Yesterday I blogged about the revamped Display Settings in Windows 7 and how getting to this frequently accessed settings page was a bit easier in Windows 7 than it was in Vista. Today that theme continues with something that is near and dear to mobile PC users' hearts - connecting to a network.
Like Vista, Windows 7 shows network connectivity status with a single icon in the system tray. The star on the tray icon shows that connections are available.
Left clicking on the icon gives you a pop-up list of your dial-up and VPN connections, any manually configured wireless networks (regardless of availability) and any currently available wi-fi networks. The list appears just above the system tray, rather than in a full window in the middle of the screen. Next to each wireless network is an indicator of the current signal strength. Clicking on a network item in the list causes that item to expand slightly and display a Connect button (or a disconnect button if you are already connected to that network).
When you click on this connect button you get a progress dialogue until it connects.
Once connected to a wireless network the system tray icon displays the green bars indicating signal strength.
The connection process is just that little bit cleaner and more efficient than it was in Vista. The process in Vista was to right click the network icon in the system tray and select "connect to a network". This launches a new window with a list of networks. You then select the network you want and click connect. Not only is this more steps than in Windows 7 but it is less efficient well. As I said in Windows 7 the list of networks appears just above the system tray. In Vista the list of networks opens in a new window in the centre of the screen it also takes more movement of the mouse or pen to connect to a network.
Overall the process of connecting to a network is much simpler in Windows 7, making a better mobile experience.