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


Recommended Posts

To me OEM crapware is the #1 problem Microsoft needs to take care of. Seriosly, when I learned how to bypass crapware installation with my Asus recovery cd, I was shocked that clean Vista installation was nothing like the horrible mess that greeted me when I first opened the laptop. A lot of people can't and wouldn't clean these software, and they have a horrible experience with their brand new computer.

- MS should work with OEMs and give whatever support they need for free to develop some better software. (driver tools, laptop tools etc.)

- They should include a built-in manager for crapware, maybe a list the user can configure at the OOBE wizard. Or at least some obvious way to get rid of them all at once. (ofcourse assuming they won't be able to get rid of all crapware)

A very valid point. Unfortunately for a long time now Microsoft has been more at the mercy of OEMs than vice versa. And if the OEMs are getting paid to include crapware, or they feel it gives them additional branding surface, they're going to push very hard for it.

That's not to say it won't get better.

Now, my understanding is/was that OEM's can sell laptops and Desktops so cheap if they include all this crapware. one that comes to mind is tangent.

so if THAT lowers the cost, why can't these firms offer an un-installation feature that removes what WE want to? It is our system after all isn't it?

this way, when I buy my new laptop, I can remove all those stupid games and MS office trial crap. in one swoop I mean to say.

  • 3 weeks later...
I disagree on the Windows Update thing. Keep it behind a UAC prompt. You shouldn't have access to install that kind of stuff on your system without elevation.

I think he means more along the lines of MacOS X, where you can check for updates, and it isn't until you actually install them when you are requested for the password.

As for the task manager, you shouldn't be able to play around with higher integrity-level processes, or processes you don't have access to without elevation (Hence the UAC prompt) or the entire system would be worthless. Perhaps showing the processes, maybe grayed out, or with an asterick or something, but not allowing you to end them until you restart the task manager as elevated.

MacOS X and *NIX simply only allow the users to modify processors which they own. I don't know it should be too difficult for Windows - unless UAC is a sham, and that the user account still actually has administration privileges.

As for the device manager, I partially agree. Viewing the list shouldn't require Admin privileges. In fact, you can get all of that info without elevation (Pulling win32_pnpentity from WMI seems to do the trick. You don't need anything above "User" to do that.) However, obviously making changes does.

I think that System Information doesn't require privilege elevation.

I'm really hoping for a new GUI, I'd love to see something that shows they've re-thought what is now the norm. I'd like to see some sweet fluidity, I mean why should a popup just popup out of nowhere? It should be visually clear where its coming from (instead of just having a big fat logo on there, I mean sure, we can slap icons/logos everywhere, ew), stuff like that, too abstract? Or am I over-thinking things?

Imagine windows that flow, resize on their own when they need to (user-configurable?) or move/change. Perhaps streamline a download status bar for any kind of download, whether for your antivirus definitions, firefox/IE, or latest MS updates, a streamlined progress bar that will be appropriately positioned on the desktop and easy to monitor =P. Take it farther by making those long installations truly a background process, where the window "hides" minimizes to a tiny status/progress bar somewhere on the desktop/or new taskbar?

Just tossing around some ideas heh

Mac OS X 10.5 comes on a dual layer ~8.54GB Disc, Windows Vista comes on a single layer ~4.7GB Disc. So which operating system is 'bloated' again?

As far as the looks of OS X 10.5 and Vista, I use both and I think they both have advantages but IMHO neither is perfect.

*kaiwai tazers 1Frothy*

Mac OS X 10.5 also comes with developer tools along header files, documentation etc. etc. You can install those separately after the install.

As for the word bloat; people, learn what it means. Bloat is the disproportionate size versus the functionality that it brings - and worse, when the added size and memory usage cannot be justified (aka, it takes more memory because it is managed code, and thus, the manage code allows greater security).

I think he means more along the lines of MacOS X, where you can check for updates, and it isn't until you actually install them when you are requested for the password.

UAC will not prompt you for a 'Check for Updates'.

It will only prompt you when you go to install updates manually.

MacOS X and *NIX simply only allow the users to modify processors which they own. I don't know it should be too difficult for Windows - unless UAC is a sham, and that the user account still actually has administration privileges.

Launching the task manager to modify your own processes doesn't not require Admin privileges or a UAC prompt.

However, it has a button "Show Processes from all users", which allows you to modify system processes and other user's processes. This button triggers a UAC prompt, obviously, as the task manager must relaunch itself as an Administrator to perform these operations.

