Windows 7 already provides several handy keyboard shortcuts for moving and resizing application windows. If you're running an older version or want a more exhaustive set of commands at your fingertips, take a look at WinLayout.

The free, open source application is built on top of AutoHotkey and adds some serious arrangement kung fu your under-loved numeric keypad.

For its basic moves, WinLayout slices your screen up into a 3x3 grid (think tic-tac-toe board). Hold the Windows key and tap the corresponding key to send an app to that spot on the grid - 7 = top left, 5=center, 3=bottom right, etc.

Windows can also be resized and moved in single-pixel increments. Word of warning: not surprisingly, some commands do interfere with those built in to Windows 7.

As the owner of a netbook, I sometimes have to deal with application windows that I can't move because the title bar isn't visible.

Thankfully, a 10kb download has solved this problem for me. AltDrag is free, portable program that allows you to drag a window by holding down the alt key on your keyboard and clicking and dragging anywhere. For the 5mb of memory it consumes, it's well worth carrying on your ultraportable.

When launched, it appears as a system tray icon which you can right-click to force it to autostart with Windows or hide the icon.

By holding alt + shift and dragging, AltDrag will snap your window to the edge of your screen. I did notice that it had a little problem with the Vista start orb, and usually snapped below it. Everywhere else on the screen, it worked flawlessly.

[ via Freeware Genius ]

Microsoft is officially introducing Windows 7 today at the Professional Developers Conference. The company will also be making an early build of the next generation Windows operating system available to developers, but it will probably be a little while before the rest of us can get our grubby little paws on it.

As expected, Windows 7 looks a lot like Windows Vista so far. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't know too many people who take issue with the way Windows Vista looks. It's performance, especially on older machines with slower processors and less RAM than newer computers, on the other hand, has been less than stellar. It looks like Windows 7 will carry many of Windows Vista's design elements, while tweaking a number of things below the hood.

You can find a boatload of new screenshots of Windows 7 at ZDNet, Ars Technica, or on Flickr. Feature-wise, Windows 7 adds support for multi-touch inputs, has an improved task manager, and uses fewer system resources than Vista.

As you can see from the image above, Windows 7 also has a new taskbar which combines features that are currently divided between the taskbar, and quick launch menu. You don't get text descriptions of items in the taskbar anymore, but clicking on an item brings up a list of actions you can perform with that program. Window management has also been improved. You can maximize any window just by dragging it to the top of your screen.

And if you have multiple windows open but want to read something on one of them without actually switching windows, you can just sroll your mouse over the icon in the taskbar to "peek" at it. This turns any other windos that are blocking it transparent. This comes in handy when you just want to read something quickly, or if you want to see the weather, clock, or other gadget hanging out on your desktop without minimizing all of your open windows.