Six Things I would Love to see in Windows 7

John Dvorak at PC Magazine, a grand old curmudgeon who never pulls any punches created a wish list for Windows 7. It got me thinking about my own wish list, so here goes:

1. Don't Make Me Wait Forever at Boot Time

Nothing aggravates me more than waiting for Windows to boot up. It takes forever and seems to take longer with each passing version. I remember some time ago Bill Gates ordering his programmers to speed up boot time. They seemed to have missed the memo because it never happened, and if anything it got worse.

2. Gives us a Little Credit about Security

Don't dumb down Windows 7 like you did Vista. Give us a little credit, so that the computer is actually useful. Don't ask me if I'm sure if I want to load a program, and after I click that it's OK, certainly don't keep asking me again and again.

It shouldn't be a chore to install software and certainly the OS should get the hell out of the way. Vista is constantly in the way and it's so annoying, it makes me want to scream every time I have to interact with it. It's madness and if you want to make me happy, just let me install the damn software in Windows 7. Thanks.

3. It's My Stuff, so Let Me Use It

Why is Microsoft so concerned about protecting the RIAA and the MPAA? Do they play golf together or something? Let's just forget about DRM in Windows 7, OK? It's another piece of Big Brother software I can do without. I paid for the song or the video. If I want to make a backup or move it another device I should be able to do it without my OS balking at me.

4. Don't Require 4 GB of RAM to Work Right

Whenever I complain about how pokey Vista is to colleagues, there's always a few who claim not to understand what I'm talking about. Probe a bit deeper and you find their machine is loaded with RAM. If the computer manufacturers are selling Vista with 1-2GB of RAM, it should work with that, and not require you to double the RAM just to get a normal performance experience. Let's agree not to make Windows 7 a memory hog and we'll all get along much better.

5. Don't Require me to Get All New Hardware

One of the biggest complaints from business users about switching to Vista were the steep hardware requirements. See #5 for an example. Most CIOs are not prepared to upgrade every PC in the company just to move to a new OS, especially when the old OS is working fine. Most consumers aren't either. You'll get more people to upgrade if you don't force them to buy a new machine to do it. Lots of folks just aren't going to do it.

6. Make it Cheaper

There are a ton of free alternatives out there vying for my attention while you're developing Windows 7. There's also OSX, which is a pretty darn good OS, even if you have to pay $80 for it, so I'm telling you Microsoft, you need to bring the down price of the license, and while you're at it, let me share that license with the other computers in my household without charging me to do it. Don't make me pay for every computer. It's just greedy and you'll make tons of friends if you lower the cost and offer a household license, and you need friends. You really do.

I'm quite sure that Microsoft will ignore my wishes completely when developing Windows 7, but it doesn't mean I can't dream. I have no illusions that Windows 7 will be any better than Vista, or as Dvorak says, it will probably be Vista with a few "gewgaws" thrown in to make us think it's really cool. In the end, it will still probably be a piece of crap, but we can hope. We always have hope.

What's on your wish list for Windows 7?

[Kagehi]

What do I want on my list? Hmm..

1) Something like the Linux start up, so, even if it did take longer, I know what the @#$#$#@ the OS is actually loading/doing during start up, and when/if something went wrong, didn't get detected, malfunctioned, etc.

2) Give me the option, during installation, of specifying that temp files, documents, user specific settings, and other **Critical** stuff be stored on a different partition from the OS, or better yet, as different fracking drive.

3) Do something halfway sane, like allowing those settings to be imported or detected and auto-imported, where possible, into the OS, if something goes horribly wrong, and I have to reinstall it.

Yeah, dumbing things down has been one of the most annoying problems with Windows since... probably 95. But, the other problem has always been not letting the end user have any damn control over how half the stuff installs in the first place, hiding configuration options, making it impossible to "correct" bad configurations if you mess up, and a host of other issues. When I put in XP, I made the mistake of "thinking" that it was like 98, and I could save documents where I wanted, make a few simple changes to the locations for certain other things, etc., and have a "small" OS partition. It took me less than a week to figure out that MS had made it nearly impossible to do that without breaking half the stuff I already had installed, including the OS, in some obscure ways, and I have been dealing with a partition that, even with documents moved, is probably 10-20GB "too small" for what it needs to do, and which the OS provides no way, other than a reinstall, to correct. A Reinstall which would mean reinstalling, reconfiguring, and rearranging "again", 100+ applications, a MySQL service, and more than a few other things that I really don't want to have to "fix". It would, quite frankly, be less of a waste of time, effort, and cost, to scrap the entire machine, and start over. And its the OS making it that way, for the most part.

