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157-622: Some of the new features included in Windows 7 are advancements in touch, speech and handwriting recognition , support for virtual hard disks , support for additional file formats , improved performance on multi-core processors, improved boot performance, and kernel improvements. Windows 7 retains the Windows Aero graphical user interface and visual style introduced in its predecessor, Windows Vista , but many areas have seen enhancements. Unlike Windows Vista, window borders and

314-477: A Movie is also a Film ). Users can query for items based on these mnemonics as well. Windows Search 4.0 (also previously referred to as Windows Live Search , codenamed Casino or OneView ) is the successor to the Windows Search platform for both Windows Desktop Search 3.0 on Windows XP as well as Instant Search on Windows Vista. It is mainly an update to the indexing components, with few changes to

471-470: A UNC path. Programmers specify the criteria for searches using SQL -like syntax. The SQL query can either be created by hand, or by using an implementation of the ISearchQueryHelper interface . Windows Search provides implementations of the interface to convert an AQS or NQS queries to their SQL counterpart. The OLE DB/SQL API implements the functionality for searching and querying across

628-471: A "Family Pack" version of Windows 7 Home Premium was also released for a limited time, which allowed upgrades on up to three computers. In certain regions, copies of Windows 7 were only sold in, and could only be activated in a designated region. Support for the original release of Windows 7 (without a service pack) ended on April 9, 2013, requiring users to update to Windows 7 Service Pack 1 in order to continue receiving updates and support. Microsoft ended

785-864: A bug related to HDMI audio and another related to printing XPS documents. In Europe, the automatic nature of the BrowserChoice.eu feature was dropped in Windows 7 Service Pack 1 in February 2011 and remained absent for 14 months despite Microsoft reporting that it was still present, subsequently described by Microsoft as a "technical error." As a result, in March 2013, the European Commission fined Microsoft €561 million to deter companies from reneging on settlement promises. The Platform Update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

942-467: A character is typed in a search box, with subsequent entered characters further narrowing and refining results even before the full name, phrase, or word is entered. No information in the Index is sent to Microsoft. Windows Search is an extensible and programmable platform with multiple interfaces for operating over new or preexisting applications, data stores, file systems, and types: Windows Search

1099-673: A class-action lawsuit), among other critiques. As such, the adoption of Vista in comparison to XP remained somewhat low. In July 2007, following the shelving of the Vienna project and six months following the public release of Vista, it was reported that the next version of Windows would then be codenamed Windows 7, with plans for a final release within three years. Bill Gates , in an interview with Newsweek , suggested that Windows 7 would be more "user-centric". Gates later said that Windows 7 would also focus on performance improvements. Steven Sinofsky later expanded on this point, explaining in

1256-593: A common architecture and indexing technology and use a compatible application programming interface (API). Searches are specified using the Advanced Query Syntax and are executed while the user types ( incremental find ). By default, it comes with a number of IFilters for the most common file types—documents, audio, video as well as protocol handlers for Microsoft Outlook e-mails. Other protocol handlers and IFilters can be installed as needed. Windows Desktop Search allows network shares to be added to

1413-544: A dedicated API . Up to 10 menu items may appear on a list, partially customizable by user. Frequently used files and folders can be pinned by the user as to not get usurped from the list if others are opened more frequently. Progress bar in taskbar's tasks allows users to know the progress of a task without switching to the pending window. Task progress is used in Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer and third-party software. The notification area has been redesigned;

1570-590: A desktop slideshow feature that periodically changes the desktop wallpaper based on a user-defined interval; the change is accompanied by a smooth fade transition with a duration that can be customized via the Windows Registry . The desktop slideshow feature supports local images and images obtained via RSS. With Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced the Windows Sidebar to host Microsoft Gadgets that displayed details such as feeds and sports scores;

1727-412: A finger. Clicking this button minimizes all windows, and clicking it a second time restores them. Window management in Windows 7 has several new features: Aero Snap maximizes a window when it is dragged to the top, left, or right of the screen. Dragging windows to the left or right edges of the screen allows users to snap software windows to either side of the screen, such that the windows take up half

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1884-586: A hidden Recorded TV library that appears in the Windows Explorer sidepane when TV is set up in Media Center for the first time. In addition to aggregating multiple storage locations, Libraries enable Arrangement Views and Search Filter Suggestions. Arrangement Views allow you to pivot your view of the library's contents based on metadata. For example, selecting the "By Month" view in the Pictures library will display photos in stacks, where each stack represents

2041-457: A local Index of files — audio tracks, documents, folders, programs, photos, and videos — as well as of non-file items such as contacts and messages of Microsoft Outlook and their metadata for which users can perform incremental searches based on details such as contents, dates, names, types, and sizes; the Index consists of prose within files and items and metadata properties. Control Panel and Settings can also be searched. Windows Search

2198-476: A media file). Preview handlers can also allow certain kind of selections (such as highlighting a text snippet) to be performed from the preview pane itself. In the Control Panel , the search bar in the window can also search for Control Panel options. However, unlike WDS, Windows Search does not support creating aliases. There is also a Search Explorer , which is an integrated Windows Explorer window that

2355-520: A month of photos based on the date they were taken. In the Music library, the "By Artist" view will display stacks of albums from the artists in your collection, and browsing into an artist stack will then display the relevant albums. Search Filter Suggestions are a new feature of the Windows 7 Explorer's search box. When the user clicks in the search box, a menu shows up below it showing recent searches as well as suggested Advanced Query Syntax filters that

2512-403: A more user-friendly notion of file type; the new property abstracts filename extensions of items from the system and from the user by grouping these extensions separately and by mapping them to easily identifiable types (e.g., GIF, JPEG, and PNG photographs all are presented to the user as Pictures ). Items can belong to more than one type — a single Music item can also be a Video item, or

2669-478: A native TFTP client with the ability to transfer files to or from a TFTP server. The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the old Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with the ability to pin applications to the taskbar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons. These buttons also enable Jump Lists to allow easy access to common tasks, and files frequently used with specific applications. The revamped taskbar also allows

2826-667: A new Favorites location, which serves as the replacement for the Favorite Links functionality of the interface in Windows Vista, and newly created Saved Searches are automatically pinned to this location. There is a new Share With button on the Command Bar that allows users to share the currently viewed folder or currently selected item with people in a homegroup with either read permissions or with both read and write permissions, or with specific people, which opens

2983-472: A new interface. Early screenshots of the program featured the new "flair" interface design seen in other Windows Live client applications of the time such as Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Mail . Windows Live Search Center could search web services which used the OpenSearch specification to make search results available as web feeds . It could aggregate searches from various indexes including

3140-409: A new networking API with support for building SOAP-based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET -based WCF web services), new features to simplify development of installation packages and shorten application install times. Windows 7, by default, generates fewer User Account Control (UAC) prompts because it allows digitally signed Windows components to gain elevated privileges without

3297-821: A new version of Windows Media Center , a Gadget for Windows Media Center, improved media features, XPS Essentials Pack, and Windows PowerShell being included, and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion for length, weight, temperature, and several others. Many new items have been added to the Control Panel , including ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets , Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, and Display. Windows Security Center has been renamed to Action Center ( Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds), which encompasses both security and maintenance of

