Odd Facts And Weird Features on Windows 7

[Shane]

Windows 7 is everywhere. And justly so. As a result, the internet is groaning with deep-dive analysis of this and tech briefings on that. The new operating system does however have some strange new features, weird proclivities and the odd skeleton in the closet.

Windows 7 Easter Eggs
If there’s one thing that warms the cockles of any self respect geek it’s finding an Easter Egg in a piece of software. And back in the day, Microsoft wasn’t averse to giving us what we wanted, culminating the pinnacle of the Easter Egg species.

When it comes to Windows the number of hidden programs has however dwindled as the operating system has matured. Its reasonable at assume that corporate IT managers wouldn’t welcome jokes in mission critical software – particularly if these geeky japes led to clear and present dangers. Can you imagine the law suits resulting?

Is Windows 7 a starched and corporate conformist? Sadly so. According to a post on Microsoft’s TechNet gave this dower message:” Sadly, I think the days of enterprising individuals putting flight sims in Excel are over…With all the planning, testing, and whatnot that is involved it's not good for people to toss in random stuff.”
Of course, there’s always the possibility for Registry hacks throwing up hidden and undocumented features so don’t give up hope yet.

Windows 7 Hides File Extensions
According to F-Secure, there’s a basic trick in older versions of Windows Explorer which virus writer use. “The trick was to rename VIRUS.EXE to VIRUS.TXT.EXE or VIRUS.JPG.EXE, and Windows would hide the .EXE part of the filename. Additionally, virus writers would change the icon inside the executable to look like the icon of a text file or an image, and everybody would be fooled.” And has this feature been removed from Windows 7? Apparently not. But why?

Why Does Windows 7 Have A Fish Desktop Wallpaper

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There’s nothing like geek humour and the fish desktop which confronts you after you’ve installed Windows 7 is an example of just such a comic aside. The little blue fish in question is as actually a Betta splendens. It travels by other names too. It’s more commonly known as Siamese Fighting Fish or – wait for it – the beta fish or just betta. Beta fish? Get it? Who says Microsoft doesn’t have a sense of humour?

What are those weird wallpapers all about?

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When it comes to personalising Windows 7 with new desktop wallpapers, colour schemes and sounds the new OS has a predictable palette. There’s Landscapes, Nature and Architecture. Pretty much what you’ve expect from Microsoft. There’s also Characters – a seemingly bizarre collection of art which looks like it was inspired by toad licking and mushroom munching.

So why? Well Microsoft, it claims, has worked hard to add personality to its OS. Or rather to add features which will let you express you own uniqueness. More details are contained in an MSD Blog which delves into the whys and wherefores of Windows 7’s Characters systems. So there you go.

Why is Windows 7 Called Windows 7?
We’ve had Windows 3x, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Vista and now Windows 7. Why did Microsoft choose 7 and not Vista II or Windows 2009? It’s a basic question with a simple answer? Why would anybody be interested? Well, if you use Google’s predictive search system that reveals the number of times a question has been asked on the search site you discover this: Why is Windows 7 called Windows 7 – 789,000,000. It’s not an uncommon question!

During its embryonic stages the OS we now know as Windows 7 was codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna. Unlike Vista however the new systems was intended only as an evolution. Vista, lest we forget, was a revolution. And though it’s a truth universally acknowledged that Vista hasn’t been a hit, a reactance to tar the new OS with same brush doesn’t completely answer the vexing ‘7’ question.

“The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Over the years, we have taken different approaches to naming Windows. We've used version numbers like Windows 3.11, or dates like Windows 98, or "aspirational" monikers like Windows XP or Windows Vista. And since we do not ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date did not make sense. Likewise, coming up with an all-new "aspirational" name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows. Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore "Windows 7" just makes sense.”

No Folders Called Con
You can’t create a folder called ‘Con’. Open up Computer, your hard disk and right click to create a new folder. Give it the name ‘Con’ (without the quotation marks) and, following an error, the folder will default to New folder. Strange. Weirdly this ‘feature’ is also a relic which harks back to older versions of Windows too. Try the same trick in Windows XP, for example.