Every time Microsoft delivers a new OS it's possible to get many of the features of a Windows upgrade in the previous version of Windows. Windows 7 is no exception. Here's a roundup of a few things you can do to make Windows Vista as Windows 7-like as possible, without shelling out for the new OS.

We'll start out with a couple tweaks, then tell you about four free apps you can download. And a tip of the hat to the amazing Gina Trapani at Lifehacker, from whom I picked up several of these tricks.

First the taskbar. Windows 7 lets you "pin" apps to the taskbar and we can approximate that in Vista. Here's how.

Right-click on your taskbar.

Select toolbars.

And choose Quick Launch.

Now drag the icons you wish to "pin" into the left side of the taskbar.

Right click on the taskbar again and uncheck "lock taskbar."

Now click on the three rows of dots, hold down the mouse, and drag the bar over until you see all your icons.

Now, they look a little small like that, so let's make them bigger. Make sure the taskbar is unlocked.

Now right click on the taskbar again.

Select the view menu and choose large icons.

That's OK. But if you want a real Mac-like dock, forget all that and install RocketDock. It gives you a whole new Macish dock that you can put down at the bottom of the window instead of the taskbar.

But your Windows still looks all Vista-y. One more interface tweak before we move on. Download VistaGlazz 1.3. It's a utility that changes some system files to allow you to implement third-party themes on Vista. Launch VistaGlazz and, if you're sure, agree to allow it to modify your system files. I did it, and had no issues. But I make no guarantee.

While the rest of you are off gallivanting about in the summer sun, I've been chained to my desk under the San Francisco fog to parse through the worst downloads of the summer. This time around, the range varies from programs that sound useful but aren't, to programs that sound horrible and are, and include one that just defies common decency--and not in a good way.

Be sure to check out CNET TV editor Tom Merritt's video on these five train wrecks and just what I get out of all this. Oh, and a quick disclaimer, just so we're all on the same page: none of these programs are malicious software of any kind, and all meet CNET Download.com's software hosting policies. You're safe in downloading them and trying them out. Consider yourself warned, though: they suck, and maybe even worse than the batch from this spring.

Coming in at No. 5 is Google Maps Downloader. Designed for that rare Venn diagram intersection of cartographers and unnecessarily challenging work flows, this program requires knowing the exact latitude and longitude to save a map. And it's not just one set of coordinates, either. It's way too much effort for something that can be done just as easily with a screen capture. Sometimes it's cool to have professional-level software, but this isn't one of those times.

For No. 4, I present to you yet another entry in the long list of Gnutella clients that already exist for spreading mislabeled malicious software and porn. This one's called TurboWire, and promises even faster download speeds for getting your system-infecting copies of Windows 7 RTM or "Harry Potter".

At to No. 3, the Seanau Icon Collection promises a difficult pronunciation along with a rip-off of a deal. See, the program gives you six generic icons in different sizes, and you can then pay $70 to get the other 2,794 just-as-generic icons. You pay $70, and you get lameness. As Tom pointed out, what's the icon for rip-off?

Windows Movie Maker has its fans, but then, nobody's perfect. This Microsoft program is far, far from perfection, with its buggy behavior, frequent crashes, and lack of modern features. With all the overhauls that Microsoft has been focusing on of late, from Windows 7 to Office to Windows Media Player, one hopes that Redmond will soon focus their attention on this backward little fella. Either that, or kill it outright.

The worst download of the summer has to be the Michael Joseph Jackson Screen Saver. Before you fire off that flame mail, hear me out. It's not the content of the screen saver--if you're a MJ fan, you're going to want to remember him in some way, and there are worse things you could do besides a screen saver that shows you a new version of Jackson's face every 10 seconds--kind of like the man himself. No, the real problem with this, no matter your relationship to Jacko, is that it's a craven attempt to capitalize on his passing. Tragically hilarious? Amusingly offensive? Both, at the same time? Either way, it's awful, so give this No. 1 a big, big pass.

Be sure to check out Tom Merritt's video for a chance to win an extremely special prize.

I mentioned this on Buzz out Loud and a fistful of people wrote in and called to remind me that Microsoft fixed that issue a while back. Here's how to activate background downloads.

Go to My Xbox

Choose system settings

Then console settings

And go down and select shutdown

Then select Background Downloads

And select Enable.

Now when you turn off your Xbox, downloads will continue in a low-power mode until the download completes.

Hope that makes your downloading on the Xbox a little more convenient.

One, you can watch the five downloads to avoid in action during the video of our top 5. Two, you also get the chance to win a miniature digital picture frame, to which you can upload pictures. Three, you get a bonus blog post from Seth himself, explaining just why he picked each of these horrible examples of software.

So watch the video, answer the trivia question below, then go read Seth's blog post. Then go to download.com and get some good software.

Sometimes you don't find out about a good TV show until partway through its run, or maybe you don't get a certain channel, or even worse, for whatever reason, your DVR fails to record your favorite show. Thanks to the Internet, there are many ways to catch up, and maybe even ditch cable. Watch our Insider Secret video to see some of our favorite ways to get TV shows online, and then come back here for the links.

There are still many popular shows that don't put their content online. At least not legally. And this ain't about piracy, so put The Pirate Bay down for a moment. Still, a large number of shows are available legally online. Here are some of my favorite resources to find them.

Step one, go to the network's Web site. More and more channels put full episodes on their site. Look in the video tabs and find a link, usually called "full episodes." That may be the best way right there. All the networks stream their shows with commercial interruptions.