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3454-470: A particular subject ) but unlike WinFS it does not provide a relational item database with schema-based enforcement, management, and storage; it provides a way to search for commonalities that already exist across disparate types. Windows Search additionally deprecates the Indexing Service, as WinFS was originally meant to do. Microsoft ultimately removed the Indexing Service from Windows with

3611-399: A processor with SSE2 and NX (for any then-supported architecture). Windows 7 is the successor to Windows Vista, and its version name is Windows NT 6.1, compared to Vista's NT 6.0; its naming caused some confusion when it was announced in 2008. Windows president Steven Sinofsky commented that Windows 95 was the fourth version of Windows, but Windows 7 counts up from Windows NT 4.0 as it

3768-695: A prompt. Additionally, users can now adjust the level at which UAC operates using a sliding scale. Certain capabilities and programs that were a part of Windows Vista are no longer present or have been changed, resulting in the removal of certain functionalities; these include the classic Start Menu user interface, some taskbar features , Windows Explorer features , Windows Media Player features , Windows Ultimate Extras , Search button, and InkBall . Four applications bundled with Windows Vista— Windows Photo Gallery , Windows Movie Maker , Windows Calendar and Windows Mail —are not included with Windows 7 and were replaced by Windows Live -branded versions as part of

3925-647: A refined version of Windows Vista. At PDC 2008, Microsoft demonstrated Windows 7 with its reworked taskbar . On December 27, 2008, the Windows 7 Beta was leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent . According to a performance test by ZDNet , Windows 7 Beta beat both Windows XP and Windows Vista in several key areas, including boot and shutdown time and working with files, such as loading documents. Other areas did not beat XP, including PC Pro benchmarks for typical office activities and video editing, which remain identical to Vista and slower than XP. On January 7, 2009,

4082-663: A simplified view of what devices are connected to the computer, and what capabilities they support. Devices and Printers is a new Control Panel interface that is directly accessible from the Start menu. Unlike the Device Manager Control Panel applet, which is still present, the icons shown on the Devices and Printers screen are limited to components of the system that a non-expert user will recognize as plug-in devices. For example, an external monitor connected to

4239-471: A single Document can also be a Link — and the Windows Shell can expose items to the user based on these types instead of on filename extensions (e.g., to manage in one operation items of different filename extensions, or to find items without if the filename extension is not known). Mnemonics for these types exist (e.g., a Contact item is also a Person , a Calendar item is an Appointment , and

4396-409: A single desktop wallpaper named "Harmony" and the default desktop icons, mouse cursors, and sound scheme introduced in Windows Vista; however, none of the desktop backgrounds included with Windows Vista are present in Windows 7. New themes include Architecture , Characters , Landscapes , Nature , and Scenes , and an additional country-specific theme that is determined based on the defined locale when

4553-544: A single instance of the service can be shared across all users – thereby improving performance. Windows Desktop Search found itself in the midst of a controversy on October 25, 2007, when Windows Desktop Search 3.01 was automatically pushed out and installed on Windows when updated via Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). Microsoft responded with two posts on the WSUS Product Team Blog. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 introduced Instant Search in

4710-515: A single new gadget, one for Windows Media Center that displays links to the various sections (e.g., Pictures + Videos ) of its interface. For original equipment manufacturers and enterprises, Windows 7 natively supports the ability to customize the wallpaper that is displayed during user login. Because the settings to change the wallpaper are available via the Windows Registry, users can also customize this wallpaper. Options to customize

4867-465: A standalone release – separate from Windows Live Toolbar. One of the significant new features is Windows Desktop Search 3.0 also installs the Property System on Windows XP introduced in Windows Vista. Windows Desktop Search 3.0 is geared for pre-Windows Vista users, hence the indexer was implemented as a Windows Service , rather than as a per-user application, so that the same index as well as

Features new to Windows 7 - Misplaced Pages Continue

5024-662: A taskbar icon or holding the left mouse button and sliding towards the center of the desktop on an icon. Each application has a jump list corresponding to its features, Microsoft Word's displaying recently opened documents; Windows Media Player's recent tracks and playlists; frequently opened directories in Windows Explorer ; Internet Explorer's recent browsing history and options for opening new tabs or starting InPrivate Browsing; Windows Live Messenger's common tasks such as instant messaging, signing off, and changing online status. Third-party software can add custom actions through

5181-439: A window of their choice with the mouse. All other windows will minimize, while the window the user shook stays active on the screen. When the window is shaken again, all previously minimized windows are restored, similar to desktop preview. A variety of new keyboard shortcuts have been introduced. Global keyboard shortcuts: Taskbar: The user interface for font management has been overhauled in Windows 7. As with Windows Vista,

5338-533: A window to the left or right of the screen makes it take up half the screen, allowing the user to tile two windows next to each other. Also, resizing the window to the bottom of the screen or its top will extend the window to full height but retain its width. These features can be disabled via the Ease of Access Center if users do not wish the windows to automatically resize. Aero Shake allows users to clear up any clutter on their screen by shaking (dragging back and forth)

5495-420: Is a descendant of NT. Originally, a version of Windows codenamed " Blackcomb " was planned as the successor to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 in 2000. Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. However, an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn," was announced for 2003, delaying

5652-488: Is a stripped-down version of Windows 7 meant for low-cost devices such as netbooks . In comparison to Home Premium, Starter has reduced multimedia functionality, does not allow users to change their desktop wallpaper or theme, disables the "Aero Glass" theme, does not have support for multiple monitors, and can only address 2GB of RAM. Home Basic was sold only in emerging markets , and was positioned in between Home Premium and Starter . The highest edition, Enterprise ,

5809-515: Is also available. Hidden fonts remain installed but are not enumerated when an application asks for a list of available fonts, thus reducing the amount of fonts to scroll through within the interface and also reducing memory usage. Windows 7 includes over 40 new fonts, including a new "Gabriola" font. The dialog box for fonts in Windows 7 has also been updated to display font previews within the interface, which allows users to preview fonts before selecting them. Previous versions of windows only displayed

5966-557: Is also enhanced to support real-time multimedia application including video playback and 3D games, thus allowing use of DirectX 10 in remote desktop environments. The three application limit, previously present in the Windows Vista and Windows XP Starter Editions, has been removed from Windows 7. All editions include some new and improved features, such as Windows Search , Security features, and some features new to Windows 7 , that originated within Vista. Optional BitLocker Drive Encryption

6123-476: Is also included). In previous versions of Windows, users were required to install third-party software to burn ISO images. The start button now has a fade-in highlight effect when the user hovers over it with the mouse cursor. The right column of the Start menu is now prominently the Aero Glass color; in Windows Vista, it was predominantly black regardless of the color in use. Windows 7's Start menu retains

6280-522: Is capable of connecting to the Internet to download images of devices it doesn't recognize. Opening the icon presents a window that displays actions relevant to that device. Screenshots of the technology presented by Microsoft suggest that a mobile phone could offer options for two-way synchronization, configuring ring-tones, copying pictures and videos, managing the device in Windows Media Player , and using Windows Explorer to navigate through

