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Yamaha Home Theater

Windows 7 Insider

October 20, 2009 5:25 PM PDT

Windows 7's Aero in pictures

by Seth Rosenblatt

Windows 7's Aero in pictures

Introduced for Vista, the translucent Aero skin has been heavily developed and expanded in Windows 7. See what this key design and interface feature looks like and behaves like in the new operating system.

Seth peers into the deep, dark corners of software so that you don't have to. He has yet to suffer a single nightmare about OS/2. You can follow him on Twitter.

Topics:: Guides & How-Tos

Tags:: Windows 7,; Aero,; Peek,; Snap,; Glass,; Shake,; taskbar

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See all Windows 7 coverage.

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) Showing 1 of 2 pages (62 Comments)

by veilx October 20, 2009 5:34 PM PDT

Hey look!, they don't look like vista's Aero at all!

Like this Reply to this comment


by tipoo_ October 20, 2009 6:46 PM PDT: Its an incremental change to the GUI - Just like with Apple releases.; Like this


by October 21, 2009 9:00 PM PDT: Ok, For those of you debating on wether or not you will get that net book... GET IT.! first off Ace that Ppoor copy of Xp. I got a 32 bit version of 7 (rc). I installed a iso drive, loaded the imaginary disk and Whamo! I thought I made a mistake at first, the system was sluggish drivers were non existent, then like the cobblers elves threat worked all night , problems resolved! 7 is so much better than its predecessors, It is not a system resource hog, My Acer one with the atom, 1gig and 160hd is more than what I need for what a net book is good for "a computer for whilest I am away from my main unit"; Like this


by McDaveH October 21, 2009 11:35 PM PDT: "Its an incremental change to the GUI - Just like with Apple releases." but with a 7-year wait! Built right in!

"a computer for whilest I am away from my main unit" - two PCs are better (more expensive) than one.; Like this

by mistasandman October 20, 2009 5:43 PM PDT

Defintely the best user interface of ANY os ever released..

Like this Reply to this comment


by 42istheanswer October 20, 2009 6:35 PM PDT: Come on fanboys. This one is ripe for the pickin'; Like this


by terminalblue October 20, 2009 7:13 PM PDT: I actually am not really a big fan of aero, i have disabled most of the "areo peek" functionality for a more traditional start task bar. its just really a pain to hover over an icon to see a grouping of windows and then pick the one you want.

I do really like the way it groups similar item together, but i wish that the system tray was more like vista's and XP (auto0hiding less used icons)

its not bad, but i prefer ubuntu's UI over Seven's; Like this


by goodspeed8701 October 20, 2009 9:14 PM PDT: Terminalblue... you like to suffer! Who cares if you don't like it?; Like this


by prettylisa October 21, 2009 1:42 AM PDT: I don't like aero either. Microsoft made window edges fatter so you can appreciate aero, but I cannot fit as much windows on screen as with XP classical.; Like this


by thydavidcome October 21, 2009 5:38 AM PDT: Indeed Areo is the best and most useful. Prettylisa is right, it does take up about 1 cm or so more window space. However in windows 7 it adds significantly more functionality. Such as areo peak, areo shake, jump lists. Not to mention it condenses the open windows so you save a lot more task bar space. Not to mention I love transparency.

To me it was a major selling point for Windows 7.; Like this


by kidknapp October 21, 2009 12:14 PM PDT: Many similar features that are available from Compiz - and have been for some time - free.....for Linux users of course;); Like this


by thydavidcome October 21, 2009 12:34 PM PDT: Too bad linux is a pain in the ass to use, contains only freeware **** that don't work anywhere near as well as the actual versions aviable on Windows, is slower then Windows 7, and a pain in the ass to install many different programs (such as JDK/JRE).

I rather pay and get things working out of the box then to use the POS known as Linux

Distros I tried:
Ubuntu 8.04
Ubuntu 8.10
Ubuntu 9.04
Kubuntu 8.04
Kubuntu 9.04
OpenSUSE 11.0
OpenSUSE 11.1
OpenSUSE 11.2

All of them sucked horribly vs Windows.; Like this


by McDaveH October 21, 2009 11:38 PM PDT: & only another 5 years until the software catches up! (If only there were fewer developers). Have they gotten rid of that pesky drag-n-drop-killing maximise button yet? It takes Windows back to DOS apps-switching days.; Like this

by EvanSei October 20, 2009 6:02 PM PDT

vista had one thing going for it and that was aero. It looks darn good then and now in windows 7 it just got nicer looking. Out of all the things MS did wrong in vista they were bound to get at least one thing right I am glad they continued with aero.

