Windows 7 Announcement – These were a few of the interesting features that jumped out at me…

• Redesigned task bar:  mouse-over thumbnails and progressive popups of larger thumbnails; individual IE tabs are shown as separate thumbnails; you can now drag&drop reorder apps in the task bar
• Jump Lists: these appear in different parts of the UI, but one specific example was on the new task bar. If you had Word on the task bar,  right click to get your “most recently used” list of documents.
• Windows Explorer: use of libraries – used to consolidate content.
• Search: integrated highlighting in search results
• Home networking: new level of simplified home networking – the “home group” - Win7 PCs will find each other automatically as well automatically provide access to peripherals in the home group like printers. Smart enough to automatically switch between home printer and work printer
• Gadgets can be anywhere on the desktop (no longer stuck to sidebar)
• System tray – notifications area - user can now control what appears in sys tray - ability to specify how notifications will be provide or suppress icons & notifications all together