10 cool tools in Windows 7

Windows 7 has received plenty of attention from the tech press, but much of the focus has been on interface changes. Some improvements are less obvious -- like the new or enhanced tools that are included with the OS. Let's look at 10 of these cool tools, starting with the Action Center.

Centralized management is the name of the game today, and Windows 7 gives you a one-stop shopping location where you can go to deal with security issues, troubleshooting, and recovery, instead of searching out separate applets for each. It's all combined in an easy-to-use Control Panel applet, where you get maintenance and security messages and can view performance information, change UAC settings, and more.

Note: This gallery is also available as an entry in our 10 Things blog and as a PDF download.