Speed, stability, compatibility — these are the headline features for which Windows 7 has been praised. But Microsoft has also stuffed Windows 7 full of little productivity-enhancing features that few are aware of. Here’s a rundown of some of the niftiest.
Access Projector Mode
Work in an office, and sooner or later you’re going to need to hook your PC up to a projector. When you do this with older versions of Windows, you invariably end up in the Display Properties dialog box or hunting for key combinations on your notebook computer that allow you send an image to a projector, to your notebook screen, or both. With Windows 7’s new Projector Mode, you’ll have one less thing to worry about when you head to the conference room.
Just hold down the Windows key and tap the letter P on your keyboard. The Projector Mode window appears, allowing you to make a simple selection about where your monitor image should be projected. Just keep tapping Windows key-P to scroll through the options. Press Enter to activate the one currently selected.
Find the Application You Want
If you regularly end up with dozens of applications open at the same time, finding the one you want can be a real hassle. Say, for example, that you have five Windows Explorer sessions open, three copies of Word, nine Internet Explorer windows, and several instances of your image browser.
How can you get back quickly to the one open application you need? The traditional way is with the Alt-Tab keyboard shortcut, but cycling through dozens of open applications is neither easy nor productive. With Windows 7, you can hold down the Ctrl key and click the taskbar icon representing the open application you want to see. If you have several instances of the application open, each time you click the…