Using a new feature called Libraries in Windows Explorer, you select and open files on the HomeGroup network as if they were stored locally on your PC. It’s also possible to search for files (using tags and filenames, or more advanced searches, such as the month a photo was taken) across the entire HomeGroup.

The obvious disadvantage compared to a Windows Home Server is that the other PCs in the house will need to be left on for you to access their files. What’s more, HomeGroup only works with other Windows 7 PCs, and it’s likely to be many years before the average household has migrated all of its PCs to the new OS.

A more useful feature of HomeGroup is its ability to automatically detect when your work laptop, for instance, is being used in the home. Subsequently, printer settings are automatically configured to your home printer, preventing those baffling moments when you hit Ctrl + P and wonder why nothing’s being spat out of the inkjet in the corner, because it’s still set to your work printer.

Music and video streaming

As well as accessing photos and documents from other PCs on the Home Group, you can play their music and video back from the PC in front of you, too. Windows Media Player now includes support for AAC files, meaning it’s even possible to dip into other people’s iTunes libraries and play those back on your Windows 7 PC. You’ll be shocked to hear that files wrapped up in Apple’s DRM aren’t supported. However, H.264, DivX and AVCHD are, which certainly broadens the range of videos that can be streamed from PC to PC across your home network.

One exceedingly nice touch is the option to right click on music files on your Windows 7 PC and select the option to play them on a networked media receiver, such as a Sonos Digital Music System. This means you can sit with a laptop on the sofa and have the media receiver fill your living room with a handpicked playlist of songs, which will appeal to audiophiles at the end of a long day.

Wireless networking

Selecting a Wi-Fi hoptspot or wireless router has been made marginally easier in Windows 7. Instead of clicking on the wireless networking icon in the System Tray, and then entering a separate dialogue box to select an available connection, you now simply left click on the icon in the System Tray and you’re presented with a list of available networks in a pop-up jumplist. Timesaving, if not exactly breathtaking.