6437-507: Is essentially a collection of cabinet files that consist of theme resources including background images, color preferences, desktop icons, mouse cursors, and sound schemes. The new theme extension simplifies sharing of themes and can also display desktop wallpapers via RSS feeds provided by the Windows RSS Platform . Microsoft provides additional themes for free through its website. The default theme in Windows 7 consists of

Features new to Windows 7 - Misplaced Pages Continue

6594-460: Is functionally similar to Ultimate , but is only sold through volume licensing via Microsoft's Software Assurance program. All editions aside from Starter support both IA-32 and x86-64 architectures , Starter only supports 32-bit systems. Retail copies of Windows 7 are distributed on two DVDs: one for the IA-32 version and the other for x86-64. OEM copies include one DVD, depending on

6751-573: Is implemented as a Windows Service . The search service implements the Windows Search configuration and query APIs and also controls, as well as all indexing and query components. The most important component of Windows Search is the Indexer, which crawls the file system on initial setup, and then listens for file system notifications to pick up changed files in order to create and maintain the index of data. It achieves this using three processes: The search service consists of several components, including

6908-516: Is included with Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise. Windows Defender is included; Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus software is a free download. All editions include Shadow Copy , which—every day or so—System Restore uses to take an automatic "previous version" snapshot of user files that have changed. Backup and restore have also been improved, and the Windows Recovery Environment —installed by default—replaces

7065-402: Is limited as the update does not include DXGI / WDDM 1.2 from Windows 8, making unavailable many related APIs and significant features such as stereoscopic frame buffer, feature level 11_1 and optional features for levels 10_0, 10_1 and 11_0. In October 2013, a Disk Cleanup Wizard addon was released that lets users delete outdated Windows updates on Windows 7 SP1, thus reducing the size of

7222-562: Is locale dependent and uses different keywords in international versions of Windows 7. Users can access the Windows Search index programmatically using managed as well as native code. Native code connects to the index catalog by using a Data Source Object retrieved from the Indexing Service OLE DB provider. Managed code use the MSIDXS ADO.NET provider. One can query a catalog on a remote machine by specifying

7379-563: Is maintained: the Gather Queue . The Gather Queue maintains a prioritized queue of URIs that needs indexing. The Backoff Controller mentioned above monitors the available system resources, and controls the rate at which the indexer runs. It has three states: Windows Search queries are specified in Advanced Query Syntax (AQS) which supports not only simple text searches but provides advanced property-based query operations as well. AQS defines certain keywords which can be used to refine

7536-625: Is the default registered handler for the protocol) launches the Search Explorer with the results of the search. In Windows Vista SP1 or later, third-party handlers can also register themselves as the application protocol handler, so that searches can be performed using any search engine which the user has set as default, and not just Windows Search. The Windows Search service provides the Notifications API component to allow applications to "push" changed items that need indexing to

7693-537: Is the successor of the Indexing Service, a content indexing solution originally developed as an optional download for Windows NT 4.0 and Internet Information Services 3.0, designed to gather resources located on Web servers; it is a remainder of the Object File System of the Cairo operating system project that never fully emerged. Development of Windows Search began in 2004 after the postponement of WinFS,

7850-539: Is used for searches. It presents the user interface to specify the search parameters, including locations and file types that should be searched, and certain operators, without crafting the AQS queries by hand. With Windows Vista SP1, third-party applications will be able to override the Search Explorer as the default search interface so that the registered third-party application will be launched, instead of bringing up

8007-454: The IFilter() interface). IFilter implementations allow only read-only extraction of text and properties, whereas IPropertyStore allows writing properties as well. Windows Desktop Search, a standalone add-on made available as freeware, is the implementation of Windows Search for Windows 2000 , Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 . Windows Desktop Search and Windows Search share

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8164-556: The \ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\ folder at the root of the system drive in Windows Vista or in later versions of Windows. (The corresponding location in Windows XP is \All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\ inside the Documents and Settings folder.) The index store, called SystemIndex , contains all retrievable Windows IPropertyStore values for indexed items. Within

8321-578: The CollatorDSO provider. However, the OLE DB provider is read-only, supporting only SELECT and GROUP ON SQL statements. Windows Search also registers a search-ms application protocol, which can be used to represent searches as URIs . The search parameters and filters are encoded in the URI using AQS or its natural language counterpart, NQS. When Explorer invokes the URI, Windows Search (which

8478-756: The Engineering Windows 7 blog that the company was using a variety of new tracing tools to measure the performance of many areas of the operating system on an ongoing basis, to help locate inefficient code paths and to help prevent performance regressions. Senior Vice President Bill Veghte stated that Windows Vista users migrating to Windows 7 would not find the kind of device compatibility issues they encountered migrating from Windows XP . An estimated 1,000 developers worked on Windows 7. These were broadly divided into "core operating system" and "Windows client experience", in turn organized into 25 teams of around 40 developers on average. In October 2008, it

8635-647: The Gatherer , the Merger , the Backoff Controller, and the Query Processor, among others. The Gatherer retrieves the list of URIs that need to be crawled and invokes proper protocol handler to access the store that hosts the URI, and then the proper property-handler (to extract metadata) and IFilter to extract the document text. Different indices are created during different runs; it is the job of

8792-525: The Libraries special folder, which allows them to be displayed on the Navigation Pane. By default, a new user account in Windows 7 contains four libraries for different file types: Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos. They are configured to include the user's profile folders for these respective file types, as well as the computer's corresponding Public folders. The Public folder also contains

8949-501: The Merger to periodically merge the indices. While indexing, the indices are generally maintained in-memory and then flushed to disk after a merge to reduce disk I/O. The metadata is stored in property store, which is a database maintained by the ESE database engine. The text is tokenized and the tokens are stored in a custom database built using Inverted Indices . Apart from the indices and property store, another persistent data structure

9106-585: The User Account Control system to make it less intrusive. Windows 7 also shipped with updated versions of several stock applications, including Internet Explorer 8 , Windows Media Player , and Windows Media Center . Unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 received critical acclaim, with critics considering the operating system to be a major improvement over its predecessor because of its improved performance, its more intuitive interface, fewer User Account Control popups, and other improvements made across

9263-431: The Windows Aero user interface with the addition of a redesigned taskbar that allows pinned applications, and new window management features. Other new features were added to the operating system, including libraries, the new file-sharing system HomeGroup, and support for multitouch input. A new " Action Center " was also added to provide an overview of system security and maintenance information, and tweaks were made to

9420-558: The Windows Live Essentials suite. Windows 7 is available in six different editions, of which the Home Premium , Professional , and Ultimate were available at retail in most countries, and as pre-loaded software on most new computers. Home Premium and Professional were aimed at home users and small businesses respectively, while Ultimate was aimed at enthusiasts. Each edition of Windows 7 includes all of

9577-454: The Windows Registry or configuration files. Additionally, a new Shell API was introduced designed to simplify the writing of context menu shell extensions by software developers. Windows 7 includes native support for burning ISO files . The functionality is available when a user selects the Burn disc image option within the context menu of an ISO file (support for disc image verification

