I will not buy Windows 7 unless it has ... *Feature*

[Brandon Live Veteran]

* Massive DLL clean up or a totally new system (I am sick and tired of DLL crashes after 10 years for this b*s - even Windows Explorer does this to me)

You're going to have to explain better than that. Are you complaining about crashes due to shell extensions that you installed?

* Very detailed documentation (evil MS has added undocumented features and code since the latter years of DOS )

http://msdn.microsoft.com

Welcome to this century.

* Total and Complete Access to Task Manager and the ability is kill off unwanted memory huggers (especially trojans who create a random name and putting itself right back into memory)

That doesn't even make sense.

* Remove ActiveX

What on earth could possibly compel you to do that? Yeah, sure, let's go break almost every application for no good reason. Right.

* Time Machine like Mac OS X

Been there, done that.

* A better Remote Access (I tried removing viruses from a friend's Vista computer, Vista kept locking me out)

Locking you out? You're going to need to be more specific. What were you using, and what error did you receive?

* Multiple Layers of Firewalls

Good god I hope you're joking.

[eXtermia]

SmartCard Activation oh wait Vista already does :)

But seriously I agree with many that it should remember folder preferences .

I also would like it to allow *unsigned drivers* in 64 bit to be used as a basis to look up drivers on Microsoft Update. I have had some hardware that I couldn't find signed drivers but if I somehow got the drivers installed it updated off the Windows Update page afterwards ... strange before that it didn't even recognize the hardware.

[Xilo]

I would like Windows 7 to make me coffee and fix me a nice sandwich that I can configure to my liking. I won't use Windows 7 unless these features are implemented.

Edited September 17, 2008 by Xilo

[Groovedude]

I would like Windows 7 to make me coffee and fix me a nice sandwich that I can configure to my liking. I won't use Windows 7 unless these features are implemented.

right at this moment in time, that sounds like a brilliant idea to me, im soo hungary haha :D!

[Quillz]

I can't say I will outright refuse to buy Windows 7 because it lacks such and such, but here's what I personally would like to see added (or improved) within Windows 7...

• Take a cue from Mac OS X and make it easy to customize the look of the system. That is, make large icons that are scaled down for applications, shortcut icons, etc. This way, we only have to change just one system icon a piece. Make something that works like CandyBar on Mac OS X.
  
• Make the taskbar behave properly when docked to the top of the screen. And make docking it to the left and right sides actually halfway decent. I like my taskbar on the top of the screen, but few windows respect this. The controls are either hidden or they just don't behave like they should.
  
• Get rid of drive letters. Make Windows 7 behave more like a Unix OS, where the kernel itself is simply mounted to /. This way, you can easily add many external drives, etc. and never have to fart around with drive letters. Will make networking drives somewhat easier.
  
• Please get rid of any ancient code and dialog boxes that simply serve no purpose. Are you aware that in Windows Vista, it still sports a Windows 3 era dialog box if you manually add fonts one by one? Why is this still there in this day and age? We have drag and drop now. I'm not saying drop support for legacy hardware and software, but please get rid of things that clearly are obsolete.
  
• Allow us to alter UAC so that we must enter a password instead of clicking a button. Also, just make the UAC dialog box appear. The fading out of the background is pretty, but even on fast hardware it has a tend to lag.
  
• Please consider just one or two versions of Windows 7. Either simply market it like Apple does with Mac OS X and simply release one retail/OEM copy that simply has everything in it. Or else make a "Home Edition" and a "Business Edition." There could then be an edition like "Ultimate Edition" that combines the two. With Vista, most people are not going to stray anywhere outside of Home Premium, Business or Ultimate, so clearly customers do not need much more than three versions at most.
  
• Finally, please reduce the price. Windows Vista Ultimate costs nearly $399 for the full retail copy. It's a great OS, but I do wonder if it's really worth the $399. Why can't Windows sell for, say, just $199? This would be a much more affordable price point for many, and this is a price that I feel is fully justified. I believe $299 was the full retail price of Windows XP Professional, which was one of the most popular Windows releases ever made.
  

[NEVER85]

I believe $299 was the full retail price of Windows XP Professional, which was one of the most popular Windows releases ever made.

Which I still can't understand for the life of me...

[Luis.A]

Allow me to reorder my taskbar items.

Make the start menu FASTER!!!!

Allow me to pin windows to top damnit!

Give me my god damn ultimate extras!!!!

Improve DWM compatibility with legacy apps.

[y_notm]

I can't say I will outright refuse to buy Windows 7 because it lacks such and such, but here's what I personally would like to see added (or improved) within Windows 7...