Like this Reply to this comment


by McDaveH October 21, 2009 11:40 PM PDT: Funny how Windows started opaque & got more specular plasticky and OSX started specular plasticky & got...better!; Like this


by EvanSei October 25, 2009 12:20 PM PDT: @McDaveH
first of all OSX started the same as windows they looked very similar, your just trying to get under peoples skin. But OSX does look good and I am glad that windows copied the good parts of OSX style and kept the good parts of vista. Years ago Apple copied windows, now Windows is copying Apple nothing wrong with that.; Like this

by Goodbye Helicopter October 20, 2009 6:16 PM PDT

yawn.
Crazy, their performance test says this brand new machine is smokin' for everything, including 3d games and graphics, but only sub-middle for Aero... ***???
Aero is NOT all that. It's GARISH.
Overkill on the shimmers & translucencies.
Seriously.
Apple never went THAT far w/shimmer OR translucency and they toned it down due to users' complaints in 10.5 Leopard...

Irony,
Turn OFF Aero ( use windows Classic )
Machine IS smokin' fast!
This is sort of RETARDED.
How can the GUI be more intense than games??
Why??!!
Shouldn't the GUI be more optimized....??
Oh wait, that's OS X. (AppKit rocks your socks)

Like this Reply to this comment


by dwinks October 20, 2009 6:32 PM PDT: You might want to think of getting a new video card if Aero taxes yours. I am using 7 on a mobility-oriented laptop (read: not powerful AT ALL) and I have no issues with Aero.; Like this


by tektaktyks October 20, 2009 8:04 PM PDT: yea apple have some ****** cards,if you want a good one u gotta pay like $500 extra,joke; Like this


by Insert_Meme October 20, 2009 8:19 PM PDT: Pffft Aero is smooth on my 2 year old NETBOOK. Your GPU is worse than Intel Accelerated graphics... don't make me laugh. Everybody says Win7 will run fine on your generic 1.6gHz Atom 1gb ram netbook. I'm not commenting on Aero's aesthetics, people have different tastes, but your computer seriously has problems, or you're lying through your teeth (I smell fanboyism worse than my Playstation addiction).

Also, irony is a noun, just fyi.; Like this


by rationalreview October 20, 2009 8:26 PM PDT: Turn off OSX, leave off, use polished usable win7 machine. Goooooood, goooood, sleeeeeep, sleeeeeep.; Like this


by thydavidcome October 21, 2009 5:40 AM PDT: Wait, what? I use Areo on a NETBOOK, and a 6 year old EMACHINES and they all run phenomenally. Please, PLEASE actually USE windows 7 before posting nonsense, it only makes you look like an idiot.; Like this

by bigdaddy515 October 20, 2009 6:35 PM PDT

One word Compiz! All MS does is copy and paste. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC5uEe5OzNQ

Like this Reply to this comment


by thydavidcome October 21, 2009 5:42 AM PDT: How was any of that "copied and pasted"? All of those things in Linux were copied from Mac and Windows. Stop failing, please.; Like this


by Williame789 October 20, 2009 6:39 PM PDT: At least I am very used to use it. Been using it since January like my primary OS, anyone that has been using it from beta like me it is very going to be easy to use it now.; Like this Reply to this comment

by imjsims October 20, 2009 6:42 PM PDT

Goodbye Helicopter, What are you talking about? Windows 7 with Aero on my laptop does not slow down my PC one bit! My PC is smokin fast with no bugs and the laptop only cost $700. windows 7 with microsoft security essentials will have your PC smokin fast. Try and use the product before bashing it. I have been with it from beta day one and it is the best OS made by any company yet.

Like this Reply to this comment


by rationalreview October 20, 2009 8:28 PM PDT: Win7 on my dv9000 HP is smokin' fast. Though I never had problems with Vista on it either other than the circle spinning sometimes when it didn't need to. win7 has given me way more than my high expecations had for it.; Like this


by ballmerisanape October 20, 2009 9:05 PM PDT: Win 7 is snappier on my dual-core iMac than XP is on my quad-core XPS... go figure.; Like this


by thydavidcome October 21, 2009 8:53 AM PDT: @ballmerisanape

Obviously Windows 7 is faster on your dual core mac vs XP on your quad-core. Windows XP is significantly slower and less efficient then 7. Windows 7 and even Vista are exponentially better then XP on high end PC's.; Like this

by casanegro October 20, 2009 6:45 PM PDT

Windoze 7 is still Windoze. OS X still is much better than Aero will ever be. Who needs the taskbar when you got dock. Who needs Aero peek when the OS X interface is already so much more perfect.

