1. Sweep your desktop – and keep it clean – and organized – All versions of Windows since Windows 95 have allowed you to auto-arrange your desktop icons by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing “Sort By.” But Windows 7 makes things even simpler. How can it be simpler you ask? Easy! To auto-arrange the desktop icons just press and hold down the F5 key – and your desktop is instantly auto-arranged according to your default settings.
2. Aero Peek – This is one of our favorite Windows 7 features. Aero Peek gives you “X-ray vision”, it lets you see “through” all your open Windows and see your desktop beneath them. Simply point to the right edge of the taskbar—and watch open windows instantly turn transparent, revealing all your hidden icons and gadgets (you can also use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + Space to accomplish the same thing). If you want to quickly view a buried window, point to its taskbar thumbnail; now only that window shows on the desktop.
Aero Peek is included in the Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions of Windows 7 – it does not come with Windows 7 Basic.
3. Jump Lists – Jump Lists take you right to your most frequently accessed documents, pictures, songs, or websites. To open a Jump List, just right-click a program icon on the Windows 7 taskbar or on the Start menu.
What you see in a Jump List depends entirely on the program. If something isn’t listed in a “Jump List”, you are in charge – you can “pin” whatever files you like there. And Jump Lists don’t just show shortcuts to files either, they sometimes provide quick access to things like opening a new compose window for a new email message, or playing music.
Super tips! Just got Windows 7 and was totally lost until I got your emails. Thanks ever so much!