By: Jamshed Avari/Forbes India

Even if Windows 7 looks appealing enough, you might want to keep your smooth-functioning XP or Vista around as a backup.

 Improved Basics

Some annoyances have been eliminated, and new integrated functions like Aero Snap and Aero Shake allow for entirely new ways of window management. You can minimise windows and call them up again with mouse gestures.

Installation doesn’t need much user intervention, and you can set up your network during the process so you’re ready to download the latest updates as soon as installation is done.

The new taskbar is the most obvious change: It lets you launch programs and see previews of open windows by hovering the cursor over an application icon. Multiple open windows are shown as individual thumbnails in a horizontal bar. (The former Quick Launch bar is therefore merged into the taskbar, which unfortunately makes it confusing to see which programs are actually running, because apps can be ‘pinned’ to the taskbar whether running or not.)

Jump Lists are one of our favourite innovations: These are program-specific context menus that display lists of files frequently opened with that application. You can also pin your favourite files onto program icons, such as songs on your media player or bookmarks on the Web browser.

The ‘Show Desktop’ icon in the Quick Launch area is gone. Instead, you can call up the Aero Peek function using a new button at the end of the taskbar, beyond the clock. If you hover over the button with the mouse, transparent outlines of all open windows are displayed, so you can see the desktop through them. The Notification Area has been cleaned up to show only system icons by default.  And Libraries now act as virtual folders, aggregating content from various drives, including external devices and networked PCs.

Enhanced Functions

Integrated search now works with specific sites on the Internet or corporate servers right from the desktop, provided said sites carry a small file in the Federated Search (OpenSearch) OSDX format. We browsed the image database at DeviantArt.com as well as Google News, and the results seemed as if they were stored locally.

While Vista and XP made you install additional codecs for Windows Media Player (WMP) just to view DivX movies from the Internet, Windows 7 includes almost all standard codecs. WMP also hardly stresses the CPU even in the case of HD videos. Media Center builds on this with improved file handling from network storage and support for Internet TV.

We haven’t been able to test Windows 7’s multitouch capabilities on a touch-capable device yet, but laptops and tablets have already been announced by most manufacturers. With OS-level support for finger-based pinching and twisting, the way we interact with software could change profoundly.

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