One of my long standing hate points of Microsoft Windows and reasons to love Mac OSX is that the latter has thorough, consistent and mostly logical keyboard shortcuts all over. It’s an extremely powerful system to become very proficient and powerful in using. Windows, by contrast, sucks, and Windows applications (be they from Microsoft or third parties) behave with aggravating inconsistency.

Windows 7 looks to be improving, with a pleasing array of new chords to interact with all applications a little more effectively.

General

• Win+Up Maximize
• Win+Down Restore / Minimize
• Win+Left Snap to left
• Win+Right Snap to right
• Win+Shift+Left Jump to left monitor
• Win+Shift+Right Jump to right monitor
• Win+Home Minimize / Restore all other windows
• Win+T Focus the first taskbar entry
• Win+Shift+T cycles backwards.
• Win+Space Peek at the desktop
• Win+G Bring gadgets to the top of the Z-order
• Win+P External display options (mirror, extend desktop, etc)
• Win-[0-9] Launches a new instance of the application in the corresponding slot on the taskbar.
• Win + +
• Win + - (plus or minus key) Zoom in or out.

Taskbar modifiers

• Shift + Click on icon Open a new instance
• Middle click on icon Open a new instance
• Ctrl + Shift + Click on icon Open a new instance with Admin privileges
• Shift + Right-click on icon Show window menu (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc)
• Ctrl + Click on grouped icon Cycle between the windows (or tabs) in the group

Basically, much more powerful at a global level. Alas, individual apps will continue to drive you nuts with inconsistencies, but this is progress, I think. The moving windows between multiple monitors sounds especially neat.

(via Gizmodo)