Looking forward to Windows 8, what Microsoft misse

luchifal

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Part 1

Already talk about Windows 7 has moved forward to Windows 8, as Microsoft last month began hiring for posts within that division. With this in mind I thought that, from a usability standpoint, Iâ??d take a good in-depth look at Windows 7 and see what changes could have been implemented already and what we can perhaps look forward to in the future.

I want to start with Windows Explorer because this is essentially the same beast that we saw in Windows 98. Okay, so Microsoft overhauled the main interface with Vista by introducing the breadcrumb bar, but if you open an explorer window today in a basic installation of Windows 7, youâ??ll be very used to what youâ??ve seen for over ten years.

Why is this a bad thing? If we take a trip back to the good old-fashioned 20th century then weâ??ll see a time before the mass adoption of MP3 players, portable video players and digital cameras. The files we stored on our PCs were sparse and usually consisted only of office type documents and PDFs.

Now of course things are very different and we all have a plethora of diverse files on our PCs. For some reason however, and even though you can change the settings, the default explorer view is of mixed file types all sorted alphabetically. The option to change this to, for instance, my personal choice of grouped by file type, isnâ??t the easiest feature to find.

There are other omissions in the Windows 7 version of explorer too including the fact that weâ??re still seeing drive letters by default and compressed drives highlighted in blue when we really donâ??t need to any more.

Donâ??t get me wrong at this stage. I love Windows 7 and want it to be the best product it can be. Itâ??s just a shame though that while Microsoft overhaul great chunks of the user interface theyâ??re missing certain small usability issues that go along-side these. Iâ??ll write more about this in coming chapters.
 

My Computer

Nice post luchifal.
I don't agree on Drive letters though
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Home Premium FR x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 950 3.06 GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X35A-UD3R
    Memory
    Corsair XMS3 DDR3 3x2GB 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus nVidia GeForce GTX460 1GB Factory Overclocked
    Sound Card
    HT Omega Claro
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VW246H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1x OCZ Vertex 2 90GB SSD, 1x Hitachi 7200RPM 500GB, 1x 1TB WD Green
    PSU
    Silverstone DA700 700W
    Case
    Lian-Li Lancool PC-K62
    Cooling
    Case : Stock, CPU : Cooler Master Hyper N520
    Keyboard
    Logitech Media Elite Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    30MBits down, 1Mbits up
    Other Info
    Scanner : Canon LiDE 200
    Printer : Samsung ML-2010
Can't wait for this, W7 was a great adventure, i expect this one to be just as good, or even better.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W7 Ultimate RTM x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Homemade
    CPU
    Intel E5300 (OC) @ 3.00ghz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5KPL-AM SE
    Memory
    4GB (2x 2GB Elixier RAM 800mhz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 9400GT 1GB Edition
    Sound Card
    Integrated 6 Channel
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" HDTV Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 500GB Internal
    Seagate 160GB Internal
    Seagate 250GB External
    Hitachi 1TB External
    PSU
    ATX 600W
    Case
    Tsunami
    Cooling
    Stock Intel CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    HP SK-2960 Multimedia Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech M350 Wireless Gaming Mouse
    Internet Speed
    1.5MB
Moving forward, I suggest several things here:

  1. WinFS - please!!!!
  2. A dual-paned File Manager with integrated RoboCopy / like copying tool (currently I use Xplorer^2 and I don't plan to give that up, but to have it integrated would also be nice - with tabbed interface would be even better....with integrated search, registry and management interfaces it would be awesome
  3. Powershell as the default cmd line - time to get rid of the last remnants of DOS - FFS
  4. a completely user-configurable shell - I don't want to be running a program called sidebar just to get desktop apps, and I certainly don't want to have to go through the hassle of installing 3rd party shells / DLLs / patch system files, only to have them revert the minute I have an issue and need to run SFC.
  5. Speaking of which, a user-configurable SFC (GUI would be nice, but cmdline / powershell line version will work)

More as I think about them.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 22H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model A (homebrew)
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull fron
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable),Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender + MB 3
  • PC2
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
Moving forward, I suggest several things here:

  1. WinFS - please!!!!
  2. A dual-paned File Manager with integrated RoboCopy / like copying tool (currently I use Xplorer^2 and I don't plan to give that up, but to have it integrated would also be nice - with tabbed interface would be even better....with integrated search, registry and management interfaces it would be awesome
  3. Powershell as the default cmd line - time to get rid of the last remnants of DOS - FFS
  4. a completely user-configurable shell - I don't want to be running a program called sidebar just to get desktop apps, and I certainly don't want to have to go through the hassle of installing 3rd party shells / DLLs / patch system files, only to have them revert the minute I have an issue and need to run SFC.
  5. Speaking of which, a user-configurable SFC (GUI would be nice, but cmdline / powershell line version will work)

More as I think about them.

add one more .rar intergration.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Vista-Windows 7-8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 8730-6951
    CPU
    Intel Centrino 2 Dou Inside
    Memory
    4 Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 9600M GT
    Screen Resolution
    1680*945
    Hard Drives
    320Gb
    Internet Speed
    15mbs
nah - I prefer not to have .RAR integration - it will make the OS so much slower :p

(j/k)

That would nice - but I bought WinRAR back in the day and thus far my license is still good. So, IDGAF if it is integrated or not.

Preferably, I'd like to see 7z integrated - a much better archiving protocol than zip...but being Open Source, I doubt that will happen.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 22H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model A (homebrew)
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull fron
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable),Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender + MB 3
  • PC2
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
These are mostly about appearance, and workflow:

1) WAY more customizable shell. The default windows shell is really stiff and limited...

