Aero Snap: Use the Windows key and arrow buttons to rearrange windows

Much has been made of Windows 7’s Aero Snap feature, which automatically resizes and arranges program windows when you drag them to the top or sides of the screen. It’s a great feature, to be sure, and particularly handy for making use of larger and wide-screen displays while multitasking.

For example, if you drag two windows to opposite sides of the screen, you get an arrangement like this, with each window auto-arranged side by side:

But as easy as it is to drag windows around with a mouse and have them magically snap into place, many users, particularly the more keyboard-inclined, will find this simple set of keyboard shortcuts invaluable once they try it: Hold down the Windows key, and press any arrow key. The mouse method will soon seem so…antiquated? (If it's possible for a brand-new feature to be antiquated...)

Hitting the Windows key and the up arrow maximizes your currently selected window, down arrow minimizes it, and right or left arrow docks the window to the side of the screen, where it conveniently resizes to take up just half the width of the screen. Those using multiple monitors will also be able to shunt windows between screens by repeatedly arrowing over while holding down the Windows key. A few seconds using this shortcut can turn a jumbled mess of windows into an organized layout that will improve your productivity.

Document processes and (troubles) easily with the Problem Steps Recorder

If you’re the perpetual tech-savvy friend who’s always asked to troubleshoot, Windows 7’s Problem Steps Recorder will be your favorite Windows 7 feature when something goes wrong. It’s an exceedingly simple way to visually record the steps that lead to any problem within Windows 7.

Simply type PSR in the search bar on the Windows 7 Start menu, and hit Enter to launch the app. Click the Start Record button, then click away through whatever task it is that causes the problem. Problem Steps Recorder automatically takes screen captures of every step you take. At any point, you can click the Add Comment button to add your own notes to the process. When you’re finished documenting the problem, click Stop Record, and you’ll be asked to give a name to a ZIP file that will be saved to the desktop for easy e-mailing. The ZIP file contains an MHTML document like this one; it opens in Internet Explorer to reveal a neatly organized list of all of the steps you just recorded:

You can scroll through it like a Web page or view it as a slide show. Clicking on the Additional Details link reveals version numbers for whatever software was used in the problematic process, as well as other details—even whether you single- or double-clicked on a given window.

Master the simple Problems Steps Recorder, and you’ll never have to struggle to explain a Windows-based software problem again. The only Windows problem this app won’t help you with is the notorious Blue Screen of Death. But we haven’t seen one of those in Windows 7 since running the beta, anyway.

Dock the taskbar to the side of the screen

In earlier versions of Windows, it was possible to reorient the Windows taskbar vertically. But the way XP and Vista rendered the vertical taskbar (and sometimes sliced off the icons) made it feel like a half-finished, tacked-on feature. With Windows 7, all the taskbar icons and pinned programs cascade nicely if you turn the taskbar vertical.

If you have multiple instances of a program open (such as multiple Office documents), having the preview pane tile vertically makes finding the right window seem easier, at least to us. See the screen shot below for what we mean; we're displaying multiple open thumbnails of IE:

Docking the Taskbar on the side of the screen is also a great option for netbook users stuck with lower-resolution screens. On a netbook, gaining a bit more vertical space on the Windows Desktop can save a serious amount of scrolling on Web sites.

To move your taskbar to the side of the screen, simply right-click on any space on the bar that isn’t occupied by an icon and click Properties. In the Properties box that pops up, you’ll find a line labeled Taskbar location on screen. You can choose Bottom, Left, Right, or Top:

Give the Left dock a try. It definitely takes a day or two to get used to, but once you do, you just might like it enough to leave it there.