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Some of them are stupid, some of them have surprising futures that are missing now from RC.

The most interesting designs:

center

Notice one, important( i think so) detail that is missing. There is no start menu. it is interesting that design is aligned to the center. Some may say that it is to much OSX like but who cares, they could consider this prototype with one tweak:

Two-line labels

In RC, Microsoft decided to turn off labels by default, i think this is wrong move. In most cases, label is fastest way to separate 2 similar looking windows. In prototypes, you could really often notice two line labels, they should stick with it, if there is space left, why waste it?

Better  previews

Previews for windows media player could be much more functional then they are now. Microsoft should do its best for its own build in apps with previews to show developers how much they can do with this, instead they added 3 buttons… always something. RC:

Interesting thing is that in prototypes you can notice that they did use it better, i really don’t know why they decided to drop it.

More 3D look

There are some taskbar in prototypes with interesting 3D look. RC’s Superbar is flat. It is not important but some may care.

About prototypes.

Microsoft presented interesting presentation where they showed off process of creating Windows 7 Experience. Most of files in this solution comes from this presentation. Sometimes it is funny how much did it take to achieve so simple tasks. Biggest/funniest problem described was “inventing” that you can show jump list by right click. Another funny thing is how they discovered aero shake the most un-useful future ever.

What’s final (RC) missing?

If you haven’t seen final superbar in action, take a look at this video:

I am sure that developers will still create some really useful stuff with previews, and that’s great. I guess there is really only few things that could use some really final tweaks.

1. Default view should be “combine when taskbar is full”.
2. Labels should be spread on two lines. As i said, if there is some space left – use it.
3. Better  use of previews for build in apps.
4. Some people would want something more than “flat” taskbar.
5. There should be button in right click jump list to “hide label”, this way, you could save allot of space with application that completely do not benefit from labels. Alternatively, if Microsoft belief that combined view is better in most cases, do the button “Never combine”. This would be really space saver + productivity improver.

Please, Microsoft think about it, you still have some time left to RTM

Overall,

Superbar is big improvement over old taskbar. You probably will need some time to get used to it but then it can only be better. All bugs have been fixed in RC and now, no one needs old quick launch.

Introduction

So, what’s better? Answer is simple- everything. It is the best windows, no questions. Its as fast as XP, looks better than Vista and finally, experience is better then on any other OS i have used.

How does it look/feels?

The main thing everybody will notice, is great looking boot animation followed by nice welcome screen. I have to say that graphics like that aren’t commonly used by companies like this but i am happy that Microsoft decided to use something so pleasant, i am in love with new welcome screen.

When you finally see your desktop, boom – new taskbar, bold move. Microsoft remade it. Every bug i found in beta is gone. There are allot of customizations you can apply to you taskbar so it works for you. Of course, setup from “maniu’s desktop” still works(with some workarounds), plus “widescreen” setup is something that really suits new taskbar. More about how it works later.

You can change color of your frames and taskbar just like you did on vista, but now you have better control over colors.

Backgrounds can change like slideshows and you can choose really great looking wallpapers. Some of theme are really cool and again, great move by Microsoft to include so “fun” wallpapers. Oh, and its nice that you can hide all your desktop icons with few clicks.

New sounds schemes are impressive as well.

There are allot of small thing that’s make you smile while experiencing W7.

How does it work?

Improved Windows Explorer is amazing too. I cant think of anything it is missing. Libraries, new way to organize your files, great one. It doesn’t matter on witch drive your files are, you can still put them in one place – library. This way, for example: movies from all your hard drivers are sitting nicely in one library simply called “movies”. You can create as many on them as you want and it really speeds up file browsing. Favorites are known from Vista, just drag and drop your favorite folders.

Gadgets are improved. Move them where you want and they will stay there.

New taskbar, good move. So how does it work? I think you can say that it is quick launch toolbar brought to live. This video should highlight new futures:

Windows gestures are really great. You can drag window to top to maximize it. Move it to one of side and it resize to half of your screen. Many useful thing like this.

Its works fast and is fast to use, what more do we need.

Additional apps.

Windows media player has been upgraded. Its cleaner and simpler to use. interesting thing is new “now playing” mode, its turning player into small window with everything necessary just to playback control.

Internet explorer is new and interestingly, there are some unique futures you can find but beside that, its nothing special.

Microsoft decided that you can get additional software from package called “live” anytime you want trough internet. It includes newest photo gallery, movie maker, writer and so on. Great apps.

XP Mode- everything that worked in xp is guaranteed to work in W7. Its possible with use of pre installed virtualization machine with shrinked XP just to launch those outdated apps.

WordPad, calculator and even paint got its update. There are few new apps too.

Verdict:

Look is nice for eye. Sounds are pleasant for ear.
Works fast and stable.

Windows 7 simply feels great! Get it, any way you can!

Of course, it was just brief look into new futures of W7, wait for more tips.

Lifehacker – Portable Ubuntu.

Windows 7 promises integration of video codecs out of the box, i really hope that its going to work as advertised, but for now, there are video applications that have codec’s integrated and players that you need additional codecs installed first and as everybody knows, video codec’s is something you need to play any kind of video.

Movie Player with integrated codec’s

You wonder how to play .mkv, .rmvb … files? Movie Player with integrated codec’s can be an answer for you! There are few popular applications in this group: VLC Player, SMPlayer(when downloading, choose “Package with installer”) and KMPlayer. VLC is most popular but does it mean that it is the best?

RMVB playback is my first benchmark. It is format that is problematic for many players. If our player should play everything, this is the format to see if its true.
VLC Player and SMPlayer passed this test(both of them supports Linux).

Take a look at iterface:
VLC Player (Interface is customizable by skins) : 

SMPlayer:

If you don’t care to much, simply choose what looks better for you. VLC is the one with support for skins
Both applications are great but there are few things that makes SMPlayer better.

Why?
- better playback of rmvb
- Stores information about movie to let you easily continue playback after closing application in middle of the movie.
- Subtitles looks little bit better(You might need to change character coding for your language, experiment with options in: Settings[ctrl+p] > subtitles > default subtitle encoding)

Why not?
-SMPlayer does not support skins like VLC, in fact it is skin/mod for MPlayer.

Movie Player with additional codecs

Codecs:
First you need some codec pack. K-Lite codec pack is the best one. There are few variants of this pack. I am recommending MEGA pack(during installation select playback essentials), it contains everything you will ever need.

Player: 
K-Lite codec pack has modified version of windows media player classic, it is enough for some of you. Need more? Sub-Edit is the answer.

Sub-Edit (No Linux Support) Sounds like application to edit some subtitles but it is so much more than this! This application is simply the best if you don’t have any problems with codec’s, this is the way to go! You can go full screen of second screen, fix un-synced subs, change height or width of movie easily and so on. Highly recommended app

Summary – best video/movie players:

If you want to always be able to play any file, use both applications, SubEdit if everything works great and SMPlayer with integrated codecs when something is wrong with movie in subedit. VLC on the other hand supports skins that can make it look like any other application!

Additional video players:
Dziobas Rar Player- simple, play videos in rar files, without extracting it. Simple and fast way to preview uncompleted torrents or watching movies when you have got no space left for extracting.
Miro- “is a popular, free, and open internet TV application. It brings video channels from thousands of sources and has more free HD than any other platform”

Additional codecs:
CoreAVC- This codecs is for h264 videos. This format is becoming standard for HD videos online. What makes this CoreAVC special? It is fastest for decoding h264 videos, so if your pc is not fast enough for standard codecs, try this one. Problem is that its not free, you might be lucky searching it on torrents:)

JamLegend