Windows 7 Gem #6 (David's Blog)

Windows 7 includes new windows management shortcuts that have already changed the way I work. The internal names for the new functionality are Aero Snap, Aero Shake, and Aero Peek.

“Aero Snap”

Function	Mouse	Mouse Restore	Keyboard	Keyboard Restore
Maximize	Drag window to top	Drag window down	Win key-Up Arrow	Win key-Down Arrow
Fill left half of screen	Drag window to left	Drag window to right	Win key-Left Arrow	Win key-Right Arrow
Fill right half of screen	Drag window to right	Drag window to left	Win key-Right Arrow	Win key-Left Arrow
Maximize vertically	Drag window border to top or bottom	Drag window down	None	None
Minimize	None	None	Win key-Down Arrow	None

By far, the feature I use the most is dragging windows to the left and right. It makes it really easy to work in one application while referencing another.

“Aero Shake”

Function	Mouse	Mouse Restore	Keyboard	Keyboard Restore
Minimize all but this	Drag window back and forth rapidly	Drag window back and forth rapidly	Win key-Home	Win key-Home

This is just nice when your desktop gets filled with lots of windows and you want to focus on the task at hand.

“Aero Peek”

Function	Mouse	Mouse Restore	Keyboard	Keyboard Restore
Temporarily show desktop and gadgets	Move to bottom-right corner	Move mouse out of corner	Win key-Space	Release Win key
Show desktop and gadgets	Click bottom-right corner	Click bottom-right corner	Win key-D	Win key-D

I think the main reason you would want to see your desktop temporarily is to check the status of gadgets (check weather, news, sports, system status, etc). In Windows 7, the Sidebar is gone and all gadgets go to the desktop.

I didn’t use the Sidebar in Vista because it took too much screen space. In Vista, you could also place gadgets on the desktop, where they were easily forgotten. Because of the ability to quickly peek at the desktop in Windows 7, I expect I’ll use gadgets more.

Here is a video that shows most of this functionality in action.