[CoffeeFiend]

iheartsims, on Jul 26 2008, 06:15 PM, said:

You don't see Mac Genuine Advantage

Mainly because it's locked to run only on their hardware (the absolute lock-in). It's not like billions of people everywhere on the web could just install it on their PC.

iheartsims, on Jul 26 2008, 06:15 PM, said:

or Linux Genuine Advantage!

Well, it's free... Same for BSD.

Yes, WGA sucks. I never had problems about WGA saying my stuff isn't legit, but a lot of downloads on MS' site require WGA validation, and you have to fire up IE for that one (or download and run some validating app, hardly better -- geek just posted that too while I was writing this). But they were bound to do something to reduce piracy at some point, and seemingly they're not doing bad at all.

Anyways, wishlist wise, there's about a million different things they could add/change/enhance and such (none of this total rewrite nonsense either):

• make aero more like compiz fusion (pretty much all of the features)
  
• something like taskbar shuffle (move tasks around in the taskbar)
  
• something like ultramon (better dual monitor support)
  
• utils like process explorer, process monitor and autoruns should be part of the OS/default install
  
• something like unlocker built-in
  
• make the zip file handling not suck (and handle more than .zip, that thing is useless; just add .7z support, and no one would use zip anymore in a couple years)
  
• make the CD burning not suck (a real burning app for a change, like nero)
  
• also add a CD image app that does iso read/write, and editing them too (like imgburn + ultraiso)
  
• a system cleaner like ccleaner/ncleaner built-in (the built-in one is worthless & annoying)
  
• keep improving the photo gallery (make it more acdsee-ish, add more options & features)
  
• a decent ftp client (and server for the server OS, IIS is great and all... but not as a FTP server)
  
• a nice rss feed reader like FeedDemon (perhaps with podcast support)
  
• a good download manager app
  
• make the snipping tool better (more like snagit), although it's a good start
  
• leave notepad alone, but add another one with more features than just file open & save (perhaps like notepad++/editpad/ultraedit)
  
• similarly, leave mspaint alone, but add a not completely useless app i.e. with more features (perhaps like an older paint shop pro)
  
• while we're at it, leave the old calc alone too, and add a nice one (graphing, with reverse polish notation perhaps, etc)
  
• music/video players worth using (like MPC)
  
• a better disk defragmenter
  
• maybe some admin/power user-only tools (like regsnap & what not -- and why not a ramdisk? and a hex editor? a MSI repackaging/authoring tool?)
  
• add even more command line utils (wget/sed/awg/grep/...-like apps, imagex & such, etc)
  
• include the latest versions of all your runtimes & frameworks & such stuff (like silverlight)
  
• make their mail app not suck (be it named outlook express or otherwise)
  
• more "basic" apps, like perhaps a html editor (or blog "editor" these days...)
  
• more config options on most things (options for the screensavers would be a start)
  
• a system-wide dictionary that would work in all apps (much like firefox's built-in one)
  
• something good to sync files (rsync-ish, with a front end?)
  
• keep improving the firewall (not that I use one, but there shouldn't be a need for 3rd party tools for this)
  
• some kind of universal/unified update mechanism for all your apps would rock for sure
  
• a web browser that doesn't suck this badly (I've long given up even wishing for this one actually)
  
• maybe a basic sound editor (I'm not asking for sound forge here, just the basics)
  
• while I don't care for it or want one, lots of people would probably like a dock
  
• a good font manager (long overdue)

etc. I could list LOTS more.

99% of these aren't issues with Vista but Windows in general. And while Vista is a nice improvement over XP, I bet we won't see 99% of these addressed with Windows 7. And sadly, there's "nowhere" else to go. Linux doesn't run Windows apps (no, WINE isn't the answer either), and OS X is more of a problem than a solution (no thanks!). It really sucks wanting half of two different OS'es, and knowing you'll never get your wish.

[heffalump]

I wish they'd actually look back a try to slim down and speed up their operating system/gaming platform/multimedia/kitchen sink. Cut out all the useless extra crap that majority of people don't even use anyway - or have it all as optional downloads would be even better.

I guess I wish there wasn't this magic need to upgrade your hardware to "cope" with an operating system where you just end up doing the same old things you did in windows 95 or even windows 3.x anyway. Only it costs you hundreds of dollars more for the priveledge. But I know how it will be. "Oh noes your computer is rubbish upgrade it. Again! Pay more! For the same things you did before!" Oh well I can dream

[anonymous_user]

crahak, on Jul 26 2008, 04:55 PM, said:

Anyways, wishlist wise, there's about a million different things they could add/change/enhance and such (none of this total rewrite nonsense either):

I say just leave the feature-rich programs to third-party developers. They do a good job of making them.

