Longhorn Coming Attractions - Part 2, Page 2

File Replacement

Another cool feature is that the file-replacement dialog shows a small preview of the item you are about to replace (see Figure 7).

Figure 7: Replace Dialog Window

System Audio

Sound is one area that requires further improvement. Even though I applied default sounds to various tasks (such as system startup and shutdown), I can't hear them during those particular events. Moreover, the sound and audio devices applet in the control panel doesn't provide many default sounds.

Picture Viewer

The picture viewer (see Figures 8 and 9) is really cool. It has a built-in slide show functionality with which you can view all your pictures one by one. The bottom portion of the viewer consists of navigation and zoom options.

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Figure 8: Picture Viewer - Top Portion

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Figure 9: Picture Viewer - Bottom Portion

File Search

Microsoft has improved the search option on the Start menu. It includes options for choosing a file type and its size (see Figure 10).

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Figure 10: The Search Box Screenshot

File Properties

The properties dialog that you get upon right-clicking a file has a new look. It has separate sections for each item, and it opens up in an enlarged window (see Figure 11).

Figure 11: Properties Dialog

Opening Files

With Longhorn, you need not manually specify the application with which to open a specific file. The "Open With" dialog lists a set of recommended programs from which to choose (see Figure 12).

Figure 12: The Popular "Open With" Dialog Revisited

Shutting Down Longhorn

The shut down menu option is completely different from that of earlier Windows versions. If you click the down pointed arrow near the shut down menu item, you will see the list of options shown in Figure 13. You can then choose one of the options according to your requirements.

Figure 13: Good Bye Longhorn

You can access the documentation of the Longhorn software development kit (SDK) from the MSDN site (http://longhorn.msdn.microsoft.com/), or you can access it on your system after you've installed it. It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss more about the SDK. I will examine more about this kit in a later article.

About the Author

Anand Narayanaswamy (Microsoft MVP) works as an independent consultant and runs NetAns Technologies (http://www.netans.com), which provides affordable Web-hosting services. Anand also runs LearnXpress.com (http://www.learnXpress.com) and DotNetAlbum.com (http://www.dotnetalbum.com). He regularly contributes articles, and product and book reviews for various Web sites. He can be reached at ananddotnet@yahoo.co.in.