Windows 7 Article Categories

Every month new patches come out for Windows that sometimes require a reboot.  Windows 8 and Windows 7 can force a reboot while you are in the middle of working or left your computer idle for a little as five minutes. In Windows 8, Microsoft removed the ability to indefinitely postpone reboots while you were actively using your PC which can result in lost work if your applications running do not have an auto save feature.

Word 2013 includes a brand new typing animation that glides across the screen as you type and to a new line upon hitting Enter. Excel 2013 includes a similar feature where the cell selection graphic glides around the grid when using the arrow keys. Some will love the new animations but others may find them distracting. In typical Microsoft fashion, a registry key was created that allows power users to disable the animations. 

The Java Runtime Environment has become one of the most exploited components of any operating system. Even the US Department of Homeland Security warns users to disable java unless they have a really good reason to use it.  For most of us the days of Web sites requiring you to run Java applets has long passed.  However, there still are a good number of desktop applications written in Java so simply uninstalling it is not practical. Instead, a good way to minimize your risk is to disable the Java browser plugins.  That is the primary attack vector, meaning how Java is exploited, in most cases and closing that door will significantly improve the security of your device. 

Tabs in our Web browsers have become a critical feature so much that I can't imagine using a browser without tabs.  They have made browsing the web easier and more productive, yet for some reason we don't have tabs in the second most used browser, Windows Explorer. 

Hitting the F8 key at the right moment while your PC is starting up is much more difficult on fast modern hardware. With boot times as low as a few seconds, the window hit the F8 key and bring up the safe boot menu is very small.  Practically impossible for most users unless you have the reflexes of a ninja.