Edited by MioTheGreat
I guess Microsoft is shooting itself in the foot. The new activation system seriously sucks for businesses.

Corporations can manage their own VLKs I believe.

Cue, my blog post: http://www.geeksanatomy.com/2008/06/all-i-want-for-seven-is/

Never saw this topic until today, but yeah, basically I'm dying for Seven to have what I listed.

Just post the list here and let us discuss it. Blog redirection is naughty here. ;)

I'm really hoping for a new GUI, I'd love to see something that shows they've re-thought what is now the norm. I'd like to see some sweet fluidity, I mean why should a popup just popup out of nowhere? It should be visually clear where its coming from (instead of just having a big fat logo on there, I mean sure, we can slap icons/logos everywhere, ew), stuff like that, too abstract? Or am I over-thinking things?

Imagine windows that flow, resize on their own when they need to (user-configurable?) or move/change. Perhaps streamline a download status bar for any kind of download, whether for your antivirus definitions, firefox/IE, or latest MS updates, a streamlined progress bar that will be appropriately positioned on the desktop and easy to monitor =P. Take it farther by making those long installations truly a background process, where the window "hides" minimizes to a tiny status/progress bar somewhere on the desktop/or new taskbar?

Just tossing around some ideas heh

None of those are bad ideas, but the problem is getting developers to use them. Firefox, for example, is multi-platform so it uses as few proprietary APIs as possible, whether on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, or whatever.

None of those are bad ideas, but the problem is getting developers to use them. Firefox, for example, is multi-platform so it uses as few proprietary APIs as possible, whether on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, or whatever.

True, but thats why MS needs to spearhead such efforts. Who else? some 3rd party app that will hardly penetrate the avg user base.

Windows having a certain UI won't make other OS's emulate the UI, and neither will cross platform apps.

Apple gets crap for having Safari, iTunes and QuickTime look like their OS X counterparts, Microsoft doing the same thing won't get them praise.

Anyway, MS already has a background downloading program, they could slap a UI on that and provide a unifed download manager, but apps still wouldn't use it. Firefox for example hooks it's download manager into the places system (so it's fully search-able via the UI, in 3.1 there might be a downloads section in the places organiser, right there with bookmarks and history)

Registry, to be honest is getting far too complex to maintain.While scrapping registry is not entirely possible due to compatibility reason. They should look for alternative method.

Install like OSX - I agree to a certain extend. But not simply copy and paste into Application folder.. Just GREATLY simplify installation procedure.

Uninstall from Single Location - No more going into software for its uninstall routine. Windows Should provide uninstall ability from a single entry point. User who want to remove software will go there instead.

Get Rid of Windows xxxxxxx... Naming Scheme. Media Player, Photo Gallery will do. No need to add Windows in front of them.

Control Panel - Seriously Vista Control Panel is POOR. It is an HyperLink HELL!!! Even XP's Control Panel is better.

And some of the options inside are still out of place. Microsoft should seriously rethink the whole Control Panel.

Start Menu - They should force every application on their own, No more Application Folder > Application Link.

This way we get all our apps we want without multiple hierarchy.

There are loads more.

Get Rid of Windows xxxxxxx... Naming Scheme. Media Player, Photo Gallery will do. No need to add Windows in front of them.

why they name it this way ?

just because they cant copyright Media player ...photo gallery......etc for obsessive reason as it is so general name .

why they name it this way ?

just because they cant copyright Media player ...photo gallery......etc for obsessive reason as it is so general name .

It would actually help distinguish them in a crowded task bar, where all you see is Windo... Windo..

Uninstall from Single Location - No more going into software for its uninstall routine. Windows Should provide uninstall ability from a single entry point. User who want to remove software will go there instead.

well i always remove software from Uninstall a program in control panel and it's always worked fine for me. i'm pretty sure that's how you're are supposed to remove stuff. i wouldn't even know how to do it not via a "single location"

well i always remove software from Uninstall a program in control panel and it's always worked fine for me. i'm pretty sure that's how you're are supposed to remove stuff. i wouldn't even know how to do it not via a "single location"

Yeah, Windows has provided a single uninstall point since Windows 95.

The problem comes because lots of people writing programs for Windows are stupid and useless and don't do things properly.

Uninstallers that install into the windows directory, and remove everything but the uninstallers are great. Even better are the uninstallers that uninstall nothing but the entry in the windows uninstaller section, and still require a restart.

why they name it this way ?

just because they cant copyright Media player ...photo gallery......etc for obsessive reason as it is so general name .