1.1) It's a MUST to make every part/toolbar (Start button, quick launch, task list, clock etc.) of the bottom panel a different object, which you could move anywhere you want, delete, duplicate, etc by drag'n'drop when the bottom bar is unlocked.If the user wants to remove the start button, why not let him? If the user wants to have two start buttons on both sides of his bottom panel, why not let him? Freedom!

1.2) It's a MUST to make the start menu completely customizable by simply clicking on it with the right button and pressing "Customize" or something... For example, i would hold only these things there: "My Computer", "Games Folder", "Programs folder", "Control panel" and shut down. Currently the start menu is a completely big mess full of stuff people don't need. And that mess is not what people want to see.
And one more thing i was missing: A hell lot of other tweaks for windows. For example, I couldn't turn off pinning in the taskbar options, ... WHY? Every part of the OS should be tweakable. Even the right click menu on any item!


1.3) The abilitty to add more panels, even floating ones if the user wants to.

1.4) Way more flexible appearance changer. Right now we only have the Aero glass, and the classic. That's very limited. People should be able to use their own graphics for windows and the panels without no external apps, or hacking into system folders. Like, windows would have it's own Skin editor inside "Personalise", where you could load your own images, move them arround and whatnot, and then apply...

1.5) A better Multimonitor support. Stretched Backgrounds, maximise on all monitors, panels working on other monitors, etc... If an external app can do it, why is it so hard to code in to windows?

1.6) Gadgets should be abe to get locked.

2) Administrators should have full control over the apps that are installed on the pc. I think, it should be possible to easily uninstall the Internet Explorer, The Windows Shell, windows manager, file browser, paint, bacically anything. I know that these are highly integrated into windows, but why? People should have a freedom of choice on what to use. These could be reinstalled using the windows 8 DVD. A lot to be rewritten here. This step is probably the most important, because if other steps won't be made, people would be able to uninstall the unflexible Windows shell (or somethin else) and safely install an alternative one. Or have several shells/File browsers/etc, and select one from a list in the control panel. Microsoft should stop forcing users on using their software or they will definately go for linux.

3) Internet explorer should get major improvements.
Forcing new windows to open in new tabs instead.
Letting you have only the address bar and the tabs on the GUI...
Making the download progress show on the gui, instead of a new window...
etc. Chrome is a good example of a clean browser.

4) Windows media player should have .flac and .ogg support. These are opensource, which makes it easy to add. And there is no crime if you do. Then why isn't it there?

5) Add/Remove programs:
5.1)Add/Remove programs should have the ability to add items into folders/groups, to make it clean. Group uninstall maybe?
5.2) Windows should have an integrated registry error checker/cleaner, which makes sure that there are no useless registry entries in the registry. I've heard that windows keeps gathering registry, and sometimes doesn't remove registry added by installed programs... And that slows down your pc...

6) Easy moving of the "Program files" folder and the "Users" folder.
Some people like to keep these on other partitions then windows are installed.
And microsoft is really giving them a hard time... Going to the Windows CD repair console and making junctions is the only option these users have...

7) Remove the library feature from the file browser. Why do we need that if we have our home folder?...

Other than this, Windows is the most friendly and compatible OS ever. And those two things are the most importand in a OS. Keep it up. So yeah, I like Windows. But some of these points make me really annoyed and frustrated as a user. Basically if these points are fixed, less people would leave windows for linux or Mac.

IF ANYONE AGREES SAY "FREEMIND +1"
 

My Computer

Trust me on what I am about to say; if you have ever used Finder (file manager) on a Mac you would bow down to Explorer (file manager on Win 7).

But yes there are some changes that need made, but at the present time I find using Explorer a pleasant experience. It would be nice to see some better batching scenarios, specially in the areas of file naming in MP3s, and Photos. Also the ability to move between fields when working with MP3 files (renaming: artist, genera, album titles, etc.) sometime similar to what MP3 Tag Edit does.

We can only hope.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8, (VM win7, XP, Vista)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion p1423w
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3330 Ivy Bridge
    Motherboard
    Foxconn - 2ADA Ivy Brige
    Memory
    16 GB 1066MHz DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5450
    Sound Card
    HD Realteck (Onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Mitsubishi LED TV/Montior HD, Dell 23 HD, Hanspree 25" HD
    Screen Resolution
    Mit. 1980-1080, Dell 2048-115, Hanspree 1920-10802
    Hard Drives
    1 SanDisk 240Gig SSD, 2 Samsung 512Gig SSDs
    Case
    Tower
    Cooling
    Original (Fans)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Keyboard 2000
    Mouse
    Microsoft Optical Mouse 5000
    Internet Speed
    1.3 (350 to 1024 if lucky)
    Browser
    Firefox 19.1
    Antivirus
    MSE-Defender
The simplest thing I can hope for, not only for 8, but even after that-
Don't worry about being "pretty". Make it just plain work. Don't get me wrong, I'm on Vista, and I like the looks,
and 7 looks fine(although a little too "fluff" filled for my taste), but I'd be happy just making it faster and more robust.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AND 64 X2 6000+ 3.01GHz
    Memory
    3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce 8800GTS x 2
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" AOC
    Screen Resolution
    1980x1050
    Hard Drives
    320GB
    Case
    Custom
    Cooling
    Water (not for long)
    Keyboard
    Logitech k360
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    30/5
    Browser
    Opera
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