November 17th, 2008
A deep dive into Windows 7 (build 6801)
Troubleshooting and hardware
Some of the most subtle changes in Windows 7 are pure political correctness. Several dialog boxes that affect search settings, for example, used to warn that choosing a particular option “might be slow.” Now they use a more neutral phrase: “this might take several minutes.” Another popular Vista utility, the Reliability Monitor, also gets a redesign that de-emphasizes the 1-to-10 rating on the System Stability Index.
So, does that mean that Windows troubles are going to be swept under the rug by the language police? Not if the extensive collection of troubleshooters is any indication. In XP and Vista, troubleshooting gets plenty of attention in the Help and Support section. In Windows 7, Control Panel includes a lengthy collection of troubleshooters for most common hardware, software, and network-related problems
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For a closer look at all the changes in Windows 7, see the image gallery that accompanies this post. |
If you’re worried that these troubleshooters are just the latest incarnation of wizards, join the crowd. In my limited testing so far, these troubleshooters seem to do their job with a minimum of fuss and in several cases go beyond the mere basics. The default setting is “just do it” mode, although you can use advanced options to see each setting in advance and view a report listing all changes made after completing the troubleshooter.
The most high-profile change for tracking down maintenance and troubleshooting issues is the new Windows Solution Center, which looks like the Vista-era Security Center but consolidates a slew of other functions into the panel, including access to backup functions, problem reports, and System Restore. The whole thing still feels overly busy and unfinished. In fact, a recent post on the Engineering Windows 7 blog suggests that this feature is about to undergo some radical changes, including a new name, Action Center. Regardless of the name, the real challenge is getting non-technical users to actually find the new control panel and then use it.
An impressive amount of design work has also gone into device support, starting with a new Devices and Printers dialog box that offers a simplified view of the devices you’re most likely to want to configure, including printers, cameras, scanners, and multi-function devices.
One feature I was especially happy to discover is an obscure setting under the Power Options dialog box. By toggling a switch here, you can disable “wake timers,” which are those annoying scheduled tasks and activities that wake your computer up when you’d just as soon it remain asleep.
Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 11/18/08
