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Windows 7

2009 → 2020 · Windows

Released in October 2009 with a redesigned taskbar, Snap, Shake and touch support. Microsoft supported it until January 2020.1, 3

Info only Sources See every Windows version →

Released
22 October 20091, 3
Tested by
8 million beta testers1, 2
New in it
A new taskbar, Snap, Shake and Windows Touch1
Support ended
January 20203

What was new

Windows 7 was made for a time when laptops were outselling desktops and people went online through wireless hotspots.2 With Snap, you dragged a window to the edge of the screen and it resized itself. With Shake, you shook one window with the mouse and all the others shrank out of the way.1 With a touch screen, you could use your fingers too.1

A Windows 7 desktop with a blue wallpaper of light streaks. The Start menu is open: a white column of programs with a search box below, and a dark glass column with Documents, Pictures, Music, Games, Computer, Control Panel and more. The pointer rests on Computer, so the picture frame above the menu shows a computer icon. Behind it, a Documents library window with see-through glass edges. The dark glass taskbar shows a round Start button, three program buttons, notification icons and the clock.
Illustration · not a screenshot Our drawing of Windows 7: see-through glass edges, the round Start button and the two-column Start menu. While the menu is open, the Documents window behind it is inactive. See the real screen

A new taskbar

The taskbar was completely redesigned. It became the place to start programs and switch between windows, and it could show small previews of web pages, documents and even running video.1

Close-up of the bottom left of the Windows 7 screen: the lower part of the Start menu with Solitaire, All Programs, the 'Search programs and files' box and the Shut down button, then the dark taskbar with the round Start button and three large program buttons, the folder button framed.
Illustration · not a screenshot Close-up of our drawing: the round Start button and the big taskbar buttons. The folder button is framed because Windows Explorer is running. See the real screen

Key moments