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9734-492: The show desktop shortcut located in the Quick Launch toolbar in previous versions of Windows. On touch-based devices, Aero Peek can be initiated by pressing and holding the show desktop button; touching the button itself shows the desktop. The button also increases in width to accommodate being pressed by a finger. Windows can be dragged to the top of the screen to maximize them and dragged away to restore them. Dragging

9891-636: The x64 version of the Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) was leaked onto the web, with some torrents being infected with a trojan . At CES 2009, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Windows 7 Beta, build 7000, had been made available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers in the format of an ISO image. The stock wallpaper of the beta version contained a digital image of the Betta fish . The release candidate, build 7100, became available for MSDN and TechNet subscribers, and Connect Program participants on April 30, 2009. On May 5, 2009, it became available to

10048-592: The Chromium codebase also dropped support for these operating systems after version 109, including Google Chrome and Opera . A fork of Chromium named Supermium is maintained for versions of Windows older than Windows 10, including Windows 7. Mozilla maintains Firefox 115 Extended Support Release (ESR) to support Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. Mozilla has committed to support it until at least March 2025. Steam ended support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 on January 1, 2024. Several Windows 7 components are upgradable to

10205-451: The July 2017 date. On March 18, 2016, in response to criticism from enterprise customers, Microsoft delayed the end of support and non-critical updates for Skylake systems to July 17, 2018, but stated that they would also continue to receive security updates through the end of extended support. In August 2016, citing a "strong partnership with our OEM partners and Intel", Microsoft retracted

10362-511: The Kaby Lake and Ryzen platforms. Security updates released since March 2018 contained bugs that affect processors that do not support SSE2 extensions, including all Pentium III , Athlon XP , and prior processors. Microsoft initially stated that it would attempt to resolve this issue, and prevented installation of the affected patches on these systems. However, Microsoft retroactively modified its support documents on June 15, 2018 to remove

10519-490: The Library be indexed by the Windows Search service. Local disk locations must be indexed by the local indexer, and Windows Explorer will automatically add locations to the indexing scope when they are included in a library. Remote locations can be indexed by the indexer on another Windows 7 machine, on a Windows machine running Windows Search 4 (such as Windows Vista or Windows Home Server), or on another device that implements

10676-532: The MS-WSP remote query protocol. Windows Explorer also supports federating search to external data sources, such as custom databases or web services, that are exposed over the web and described via an OpenSearch definition. The federated location description (called a Search Connector ) is provided as an .osdx file. Once installed, the data source becomes queryable directly from Windows Explorer. Windows Explorer features, such as previews and thumbnails, work with

10833-653: The Notifications API, monitoring the Change Journal in an NTFS volume to keep track of files that have changed on the volume. If the file is in a location indexed by Windows Search and does not have the FANCI ( File Attribute Not Content Indexed ) attribute set, the Windows Search service is notified of its path via the Notification API. Windows Search Configuration APIs are used to specify

10990-495: The Personalization Control Panel. It is 10 pixels taller than in Windows Vista to accommodate touch screen input and a new larger default icon size (although a smaller taskbar size is available), as well as maintain proportion to newer high resolution monitor modes. Running applications are denoted by a border frame around the icon. Within this border, a color effect (dependent on the predominant color of

11147-409: The Search Explorer, when invoked by any means. It is also possible to save a search query as a Virtual Folder , called a Saved Search or Search Folder which, when accessed, runs the search with the saved query and returns the results as a folder listing. Physically, a search folder is just an XML file (with a .search-ms extension) which stores the search query (in either AQS or NQS), including

11304-516: The Sharing Wizard introduced in Windows Vista; a new Nobody sharing option prevents the selected folder or item from being shared, and all items that are excluded in this manner feature a new padlock overlay icon. Previously, adding submenus to Shell context menus or customizing the context menu's behavior for a certain folder was only possible by installing a form of plug-in known as Shell extensions . In Windows 7, however, users can edit

11461-450: The Start menu and in Windows Explorer. It offers a superset of the features provided by Windows Desktop Search (WDS), while being API compatible with it. Unlike WDS, it can seamlessly search indexed as well as non-indexed locations – for indexed locations the index is used and for non-indexed locations, the property handlers and IFilters are invoked on the fly as the search is being performed. This allows for more consistent results, though at

11618-455: The Start menu, the results are shown in the Start menu itself, overlapping the recently used programs. From the Start menu, it is also possible to launch an application by searching for its executable image name or display name. Searching from the search bars in Explorer windows replaces the content of the current folder with the search results. The Explorer windows can also render thumbnails in

11775-528: The SystemIndex folder lurk SystemIndex.*.Crwl and SystemIndex.*.gthr files. The names and locations of documents in the system are exposed as a table with the column names System. ItemName and System. ItemURL respectively. A SQL query can directly reference these tables and index catalogues and use the MSIDXS provider to run queries against them. The search index can also be used via OLE DB, using

11932-511: The WinSxS directory. This update backports some features found in Windows 8. Windows Management Framework 5.0 includes updates to Windows PowerShell 5.0 , Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC), Windows Remote Management (WinRM), Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). It was released on February 24, 2016 and was eventually superseded by Windows Management Framework 5.1. Advanced Query Syntax Windows Search creates

12089-643: The Windows Desktop Search index, Windows RSS Platform common feed store, and Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint indexes, among others. The first beta of Windows Search 4.0 was released on March 27, 2008. It included numerous performance improvements to the indexer and brought new features, including previously Vista-exclusive ones, to XP, including Group Policy integration, federation of searches to remote indexes, support for EFS -encrypted files and Vista-style preview handlers that allow document-type specific browsing of documents in

12246-450: The Windows Search indexer performs the I/O operations with low priority , the process also runs with low CPU priority. As a result, whenever other processes require the I/O bandwidth or processor time, it is able to pre-empt the indexer, thereby significantly reducing the performance hit associated with the indexer running in the background. Windows Search supports natural language searches; so

12403-567: The Windows Search indexer. Applications use the component to supply the URIs of the items that need to be indexed, and the URIs are written to the Gather Queue, where they are read off by the indexer. Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft OneNote use this ability to index the items managed by them and use Windows Search queries to provide the in-application searching features. The internal USN Journal Notifier component of Windows Search also uses

12560-509: The Windows XP user interface and none on Windows Vista. It added remote query support to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 based systems, which used to be a Vista-only feature. This allows a user with a Vista client (or an XP client with Windows Search 4.0) to search the index of networked machines which are also running a supported operating system. Windows Search 4.0 was originally proposed by Microsoft's Windows Live division as an application that would unify local and remote indexed search in

12717-485: The X on the corresponding thumbnail preview. The name of the window is also shown in the thumbnail preview. A "peek" at the window is obtained by hovering over the thumbnail preview. Peeking brings up only the window of the thumbnail preview over which the mouse cursor hovers, and turns any other windows on the desktop transparent. This also works for tabs in Internet Explorer: individual tabs may be peeked at in

12874-422: The appearance of interface lighting and shadows are also available. Windows Explorer in Windows 7 supports file libraries that aggregate content from various locations – including shared folders on networked systems if the shared folder has been indexed by the host system – and present them in a unified view. The libraries hide the actual location the file is stored in. Searching in a library automatically federates