[*]Take a cue from Mac OS X and make it easy to customize the look of the system. That is, make large icons that are scaled down for applications, shortcut icons, etc. This way, we only have to change just one system icon a piece. Make something that works like CandyBar on Mac OS X.

Each icon on Mac has at least two sizes AFAIK.

[*]Get rid of drive letters. Make Windows 7 behave more like a Unix OS, where the kernel itself is simply mounted to /. This way, you can easily add many external drives, etc. and never have to fart around with drive letters. Will make networking drives somewhat easier.

Would be nice. I can see it happening, too. WHS pretty much does away with the concept of drive letters. Adding a new drive simply increases the size of your storage pool for example. Libraries in W7 should also help make drive letters more obsolete. But you can't completely just drop them because programs rely on them being there. Short term, the best you can do is just hide them from the user.

[*]Please get rid of any ancient code and dialog boxes that simply serve no purpose. Are you aware that in Windows Vista, it still sports a Windows 3 era dialog box if you manually add fonts one by one? Why is this still there in this day and age? We have drag and drop now. I'm not saying drop support for legacy hardware and software, but please get rid of things that clearly are obsolete.

Gone in W7 from what I have read. Never understood what the big deal was with this dialog in the first place. It's not like it pops up every 10 minutes and smacks you in the face. If you never want to see it, you don't have to.

[*]Allow us to alter UAC so that we must enter a password instead of clicking a button. Also, just make the UAC dialog box appear. The fading out of the background is pretty, but even on fast hardware it has a tend to lag.

Both of these are available on Windows Vista I believe. The second request definitely is. Dig around in Group Policy editor or download one of the dozen uac tweakers that do this for you.

[Linkinfamous]

Both of these are available on Windows Vista I believe. The second request definitely is. Dig around in Group Policy editor or download one of the dozen uac tweakers that do this for you.

They are.

you can even make it require ctrl+alt+del if you want.

[x-byte]

• Get rid of drive letters.
  

You can do that in Vista... So it probably will be in Windows 7 too.

[afusion]

The title of this thread is redundant

[ViperAFK]

I can't say I will outright refuse to buy Windows 7 because it lacks such and such, but here's what I personally would like to see added (or improved) within Windows 7...

• Take a cue from Mac OS X and make it easy to customize the look of the system. That is, make large icons that are scaled down for applications, shortcut icons, etc. This way, we only have to change just one system icon a piece. Make something that works like CandyBar on Mac OS X.
  
• Make the taskbar behave properly when docked to the top of the screen. And make docking it to the left and right sides actually halfway decent. I like my taskbar on the top of the screen, but few windows respect this. The controls are either hidden or they just don't behave like they should.
  
• Get rid of drive letters. Make Windows 7 behave more like a Unix OS, where the kernel itself is simply mounted to /. This way, you can easily add many external drives, etc. and never have to fart around with drive letters. Will make networking drives somewhat easier.
  
• Please get rid of any ancient code and dialog boxes that simply serve no purpose. Are you aware that in Windows Vista, it still sports a Windows 3 era dialog box if you manually add fonts one by one? Why is this still there in this day and age? We have drag and drop now. I'm not saying drop support for legacy hardware and software, but please get rid of things that clearly are obsolete.
  
• Allow us to alter UAC so that we must enter a password instead of clicking a button. Also, just make the UAC dialog box appear. The fading out of the background is pretty, but even on fast hardware it has a tend to lag.
  
• Please consider just one or two versions of Windows 7. Either simply market it like Apple does with Mac OS X and simply release one retail/OEM copy that simply has everything in it. Or else make a "Home Edition" and a "Business Edition." There could then be an edition like "Ultimate Edition" that combines the two. With Vista, most people are not going to stray anywhere outside of Home Premium, Business or Ultimate, so clearly customers do not need much more than three versions at most.
  
• Finally, please reduce the price. Windows Vista Ultimate costs nearly $399 for the full retail copy. It's a great OS, but I do wonder if it's really worth the $399. Why can't Windows sell for, say, just $199? This would be a much more affordable price point for many, and this is a price that I feel is fully justified. I believe $299 was the full retail price of Windows XP Professional, which was one of the most popular Windows releases ever made.
  

good suggestions, but the UAC faded out background ect.. is not there for looks. It switches to a separate secure desktop and fades everything out to prevent malware trying to take over the dialog box, making multiple dialog boxes ect...

[crazlunatic]

Expose! It's about time we have something like that

[Quillz]

good suggestions, but the UAC faded out background ect.. is not there for looks. It switches to a separate secure desktop and fades everything out to prevent malware trying to take over the dialog box, making multiple dialog boxes ect...

Interesting, I didn't realize this. But, there's no way they could do the exact same thing w/o fading out the background? Again, it's nothing major, but it still can lag for even a split second, whereas on Linux and Mac OS X, the prompt just appears, nothing fancy.

