Setting Default Programs

One of the nice changes in Windows 7 is that you're no longer tied down to Microsoft's default programs, such as Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer. If you want to use another program for specific operations, it's easy to change what launches automatically. In fact, Microsoft doesn't even include a lot of the applications it used to include with Windows XP and Vista-although you can still download them, for free, if you like.

Windows 7 also makes it easy to change what programs are associated with specific types of files, as well as what happens when you insert specific types of media and devices. It's all a matter of configuring Windows 7 your way-with your choice of programs.