13031-439: The application icons are shown, the ability to hide each application's notification balloons has been added. The user can then view the notifications at a later time. A triangle to the left of the visible notification icons displays the hidden notification icons. Unlike Windows Vista and Windows XP, the hidden icons are displayed in a window above the taskbar, instead of on the taskbar. Icons can be dragged between this window and

13188-972: The capabilities and features of the edition below it, and adds additional features oriented towards their market segments; for example, Professional adds additional networking and security features such as Encrypting File System and the ability to join a domain . Ultimate contained a superset of the features from Home Premium and Professional , along with other advanced features oriented towards power users, such as BitLocker drive encryption; unlike Windows Vista, there were no " Ultimate Extras " add-ons created for Windows 7 Ultimate. Retail copies were available in "upgrade" and higher-cost "full" version licenses ; "upgrade" licenses require an existing version of Windows to install, while "full" licenses can be installed on computers with no existing operating system. The remaining three editions were not available at retail, of which two were available exclusively through OEM channels as pre-loaded software. The Starter edition

13345-415: The collection of installed fonts is displayed in a Windows Explorer window, but fonts that originate from the same font family appear as icons that are represented as stacks that display font previews within the interface. Windows 7 also introduces the option to hide installed fonts; certain fonts are automatically removed from view based on a user's regional settings. An option to manually hide installed fonts

13502-792: The common data storage platform developed for Windows Vista , as an optional component of its MSN Toolbar Suite ("MSN Toolbar Suite with Desktop Search") for Windows XP and Windows 2000 released as preliminary software on December 13, 2004. In prerelease builds of Windows Vista it was integrated with the Windows Shell, renamed as the Windows Search Engine, and introduced features that were originally touted as benefits of WinFS: content indexing, incremental searching, property stacking, and query persisting . Windows Search like WinFS enables queries across existing commonalities between items (such as finding all messages with attachments, or all messages with PowerPoint slides that mention only

13659-549: The computer. ReadyBoost on 32-bit editions now supports up to 256 gigabytes of extra allocation. Windows 7 also supports images in RAW image format through the addition of Windows Imaging Component -enabled image decoders, which enables raw image thumbnails, previewing and metadata display in Windows Explorer, plus full-size viewing and slideshows in Windows Photo Viewer and Windows Media Center. Windows 7 also has

13816-561: The configuration settings, such as the root of the URIs that needs to be monitored, setting the frequency of crawling or viewing status information like number of items indexed or length of the gather queue or the reason for throttling the indexer. It also exposes APIs to register protocol handlers (via the ISearchProtocol() interface , property handlers (via the IPropertyStore() interface) or IFilter implementations (via

13973-550: The contents of a saved search so that the scope references the %USERPROFILE% environment variable , which will enable it to operate on other machines or profiles regardless of the original author, Microsoft has released a SearchMelt Creator utility that automates this process for the user. With the release of Windows Vista and the Microsoft Property System, the System.Kind property was introduced to express

14130-472: The cost of searching speed over non-indexed locations. Windows Search uses Group Policy for centralized management. Windows Search also supports queries against a remote index. Windows Search indexes offline caches of network shares , in addition to the local file systems. This means if the file server, on which a network file share is hosted, is running either Windows Vista or a later version of Windows or Windows Search 4.0 on Windows XP, any searches against

14287-502: The decision and stated that it would continue to support Windows 7 and 8.1 on Skylake hardware through the end of their extended support lifecycle. However, the restrictions on newer CPU microarchitectures remain in force. In March 2017, a Microsoft knowledge base article announced which implies that devices using Intel Kaby Lake , AMD Bristol Ridge , or AMD Ryzen , would be blocked from using Windows Update entirely. In addition, official Windows 7 device drivers are not available for

14444-414: The default printer, installing or removing printers, and configuring properties such as paper size are done through this control panel. Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 introduce print driver isolation, which improves the reliability of the print spooler by running printer drivers in a separate process to the spooler service. If a third party print driver fails while isolated, it does not impact other drivers or

14601-636: The development of Blackcomb. By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb. After three major malware outbreaks—the Blaster , Nachi , and Sobig worms—exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period in August 2003, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold while developing new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn (Windows Vista)

14758-558: The device. Other device status information such as free memory and battery life can also be shown. The actual per-device functionality is defined via XML files that are downloaded when the device is first connected to the computer, or are provided by the manufacturer on an installation disc. Hilton Locke, who worked on the Tablet PC team at Microsoft, reported on December 11, 2007 that Windows 7 will have new touch features on devices supporting multi-touch . An overview and demonstration of

14915-512: The document author was also added. The landing page allows the user to filter searches depending on whether the user looking for documents, pictures or settings. Spell-correction was also added to Windows Search when searching for Apps & Settings to ensure a wider range of results were shown. The search box in File Explorer now opens as soon as you click in the box and provides a dropdown of recent searches. Microsoft OneDrive content

15072-435: The end of extended support, available via specific volume licensing programs in yearly installments. Windows 7 Professional for Embedded Systems , Windows Embedded Standard 7 , and Windows Embedded POSReady 7 also get Extended Security Updates for up to three years after their end of extended support date, via OEMs . The Extended Security Updates program for Windows Embedded POSReady 7 ended on October 8, 2024, marking

15229-574: The final end of IA-32 updates on the Windows NT 6.1 product line after more than 15 years. In August 2019, Microsoft announced it would offer a year of 'free' extended security updates to some business users. In January 2023, version 109 of the Chromium -based Microsoft Edge became the last version of Edge to support Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2. Alongside this, several other web browsers based on

15386-607: The gadgets could optionally be placed on the Windows desktop. With Windows 7, gadgets can still be placed on the Windows desktop, but the Windows Sidebar itself has been removed, and the platform has been renamed as Windows Desktop Gadgets . Gadgets are more closely integrated with Windows Explorer , but the gadgets themselves continue to operate in a single sidebar.exe process (unlike in Windows Vista where gadgets could operate in multiple sidebar.exe processes). New features for gadgets include: Windows 7 also introduces

15543-536: The general public, although it had also been leaked onto the Internet via BitTorrent . The release candidate was available in five languages and expired on June 1, 2010, with shutdowns every two hours starting March 1, 2010. Microsoft stated that Windows 7 would be released to the general public on October 22, 2009, less than three years after the launch of its predecessor . Microsoft released Windows 7 to MSDN and Technet subscribers on August 6, 2009. Microsoft announced that Windows 7, along with Windows Server 2008 R2 ,

15700-432: The icon) that follows the mouse cursor also indicates the opened status of the application. The glass taskbar is more translucent than in Windows Vista. Taskbar buttons show icons by default, not application titles, unless they are set to 'not combine', or 'combine when taskbar is full.' In this case, only icons are shown when the application is not running. Programs running or pinned on the taskbar can be rearranged. Items in

