Let Windows tune your LCD for top text legibility

Windows 7 is the first Windows OS for which, at its introduction, LCD monitors have truly been the overwhelming display standard. (They were well on their way at the time of Vista’s introduction, but the trend has accelerated with the ascendancy of laptops and the wholesale move to LCDs on desktop PCs.) The new OS includes a dedicated LCD-tweaking wizard that lets you improve the look of text on your screen. It’s called the ClearType Text Tuner (CTTT).

You access CTTT from the Windows Control Panel; click on the Display item, and, in the resulting dialog, click on Adjust ClearType text. That will launch the wizard. Make sure on the first screen that the box next to Turn on ClearType is checked, and follow the prompts. Windows 7 will first check that your monitor or monitors are running at their native resolutions. (Native resolution generally delivers the best possible text legibility.) Then, it will take you through some comparisons reminiscent of a vision test at the eye doctor. The wizard runs a series of visual tests, asking you which block of text looks clearer to you, like this:

When you’re done, chances are you’ll see a noticeable difference in text quality. After you’ve run CTTT, you may wish to return to the Display Control Panel and tweak the size of default Windows text. Under the subhead Make it easier to read what’s on your screen, try tweaking the setting from Smaller to Medium or Larger if that’s more comfortable for you. If you do indeed decide to change the default text size, however, we recommend running CTTT again so your screen is optimized for the new size.

App switching made easy with Windows key + T

The keyboard shortcut Alt + Tab is the ancient Windows standby for switching between apps. And those of us immersed in Windows Vista (on a PC with the enhanced Aero interface active) have seen Aero Flip, Vista’s flashy means of task switching, in which the Windows key + Tab combination lets you cycle through three-dimensional planar renderings of your open windows.

Aero Flip and old-reliable Alt + Tab continue to work in Windows 7. But the new OS introduces yet another means of task switching, which stands apart because it lets you cycle in turn through not only all open apps but also see grouped windows within each app. It’s tied in, once again, with the taskbar rethink in Windows 7. It’s the shortcut Windows key + T.

Repeatedly hitting this combination will scroll you through the different apps that you have open, popping up thumbnail previews above each program’s icon in the taskbar. If you have multiple windows open for a given app, you’ll see all of the windows grouped as a set of thumbnails. Same behaviour with Internet Explorer 8 (though, interestingly, not with Firefox): If you have multiple tabs open in a browser, you’ll see each tab displayed as a discrete window thumbnail. Releasing the keys with a particular app thumbnail active, interestingly, doesn’t launch the program but leaves the thumbnail suspended; you need to click it or hit Enter to bring up that program. (That’s unlike with Alt + Tab or Aero Flip; with those, releasing the keys brings the window to which you’ve cycled to the fore.)

And, as mentioned earlier in a previous tip, there’s a hidden new option with these thumbnails: You can close any window via its taskbar thumbnail by clicking on it with your middle mouse button. You don’t necessarily have to navigate to the little red “X” in the corner of the thumbnail.

Launch or maximize programs with the shortcut Windows key + 1, 2, 3

Windows 7 certainly isn’t hurting for new shortcut keys, and this one can be applied in a number of ways, including some we probably haven’t thought of yet. With it, you can launch a program from the keyboard—or bring its minimized or buried window to the forefront—so long as the program is showing live or pinned icons in the taskbar.

Each program icon in your taskbar, whether pinned there or representing a launched app, gets assigned a virtual number, starting with “1” for the leftmost icon and increasing by one as you go right. If you tap the Windows key in combination with a numeral, it will launch or bring forward the program corresponding to it in the taskbar. So, for example, Windows key + 1 will launch the leftmost taskbar program icon.

Why is this useful, as opposed to using one of the many other window- or task-switching options in Windows 7? We can think of one good application: If you pin a series of frequently used programs to the left side of the taskbar, you can launch them in sequence shortly after bootup (or at any time you choose) with a few brisk keystrokes.

Easily switch the active window to a second monitor

For some years now, we’ve been ardent advocates of using two monitors on our desktop PC. And if you’ve discovered the pleasures of using an extended desktop spread across two side-by-side LCDs, you’ll agree that it’s hard to go back to just one screen once you’ve made the jump.

You’ll also probably agree, though, that with two displays, you spend a good deal of time pushing windows around when working in multiple programs. Notably, sometimes you just want to shift a window that’s in your way over to your other monitor, without necessarily minimizing or covering it.

In earlier Windows versions, that was a two- or three-click process: If the window was maximized, you’d hit the resize icon in its upper right corner to downsize it for moving. (A fully maximized window couldn’t be dragged.) You’d then drag it by the title bar over to the other display, and then perhaps maximize it again.

We’re used to the routine, but in Windows 7 that rigmarole has been reduced to a key combination: Windows key + Shift + Left Arrow (or Right Arrow).

Hitting this combination moves the active window over to your other monitor in the same relative position. This exposes (hopefully!) the window you were looking for beneath it, while leaving the shifted window still visible. It works with more than two monitors, too.