Besides I think Windows has too many programs already

This post has been edited by anonymous_user: 27 July 2008 - 11:29 AM

[CoffeeFiend]

heffalump, on Jul 27 2008, 09:59 AM, said:

have it all as optional downloads would be even better.

Then everyone who does more than click start has to download and install a thousand more things separately? No thanks! That'd be a huge step back. Besides, even if they removed basically every app coming with windows, you'd only save like 1GB of disk space, which is worth like all of 15 cents nowadays.

heffalump, on Jul 27 2008, 09:59 AM, said:

you just end up doing the same old things you did in windows 95 or even windows 3.x anyway

Do you actually remember what you did with those? Yeah, nearly nothing at all in windows 3.x's case, and not a whole lot in win95's case. Nowadays, people do heavy multitasking, editing photos, playing mp3's, and countless more things that nearly nobody did back then.

anonymous_user, on Jul 27 2008, 01:28 PM, said:

I say just leave the feature-rich programs to third-party developers. They do a good job of making them.

They do, but it still requires us to chase a couple dozen extra apps to have basic functionality that should be part of the OS, and in a LOT of cases, they also do a good job of charging money for it.

anonymous_user, on Jul 27 2008, 01:28 PM, said:

Besides I think Windows has too many programs already

It hardly comes with anything. And 99% of what it comes with (e.g. outlook express & IE) is garbage not worth using, and a lot of them apps haven't gained a single useful feature since windows 3.x (e.g. notepad & calc). Removing apps & stuff will just make Windows crippled and useless. Besides, I'd love to see the marketing for that! "Windows v7 now with LESS features!" or "Windows v7: does even less stuff!" That'll sell great I'm sure They need to work on making it a good desktop environment, not making it suck more.

[Shane:]]

1. ability to take out visual effects (ie same way i speed up win xp)
2.WiMax
3.doesn't treat me like a complete id***
4.no pointless name changing
5.flash drive bootable
6.reasonable price
7.download size under vista size. man vista download is a monster! that why i didn't get it.

[CoffeeFiend]

Shane:], on Jul 28 2008, 08:03 PM, said:

1. ability to take out visual effects (ie same way i speed up win xp)

You can already take out most of the effects stuff with Vista using the windows classic theme.

Shane:], on Jul 28 2008, 08:03 PM, said:

2.WiMax

Vista (& older versions) can already use WiMax, the hardware comes with the drivers for it.

Shane:], on Jul 28 2008, 08:03 PM, said:

5.flash drive bootable

It's not Vista's fault if your computer won't boot from USB (maybe you meant getting WinPE to boot from USB, but that's also possible).

[Nexus_06]

1) Complete classic theme, including file menus and navigation buttons. Don't fix what isn't broken, I hate the IE style navigation in Vista. (Where's my folder up button!)
2) Localization of Programs Registry and Files (much like osx), I hate programs that modify system files on installation, ESPECIALLY VB programs changing ocx's and dll's. All this should be in the Programs local folder, and never touch the system directories or registry.
3) Administrator account with COMPLETE control over everything.
4) Proper information shoved at hardware manufacturers and developers so that things work the FIRST TIME at launch.

[Maxfutur]

Almost everything said.

As many have said:
No WGA because piracy/pirates don't worry about it because before they install any ms stuff, they make sure isn't a problem for them.

If they install (as others said) at the corner's store, they can make sure to disable automatic updates yet update services.

Is like a P** in t** **s to download and verify wga almost every month or whenever you need something wich ask for validation.

W7 to work without pagefile or without RAM 1 of the 2.

The install option as win98 (already said).

Menu style (this already said, shift between classic, xp and vista)

automatic GAME MODE (outperformed), i mean, almost in kernel mode, saving anithyng else as hibernation or paused (as in virtual machines) because whyle you play you dont need antivirus, if you play crysis, a monster is not going to infect your system, don't need MDM (microsoft debug machine or likely), etc.

anybody agree with "my game mode"?

[xlfdll]

Yeah, "my game mode" can make the system fit to games, no worry about the optimiztion.
All waste services are down and necessary things is running in background.
(priority all low)

Also, the installation of Windows could select the components, not a lot of things hard to understand.

WGA, only add this to the version could sell to the region which illegal is serious.

However,
Why Microsoft don't add a Download Manager to Internet Explorer, which download slower and slower...

PS To Nexus_06 at #47:

Quote

3) Administrator account with COMPLETE control over everything.

How about "Super Administrator"???

This post has been edited by xlfdll: 17 September 2008 - 06:28 AM

[cluberti]

What does the local admin account *not* have access to? That's my question.

[anonymous_user]

Well the owner for all folders (Program Files, WINDOWS etc etc) is TrustedInstaller and not Administrator. And to modify/replace files, you usually have to take ownership.

