Change the Way Windows 7 Displays Taskbar Icons

If you've recently made the move from Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7, one big change you've probably noticed is the way the operating system displays icons in its taskbar (the row along the bottom of the screen).

Specifically, it shows icons only, without any text labels identifying what they are. The screenshot above is what you typically see.

Although some icons are pretty self-explanatory (like those for Internet Explorer, Microsoft Word, etc.), I like to have the accompanying labels--at least for programs that are currently running. Fortunately, it's an easy matter to tweak this option in Windows 7. Here's how:

1. Right-click an open area of the taskbar, then choose Properties.
2. In the Taskbar tab, find the Taskbar buttons pull-down menu.
3. Choose Combine when taskbar is full or Never combine, then click OK.

The first option, which is what I use, keeps the text labels visible until the taskbar gets so crowded as to make that impractical, at which point Windows will ditch the labels and merge multiple instances of running program (like, say, a bunch of Firefox windows) onto a single taskbar icon.

Here's an "after" shot so you can see the taskbar with text labels:

Again, I think this makes Windows 7 a little user-friendlier. Your thoughts?

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Microsoft Reports Record Revenue After Win7 Launch

Spurred on by Windows 7, Microsoft reported record revenue for the fourth calendar quarter of 2009. But a number of Microsoft's businesses also saw revenue decline from a year ago.

For Microsoft's second fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, Microsoft reported record net income of $6.66 billion on revenue of $19.02 billion. Net income soared 60 percent from a year ago, while revenue increased a more modest 18 percent.

Like Apple, Microsoft's revenue benefited from new accounting principles that allowed it to recognize deferred revenue, in this case $1.71 billion of deferred revenue relating to the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program and pre-sales of Windows 7 to OEMs and retailers before general availability.






"Exceptional demand for Windows 7 led to the positive top-line growth for the company," said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft, in a statement. "Our continuing commitment to managing costs allowed us to drive earnings performance ahead of the revenue growth."

Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system launched on Oct. 22, and Microsoft said that it had sold over 60 million licenses to the operating system worldwide, making it the fastest selling operating system in history.

However, Klein and other company executives aid that they have not seen return to enterprise spending growth, and expect to see it return gradually over the course of the year, Klein said.

Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division racked up $6.904 billion in revenue, an increase of about a third from the $4.06 billion the division recorded for the same period last year. OEM revenue climbed 21 percent, faster than PC shipments for the first time in eight quarters. In all, Microsoft saw a higher mix of consumer PCs than business PCs, executives said, and 90 percent of netbooks now use Windows - over half with Windows 7.

Microsoft's Server and Tools Division climbed slightly from $3.755 billion to $3.844 billion. The company will release SQL Server 2008 R2 in May.

"Obviously, the biggest driver to ASPs will be the business PC refresh and the growth of that and the timing of that remains uncertain," Klein said. "We do maintain our general view, that we have, that this will occur over this year, and occur gradually over the next couple of years." He also cited the upsell to Windows 7 Home Premium on netbooks.

However, Microsoft's remaining businesses all saw revenue fall. Microsoft's Entertainment Division, which includes its Xbox business, saw revenue fall from $3.256 billion to $2.902 billion. Microsoft said it sold 13 percent fewer Xbox consoles compared to a year ago, or about 5.2 million units.

Microsoft's other cash cow, its Business Division, also saw a slight drop from $4.881 billion to $4.745 billion. Microsoft will ship Office 2010 at the end of its fiscal year, in June, although most revenue won't be recognized until the next fiscal year, Klein said.

Microsoft's online business also saw a decrease, from $609 million to $581 million. But the company also said it has seen its Bing search engine's market share climb steadily, quarter after quarter.

Microsoft didn't break out the net income for each of its groups; most reported a positive operating income. Microsoft's Windows business reported $5.394 billion in operating income, versus $2.712 billion a year ago, and the Server and Tools business reported $1.491 billion versus $1.375 billion. The Business Division showed a slight dip, reporting $3.010 billion versus $3.021 billion a year ago.

Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices business recorded just $375 million in operating income, but showed a sizable increase compared to just $175 million in operating profit a year ago. Microsoft's online business lost even more money than it did in 2008, with an operating loss of $466 million versus a loss of $320 million.

Microsoft expects its Windows division to be in line with the PC market for fiscal 2010, with its business division lagging PC shipments. Its online and entertainment devices business should be flat or in line with the market, while its server business will grow "slightly faster than server shipments," the company said.

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Install Windows from Scratch

Install Windows from Scratch Whether you are installing Windows 7 on a blank hard drive or a newly created partition, the procedure is the same.

To install Windows 7 from scratch:

1. Power on your computer, insert the Windows 7 DVD, and restart your computer.

2. Press the necessary key to initiate booting from your DVD (usually Esc or F12.) (Appendix H: Boot from a CD or DVD.)

3. Windows will now load the installation files.

4. Click Install now.

 

5. On the Get important updates for installation page, I recommend getting the latest updates to help ensure a successful installation and protect your computer against security threats. You need an Internet connection to get updates.

6. On the Please read the license terms page, if you accept the license terms, click I accept the license terms. (You must accept to continue the installation.)

7. On the Which type of installation do you want? page, click Custom.

8. On the Where do you want to install Windows? page:
a. Click Next to begin the installation (unless you want to create a partition.)

b. OR If you already have another existing partition with enough free space and want to install Windows 7 on that partition to create a multiboot configuration, select the partition you want to use, and click Next to begin the installation. (Be sure to install Windows 7 on a different partition from where your current version of Windows is installed.)

 

Figure 1: Installing Updates

Your computer will restart several times during the process as it configures itself and installs updates (Figure 1.) Be sure to leave the DVD in the drive and let Windows take care of itself.

Figure 2: Installation Complete

After some time, Windows will now be installed (Figure 2.) If you are running a dual boot, you should have the choice of either version of Windows when you power on your computer.

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