Partly it likely has to do with trademarks and such. See Raymond's post here.

I believe there was also a desire during Vista's development to ensure that users knew which applications came with Windows, and which ones were crapware installed by their OEM.

Uninstall from Single Location - No more going into software for its uninstall routine. Windows Should provide uninstall ability from a single entry point. User who want to remove software will go there instead.

Get Rid of Windows xxxxxxx... Naming Scheme. Media Player, Photo Gallery will do. No need to add Windows in front of them.

Control Panel - Seriously Vista Control Panel is POOR. It is an HyperLink HELL!!! Even XP's Control Panel is better.

And some of the options inside are still out of place. Microsoft should seriously rethink the whole Control Panel.

Start Menu - They should force every application on their own, No more Application Folder > Application Link.

This way we get all our apps we want without multiple hierarchy.

There are loads more.

uninstall from single location -- fyi, that exists already, for some time... Add/Remove Programs in XP and older, Programs & Features for vista... you should blame the people who write programs with craptasic uninstallers

Get Rid of Windows xxxxxxx -- if you complain about microsoft doing that, you might as well complain about every other software developer adding their company name in front of their programs... for example Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Flash, and so on...

Control Panel -- the vista cp is more or less the same as the xp cp... if you dont like the categories, just switch to classic view.

Start Menu -- this must really annoy you for you to really point it out. if you dont like it, you can move the shortcuts to the main application folder. at least thats what i think you are trying to say...

these things you pointed out seem like something you pointed out for the sake of saying you dont like windows. some dont even make sense (like the uninstall from single location). some of these things are out of microsoft's control.

microsoft's control on software developers is like democracy... they can do anything they want. apple's control seems like communism (or fascism), not to mention windows developers outnumber mac developers by a lot. microsoft has no way to police programs.

  • 1 month later...

Windows 7 requires the following features:

* When installing, the ability to install subsets of programs like DESKTOP, LAPTOP, etc (like Win98 install did)

* A light weight OS, very small foot print (2 GB clean install not 20)

* 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)

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

* 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)

* Remove ActiveX

* Time Machine like Mac OS X

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

* Multiple Layers of Firewalls

* One version of Windows 7 - not Basic, Home, Professional, etc, etc, et al. STOP this madness. Exterminate Annihilate Destroy!

Edited by Alley Cat
Well hell... why not just run OS X on PC hardware?

May be because in the 99% of the cases you are unable to install it, not at least that you consider irrelevant the lack of wifi, sound, monitor resolution, network and/or 3d acceleration.

* When installing, the ability to install subsets of programs like DESKTOP, LAPTOP, etc (like Win98 install did)

* A light weight OS, very small foot print (2 GB clean install not 20)

* 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)

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

* 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)

* Remove ActiveX

* Time Machine like Mac OS X

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

* Multiple Layers of Firewalls

* One version of Windows 7 - not Basic, Home, Professional, etc, etc, et al. STOP this madness. Exterminate Annihilate Destroy

Amen.

Also :* A light weight OS, very small foot print (2 GB clean install not 20) and less that 1gb of memory ram

