We look at a handful of overlooked Microsoft elements
Windows gets a fair amount of stick from most people, regardless of whether they're in the computing industry or not. Windows 8.1 in particular is a favourite target for anyone who fancies a rant against the Redmond company, but it's not the first version of the operating system that has attracted criticism.
I can recall one particular person who complained daily about how much he hated Windows XP, then when he started using Windows 7, he suddenly found love for XP and focused his attention on the failings of Windows 7. Likewise, the cycle of rant and former love continued with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. It's quite amusing now I look back at it.
However, for all the hate the OS receives, it's actually very good. I'll even go out on a limb and say I like Windows 8/8.1 and I have since I first got hold of an early copy for review. Windows has within it many features that we take for granted. True most, if not all, of these features are available for Mac and/or Linux too, but it's Windows that has brought them into the majority of users' homes and that most folks can identify with.
Anyway, let's have look at some of the more underrated features of Windows, regardless of the current OS version.
Speech Recognition
Windows Speech Recognition has been built into every versions of Windows since the Vista days and available before that as a third-party feature for the likes of Office or as a part of the Plus! packs.
The Speech Recognition feature itself allows users to control their computers using voice commands alone. It can start programs, open menus, click buttons and other objects, and it can dictate text into documents as well dictate and write emails. Basically, pretty much everything you can accomplish with a mouse and keyboard can be done with your voice.
It takes a bit of setting up, and the program needs to learn, improving its ability to recognise your speech patterns.
While it may not be quite as powerful as some of the more dedicated third-party products available, Windows Speech Recognition is surprisingly good, and it's free too.
Omni Search
While most of us use the Windows Search function to locate a stray file or folder, there's another part to the newer Windows 8.1 search called Omni Search.
If you start typing while on the Start screen and you're connected to the internet, then the search will include found objects on your system, network, shares and the entire internet.
For example, typing in Casablanca will bring up the Humphrey Bogart movie, a Microsoft map of the Moroccan port city, any related books, videos, Wikipedia entries and just about everything else you can think of.
There are theories that the searches are somehow logged by Microsoft or the CIA, but to be honest I'm not really sure. Just in case, though, make sure you're going to be searching for something worthwhile for the poor secret government officials to look at.
Sticky Notes
They may seem like a small entry, but Sticky Notes in Windows 7 has been a godsend to many a user.
Rather than cluttering up your nice new, bezel-less LCD monitor with yellow Post-It notes detailing an abundance of irrelevant facts (mostly passwords, it seems), Windows Sticky Notes offers you a digital alternative.
You can format the text within the note, change the colours, resize them, collapse the and flip through multiple notes with relative ease, and they never lose their stickiness and fall behind your monitor into that dusty pit that's only ever discovered when you get a new PC.
The Calculator
This might seem like an odd entry, but the old Windows 7 Calculator is a far more powerful program than most people give it credit for.
You choose the type of calculator from Standard, Scientific, Programmer and Statistics. And it can convert various units, such as angles to and from degrees; area into acres, hectares and so on; Length; Power; Pressure; Temperature; Time; Velocity; Volume and Mass/Weight. It's really quite an impressive and much underrated application.
Remarkably, there's also the ability to calculate the difference between two dates and have the sum appear in years, months, weeks and days. Finally, if that wasn't enough, the Windows 7 Calculator contains some worksheets that help you calculate your monthly mortgage payment, vehicle lease and fuel economy for miles per gallon.
Clearly there's more to good old Calc than what first meets the eye.
Ctrl+Alt+Del
The Ctrl, Alt and Del keys have been a part of Windows for as long as I can recall. Previous to the Windows 3.1 days, in very early DOS days, the three keys were used to reboot the PC. After Windows 3.1, they invoked the dormant god of Windows, the Task Manager.
How many times has Ctrl+Alt+Del saved you from having to wait for a broken program to finally close or allowed you to log into a networked PC or Windows NT PC? It even works within the BIOS.
Even on systems where the combination of three keys do something else, should a program misbehave, most users will automatically head for the Ctrl+Alt+Del keys instinctively.
Windows Themes
Windows Themes may not seem like much of an underrated feature, but when you stop to consider how easy it is to find, download, install and even create your own, you begin to realise just how comfortable the process is.
There was clearly a lot of work involved in getting Windows as personalised as possible. You may not be able to fiddle with its inner workings too much or not in the same sense as you can with Linux, for example, but you can put your stamp on the desktop wallpaper, colours, sounds and icons.
Whether you're into horses, cats, icebergs, polar bears, wolves or Angry Birds, there's a theme on the official Windows site for you. If you delve a little deeper into the internet, you'll no doubt come across many more themes relating to nigh-on every subject matter you can possibly think of.
It's surprising how little regard is offered to Windows Themes. Imagine if it was suddenly removed and you were left with just a boring old wallpaper. How else would our editor have a slideshow of cute kittens on his desktop?
Conclusion
These are but a handful of the underrated features of Windows that I can think of. Needless to say, there are probably countless more; indeed, I've likely used several just in this article alone that I haven't mentioned.
If you have some you'd like to mention, then please feel free to let us know.
Other Underrated Windows Features
Here are a few more underrated features that sadly never made it into the main body of the article:
• Task Manager: where would be without it?
• Split screen apps in Windows 8.1: It's amazing it took this long.
• Snap edges from Windows 7 onward: Again, why did take so long to appear?
• Netflix and Windows Media Center: I haven't tried this, but apparently you can get Netflix by default in Windows 7 Media Center.