As I was working on various tasks today (playing with VPC images, ISO files, and a few others), I stumbled across a couple of additional features of Windows 7 that I wanted to share. These are just some quick hits, presented in no particular order.
Right-click an ISO file and there's an option to Burn disc image; sweet! Now I have the latest MSDN Library burning to DVD and I didn't have to scramble for a ISO burning utility.
You can mount a VHD (virtual hard drive) in the disk management utility and treat it like a disk; handy for developers and IT Pros!
I will admit I find UAC to be pretty annoying in Windows Vista. For example, move a shortcut in the All Users Start Menu and you get asked not once but twice to confirm the action. I prefer to keep UAC on at all times, despite the frustration; it's come to my rescue, after all – even reputable sites will occasionally try to install bits through IE and UAC makes it quite clear what they are doing.
The new, improved UAC has a slider to control the level of interaction, from off to protect-me-from-everything. I keep UAC at the default level and it is surprisingly quiet compared to Vista. It pretty much only prompts me when I really only want it to protect me. Great improvement!
The Sidebar – you know, the container docked on the side of the screen with the stock ticker and weather gadgets – is a really nice addition to Windows Vista. We have a couple of really handy internal gadgets that I always install, so I am a fan of this feature. Being a bit OCD about my environment, I never really liked the fact I was forced to have them all together. Moreover, I didn't like the fact that, if I had more gadgets than my screen could display, the extras spilled to a second "page" of the Sidebar.
Problem solved in Windows 7! Gadgets "float" wherever you want them. I can have several placed where I need them on my desktop, and see them whenever I use the next quick hit…