(I described how to shut down Windows in a jiffy back in March 2008.) Taking the time to close them one by one can make me late for dinner. Put all your apps away with a single clickīy the time my workday ends, I often have a dozen or more application and folder windows open. To revert to the regular view, click the magnifying-glass icon to bring the small Magnify control back into view and close the program. Move the cursor to the edge of the screen to move the view left, right, up, or down. The Magnify utility opens at the default 200 percent view. To go really large, press the Windows key, type magnify, and press Enter. But that's just the beginning of your big-picture options. (The options are also available on the View menu if it's not visible, click Alt-F.)Īnother way to resize your icons is by pressing Ctrl and scrolling the mouse wheel. If large isn't large enough, choose the down-arrow button and choose Extra Large Icons. The views available when you click the "Change your view" icon in Windows 7's version of Explorer include Content, Tiles, Details, List, and three sizes of icons: small, medium, and large. Supersize your icons-and everything else on your screen Another popular Notepad replacement with a programming bent is the aptly named Notepad++.
Many programmers prefer the $20 NoteTab Pro from Fookes Software (also available in a free NoteTab Light version, minus many features). The Pro version includes many features tailored to programmers, such as syntax coloring and line numbering.
For these, you must upgrade to the $50 EditPad Pro version. The Lite version of EditPad lacks a spell checker, word count, and other standard word processing features.
EditPad Lite is a simple yet powerful text editor replacement for Windows' built-in Notepad utility. You can undo or redo the last several operations, jump to a specific line number, choose one of five fonts, and wrap text at the right window border or at one of five preset character lengths. The program features a tabbed interface and a simple set of icons for common operations, such as cut, copy, paste, open, close, save, and save all. My favorite Notepad replacement is EditPad Lite, which is fast and compact but surprisingly powerful. You could say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," but when it comes to basic text processing, you can do much better without having to pay for the privilege. Windows 7's built-in text editor looks a lot like Vista's default text editor.and XP's text editor.and Windows Me's.and Windows 98's.
Set Windows 7 to remember the size and position of folder windows when you reopen them with the free ShellFolderFix utility.įree text editor outshines the venerable Notepad
The utility's other options let you create a "work space" consisting of specific folder views that you can open by right-clicking the ShellFolderFix icon and choosing the work space on the resulting context menu. Windows 7 will then remember where your folder windows were when you closed them and will reopen them in the same size and location.
The free ShellFolderFix utility remedies the situation.Īfter you download and install the program, double-click its icon in the notification area to activate it. Each folder window you open in Windows 7 adopts the size and placement of the last folder window you closed.
Set Windows 7 to reopen folder windows to their previous size and locationĪnother unpleasant change in Windows 7 is the inability to open folder windows at the same dimensions and location they were when you closed them. Select "Automatically expand to current folder" in the Navigation pane section of Windows Explorer's Folder Options dialog to see the active folder in the left pane. To see the selected folder in Explorer's left pane, click Tools, Folder options, and check "Automatically expand to current folder" under "Navigation pane" on the General tab. In fact, Microsoft disabled automatic folder tracking by default in Windows 7. The first time I realized Windows 7's version of Explorer wasn't showing the active folder in the left pane, I thought I discovered a bug. Show the selected folder in Explorer's left pane Here are five easy ways to make a good operating system better. Windows 7 is an unqualified hit, but it's not perfect.