Win7 forcing me to save an email attachment or internet file instead of just opening it (all file types)

I recently upgraded from XP to Win7. Now, when I have a file download or attachment, either in Outlook or any browser, it takes me to the File Save window. Before I could simply click on the attachment and it would open (unless it couldn't figure out what kind of file it was). This is a real pain when viewing pictures attached to an email. Thanks for looking, hope you can help! I've looked everywhere and can't find this issue addressed in any documentation. I've had Win 7 in the past and this didn't happen.

There may be a setting in Outlook for how to handle attachments. But I will normally just drag it to the desktop to open.

either in Outlook or any browser, it takes me to the File Save window

I say this because of what you said so If you upgraded then there may be the problem. Best to clean install saving files and stuff first to other media.

What other browsers?
Firefox? Uninstall and make sure you open command prompt and type this
RD "%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox" /S /Q
Try reinstall and see if that helped.