Windows 7 RC1 received a number of improvements

According to a message released today in MSFN, Microsoft has completed the beta test of Windows 7 and is currently working on Release Candidate 1.





Among the most interesting changes are the following:

• The Aero Peek function for switching between applications (Alt + Tab) (when switching applications, the window where the cursor is located is highlighted, the other program windows become transparent).
• Expansion of the functionality of hot keys in a bunch of “Windows + #”, where “#” is the assigned button. (In Windows Vista, the hot key simply launches applications, and in Windows 7 it either starts the program or switches its active windows if it is already running, for example in IE or Word, where several documents are open).
• The function “Open with” for the taskbar (any file can be attached to the taskbar, but if you need to open it with a non-standard program, then this function will be useful).
• Thanks to the optimization of the taskbar, it now holds more icons (compared to beta, the increase for small and large icons was 24-25% and 32-39%, respectively).
• The on-screen keyboard with Multi-Touch support (now you can work with the on-screen keyboard, just like with the hardware keyboard, using Shift + letter combinations and other standard functions).
• A new gesture for clicking the right mouse button (users of the touch panels need only one finger to click on the application, and the second click on the screen to open the context menu).
• Blocking the computer after a certain time without activating the screensaver (in the beta version, this could be done only by activating the “screen saver” and setting a password to exit it).

In addition, improved system performance in general, updated Windows Media Player, Windows Explorer and other OS components. More information about this can be found in the official blog .



It is still not known exactly when Windows 7 RC1 will be released, but now we can say that Microsoft is working on the OS at a tremendous speed, which has never been observed before when working on any other product. Thus, it is not surprising that RCM will appear in early March, and by the end of June RTM will be published.



_{According to itc.ua & oszone.net}