But, what I expect to see is more dumbed down security, more restrictions on what I *can* configure, and more cases of MS thinking they know better than I do how to "configure" the OS to do the things I want. I would be... almost disappointed at this point if they didn't keep pulling that BS. lol

[Techwriter10]

Right. We wouldn't have anything to complain about if the did it right. Not to worry. That's not likely to happen. It is more likely it will ship as you described in your last paragraph. :-)

Thanks for the lengthy comment. You're obviously as annoyed with Windows as I am.

[07knev]

Windows7 is more advanced and robust features compared to windows vista, windows XP.
New users find some problem with the new style and option in win7.

[Tumlee]

Seems more like a user issue. I've had Vista for three straight years and the boot time has stayed a static 15 seconds for me. The Allow & Deny thing only happens the very first time you run a program, so that's not an issue. Windows 7 is officially more memory effecient than Vista, so you got your wish.

I would like a more verbose startup in future versions of Windows, though.

[passenger2]

Just opinion :
I think WindowsXP is the most popular easy Graphical User Interface than Vista or Win7.
It gives you a unique management way to customize and troubleshoot your PC while others show lists of predefined commands and ..; JUST ENOUGH TALKING ABOUT THIS
XP for a stable customized private manual system and Vista or 7 for the new supporting requirements and auto PC management .
Sofiane Mekroussi Algeria

[naveensharma]

i don't know what is the six different things in window7 But i tell this is the amazing window and very advance in comparison of window xp.

playground equipment dealer

[DarkWolffe]

Obviously you haven't seen Windows 8 yet.

Lower system requirements, faster boot times, more streamline (or so they say about the latter).

[zeroliken]

I completely agree that the boot time windows gets for every version gets worst I just hope that it becomes better for windows 8 regardless of the hardware

[Techno22]

Hope that all of your wishes will be addressed in
Windows 8.
Best of luck.

[Webmastergrace]

john dvorak at pc magazine, a grand old curmudgeon who never pulls any punches created a wish list for windows 7. It got me thinking about my own wish list, so here goes:

1. Don't make me wait forever at boot time

nothing aggravates me more than waiting for windows to boot up. It takes forever and seems to take longer with each passing version. I remember some time ago bill gates ordering his programmers to speed up boot time. They seemed to have missed the memo because it never happened, and if anything it got worse.

2. Gives us a little credit about security

don't dumb down windows 7 like you did vista. Give us a little credit, so that the computer is actually useful. Don't ask me if i'm sure if i want to load a program, and after i click that it's ok, certainly don't keep asking me again and again.

It shouldn't be a chore to install software and certainly the os should get the hell out of the way. Vista is constantly in the way and it's so annoying, it makes me want to scream every time i have to interact with it. It's madness and if you want to make me happy, just let me install the damn software in windows 7. Thanks.

3. It's my stuff, so let me use it

why is microsoft so concerned about protecting the riaa and the mpaa? Do they play golf together or something? Let's just forget about drm in windows 7, ok? It's another piece of big brother software i can do without. I paid for the song or the video. If i want to make a backup or move it another device i should be able to do it without my os balking at me.

4. Don't require 4 gb of ram to work right

whenever i complain about how pokey vista is to colleagues, there's always a few who claim not to understand what i'm talking about. Probe a bit deeper and you find their machine is loaded with ram. If the computer manufacturers are selling vista with 1-2gb of ram, it should work with that, and not require you to double the ram just to get a normal performance experience. Let's agree not to make windows 7 a memory hog and we'll all get along much better.

5. Don't require me to get all new hardware

one of the biggest complaints from business users about switching to vista were the steep hardware requirements. See #5 for an example. Most cios are not prepared to upgrade every pc in the company just to move to a new os, especially when the old os is working fine. Most consumers aren't either. You'll get more people to upgrade if you don't force them to buy a new machine to do it. Lots of folks just aren't going to do it.

6. Make it cheaper

there are a ton of free alternatives out there vying for my attention while you're developing windows 7. There's also osx, which is a pretty darn good os, even if you have to pay $80 for it, so i'm telling you microsoft, you need to bring the down price of the license, and while you're at it, let me share that license with the other computers in my household without charging me to do it. Don't make me pay for every computer. It's just greedy and you'll make tons of friends if you lower the cost and offer a household license, and you need friends. You really do.

I'm quite sure that microsoft will ignore my wishes completely when developing windows 7, but it doesn't mean i can't dream. I have no illusions that windows 7 will be any better than vista, or as dvorak says, it will probably be vista with a few "gewgaws" thrown in to make us think it's really cool. In the end, it will still probably be a piece of crap, but we can hope. We always have hope.

what's on your wish list for windows 7?

i am completly agrre with u sir
if it will posible then it provide a imagininetion.

[pacav69]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface

to speed the boot up you could use UEFI