15857-421: The index. The Windows Desktop Search functionality is exposed via a Windows Taskbar mounted deskbar, accessible via a ⊞ Win + ⇧ Shift + F keyboard shortcut . It provides a text field to type the query and the results are presented in a flyout pane. It also integrates as a Windows Explorer window. On selecting a file in the Explorer window, a preview of the file is shown in the right hand side of

16014-488: The indices and property stores. It uses a variant of SQL in which to represent the query (regular SQL with certain restrictions) and returns results as OLE DB Rowsets . Whenever a query executes, the parts of the index it used are temporarily cached so that further searches filtering the result set need not access the disk again, in order to improve performance. Windows Search stores its index in an Extensible Storage Engine file named Windows.edb that exists, by default, in

16171-1024: The latest versions, which include new versions introduced in later versions of Windows, and other major Microsoft applications are available. These latest versions for Windows 7 include: Additional requirements to use certain features: The maximum amount of RAM that Windows 7 supports varies depending on the product edition and on the processor architecture, as shown in the following table. Windows 7 Professional and up support up to 2 physical processors (CPU sockets), whereas Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium editions support only 1. Physical processors with either multiple cores, or hyper-threading , or both, implement more than one logical processor per physical processor. The x86 editions of Windows 7 support up to 32 logical processors; x64 editions support up to 256 (4 x 64). In January 2016, Microsoft announced that it would no longer support Windows platforms older than Windows 10 on any future Intel-compatible processor lines, citing difficulties in reliably allowing

16328-519: The multi-touch capabilities, including a virtual piano program, a mapping and directions program and a touch-aware version of Microsoft Paint , was given at the All Things Digital Conference on May 27, 2008; a video of the multi-touch capabilities was made available on the web later the same day. Windows 7 introduces native support for sensors, including accelerometer sensors, ambient light sensors, and location-based sensors;

16485-469: The name of the font. The ClearType Text Tuner which was previously available as a Microsoft Powertoy for earlier Windows versions has been integrated into, and updated for Windows 7. Microsoft would later backport Windows 8 Emoji features to Windows 7. There are two major new user interface components for device management in Windows 7, "Devices and Printers" and "Device Stage". Both of these are integrated with Windows Explorer, and together provide

16642-747: The network with a password , and files and folders can be shared with all other devices in the HomeGroup, or with specific users. The default libraries, along with printers, are shared by default, but the personal folder is set to read-only access by other users, and the Public folder can be accessed by anyone. Windows 7 includes improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API to provide multilingual support (particularly in Ultimate and Enterprise editions). Microsoft also implemented better support for solid-state drives , including

16799-582: The new TRIM command , and Windows 7 is able to identify a solid-state drive uniquely. Native support for USB 3.0 is not included because of delays in the finalization of the standard. At WinHEC 2008 Microsoft announced that color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit would be supported in Windows 7 along with the wide color gamut scRGB (which for HDMI 1.3 can be converted and output as xvYCC ). The video modes supported in Windows 7 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB. For developers, Windows 7 includes

16956-445: The notification area can also be rearranged. The Windows 7 taskbar is more application-oriented than window-oriented, and therefore doesn't show window titles (these are shown when an application icon is clicked or hovered over). Applications can now be pinned to the taskbar allowing the user instant access to the applications they commonly use. There are a few ways to pin applications to the taskbar. Icons can be dragged and dropped onto

17113-451: The notification area. In previous versions of Windows, the taskbar ended with the notification area on the right-hand side. Windows 7, however, introduces a show desktop button on the far right side of the taskbar which can initiate an Aero Peek feature that makes all open windows translucent when hovered over by a mouse cursor. Clicking this button shows the desktop, and clicking it again brings all windows to focus. The new button replaces

17270-508: The older Windows XP version to the most recent Windows 10 versions; a patch to correct the flaw is currently available. In September 2019, Microsoft announced that it would provide free security updates for Windows 7 on federally-certified voting machines through the 2020 United States elections . On September 7, 2018, Microsoft announced a paid "Extended Security Updates" (ESU) service that will offer additional updates for Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise for up to three years after

17427-464: The operating system also provides a unified driver model for sensor devices. A notable use of this technology in Windows 7 is the operating system's adaptive display brightness feature, which automatically adjusts the brightness of a compatible computer's display based on environmental light conditions and factors. Gadgets developed for Windows 7 can also display location-based information. Applications for certain sensor capabilities can be developed without

17584-426: The operating system ceased receiving further updates. A paid support program was available for enterprises, providing security updates for Windows 7 for up to three years since the official end of life. Windows 7 was intended to be an incremental upgrade to Microsoft Windows , addressing Windows Vista's poor critical reception while maintaining hardware and software compatibility . Windows 7 continued improvements on

17741-676: The operating system is installed; although only the theme for a user's home country is displayed within the user interface, the files for all of these other country-specific themes are included in the operating system. All themes included in Windows 7—excluding the default theme—include six wallpaper images. A number of new sound schemes (each associated with an included theme) have also been introduced: Afternoon , Calligraphy , Characters , Cityscape , Delta , Festival , Garden , Heritage , Landscape , Quirky , Raga , Savana , and Sonata . Themes may introduce their own custom sounds, which can be used with others themes as well. Windows 7 introduces

17898-667: The operating system to operate on newer hardware. Microsoft stated that effective July 17, 2017, devices with Intel Skylake CPUs were only to receive the "most critical" updates for Windows 7 and 8.1, and only if they have been judged not to affect the reliability of Windows 7 on older hardware. For enterprise customers, Microsoft issued a list of Skylake-based devices "certified" for Windows 7 and 8.1 in addition to Windows 10, to assist them in migrating to newer hardware that can eventually be upgraded to 10 once they are ready to transition. Microsoft and their hardware partners provide special testing and support for these devices on 7 and 8.1 until

18055-454: The optional Recovery Console of Windows XP. A new system known as "Libraries" was added for file management; users can aggregate files from multiple folders into a "Library." By default, libraries for categories such as Documents, Pictures, Music, and Video are created, consisting of the user's personal folder and the Public folder for each. The system is also used as part of a new home networking system known as HomeGroup; devices are added to

18212-460: The platform. Windows 7 was a major success for Microsoft; even before its official release, pre-order sales for the operating system on the online retailer Amazon.com had surpassed previous records. In just six months, over 100 million copies had been sold worldwide, increasing to over 630 million licenses by July 2012. By January 2018, Windows 10 surpassed Windows 7 as the most popular version of Windows worldwide. Windows 11 overtook Windows 7 as

18369-696: The predefined string. For example, "!calc" opens the Windows Calculator . The help documentation includes syntax for creating application aliases out of any text string, regardless of prefix. This feature can also be used to create shortcut for URLs, which when entered, will open the specified URL in browser. It can also be used to send parametrized information over the URL, which are used to create search aliases. For example, "w text" can be configured to search "text" in Misplaced Pages. Windows Desktop Search

18526-461: The preview pane. Windows Search 4.0 was released on June 3, 2008, and is supported on XP, Windows Server 2003, Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Home Server . In Windows 10, Windows Search was added to the taskbar in place of the Start menu in earlier versions of Windows. A new landing page was added showing users their top apps and recent activities on their computer. The landing page also provides quick searches provided from Bing for

