PDC 2008: Cleaning up the desktop in Windows 7

After another long, lofty, and philosophy-laden introduction from Microsoft's Ray Ozzie this morning, the #1 new feature being discussed in the "cleaned up" Windows 7 is improved file and application access.

The rethought Windows 7 taskbar, while not exactly like the dock in Mac OS X, certainly borrows some inspiration from it. Based on the early demonstrations given by Julie Larson-Green this morning, we're seeing a kind of sliding dock that is just as tall as the current taskbar, but which omits the text to the right of icons. The identities of running programs or active documents is ascertained by moving the mouse pointer over the icon.

Larson-Green said she thought it was a good thing that the taskbar be made to work "the way you've been wanting it to."

New search functionality has been added to the updated Windows Explorer (still the name for the file manager system). Documents may be accessed by type or by filter, and the list of matching items is updated on the fly. (Many regular BetaNews users will probably describe this as "Total Commander with icons.")

UPDATE The new taskbar in Windows 7 represents the most obvious visual change in the operating system since Windows 95. It will demand a little more interaction on the part of users who operate fewer applications at one time. However, that's a rapidly declining minority; and the text that appears to the right of running apps in the current taskbar is becoming, for most users, more obstructive than informational.

That said, it's not very pretty, at least not yet. In the interest of making the desktop prettier, the Windows 7 engineers have taken a cue from Excel, by adding a "live preview" option. For instance, when selecting a new wallpaper, you can see the choice you're considering on the desktop, prior to finalizing your choice.