Like this Reply to this comment


by Grem135 October 20, 2009 6:54 PM PDT: *** do you think the dock is? call it what you will it still lets you open apps and go back to your already open apps quick; Like this


by rationalreview October 20, 2009 8:29 PM PDT: Hey, the D*CK copied the taskbar in the first place, just polished it up. Win7 is polishing up the outdated D*CK that OSX originally ripped from Newtech. Nice.; Like this


by ballmerisanape October 20, 2009 9:09 PM PDT: The dock and taskbar are totally different. The taskbar in XP is useless... The improvements in 7 are substantial. Too bad MS didn't include something like the Macs System Profiler though...; Like this


by adasha76 October 21, 2009 2:52 AM PDT: The dock and the task bar are nothing like each other. The dock is app focused, the taskbar is document focused. Different. There's an article on Ars Technica that explains it very well. No I'm not hunting for the link, do it yourself.

As for OSX's UI being perfect, well lol. There's no such thing as perfect and even then Apple would have a long way to go. Don't get me wrong, it's very sleek and shiny and has some very nice useability features but there are also many things that need improvement. Same goes with Windows before anyone accuses me of bias.; Like this

by durrrr October 20, 2009 6:45 PM PDT

Wow, are you apple people so insecure that you need to troll every single story about Windows 7 and post how much better OS X is? Can't you just be happy with your operating system and lay off stories that aren't even related to apple? The more posts you people make, the more I think apple users have the biggest inferiority complexes I've ever seen. Judging by the way most apple users look (artsy, unemployed bachelors) I'm not really surprised.

Like this Reply to this comment


by ecotopian--2008 October 20, 2009 6:58 PM PDT: Yes, Apple users are all unemployed. That is how they can afford all that expensive gear. Right.; Like this


by durrrr October 20, 2009 7:41 PM PDT: As if you need to have a job to buy expensive things in this country - two words: credit, debt. 20% of this country is unemployed yet overpriced Apple's profits are surging. Says alot about their customers priorities in life. Either that or how badly pepole want to get away from Microsoft, not neccessarily how good Apple is.

And here's another two words for ya: mommy, daddy. Can't count how many liberal arts majors I see walking around with their overpriced iMac mama and dada so kindly provided them. They're soooo cool. Just like that guy in the mac commercial. Right.

Thanks for reinforcing my opinion that apple users are insecure about their purchase, though - you're yet another troll commenting on a story with nothing to do about apple. Mac forums a little slow today? Got to admit those new Mac all-in-ones they released today really put me to sleep, until I saw the price on those beasts. Boggles my mind how someone would pay so much for so little.

and PS I'm neither an M$ or APPL fan. Just stating how insecure you apple dweebs make yourselves look with every successive post.; Like this


by tektaktyks October 20, 2009 8:06 PM PDT: oh yea ?how many americans in debt?; Like this


by rationalreview October 20, 2009 8:30 PM PDT: Ecto, they live with their mommies. Win users have jobs that use Win machines that play well with their home computers.; Like this


by ckh1272 October 21, 2009 1:41 AM PDT: @durrrr--I will agree that some of the Apple fan comments get a little silly, but they are no different than the many Windows user who "troll" Apple articles just to chime in their "wisdom" It is most definitely a two way street. BTW, assumptions about users looks is just plain ignorant.; Like this


by kidknapp October 21, 2009 12:12 PM PDT: Somebody get burned by someone with a Mac? Bad Apple? JK! I do think all of this is highly amusing seeing people argue over GUI preferences based on brand. I find it a bit like a sociologist arguing nature v. nurture with a psychologist, I find myself thinking "why not both?" Why not Ubuntu with Fedora with OS/2 with Unix with Windows with OS X, etc. etc., all VM'd or Multi booted onto one computer? After some time I have found that arguing about your OS is like arguing over whether dinner needs more garlic or salt, etc. etc. Come on people! If your biggest complaint in the world is how annoying apple users are your life must be pretty OK, Huh?; Like this


by Grem135 October 20, 2009 6:52 PM PDT: Been using Win 7 since public beta release. I have it on a blazing fast AMD Phenom II 945 with 8 gig ram and my 2 year old HP lappy dual core AMD 2 gig ram and 8400m graphics (paid $600 for it new). the laptop is smoking fast... and that new desktop.....just no words for that; Like this Reply to this comment

by Gold_Storm_Mac October 20, 2009 7:55 PM PDT

aero does look nicer than what os x has right now (though our buttons, bars, install trackers, and dock look better). that will change with cougar, they will add a charcoal theme that looks much better (hint:contextual menus on the dock)

Like this Reply to this comment


by ballmerisanape October 20, 2009 9:11 PM PDT: I like the option to change themes... Been wanting that from Apple for a while.; Like this


by kishenj October 20, 2009 8:13 PM PDT: WIN7 IS THE BEST.....N IT WILL BE THE BEST 4EVER...; Like this Reply to this comment

by queticomn October 20, 2009 9:03 PM PDT

Arrow is a total rip from the Linux *compiz* windows decorator..

