20 things Windows 7 should have

[Josh]

Windows Vista, the OS that everyone loves to hate. 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.

Being that gadget zone is still a fan of the Redmond, Washington, company (although we like Apple too), gadget zone contributor and computer expert, Vito Cassisi, has come up with the 20 Microsoft must do's to ensure the success of Windows 7.

Source

[tomos]

btw link is http://loader.gadgetzone.com.au/Movies/July-2008/20-things-that-Windows-7-MUST-include.aspx?Page=1

I'll tell you what I'd like to see ... small thing but it's usually the small everyday things that do my head in anyways

a delay in showing the taskbar, a user adjustable delay please microsoft  (of course it could be there already in vista, I wouldnt know )

[Josh]

You mean I didnt include a link!?!?!?!? What was I thinking! Surprised mouser didn't haze me for that one

[zridling]

Vito seems to have consensus for his "20 Things." First, ditch the annoyances like UAC, redesign Explorer, and find a way to cut the legacy fat. Use Vista as a bridge from 32 to 64-bit from now on, and allow users a minimal install feature.

Second, as Vito implies, take the best ideas from Apple and Linux and run with them. Stop reinventing the wheel only to abandon it (MS-OOXML, anyone? WinFS). Other things I'd like to see are a price reduction and sell only one version like Apple does.

[f0dder]

UAC shouldn't be ditched, but it could perhaps be implemented in a somewhat less intrusive way - like keeping you elevated for a (short) period of time, instead of requiring elevation for every action. But returning to the old days of everybody's-a-friggin'-admin? No. (And yes, UAC currently can be annoying, especially if you're in the process of setting up a new computer and it hasn't occurred to you that you can disable UAC temporarily until initial setup is done...)

With 7, MS ought to drop 32bit versions of the OS completely - and IMHO they should've done that already with Vista. I know, it would have pissed off a lot of people, but if you keep clinging on to legacy, you never really move forwards, and there's no real incitement for developers to learn how to write 64-bit clean code.

[jgpaiva]

f0dder: I honestly don't think it's possible to use UAC enabled as of right now.
My father, for example, bought an hp computer. The regular use of the computer pops up UAC for no reason.
One example is that when he's browsing the web, some hp software tries to access iexplorer (for keeping passwords, I think) and UAC pops up. I know it's stupidity of the hp's people for not building their software properly, but until everyone is well aware of the needs of UAC, it is just unusable. I mean.. I can't even figure out how to make GridMove install without raising UAC! (I probably could with some decent effort, but I'm not really able to waste 3 days fiddling around inno... bah)

[Lashiec]

Some of the things are probably coming: UAC refinements, modularization, virtualization... while others sound like minor personal nitpicks, and the rest are probably of no use to normal users, and just extra cruft for Windows to please power users who already know where to find this functionality. Also, the article keeps pushing the confusion over MinWin, which has reached a level of fact now, when it was just a misunderstanding.

I'd like to see Windows dropping legacy support, but I don't know if it's going to actually happen. While maybe programs designed for older Windows versions (up to XP) won't run directly (they'll need virtualization), the often desired OS redesign will have to wait 'til Midori.