18683-402: The print spooler service. Device Stage provides a centralized location for an externally connected multi-function device to present its functionality to the user. When a device such as a portable music player is connected to the system, the device appears as an icon on the task bar, as well as in Windows Explorer. Windows 7 ships with high-resolution images of a number of popular devices, and

18840-476: The processor architecture licensed. The installation media for consumer versions of Windows 7 are identical, the product key and corresponding license determines the edition that is installed. The Windows Anytime Upgrade service can be used to purchase an upgrade that unlocks the functionality of a higher edition, such as going from Starter to Home Premium , and Home Premium to Ultimate . Most copies of Windows 7 only contained one license; in certain markets,

18997-453: The program's Remote Desktop Protocol , allowing for the possibility of remote code execution , may now include related flaws, collectively named DejaBlue , affecting newer Windows versions (i.e., Windows 7 and all recent versions) as well. In addition, experts reported a Microsoft security vulnerability , CVE - 2019-1162 , based on legacy code involving Microsoft CTF and ctfmon (ctfmon.exe) , that affects all Windows versions from

19154-408: The promise that this bug would be resolved, replacing it with a statement suggesting that users obtain a newer processor. This effectively ends further patch support for Windows 7 on these older systems. Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) was announced on March 18, 2010. A beta was released on July 12, 2010. The final version was released to the public on February 22, 2011. At the time of release, it

19311-527: The query to the remote systems, in addition to searching on the local system, so that files on the remote systems are also searched. Unlike search folders, Libraries are backed by a physical location which allows files to be saved in the Libraries. Such files are transparently saved in the backing physical folder. The default save location for a library may be configured by the user, as can the default view layout for each library. Libraries are generally stored in

19468-545: The release of Windows 8 in 2012. Windows Search builds a local Index of files and non-file items stored on a machine, which allows results to appear more rapidly when users perform searches than when searching for unindexed files or items. Microsoft suggests that a few hours may be necessary for the building process to complete, an assessment dependent on the number and size of files and non-file items to index. Windows Search enables incremental search ( search as you type or wordwheeling ) to present search results immediately when

19625-450: The reordering of taskbar buttons. To the far right of the system clock is a small rectangular button that serves as the Show desktop icon. By default, hovering over this button makes all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop. In touch-enabled displays such as touch screens, tablet PCs, etc., this button is slightly (8 pixels) wider in order to accommodate being pressed by

19782-433: The requisite hardware. Because data acquired by some sensors can be considered personally identifiable information , all sensors are disabled by default in Windows 7, and an account in Windows 7 requires administrative permissions to enable a sensor. Sensors also require user consent to share location data. Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft . It

19939-1029: The results of a federated search as well. Windows Explorer has received numerous minor enhancements that improve its overall functionality. The address bar and search box can be resized. The Command Bar features the New Folder command and a visible interface option to enable the Preview Pane (both were previously in the Organize option in Windows Vista). A new Content icon view mode is added, which shows metadata and thumbnails. The List icon view mode provides more space between items than in Windows Vista. Storage capacity indicators for hard disks introduced in Windows Vista are now also shown for removable storage devices. File types for which new iFilters or Property Handlers are installed are reindexed by Windows Search by default. The Navigation Pane includes

20096-907: The sale of new retail copies of Windows 7 in October 2014, and the sale of new OEM licenses for Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate ended on October 31, 2014. OEM sales of PCs with Windows 7 Professional pre-installed ended on October 31, 2016. The sale of non-Professional OEM licenses was stopped on October 31, 2014. Mainstream support for Windows 7 ended on January 13, 2015. Extended support for Windows 7 ended on January 14, 2020. Variants of Windows 7 for embedded systems and thin clients have different support policies: Windows Embedded Standard 7 support ended in October 2020. Windows Thin PC and Windows Embedded POSReady 7 had support until October 2021. In March 2019, Microsoft announced that it would display notifications to users informing users of

20253-524: The same machine. Windows XP Mode runs Windows XP in a virtual machine, and displays applications within separate windows on the Windows 7 desktop. Furthermore, Windows 7 supports the mounting of a virtual hard disk (VHD) as a normal data storage, and the bootloader delivered with Windows 7 can boot the Windows system from a VHD; however, this ability is only available in the Enterprise and Ultimate editions. The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) of Windows 7

20410-684: The screen. When a user moves windows that were snapped or maximized using Snap, the system restores their previous state. Snap functions can also be triggered with keyboard shortcuts. Aero Shake hides all inactive windows when the active window's title bar is dragged back and forth rapidly. Windows 7 includes 13 additional sound schemes, titled Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata. Internet Spades , Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers , which were removed in Windows Vista, were restored in Windows 7. Users are able to disable or customize many more Windows components than

20567-534: The search operators as well. Windows Vista also supports query composition, where a saved search (called a scope ) can be nested within the query string of another search. Search Folders are also distributable via RSS . By default, Windows references the profile of the user who originally created a Search Folder as part of the query's scope. This design choice does not prevent saved searches from being shared with other users, but it prevents them from operating on different user profiles. While users can manually modify

20724-490: The search query, such as specifying Boolean operations on searched terms (AND, OR, NOT) as well as to specify further filters based on file metadata or file type. It can also be used to limit results from specific information stores like regular files, offline files cache, or email stores. File type specific operators are available as well. Windows Desktop Search also supports wildcard prefix matching searches. It also includes several SQL -like operators like GROUP BY . AQS

20881-400: The search results if a Thumbnail Handler is registered for a particular file type. It can also render enhanced previews of items in a Preview Pane without launching the default application , if the application has registered a Preview Handler . This can provide functionality such as file type-specific navigation (such a browsing a presentation using next/previous controls, or seeking inside

21038-524: The second most popular Windows version on all continents in August 2022. As of 2024 , just 3% of traditional PCs running Windows are running Windows 7, although it remains relatively popular in parts of the world, such as China (where it is tied with Windows 11), and is second most popular in some countries. Windows 7 is the final version of Windows that supports processors without SSE2 or NX (although an update released in 2018 dropped support for non-SSE2 processors). Its successor, Windows 8 , requires

21195-466: The selected web site or search connector. Microsoft suggests that network administrators could use this feature to enable searching of corporate Intranets or an internal SharePoint server. The Windows Taskbar has seen its most significant revision since its introduction in Windows 95 and combines the previous Quick Launch functionality with open application window icons. The taskbar is now rendered as an Aero Glass element whose color can be changed via

21352-435: The share will be queried against the server's index and present the results to the client system, filtering out the files the user does not have access to. This procedure is transparent to the user. Microsoft Outlook e-mail stores starting with Outlook 2007, though Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003 and Microsoft OneNote stores are also indexed if installed alongside Windows Search. Unlike Windows Desktop Search on Windows XP,

21509-476: The standard Volume, Network, Power and Action Center status icons are present, but no other application icons are shown unless the user has chosen them to be shown. A new "Notification Area Icons" control panel has been added which replaces the "Customize Notification Icons" dialog box in the "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" window first introduced in Windows XP . In addition to being able to configure whether

