Gadgetzone.com has an interesting artcile on 20 things Windows 7 MUST include (their emphasis, not mine). They begin "Despite its enhanced security, improved CPU scheduler and excellent stability, it's still the flawed gem in many critics' eyes. But can Microsoft win back the XP crowd with its upcoming Windows 7 offering? The fact is, they have to." My Take: Not sure I agree with them all -- do home users really care about WinFS? -- but some, like home user licensing and simpler management of startup items would be really compelling features for upgraders.
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Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2007-09-06
If they can write it so that dependent apps where opened previous to apps further down the chain then that is not a big issue. The real issue, for my anyhow, is taking focus by default.
If I'm working in a program and I know I'm going to need another heavy program, I'll start it loading then go back to my first task. The new program begins to load and the splash screen takes focus away from the task I want to be doing. I turn off the splash screen when the option is available. Now I have the large program take focus away from what I'm doing. I can't tell you the number of times I've looked away from the screen only to look back and find the second half of my input spread across fields in the new program.
(I'm the user, I'll bloody tell you, the computer, what task I need to work on. You just go and load the damn program in the background and wait until the user is ready for it.)
They would have to correct that everlasting bug so that focus remains where the user prefers it and new windows open in background.
Member since:
2007-02-07
Agreed, plus, consider the monopoly cries! Furthermore:
9. Program Caching
Currently, Vista caches commonly used software into RAM so that it launches faster. The main problem with this approach is that it confuses users into thinking Vista is using several hundred MB of RAM just for itself. A simple toolbar notification stating ‘Vista is caching your programs to improve speed. Click here for more information’, would end all the confusion.
I don't think typical user knows or cares about the way operating system manages resources, should OS give constant updates of its inner workings to user?!! In case of technical users, well, they already know that Vista is caching apps in memory.
8. Microsoft Toolbox
This is an idea we came up with which we believe would benefit many users with compatibility issues. The feature would list current drivers and patches for all installed hardware, games, and software. By having this all in the one place (possibly within Windows Update) users can keep their system up-to-date without seeking drivers and patches manually.
Windows already looks for new drivers and Microsoft applications. A unified way of extending this to all applications, games, etc. -if done correctly- could be useful.
4. Better out-of-box burning capabilities
...
Nero, Roxio, Ashampoo, Ulead and others WILL sue. EU fines Microsoft 10 Gajillion dollars.
If you need more than Windows provides, there are free, good enough, alternatives available.
3. Diagnostic Tools
It happens all the time, you build your own PC and the OS install constantly crashes. You blame the OS, but really, something else is at fault (such as the RAM). If diagnostic tools similar to Memtest were included, issues like this could be detected without the need to find third party software.
Vista already has a Memory Diagnostic Tool built in. Go to start > type 'memory' > select and run > Vista restarts... .
Other tools have been available since 2000. Again, a complete solution will get MS sued.
2. Faster Boot and Shutdown
This seems to be something that constantly plagues Windows. A faster boot time would be a great first impression to many critics, and it’ll save valuable time, especially when restarting for updates.
Vista, on my Macbook Pro, takes about 25~30 seconds. Updates that require reboot are not THAT frequent, and I don't see any reason other than that to restart your machine.
A simple startup interface (not as daunting as the current MS Configuration Utility) would help users disable what they don’t need running.
Good Idea.
Another feature would be to schedule programs to start after a certain amount of time. This would prevent the computer struggling to open several programs in one hit.
Very Very bad idea. Users think system is ready to use, then out of blue, windows starts loading apps. Other confusions can happen too (dependent apps, etc). Maybe, a user managed way could help, but that is still not for 99% of users.
This article has some good points, and several flaws, mostly rising from the fact that the author has not explored Windows thoroughly enough to be a able to criticize it.
[Edit: I forgot to whine about number of pages in article. It could be done in 2 pages.]
Edited 2008-07-10 19:16 UTC