called RAS:) • a capability that allows management and updating of internet-connected remote PCs, even when they are off the corporate network. • URL-based Quality of Service (QoS)

7. Management • DataMigration • ‘Hardlink’ feature • Offline Migration support • offline migration enables user state capture from within Windows PE

8. What’s new -Gui • Improved taskbar and full-screen previews • Set the order of the icons. (more a replacement of quick launch than anything else, and I could not put run there) • Jump list? • As your cursor touches the edge, the window will resize to fill that half of the screen • Go to desktop on Right side of taskbar. • New media sharing features

9. What’s new - Devices • Single Devices and Printers screen • Device Stage you can see device status and run common tasks from a single window. • Adaptive display brightness, which dims the display if you haven't used your PC for a while.

10. New WDS features in 2008 R2 • Multicast with Multiple Stream Transfer allows you to set performance thresholds on multicast clients, allowing slower clients to move to slower “streams“ so that they don’t slow down your fast machines, a limitation in the original multicast feature. • Dynamic Driver Provisioning allows drivers stored on the WDS server to be dynamically chosen at deployment time. This makes updating your images with new drivers less important (as you just add them to the store), lowering OS bloat and image maintenance costs. You can also insert drivers into boot (WinPE) images directly from the WDS driver store. • WDS VHD Native Boot. Deploy a Windows 7-based VHD file to a machine and boot from it.

11. Rearm your Eval • To extend your 30 days on Windows 7 • Run command prompt as administrator • slmgr -rearm • Reboot

12. Resources • What's New in Windows 7 for IT Pros • http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349334.aspx • Windows Automated Installation Kit • http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349343.aspx