[Linkinfamous]

Interesting, I didn't realize this. But, there's no way they could do the exact same thing w/o fading out the background? Again, it's nothing major, but it still can lag for even a split second, whereas on Linux and Mac OS X, the prompt just appears, nothing fancy.

On Linux and Mac OSX, you have to enter a password. Under Vista, as the prompt cannot be hijacked by any running application, you are more secure than if either OSX or *nix had simply showed an 'allow' or 'deny' dialog. (Even if a running app attempted to move the mouse/manipulate the keyboard, it wouldn't matter. It's still safe.)

Unfortunately, the switch to the secure desktop is a switch to another desktop, similar to what happens during the transition from the login screen to the desktop. Hopefully they'll be able to come up with something nicer. Either way, you can bet that ATI or nVidia's drivers will be at fault for making it flicker, jerk, or simply not transition properly.

[markwolfe Veteran]

On Linux and Mac OSX, you have to enter a password. Under Vista, as the prompt cannot be hijacked by any running application, you are more secure than if either OSX or *nix had simply showed an 'allow' or 'deny' dialog. (Even if a running app attempted to move the mouse/manipulate the keyboard, it wouldn't matter. It's still safe.)

...

That is what Linux does, too. Ubuntu, anyhow, the existing screen is "frozen" as it transitions and asserts a separate prompt screen that uses the previous image as a background. It isn't unique to Vista.

I have, on many occasions, commended Microsoft on the security work they have put into Vista. The only "shame" of it that I have pointed out is that it should have been done in XP. At least they are finally treating security seriously.

[Linkinfamous]

That is what Linux does, too. Ubuntu, anyhow, the existing screen is "frozen" as it transitions and asserts a separate prompt screen that uses the previous image as a background. It isn't unique to Vista.

Ah. My bad. I was under the impression that the keyboard/mouse could still potentially be hijacked.

[markwolfe Veteran]

Ah. My bad. I was under the impression that the keyboard/mouse could still potentially be hijacked.

It may depend on distro. That's why I specifically mentioned Ubuntu (and derivatives like Xubuntu, which I use). Slack and others may not actually do this extra work with the active X session.

[afuchi]

I don't buy it anyway. I'll get it free (No, no piracy.) and free is condition when i don't whine :p

[giga Veteran]

Um... volume shadow copy? It just doesn't have the eye candy that Time Machine offers.

As far as I know, VSC only does byte level changes of the original? How would that fare as a real backup solution if the original drive/file fails or gets corrupted? How does one set an interval for backing up?

Other things I'm not sure about? Does VSC work through actual applications rather than just Explorer for restoring mail, contacts, or photos? (Live Mail, Windows Contacts, Photo Gallery)

[Mathachew Veteran]

As far as I know, VSC only does byte level changes of the original? How would that fare as a real backup solution if the original drive/file fails or gets corrupted? How does one set an interval for backing up?

Other things I'm not sure about? Does VSC work through actual applications rather than just Explorer for restoring mail, contacts, or photos? (Live Mail, Windows Contacts, Photo Gallery)

I'm completely unaware of the technical details on how it works. I know you can restore any file, even if doesn't exist now, or did a few days ago (unless you mean that the original currently exists in the oldest backup and that gets corrupt?).

You have to view the properties of a folder/file in order to view previous versions of it. If a program browses for files, you can view the properties from there. The Backup and Restore Center is where you can manage complete backups, VSC and restore points. I don't use it often enough to really say, "Yeah it does this, but this is a drawback." The way it's setup now has worked fine for me the several times I have had to use it.

[Gabureiru]

I will not buy Win7 unless is based on WinXP instead of WinVista ;)

[Mathachew Veteran]

I will not buy Win7 unless is based on WinXP instead of WinVista ;)

Then you won't be buying it :p

[giga Veteran]

I'm completely unaware of the technical details on how it works. I know you can restore any file, even if doesn't exist now, or did a few days ago (unless you mean that the original currently exists in the oldest backup and that gets corrupt?).

You have to view the properties of a folder/file in order to view previous versions of it. If a program browses for files, you can view the properties from there. The Backup and Restore Center is where you can manage complete backups, VSC and restore points. I don't use it often enough to really say, "Yeah it does this, but this is a drawback." The way it's setup now has worked fine for me the several times I have had to use it.

Exactly. If your drive fails or shadow copy backup gets corrupted, you'd be sol. This is basically where Time Machine differs--it's not really a comparable service to VSC even though it offers the same functionality of restoring from previous versions.

[Quillz]

I will not buy Win7 unless is based on WinXP instead of WinVista ;)

That would be a horrible idea.