5 features that didn’t quite make the cut for Windows 7

Windows 7 is being hailed as Microsoft’s “saving grace” after the failure that was Vista.  7 is Microsoft’s second chance at winning back many who either stayed with XP or left and went to another OS all together.  As with all things, the development process is a long one full of many twists and turns.  Ideas come and go as they are either deemed too advanced, to confusing, or simply not needed.  Come inside for several screenshots *and explanations* of features that were nixed from Windows 7.

*Explanations are below each thumbnail*

(Above) First up on the list ‘o nixes is each item in the task bar having its own right-click menu.  Microsoft however decided that multiple right-click menus was too confusing and removed the feature from 7.

Next up is a search light sort of effect that trails from the open window down to its position on the task bar.  This won’t be missed.  There are much better ways they could have accomplished an effect like this.  Hopefully they come up with something else.

Thumbnails almost became trippy as Microsoft looked back on the more psychedelic times of decades past in looking for a new and exciting look for thumbnail management.  As you can see from the stickies above, it would not have ended up well.  *Cue “Another One Bites the Dust”*

Above is a large assortment of various ideas for thumbnail management.  Some seem rather intuitive while others such as the 50′s comic effect “Bam” leave me scratching my head.

Rounding out the list of failed features is thumbnail images in the task bar itself.  As you can see, even though the task bar is already garishly large, you still can’t reall see anything on the thumbnail.  Now if you had a thumbnail of a bright browser window and another of a dark application, decerning between the two would be easy.  However, if you had to explorer windows open and were navigating through files you can see how this would have been pretty much useless.

And there you have it, 5 features that were cut from Windows 7 that no one will miss.  Even though it is useless information, it’s still cool to see behind the scenes every once and a while and see how things such as Windows or any operating system for that matter are developed.

Source: Alley Insider, Tech Radar

Author: Mike Norris

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Gadget lover, smartphone collector, and beer connoisseur. I've been writing about gadgets for three years now and loving every minute of it. Outside of the digital landscape, I enjoy being active outdoors. I'm always up for a good conversation, so feel free to drop me a line!