Like this Reply to this comment


by sythara October 20, 2009 9:45 PM PDT: I disagree. Compiz has more cooler features.

Its more of a downgrade, or a poor attempt of emulation.; Like this


by queticomn October 21, 2009 2:28 PM PDT: @sythara

I understand you point. :); Like this


by sythara October 20, 2009 9:44 PM PDT: Aero in Win7 is better than one in Vista. It consumes less resources and runs much faster, even on low end cards and processors (i.e. netbooks). My netbook was using Aero with absolutely no problems.

I guess the key feature to Win7 as opposed to Vista is that it does not render the windows that are not displayed. Vista was suppoosed to do that (I believe) but never really did it well.

And this is ocming from a guy who runs XP in classic mode of the old Win2k at work.; Like this Reply to this comment


by kelmon October 21, 2009 12:30 AM PDT: I think that Aero has quite a bit to offer but whoever thought that window borders should be transparent by default needs shooting. This is the #1 thing to disable upon installation of Windows Vista/7. Once that is done then it is so much easier to use the system and read what is shown on the window borders. The rest of Aero is fine, although I still hold that Flip 3D missed the point and that Alt+Tab does a better job (Expose on OS X remains the gold standard) since you can at least now go directly to your desired window.; Like this Reply to this comment

by Nick-M October 21, 2009 12:34 AM PDT

Going straight for ultimate. don't bother with that second rate stuff. too bad you cant get rid of media center. I hate that thing

Like this Reply to this comment


by incendy October 21, 2009 7:41 AM PDT: The only benefit of Ultimate is bit locker whcih is huge for me but not most users and Media Center on 7 is amazing IMO but to each his own.

As for as Aero goes, I think it is perfect and like anything in Windows if it isn't too you liking you can simply tweak it so it is.; Like this


by thydavidcome October 21, 2009 8:55 AM PDT: Windows Media Center is significantly better on Windows 7. I actually use it now, before on Vista/XP it was garbage.; Like this


by PiCASSiMO October 21, 2009 7:05 AM PDT: CNET: Can you guys start updating the size of your pictures? They are super tiny on my 24" 1920 x 1200 display. Besides, a good majority of us have high-speed internet, so we don't mind to wait the addition two tenths of a second for load-up time.

Thanks!; Like this Reply to this comment


by celso85 October 21, 2009 7:27 AM PDT: hello; Like this Reply to this comment

by MaggieRed October 21, 2009 7:32 AM PDT

Well the design and concept of the UI is a direct take from OS X. But that's a good thing, copying as always been the sincerest form of flattery.

I'm really glad Windows users will get an interface similar to what OS X users have been enjoying for quite some time now.

But it behoves you to not imply this was a MS innovation (since they like that word), to compete they had to capitalize on OS X's success and follow what user's like.

It's not a derogatory statement towards MS, it's actually a compliment from MS towards Apple's engineering and design. This is no big secret or revelation, it's been that way for quite some time.

So stop your arguing and fighting people.

Everyone wants to kill another company's products and success, truth be know that is room on this planet for all these products to exist in harmony. The sad part is MS's willing to make their product work worst on OS X hoping they would sell another seat of Windows, while Apple strives to make their products work seamless and equal on both products (iTunes, Safari, iPod, and iPhone) They even make a small program that can be installed on Windows to allow Windows system to share their CD/DVD drives wirelessly to other computers.

It would be nice if MS would not think they need to rule the world like some communistic dictator and play nice letting people decide which product they prefer to use. Some will like Windows some will like OS X. It's all about personal choice.

Like this Reply to this comment


by thydavidcome October 21, 2009 8:57 AM PDT: "I'm really glad Windows users will get an interface similar to what OS X users have been enjoying for quite some time now."
-Your ignorance is showing.; Like this


by ballmerisanape October 21, 2009 11:29 AM PDT: thydavidcome,

ignorance? Hardly... arrogance.. maybe... but what he said was true. The XP GUI is horribly outdated.. unless you actually like your memory usage displayed in kilobytes.

It's funny how you guys made fun of OS X for its eye candy.... and now that MS finally updates it's OS with a modern GUI.. you think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.; Like this


by thydavidcome October 21, 2009 12:40 PM PDT: "ignorance? Hardly... arrogance.. maybe... but what he said was true."
I was referring to his statement that Areo is a copy of OS X, which correct me if I am wrong uses that ugly grey ****.

"The XP GUI is horribly outdated.. unless you actually like your memory usage displayed in kilobytes. "
REALLY? a 10 year old operating system is outdated??? Shocking. You do realize a new OS has come out since XP?

"It's funny how you guys made fun of OS X for its eye candy"
Actually PC fanboys make fun of Mac (the system) due to the eye candy (shiny!). OS X is nothing nice to look at.; Like this