UI Changes from Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 to RC Build 7048

As we all know Windows 7 RC build 7048 has been leaked recently and it'll be released to public very soon. The one and only build which was released to public last time, was Beta build 7000. The Beta build 7000 was compiled on December 12, 2008, at 2:00pm and the RC build 7048 was compiled on February 19, 2009 at 6:45pm, so there is more than two months gap between both builds compilation.
Do you want to know what are the UI changes in this new RC build which were not present in the previous beta build?

New Start ORB (Start button):

The first change which you notice after installing Windows 7 RC build is the new Start ORB.
It has been changed and now the glowing part looks cleaner and better than the previous one.

Control Panel:

The second big change is the new white-grey sidebar in System Properties and other Control Panel applets.
Also a drop-down menu "View by" has been added in Control Panel to switch between Large and Small icons.

Desktop Context Menu:

The Desktop context menu has also been modified.
There is a new "Show desktop gadgets" option in context menu which allows you to easily show/hide desktop gadgets.
"Gadgets" icon has been changed.
All options text now follows "Sentence case", i.e. only the first letter of the first word is capital.

Alt+Tab with Aero Peek:

Now whenever you press "Alt+Tab", Windows uses "Aero Peek" to hide other applications windows so that you can concentrate more on the selected application in Alt+tab list.

No Red 'x' icon in Internet Explorer:

All previous IE versions used to show an ugly red 'x' icon on an image when the image was not found or not loaded. But now IE in RC build no longer shows it, it shows a blank box instead.
Also IE is no longer Beta or RC in this build, its final now.

Program Compatibility Options:

Now RC build contains 3 new options in program compatibility list:

• Windows XP (Service Pack 3)
• Windows Vista (Service Pack 1)
• Windows Vista (Service Pack 2)

IE, WMP and many other Windows applications are removable now:

As we earlier posted, now users can remove many Windows applications like IE, WMP, Media Center, Windows Search, etc using "Programs and Features" list.
Windows 7 Allows You to Remove IE, WMP and Many Other Windows Components

New Program Icons, Wallpapers and Sound Schemes:

Some Windows applications have new icons now like MS Paint, Calculator, etc.
Also there are a few new wallpapers and sound schemes in this build.

Posted in: win 7