21666-417: The system will be displayed as a device, but the internal monitor on a laptop will not. Device-specific features are available through the context menu for each device; an external monitor's context menu, for example, provides a link to the "Display Settings" control panel. This new Control Panel applet also replaces the "Printers" window in prior versions of Windows; common printer operations such as setting

21823-497: The taskbar do not turn opaque when a window is maximized while Windows Aero is active; instead, they remain translucent. Support for themes has been extended in Windows 7. In addition to providing options to customize colors of window chrome and other aspects of the interface including the desktop background, icons, mouse cursors, and sound schemes, the operating system also includes a native desktop slideshow feature. A new theme pack extension has been introduced, .themepack , which

21980-442: The taskbar, or the application's icon can be right-clicked to pin it to the taskbar. The Quick Launch toolbar has been removed from the default configuration, but can be manually added back. Thumbnail previews which were introduced in Windows Vista have been expanded to not only preview the windows opened by the application in a small-sized thumbnail view, but to also interact with them. The user can close any window opened by clicking

22137-539: The thumbnail previews. Thumbnail previews integrate Thumbnail Toolbars which can control the application from the thumbnail previews themselves. For example, if Windows Media Player is opened and the mouse cursor is hovering on the application icon, the thumbnail preview will allow the user the ability to Play, Stop, and Play Next/Previous track without having to switch to the Windows Media Player window. Jump lists are menu options available by right-clicking

22294-472: The two-column layout of its predecessors, with several functional changes: Group Policy settings for Windows Explorer provide the ability for administrators of an Active Directory domain to add up to five Internet Web sites and five additional "search connectors" to the Search Results view in the Start menu. The links, which appear at the bottom of the pane, allow the search to be executed again on

22451-577: The upcoming end of support, and direct users to a website urging them to purchase a Windows 10 upgrade or a new computer. In August 2019, researchers reported that "all modern versions of Microsoft Windows" may be at risk for "critical" system compromise because of design flaws of hardware device drivers from multiple providers. In the same month, computer experts reported that the BlueKeep security vulnerability , CVE - 2019-0708 , that potentially affects older unpatched Microsoft Windows versions via

22608-571: The user can search for things like "photo taken last week" or "email sent from Dave". However, this is disabled by default. Natural language search expresses the queries in Natural Query Syntax (NQS), which is the natural language equivalent of AQS. The search functionality is exposed using the search bars in the Start menu and the upper right hand corner of Windows Explorer windows, as well as Open/Save dialog boxes. When searching from

22765-508: The user can type. When one is selected (or typed in manually), the menu will update to show the possible values to filter by for that property, and this list is based on the current location and other parts of the query already typed. For example, selecting the "tags" filter or typing "tags:" into the search box will display the list of possible tag values which will return search results. Arrangement Views and Search Filter Suggestions are database-backed features which require that all locations in

22922-538: The weather, top news stories, today in history and new movies. The landing page also serves as a space that Microsoft can advertise in, such as with the new Chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge. A preview pane from within the Search UI was added that supports apps and documents. When searching for a program, the taskbar jumplists for each program are shown in the preview pane and when searching for documents, file metadata such as file location, date last modified and

23079-410: The window, without opening the application which created the file. Web searches can be initiated from both interfaces, but that will open the browser to search the terms using the default search engine. The deskbar also has the capability to create application aliases, which are short strings which can be set to open different applications. This functionality is accessed by prefixing the ! character to

23236-424: Was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista , released nearly three years earlier. Windows 7's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2 , was released at the same time. It was succeeded by Windows 8 in October 2012. Extended support ended on January 14, 2020, over ten years after the release of Windows 7, after which

23393-566: Was also restarted, and thus delayed, in August 2004. A number of features were cut from Longhorn. Blackcomb was renamed Vienna in early 2006, and was later canceled in 2007 due to the scope of the project. When released, Windows Vista was criticized for its long development time , performance issues, spotty compatibility with existing hardware and software at launch, changes affecting the compatibility of certain PC games, and unclear assurances by Microsoft that certain computers shipping with XP before launch would be "Vista Capable" (which led to

23550-727: Was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the operating system. There had been some confusion over naming the product Windows 7, while versioning it as 6.1 to indicate its similar build to Windows Vista and increase compatibility with applications that only check major version numbers, similar to Windows 2000 and Windows XP both having 5.x version numbers. The first external release to select Microsoft partners came in January 2008 with Milestone 1, build 6519. Speaking about Windows 7 on October 16, 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed compatibility between Windows Vista and Windows 7, indicating that Windows 7 would be

23707-406: Was bundled with MSN Toolbar, while the other was available as a standalone application. Later, when MSN Toolbar was discontinued in favor of Windows Live Toolbar , the home edition of Windows Desktop Search was discontinued as well. The last version available for Windows 2000 is Windows Desktop Search 2.66. For Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, version 3.0 of Windows Desktop Search was provided as

23864-505: Was initially released as MSN Desktop Search , as a part of the MSN Toolbar suite. It was re-introduced as Windows Desktop Search with version 2, while still being distributed with MSN Toolbar Suite. For Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, it came in two flavors, one for home users and the other for enterprise use. The only difference between the two was that the latter could be configured via group policy. The home edition

24021-401: Was introduced to enhance search result rapidity, simplify data discovery, and to unify desktop search platforms across Microsoft Windows ; it was available as an optional download for Windows 2000 and Windows XP. It has received several updates since its introduction and it is also available in Windows 7 , Windows 8 , Windows RT , Windows 8.1 , Windows 10 , and Windows 11 . Windows Search

24178-615: Was not made mandatory. It was available via Windows Update, direct download, or by ordering the Windows 7 SP1 DVD. The service pack is on a much smaller scale than those released for previous versions of Windows, particularly Windows Vista. Windows 7 Service Pack 1 adds support for Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX), a 256-bit instruction set extension for processors, and improves IKEv2 by adding additional identification fields such as E-mail ID to it. In addition, it adds support for Advanced Format 512e as well as additional Identity Federation Services . Windows 7 Service Pack 1 also resolves

24335-441: Was possible in Windows Vista. New additions to this list of components include Internet Explorer 8 , Windows Media Player 12 , Windows Media Center, Windows Search , and Windows Gadget Platform. A new version of Microsoft Virtual PC , newly renamed as Windows Virtual PC was made available for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions. It allows multiple Windows environments, including Windows XP Mode , to run on

24492-456: Was released on February 26, 2013 after a pre-release version had been released on November 5, 2012. It is also included with Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7. It includes enhancements to Direct2D , DirectWrite , Direct3D , Windows Imaging Component (WIC), Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP), Windows Animation Manager (WAM), XPS Document API, H.264 Video Decoder and JPEG XR decoder. However support for Direct3D 11.1

24649-686: Was released to manufacturing in the United States and Canada on July 22, 2009. Windows 7 build 7600.16385.090713-1255, which was compiled on July 13, 2009, was declared the final RTM build after passing all Microsoft's tests internally. Among Windows 7's new features are advances in touch and handwriting recognition , support for virtual hard disks , improved performance on multi-core processors, improved boot performance, DirectAccess , and kernel improvements. Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter),

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