Another resource is a video aggregator site like Hulu.com. Hulu was launched as a cooperative venture of TV networks to provide easy access to movies and TV shows. Although anything you find there is likely to also be at the networks Web site, it's convenient if you want to watch shows from multiple networks at one site. The shows here also have commercials, and for some unfathomable reason they don't keep all the back episodes around. It's also U.S. only.

One of my favorite portals to check for TV shows is AOL video. Yep good old AOL. They have partnerships with several video suppliers, like Hulu for instance. You can find a wealth of back episodes from major shows there.

Another good portal is Fancast. The service is operated by Comcast and is meant to tell you all the places you can watch any show. When you search for a show, they give you any streaming versions they have access to, plus a schedule of airings on TV and any DVD versions available.

If you're a Netflix subscriber, another place to find old TV show episodes is through the Netflix streaming service. Your account allows you to stream many TV shows that are out on DVD. You'll have to have Internet Explorer or a dedicated device like the Roku Netflix box to use the service.

Another good free streaming provider is Joost. You can download the application from Joost.com, though they soon plan to make it a plug-in that works in your Web browser. It gives you free access to clips and full shows from several different channels.

When you have to break down and pay

If the show you want isn't streaming anywhere, you may have to buy the show. The bad news is that costs money. The good news is you don't have to watch commercials.

Apple's iTunes lets you download many TV shows for $1.99 an episode or a whole season sometimes at a slight discount. The shows will play on your computer or on Apple mobile devices like the iPhone or on Apple's Apple TV. They won't play on non-Apple mobile devices though.

Amazon's Video on Demand lets you buy shows, too. Once you buy a show, you can stream them in your Web browser on Mac or Windows any time you want. You can also download your shows to a Windows machine and move them to several portable devices. You can also have the shows sent to your TiVo, which is pretty cool.

And there's also BitTorrent. Yeah I know, we said no piracy. But BitTorrent.com, the official makers of BitTorrent, provides TV shows through their Torrent Entertainment network that are completely legal.

You also can get TV shows from your game console. The Xbox 360 sells TV shows in its Marketplace, some in high-definition. And Sony is touting Movies and TV shows at the push of a button for the PS3 and PSP.

That covers the major options out there, but there are still others. To sum up, you have approximately three options when attempting to catch up on a TV show.

1. Stream for free, but watch commercials.
2. Download for pay but have no commercials.
3. Or break the law and pirate it and risk going to court.

Watch the video on CNET TV

Notepad2 is a free download that's very small entirely free and has more functions than the notepad that comes with Windows.

Here's how to add it. Download it from your favorite Download site and unzip it to your desktop.

Change the name from Notepad2 to Notepad.

Now a little warning. You are about to mess with system files, so be careful. Don't do it if you're not comfortable.

Open up My computer and then the hard drive where Windows is installed.

Go to tools then folder options and fide the setting called Hide protected operating systems and uncheck it.

Now go to the windows directory to system 32 directory and rename notepad.exe to notepadx.exe.

That way you still have the old notepad if you need it. However Windows will automatically restore it's original notepad if you just copy in the new one. We can prevent that.

Now go into dllcache.

Copy the notepad you renamed on the desktop into that folder.

That replaces the copy of notepad that Windows restores form.

Go back up to the system 32 directory

Copy the notepad from the dektop into that directory too.

Press cancel on the dialog box.

If you're worried about seeing hidden files, you can go back into the tools section and recheck Hide hidden system folders.

Shout out to Omar Shahine who runs the blog where I found Shakeel Mahatel's method for doing this. It takes a village.

Watch the video on CNET TV

It's a funny thing, television: no matter how many of our friends claim they'd rather read than watch, it turns out that most really do. Watch, I mean. At least, that's how it is with our weekly Download Music video report--the one where we sit in front of the cameras and ramble on about what we've been listening to lately. OK, we don't really ramble too much--the show's pretty short--but it is a chance for us to pass along tips on songs and albums that have been grabbing us lately. Personal favorites, and that's the good stuff, right? This week, Mike, Anngie, and I play songs from and talk about hip-hop star Common, electronic duo the Liars, and country music legend Porter Wagoner. Watch our current show (produced and presented as always by our good friends at CNET TV); browse past episodes; and if you're craving more, check out hundreds more music videos as well.

Have your heard Rihanna yet? She of "Umbrella" fame, her hit collab with Jay-Z that's been all over the charts, radio, and Web lately. You can stream it for free on Download Music--and this week she's also the star of our ongoing Best New Music video report, a collaboration with our buddies over at CNET TV. Watch and listen as Anngie Dehoyos gives the lowdown on what makes the song so gosh-darn great. Then catch Peter Gavin's take on indie heroes Blonde Redhead and my own shakedown on the haunting new album from Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of French icon Serge and a well-known film actress to boot (think Science of Sleep).

The crew at Download Music is always on the prowl for great new music--we do the heavy lifting so you don't have to--and as usual we've dug up some cool and groovy stuff to get you through the weekend and beyond. For starters, we've got a brand new track from R&B hero Jill Scott; a couple of laid-back French-pop-styled songs from Dean & Britta, former members of Galaxie 500 and Luna; and the first pop album from hot electronic DJ and techno artist Matthew Dear.

You can catch quick reviews and song samples from each of these artists in our latest video report. Pop it on and hear what we're talking about.