Wewe

It certainly looks sweet, but we'll see what Microsoft's radically redesigned Windows 8 operating system will offer computer users later this year.

Until then, there's still a lot to learn about your existing Windows PC.

Yes, even if you've been tapping and clicking away on it for years, you've probably only scratched the surface of what it can do. Like our brains, it's estimated we only use about 10 percent of what our tech toys are capable of.

To help bridge the gap, here we offer a number of assorted tips and tricks, shortcuts and other little-known features built into your Windows machine. Some are tied specifically to Windows 7, where indicated, but most are applicable for all versions of Windows released over the past decade.

Get to know shortcuts

If the extent of your shortcuts is CTRL+C for copy and CTRL+P for paste, you're not taking advantage of all Windows has to offer. There are many, many dozens of handy shortcuts to master, including one of my favorites: Windows key + left or right arrow button, which snaps the window to the left or right, so you can see two open windows equally — perfect for multitasking. As a journalist who uses a word processor every day, I've also grown reliant upon "undo" (CTRL+Z) and "redo" (CTRL+Y). By the way, you can even create your own shortcuts to get more done in less time.

Pin those apps

See that taskbar at the bottom of the screen? In Windows 7, you can pin any application, website, file or folder you use a lot, so you can easily click to open it — regardless of what program you might be in. That is, if you use the calculator a lot, simply right mouse click on the app and choose "Pin to Taskbar" and move it wherever you like. This is much faster than clicking on the Start button, selecting All Programs, then Accessories and finally Calculator. For files, such as a Word or PDF document, simply drag to the taskbar and let go. If you have a lot of pins on your taskbar, you can press the Windows key (beside Alt) and a...