This post has been edited by anonymous_user: 17 September 2008 - 11:31 PM

[cluberti]

anonymous_user, on Sep 18 2008, 01:29 AM, said:

Well the owner for all folders (Program Files, WINDOWS etc etc) is TrustedInstaller and not Administrator. And to modify/replace files, you usually have to take ownership.

I've not had a problem modifying or replacing files in either, but you can take ownership as admin (even of folders you're locked out ot). Not to mention you do still have full rights over the folder and subfolders, even without ownership. So, again, what don't you have access to as administrator?

[Tripredacus]

I saw the new preview images of the Aero interface. On the main Explorer window, it had the info bar and it said the name of the workgroup. It would be nice if you could configure what shows up in that box. For example, I would think being able to see your IP address would be more beneficial than the domain/workgroup.

[Sl@y3D for my n@me]

I want the interface to be consistent. Just look at all the strange looking windows in vista, some use aero wizards, some use wizard 97 with a vista image at the side. Why? They had enough time to develop the OS. Having consistency with the IE7 parts is fine, if they weren't so hard to get into. Having used vista for a while now I can say that they aren't as bad as when I started. But still...

Also, I DON'T want Windows NT 7. To be honest, Windows NT gives the home user too much power to play with. NT is fine for the workstation, but not for the average home user who just wants to put some songs on their iPod and listen to some music while browsing the web. The security flaws are caused by NT being used for tasks it was not designed for. NT is fine for servers and any serious work, but it has too many features that aren't for the home, that cause bloat and can slow the whole operating system down.

Next, I want to see Windows 7 be more efficient with my RAM by taking up less of it for what I deem unnecessary tasks. Oh sure, it may be dirt cheap these days, but I still don't have that kind of money, especially with the credit crunch. Don't assume that everyone has spare money to throw at their rigs. I'd love to run vista with all its bells and whistles with 4GBs of RAM, but that's not gonna happen any time soon, because I and many people in the UK (and I'm sure abroad) can't afford 4GBs of RAM.

And last of all, bigger is not often better. With these ever-increasing patches and newer files, they are growing out of control. Why? Shouldn't the patches simply replace part of the code? Surely that would make the files the same size, or smaller if they were just removing the offending code? Why does Vista take up around 15GBs? Because of functionality that most people would never use, like the Chinese UI, and tablet PC functionality. There is, of course, the speech control function that people might use, but all this should be selectable in the installer. The installer for Vista is great, really flies, and it's very simple, but a little too simple? I'd rather have control over my OS without having to resort to vlite.

I'm sure that Windows 7 will be great, with its use of the ribbon UI and its many projected improvements like faster booting and lower power consumption. I'm excited about it, and hope it's everything that it's cracked up to be.

[DavidinCT]

crahak, on Jul 26 2008, 07:55 PM, said:

iheartsims, on Jul 26 2008, 06:15 PM, said:

You don't see Mac Genuine Advantage

Mainly because it's locked to run only on their hardware (the absolute lock-in). It's not like billions of people everywhere on the web could just install it on their PC.

Wrong..Google OSX x86, in about 10-20 min you could find enough info to install MAC OSX Leopard 10.5.5 on a Windows Machine, and even dual boot to it.....

We'll see where Win 7 goes, So far I like what I see in the Media Center app on it, I wish I could get a copy of it to check out...

[cluberti]

Sl@y3D for my n@me, on Oct 4 2008, 07:06 AM, said:

Next, I want to see Windows 7 be more efficient with my RAM by taking up less of it for what I deem unnecessary tasks. Oh sure, it may be dirt cheap these days, but I still don't have that kind of money, especially with the credit crunch. Don't assume that everyone has spare money to throw at their rigs. I'd love to run vista with all its bells and whistles with 4GBs of RAM, but that's not gonna happen any time soon, because I and many people in the UK (and I'm sure abroad) can't afford 4GBs of RAM.

Win7 runs *better* on the same hardware as Vista - even 1GB. I still wouldn't run with 512MB, but for a home-user type machine, Win7 runs fine on 1GB of RAM.

[CoffeeFiend]

DavidinCT, on Oct 29 2008, 03:05 PM, said:

Wrong..Google OSX x86, in about 10-20 min you could find enough info to install MAC OSX Leopard 10.5.5 on a Windows Machine, and even dual boot to it.....

I'm not wrong. And yes, I'm well aware those hackintoshs. It's not legal though. OS X is sold exclusively to be run on Mac hardware, has fairly extreme DRM (a TPM module -- above and beyond what I've ever seen any other platform/software use for copy protection). You also have to pick hardware that's supported by it (it won't run on just any PC). Plus, you have no support then.

