For those of us who have been testing Windows 7 in beta are readily awaiting the chance to buy the new operating system which will be released at the end of this month. The new OS is packed with tons and tons of improvements over Windows Vista, and finally offers a reason to upgrade from XP (at least for me).

One of the coolest features that I have found with the new Windows 7 is the way it handles all audio. Windows 7 has a new Audio mixer featured that comes when Windows is installed. So what is the big deal about this? How will it help me enjoy my personal computer experience?

They key improvement to this feature is the ability to control the sound levels of all applications that are calling for audio support from Windows. With total control of each application your ears will be saved from

1. Annoying Web Based Ads!
2. Conflicting Movie or Video Players!
3. Different web browsers both playing sounds!
4. Annoying Instant Messaging Beeps
5. The horrible sound Anti Virus makes when a threat is detected
6. There are so many more sounds we put up with before the lack of control that I have not listed, but these are all the ones that come right off the top of my head.

With the new audio mixer which is located on your task bar to the right, under the speaker icon (see picture above for more details) your sound experience will improve 10 fold.

Everyone uses a computer for different reasons so it's hard to say the greatest advantage this provides for Windows users but for me personally, since Windows 7 I have been able to listen to uninterrupted music flawlessly while surfing the web, working, or gaming.

Lastly, Pandora (or any web radio) users a quick tip with the new mixer is to open it in another web browser from your primary surfing browser. This way you can turn up the Pandora browser on the mixer and mute the primary browsing browser.

I hope everyone gets the chance to experience superior audio control!!