More changes from Windows 7 Beta to RC revealed

Today, the Engineering Windows 7 blog released more changes that we will be seeing in the release candidate of Windows 7, with most of them centered around improving productivity. We’ve listed some of the more interesting ones here:

• Improved taskbar Windows lists:

When a very large number for a specific application was open, the thumbnail or Windows list did not behave the same way as it did with thumbnail view. This has been fixed in RC. Hovering over applications in the taskbar will bring up the Windows lists when too many Windows are open for thumbnail view to be productive. Hovering over an item will activate Aero Peek. A “close window” button has also been added.

• Multi-Touch Zoom:

Support added for zoom gestures in Windows Explorer. Zoom gestures will allow users to switch between view modes in Explorer such as zooming from small icons to extra large icons.

• Going up a folder is back:

The “going back” or “going up” a folder icon has been removed since Vista. Now the same function has been added back and can be accessed at a comfortable location by clicking the arrow in the explorer bar. Using the backspace key also activates the same function.

• Improved Right-click:

Right clicking had been an issue in Vista, and some of its flaws remain unfixed in Build 7000. In the RC, right-clicking any area of white space including the area between a file name and properties will bring up the view context menu. Previously, right-clicking even on the white space between items would bring up the item context menu.

• More intelligent Search re-indexing:

When support for new file formats are introduced to the system, Search will automatically re-index to accomodate for these new formats rather than requiring you to manually re-index like in Build 7000.

• Improved Device Stage support:

Due to the overwhelming feedback from users on Device Stage, a large number of vendors will now make Device Stage available for older devices. Microsoft calls this the “baseline” Device Stage experience.

This UX works exactly like full Device Stage; the device image appears on the taskbar whenever it is connected and tasks are exposed in the Jump List. On first connect, the shell Window containing all of the built-in tasks appears automatically and is always just one click away from the desktop icon or device image in the Devices and Printers folder. When the device maker implements a custom Device Stage experience for a device, it gets posted on the Web and the baseline experience gets upgraded when the device is later reconnected. The core functionality is the same, but all of the branding, imaging and vendor-specific tasks are now available automatically in the same convenient UI.

• USB Device reliability on resume:

In Windows 7 Beta, a number of users found that their USB devices would stop working when their computer resumed from a sleep or standby state. This issue has been resolved in the RC.

• Improved Driver Support:

Microsoft is aware that a ton of networking drivers were not supported, especially in Atom-based laptops. Microsoft will be working with third-parties to increase driver coverage.

You can read the rest of the list of Beta to RC changes here.
Has there been an important issue that remains unaddressed? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Related posts:

1. What’s inside Pre-Beta Windows 7 Build 6801
2. More Windows 7 RC details revealed
3. 30 Windows 7 Secrets Revealed