This chapter is from the book
Gestures
In Windows 7, Microsoft has introduced an all-new way of interacting with the Windows UI—gestures. While the majority of Windows gestures are used only on a tablet PC (see Chapter 38, "Tablet PC Features," for more information on Tablet PC features), there are three useful gestures that can make working with Windows 7 much easier:
- To quickly maximize a window, grab the title bar of the window by clicking on it, and then quickly drag the mouse so that the pointer touches the top of the screen. The window will grow to fill the entire screen. To return the window to its previous size, simply grab the title bar and drag the window back to the desktop.
- You can make a window fill the entire left or right side of the screen by grabbing the title bar and dragging the window to the left or right edge of the screen, so that the mouse pointer touches the edge of the screen. This is useful if you have two windows that contain similar information (two word processing documents, for example) and you need to compare the contents side by side. As with the maximize gesture just discussed, simply grab the title bar and move the window back to the desktop to restore the window to its previous dimensions. These gestures are called Aero Snap, so named because they easily allow you to "snap" a window to the top or sides of the screen.
- You can reduce desktop clutter by using what has been dubbed the Aero Shake. If you have multiple open windows displayed on the desktop, and you need to have only a single window displayed, you can grab the title bar of the window you want to focus your attention on and shake it back and forth. All other displayed windows will minimize, leaving just the desired window open on the desktop. To restore the minimized windows, perform the Aero Shake again and all the windows magically appear once again.