I've just logged into the internet at my hotel in Minneapolis. It's the first trip I've taken with Windows 7 as the OS for my main laptop, and I just discovered something very, very useful. And especially useful for the road warrior.

When I plugged in the internet and Windows 7 fetched an IP address, an information tip appeared over the network icon in the Notification Area. The tip basically said that additional steps may be required to get on the internet and suggested I open my browser. Basically the OS realized that I needed to go through the hotel's portal to authenticate access.

How incredibly helpful is that?