Windows 7 Nuggets

In the past, I have been highly critical of Windows 7, but I have recently stumbled upon some handy features that are worth mentioning. For all I know, these features might also be present in Vista, but they are certainly new to all of us who are migrating from XP directly to Windows 7, thus bypassing Vista altogether.

• Calculator.
  

  Windows 7's calculator goes beyond simple arithmetic calculations. It has a scientific mode with such features as trigonometric values, roots and exponents, logarithms and natural logarithms, and factorials. It also has a statistics mode that calculates such values as simple summations and sums of squares; simple means and means of squares; and standard deviations of both population and samples. The calculator also includes features for date calculation and perhaps best of all, an impressive ability to convert a wide range of units of measure.

• WordPad.
  

  On the down side, WordPad now contains the same overblown, confusing "ribbon" menu system first encountered in Microsoft Office 2007. On the positive side, it does open Word's Open XML document (.docx) files as well as OpenOffice's OpenDocument text (.odt) files.

  Be advised, however, that the format of complex files might not be preserved. For example, I wrote a newsletter in a 3-column newsprint format which was totally obliterated when I opened the document in WordPad. However, even with the format destroyed, I could still deciper the basic sentence content.

  Aside from this shortcoming, WordPad now enables users to read Microsoft Word documents and OpenOffice text documents without having either Microsoft Office or OpenOffice installed. How unexpectedly considerate of Microsoft to add such a useful function, flawed though it might be.

• Windows Explorer.
  

  In one sense, I consider the new Windows Explorer to be a step backwards because I miss the customizable icon bar at the top. Furthermore, the default settings fail to display all folders in the navigation pane to the left. Even worse, it also fails to display the full path of folders above the current folder, making navigation much more difficult.

  I know of no way to fix the icon bar deficiency, but the other two problems are eminently correctable. Simply open Windows Explorer and click on the menu sequence "Tools | Folder Options." In the resulting window, click on the "General" tab if it is not already highlighted. About half-way down the page, in the "Navigation pane" section, place a check mark in both fields marked "Show all folders" and "Automatically expand to current folder." Click the OK button to save your settings; that will restore the missing functionality. You will now be able to see the system folders that previously were hidden, and you will be able to see the full path of folders above the current folder.

  While you are still in the Folder Options window, you might also want to select the "View" tab. Then, in the "Advanced settings" field, scroll all the way to the bottom. Click the option "Use check boxes to select items" and click the OK button to finish. Now, whenever you hover your mouse over a file, a check box will appear to the left. You can simply select the check box to mark that and other files for subsequent action like copying, moving, deleting, etc.

  Before Vista, users had to first hold the control key with one hand and then click the desired files with the other. In Vista and Windows 7, with this "Use check boxes" feature activated, you can select multiple files using mouse clicks only. Simultaneous keyboard actions (i.e., holding the control key) are no longer necessary. This provides a more convenient way to select multiple files.

  Finally, there is one more Windows Explorer tweak you might find worthwhile. It irks me that Windows Explorer by default opens to the Libraries folder. If you do not use this Microsoft Libraries organization scheme, then being confronted with Libraries every time you open Windows Explorer quickly becomes a source of aggravation.

  Instead, open Windows Explorer by clicking on the Start orb and selecting menus All Programs | Accessories. Right click on the Windows Explorer entry and select Properties. In the Properties window, select the Shortcut tab if it is not already highlighted. You will probably see the default entry
  

     %windir%\explorer.exe
  

  in the Target field. Simply append the full path and name of the folder you wish to open instead. For example, if you have all of your meaningful data in folder C:\MyData, then change the entry in the Target field to read
  

     %windir%\explorer.exe C:\MyData
  

  Now when you click on the Windows Explorer menu entry, it will open to the folder you have specified.

  You can even take this one step farther. Click on your newly modified Windows Explorer menu entry. After Windows Explorer opens, minimize it to the task bar. Right click on the task bar icon and select "Pin this program to taskbar." The icon will remain permanently in the task bar, or at least until you overtly close it. Not only will you not have to drill down through the menu system any more, but the newly "pinned" Windows Explorer icon will itself also open to the folder you previously specified.

• Clocks.
  

  Users can add two additional clocks to the system tray. Simply click on the clock icon at the lower right corner of the screen and then click the "Change date and time settings..." link. Finally, click the the middle tab labeled "Additional Clocks." In the resulting window, check the appropriate "Show this clock" box, select a corresponding time zone from the pull-down menu, and enter a display name in the designated field. Click the OK button to save your choice(s).

  To display the additional clock(s), simply hover the mouse over the clock icon or else click on that same icon. In the latter case, a window will appear where the additional clock(s) you created will be displayed as smaller clock(s) beside the larger main clock for your own time zone.

  This method provides a fairly simple yet effective way to monitor the local time of friends or relatives located in distant parts of the world.

• Gadgets.
  

  Windows 7 offers a variety of desktop gadgets to enhance your computing experience. I found no life-changing applications here. Instead, all of the gadgets I saw fell into the nice-to-have, just-for-fun category.

  To access gadgets, click on the Start orb and select the menus Control Panel | Appearance and Personalization | Desktop Gadgets. You will probably see icons for a calendar, a clock, a picture puzzle game, and the weather, among others. You can download additional gadgets by clicking, of all things, the "Get more gadgets online" link at the bottom of the gadgets window.

  I was mildly amused by the Slideshow gadget which cycles through images stored in a designated folder and displays them in a small desktop window at a specified interval. Unfortunately for me, the gadget's 4:3 display ratio is not especially suitable for my 16:9 wallpaper, but the idea remains moderately interesting nevertheless.

  As Tom Zart famously wrote in the opening line of his "Garage Sale" poem, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Maybe you can find one or two treasures amongst all of my trash.

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I hope that at least some readers will find at least some of these tips at least somewhat useful. In my case, these discoveries help to partially ease my continuing disappointment with Microsoft operating sytems, of which Windows 7 is merely the most recent example.