Default Desktop

The Windows 7 default desktop. The build version can be seen in the bottom right hand corner.

Superbar Menu

The new Superbar menu.

Extended Superbar Menu

By clicking the extend arrow on some application you will be offered additional "quick launch" options.

Superbar Menu - All Programs

The "All Programs" folder from the suberbar menu.

Superbar Menu Search

The real time search from the superbar menu.

Jump Lists

Bar right clicking on certain applications on the superbar you will be presented with a jump list, offering quick launch options.

Superbar Preview

Hover over open applications on the superbar and you will be presented with live previews.

Notification Area

The new custom notification area. You can now specify the behavior of every application in the notification area.

Alt + TAB

Alt + TAB = Switch applications.

Win + TAB = 3D Flip

Win + TAB = 3D Flip (Still useless).

Calculator, Paint & WordPad

The new Calculator, Paint & WordPad showing the ribbon UI.

Show Desktop

By hovering over the transparent area in the bottom right of the superbar you will activate "show desktop" now with a nice transparent output.

Desktop Gadgets

Still not useful, at least they are no longer enabled by default.

Internet Explorer 8

IE 8, essentially identical to the IE8 that was released for Windows XP/Vista a few weeks ago.

Media Player 12

The new Media Player 12. A cross between Media Player 11 and iTunes. However now have DivX support built in.

Media Center

The new Media Center. Very similar to the versions you have seen on previous Windows versions. I recommend you go grab XBMC or Boxee.

System

The System menu showing the OS version and hardware overview. As you can see I am running the x64 version of Windows 7.

Control Panel

The new Control Panel. Very similar to the one in Vista. Some areas have been consolidated.

Control Panel Search

One area that works very well is search within Control Panel. Makes finding settings very easy.

Network and Sharing Center

The Network and Sharing Center. Made to make file sharing easier and more secure. Personally I think it has just made finding the menus you want to use more difficult to locate.

Devices and Printers

The new simplified drive manager. Thankfully you can still access the old device manager through.

Action Center

Very similar to the Vista Security Center. It runs in that background and controls your Anti Virus, Firewall, Spyware and Updates. However does not appear to be as intrusive as the original Security Center.

User Accounts

The User Accounts menu is almost identical to the one found in Vista except it now gives you easy access to the UAC controls for each user.

UAC

The new simplified UAC, It can now be controlled on a more granular basis though 4 levels. However a lot of works seems to have been done in this area and even at the default setting it nowhere near as annoying at the Vista version was.

Personalization

By right clicking on the desktop and selecting "Personalize" you will be able to specifiy your theme, desktop background and sounds. If your video card is compatible The Windows 7 (Aero) theme is selected by default, if not you have to make do with Windows 7 Basic.

Desktop Background

Here you can select your desktop background, or select a few to have windows automatically cycle through them. Also notice the new (drug induced) backgrounds that have been added since the Windows 7 Beta (Build 7000).

New Background

One of the new backgrounds. I can only assume that the team behind these backgrounds were high when creating them.

Screen Saver Settings

There are six screen savers available by default. Unfortunately nothing new or exciting here.

Screen Resolution

The new "Simpler" screen resolution menu. Should make it very easy to control multi monitor setups.

Computer

The Computer menu (or My Computer for you XP users). Everything is where you would expect it to be.

Local Disk (C:)

The default contents of my C: drive. As you can see the x64 versions of Windows 7 still have the two Program Files folders.

Pictures

The pictures folder that can be found in your personal library. I have selected the extra large thumbnail option which makes everything very quick and easy to preview.

DirectX (dxdiag)

The DirectX diagnostic tool. As you can see Windows 7 come complete with DirectX 11.

DirectX (dxdiag)

The video options of the DirectX diagnostic tool. As you can see my Radeon X1900XT is running WDDM 1.0 driver model as it is a DirectX 9 video card. If you have a Direct X 10+ video card you will be able to run the newer more efficient WDDM 1.1 driver model.

AutoPlay