Here are the steps to setup multiple keyboard languages and how to switch between them.

Setup:

1.      Click Start.

2.      Click Control Panel.

3.      If the Control Panel is in the category view click “Change keyboard or other input methods”.

4.      If the Control Panel is in one of the icon views click “Region and Language”.

5.      Click the “Keyboard and Languages” tab.

6.      Click “Change Keyboards”

7.      Under “Installed Services” click “Add”

8.      Scroll down to the language you want to add and expand it by clicking the plus sign (+) next to the language and the plus sign next to the word “Keyboard”.

9.      Check mark the language you want to add.

10.  You can select as many languages as you wish. Once you have finished selecting the languages to add click “OK”

11.  You can now change the default language if you wish. This is the language that will be used when your computer first boots up.

12.  Click “OK” on each window that opened and close the Control Panel.

Switching between languages:

There are a couple of ways to switch between input languages.

1.      Press [Alt][Shift] on your keyboard.

2.      Select the language from the language bar.

The language bar will either be free floating or located on the task bar near the clock. You can change where it is is displayed by minimizing the language bar (if it is free floating) or by selecting “Show the language bar” (if it is on the task bar).

The Jump List is the menu that appears when you right click on an application icon on the task bar.  Here is an example of Internet Explorer’s Jump List:

Some options are the same across all Jump Lists. For example, on all Jump Lists you can pin the application to the task bar, this will keep the application icon on the task bar even after you close it, this basically creates  a shortcut to the application (like the quick launch bar).

Some options are specific to a particular application. For example Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint all show the past few documents opened while Windows Media Player adds the ability to “Play all music shuffled”

As developers start to write applications specifically for Windows 7 you will begin to see the Jump Lists become more customized to the individual applications.

Click here for a detailed chart of Windows 7 features.

ReadyBoost is the ability to use a flash drive (thumb drive) to extend the computer’s memory (RAM). Adding more RAM to a computer increases its performance as it is faster for the computer to access RAM than to access the hard drive.

With Windows Vista there was a 4GB limit for ReadyBoost. This limitation has been removed in Windows 7. Also in Windows Vista you could only use one flash drive for ReadyBoost, in Windows 7 you can use multiple flash drives allowing you to extend the computer’s memory by quite a bit.

How do you use ReadyBoost?

Just insert a flash drive. Windows 7 will read the drive to see if its performance is fast enough to be used as a ReadyBoost device. If it is, Windows will ask you if you want to use the devise to increase system performance. You can use the entire flash drive for ReadyBoost or chose to allocate some space while using the rest to store your files.

Click here for a detailed chart of Windows 7 features.

Outlook 2007 has the ability to preview attachments right from within the preview pane or within the body of an opened email message. I like using the preview pane, this way you don’t even need to open the email.

Outlook 2007 comes pre-installed with previewers for Microsoft Office Products as well as for images and text files:

Word 2007 documents
Excel 2007 worksheets
PowerPoint 2007 presentations
Outlook 2007 items
Visio 2007 drawings
Images
Text files

You can also add additional previewers. For example Adobe created a previewer that lets you preview PDF’s in Outlook 2007.

Here’s how you preview an attachment in Outlook 2007:

From within Outlook find an email with an attachment and left click the attachment (single click, if you double click it will open the attachment).

You may see a warning message. Be careful when opening attachments that you are not expecting or from unknown sources.

Click Preview File. If you always want to open this type of file without the warning remove the checkmark from “Always warn before previewing this type of file.”

The attachment will then open in the preview pane or the body of the opened email message.

To go back to the body of your email, click Message.

At the top of the Outlook window click Tools then Options

On the Options window click Calendar Options

On the Calendar Options window click Add Holidays

On the Add Holidays to Calendar window checkmark the locations whose holidays you want to add to your calendar (you can select multiple locations)

Click OK on each of the windows that opened to close them

1. Open the two workbooks you want to compare
2. Click on the View tab at the top of the page
3. On the Window group under the View tab click the View Side by Side button. If you only have two workbooks open, Excel will automatically choose these two workbooks. If you have more than two workbooks open, a dialog box will open so that you can choose which two workbooks to compare.

Side by Side button

From here you have some more options:

You can click Arrange All to view the two workbooks horizontally or vertically.

Arrange All button

You can also turn Synchronous Scrolling on or off.

Synchronous Scrolling button

Windows 7 32-bit (x86):

• 1 GHz or faster processor
• 1 GB RAM
• 16 GB available hard disk space
• DirectX 9 graphics card with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Windows 7 64-bit (x64):

• 1 GHz or faster processor
• 2 GB RAM
• 20 GB available hard disk space
• DirectX 9 graphics card with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

If you are not sure if your computer is compatible with Windows 7, download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. After you install and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor you will be shown a report telling you how compatible your computer is with Windows 7.

Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade normally sells for $119.99 and Windows 7 Professional Upgrade normally sells for $199.99.

To purchase Windows 7 at the discounted price go to win741.com. To determine eligibility you will be asked to provide your college or university email address (one ending with .edu) or you must be attending one of these schools. If you are eligible for the discount you will receive an email with instructions to complete the purchase.

Pre-orders began on September 17 and you will be able to download (yes download) your purchase on October 22.