When I first had the idea to compile a list of all the new Windows 7 features, I thought that one or two posts would be enough. Well, obviously I underestimated the number of new features in Windows 7. There will be five articles in this series: User Interface, Applications and Functions, Security, Networking, and, last but not least, Administration. Of course, the last three posts are the best ones from an administrator’s point of view. I am also planning to publish another list of Windows Server 2008 R2 features.

This Windows 7 features list is mostly a summary of Microsoft’s Windows reviewer’s guide, which was only available for a couple of days. Perhaps this is a hint that they are already planning to drop features. It is also possible that new features will be added to the final version. Furthermore, it is quite likely that I didn’t include all known features.

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In this article of my Windows 7 feature series, I will blog about the changes in applications that are delivered with Windows and I will also write about functional enhancements. The most notable new application certainly is Internet Explorer 8 and the most important functional change is the new MinWin kernel. The better power management is also quite important. Vista has been criticized for shortening the battery life in laptops; this is significantly shorter than in Windows XP. The improvements sound interesting, but reality will show if Windows 7 is improved here.

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The fundamental security-related improvements were introduced with Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista. The new security features in Windows 7 can be considered as fine-tuning. I am a bit disappointed that there are only minor changes to UAC. Most interesting, from a system administrator’s point view, is the new AppLocker, which allows you to restrict program execution and the multiple active firewall profiles, which would solve problems with laptops that are used at home and in the corporate network.

User Account Control (UAC)

Windows 7 has two new UAC settings:

• Program-based changes only: Don’t notify when the user installs software or changes settings
• Notify only: The user is only notified through a balloon message, but doesn’t have to confirm a prompt

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The most significant network-related enhancements are about the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Some of these will only be relevant when you connect to Windows Server 2008 R2. It seems as if the Remote Desktop Services is one of Microsoft’s answers to the cloud hype. There are also quite a few improvements regarding wireless, which makes sense considering how important wireless networking has become. Note that I will discuss some of the features here in upcoming series about Windows Server 2008 R2.

Windows Connect Now (WCN) (improved)

WCN supports now Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), an industry standard that simplifies WLAN setup.

Wireless device installation (improved)

• A new a device wizard allows you to connect wireless devices such as printers or network attached storage
• Drivers are downloaded automatically if necessary

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There are quite a few enhancements in Windows 7 that directly address the work of system administrators. In particular, OS deployment will be improved. However, there is no wow feature like the new imaging capabilities of Windows Vista. Also noteworthy is the support of VHD files. This demonstrates that virtualization technology is moving more and more from the server to the desktop. The new PowerShell features are certainly nice, too. It has yet to be seen which of these will also be available on Vista and XP.

VHD image management and deployment

• Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) files can be deployed using Windows Deployment Services
• VHD files can be managed using DISM (see below)
• Boot from a VHD file: This feature allows the reuse of the same master image for virtual desktops (VDI) and physical desktops

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