As for MCE, I have absolutely no hope of it not sucking for once. Hell, it even seems to be getting worse with time. With the TV Pack 2008, you can't get ATSC tuners to work anywhere outside the USA (like in Canada). We've had ATSC feeds for quite a while, and we had to resort to workarounds to even enable the feature, and now they went out of their way to "fix" that too... It's even more useless than before, and I'd call that quite an accomplishment!

Anyways. Windows 7 is looking like a decent successor to Vista. Some stuff if obviously improved a lot. Big enhancements to the taskbar: no large task buttons (already! I might not need 2 rows anymore) and taskbar shuffle-like abilities (just like I was wishing for) built-in. The system tray is improved too. Calc and paint are a LOT nicer (another thing I was wishing for). Very nice additions to networking, like HomeGroup. Lots of nice little things overall -- just like Vista has lots of of nice little things over XP.

There's some more nice features, which actually seem to be good ideas overall, but I'm just not sure if they'll end up getting used much. Things like Device Stage -- which might be nice, but the XML needs to be signed by MS, so 100% useless for my existing Rockbox-running mp3 player and other devices. Same for multitouch displays. I had a peek, and it seems like a 24" touchscreen monitor is like $1000 extra (ouch). I don't see anyone running out replacing their already expensive monitors for even more expensive monitors just for that anytime soon, not with that price premium anyways.

[killerb255]

1) Just three versions: Home, Professional, and Ultimate.

BTW, XP actually had a lot of versions as well:
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Professional Edition
Windows XP Media Center Edition
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Windows XP Professional ("Corporate/VLK") Edition

The last four were OEM and/or VLK only. Vista's versions were more public, hence the confusion.

Proposed public versions of 7:
Windows 7 Home Edition (x86, x64)
Windows 7 Professional Edition (x86, x64)
Windows 7 Ultimate Edition (x86, x84)

Home replaces Vista Home Basic and Home Premium
Professional replaces Business
Ultimate corresponds with Vista Ultimate (hopefully with lower pricing...)

Proposed private versions of 7 (OEM, VLK, etc.)
Windows 7 Enterprise (x86, x64)

Enterprise corresponds with Vista Enterprise. Just don't advertise it to the general public...

2) Modular install, a la Windows Server 2008 (or even Windows 98!)

Pick the stuff you want. If the stuff you want has dependencies, those will be selected for you.

However, there are things I DO like about Windows 7 that are already there:

1) Optimized! It can run on a Netbook! (THIS is the reason why Windows 7 is not 64-bit only! Vista can't run on Netbooks, ya know...)
2) Sidebar gadgets are integrated with the Desktop instead of having a separate app that sucks up more RAM than it should.
3) User Account Control is more flexible. Instead of "all or nothing," you can control how much or little nagging you want...
4) Media Center--supports QAM and H.264...about ****ing time!
5) Faster startup and shutdown!

[Ethaniel]

killerb255, on Jan 14 2009, 06:35 PM, said:

2) Modular install, a la Windows Server 2008 (or even Windows 98!)

Amen to that. I'm using vLite in Vista but, I know W7 devs can bring this back. I have no problem with the existing Express install mode. If anyone wants to install W7 with a few clicks, that's perfect. But I want the "Custom" option to be "really custom", not the "Custom = full" we have seen so far. If they can bring the custom mode back in W7, well, that could be enough for me to pre-order...

[JOSHSKORN]

• Built-in Virtual OS emulation (like VMWare)
  
• No UAC!!! Worst feature in Vista by far. I hate that thing.
  
• Need a resource manager to shut down unused processes and services
  
• Rename everything in the control panel back to how it was in XP and before and stop moving things around. This is annoying!
  
• I agree with having a 64-bit version ONLY OS. It's time to move on. For those still running ancient software, they can buy copies of Win98 SE off eBay. haha. Also, it'll force us that are using multi-boot systems to get better hardware, anyway so using VMWare is a more viable option. I'm sure if I even tried to install Windows 7 in VMWare on top of Windows Vista my computer would explode w/ only 2 GB of RAM. I haven't gone 64-bit yet for fear of compatibility issues but I will with Windows 7 and I'll probably do a masive upgrade on my machine as well.
  
• I also agree w/ having only one version of Windows 7, unlike Vista where there's like 5 of em (I lost count/don't care really). C'mon, it's not necessary. Why couldn't we have used Windows Update to get any necessary tools that might be found in Vista Ultimate that aren't found in Vista Basic?
  
• Make it easier to get to the command prompt. Some of us prefer to type than click.
  
• Add a warning message when you click Shutdown. I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally shut down my computer just because my hand went retarded and clicked it instead of the Sleep option. Add an option to suppress the warning.