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Disabling open on hover, great! That was so stupid! They need to do a fix, where if a network share is disconnected, it doesn't hang when opening "This PC" for 20 seconds.
    • Microsoft releases major feature updates for stock Windows 11 apps by Taras Buria In addition to releasing new Windows 11 preview builds, Microsoft announced that inbox Windows apps now have dedicated release notes in the official documentation. At long last, users have access to all the release notes for each app, with changes listed in chronological order. Microsoft used to announce feature updates for stock apps with each build. Now, with Windows Insider release notes hosted on the Microsoft Learn website, each app has a dedicated space for its changelog, which is very useful for those who want to track new features and improvements. Alongside that, Microsoft dropped massive feature updates for six stock apps: Clock, Media Player, Calculator, Voice Recorder, Photos, and Paint. Each app packs quite a lot of changes and new capabilities, so here are the release notes. Here are quick notes so that you can jump to the app you are interested in the most: Calculator Camera Clock Media Player Paint Photos Sound Recorder Here is what is new for the Calculator in version 11.2605.9.0: More accurate square-root results — Fixed rare cases where a calculation that should equal zero (like sqrt(2.25) - 1.5) returned a tiny leftover value instead. Readable text in High Contrast themes — Settings text now shows the correct colors in the High Contrast Aquatic and Desert themes. Fixed layout for right-to-left languages — For languages like Arabic and Hebrew, the graph, number pad, equation fields, and scroll buttons now appear correctly oriented. Reliable launch after upgrading — Fixed an issue where upgrading from much older versions could leave outdated settings that stopped the app from opening. Here is what is new for the Camera app (version 2026.2605.7.0): Zoom slider works on more cameras — The zoom slider now works on the latest cameras, respects your system zoom settings, and updates instantly when you change those settings. Full range of zoom levels — Fixed an issue where the zoom slider only showed three steps on some devices that zoom in finer increments. Front camera works on more devices — Resolved a problem that blocked the front-facing camera on certain wide-angle devices. More video resolution choices — You can now pick video resolutions that were previously hidden; the app shows a heads-up warning instead of removing them. QR links you can still use — When a scanned QR code points to something with no matching app, the link is now copied to your clipboard (with a notification) while still offering a Store search. Smarter default settings — When you haven't set a preference, the app now follows your system settings by default. The Clock app has a massive changelog with the following improvements in version 11.2605.9.0: Timers keep counting after they hit zero — When a timer runs out, it now keeps counting up (for example, -00:27:31) so you can see how far past the time you've gone. You can turn off the daily goal — Focus Sessions now include an "Off" option so you can skip setting a daily goal entirely. New 15-minute snooze option — Alarms now offer a 15-minute snooze interval. Run up to 3 countdowns at once — The Countdown Widget now supports three simultaneous countdowns, up from two. Timer Widget notifications now appear — Fixed an issue where the "timer finished" notification didn't show when the timer was started from the widget. Less clutter in Focus Sessions — Tasks you've already completed no longer show up in the Focus Session task list. More accurate focus progress — Fixed a rounding issue that could show your daily focus progress as a minute short (for example, 49 minutes instead of 50). Smoother World Clock comparisons — The World Clock compare page now loads dates as you scroll, so it feels more responsive. Up-to-date World Clock locations — Refreshed country and city names to match their current names. Correct sun and moon icons during midnight sun — Fixed an icon that wrongly showed a moon during all-day daylight in polar regions. Fixed back-button behavior in clock comparisons — Pressing back once now takes you back as expected, instead of jumping the date to 1926. Corrected the Newfoundland time zone — Newfoundland now uses the right time zone (St. John's). Disabled alarms stay looking disabled — Editing a turned-off alarm no longer makes it appear turned on. Cleaner timer cards — The expand button is now turned off on timer cards that have no time set, preventing actions that wouldn't do anything. Clearer theme setting — Updated the wording to "Choose your preferred app theme." Smoother Settings links — The "About" links in Settings no longer trigger an unexpected "switch apps" prompt. Fixed spacing in Spotify settings — Corrected uneven spacing in the Spotify settings card. Better focus visibility in High Contrast — The focus highlight in World Clock is now clearly visible in the High Contrast Aquatic and Desert themes. No more double announcements — Screen readers no longer read the timer value twice. Countdown names read correctly — Screen readers now properly announce the name of each countdown. Keyboard focus stays put — Focus no longer disappears after you press the Timer Reset button. Clearer alarm toggle for screen readers — Tidied up how the alarm on/off switch is announced. The Media Player app received plenty of changes as well (version 11.2605.14.0): Custom captions — You can now personalize how closed captions appear, with caption styling tied to your Windows caption settings, plus a quick link to open those settings directly. "Indexing" banner in the play queue — When your media library is still being scanned, a banner now explains why some items may not appear yet. Fixed the look of selected items — Corrected a layout glitch with selected items in lists. Fewer playback failures — Improved how the app recognizes supported file types, so more files play without issues. Playlists need a name — You can no longer accidentally save a playlist with a blank name. Cleaner look for empty playlists — Improved how a playlist appears when it has no items yet. More stable play queue edits — Fixed a crash that could happen when changing the play queue while the app was switching between sessions. Clearer "missing codec" message — Improved the dialog that appears when a file needs a codec you don't have, with clearer guidance on what to do. A big update is also available for Paint in version 11.2605.61.0: Adjustable eraser transparency — You can now control how transparent the eraser is. Cleaner stamp brush strokes — Fixed visible color shifts and artifacts when using stamp-style brushes. JPEG photos save in place — Opening a rotated JPEG and pressing Save now overwrites the original instead of unexpectedly prompting "Save As." No more crash on bad image files — Opening a damaged or invalid image, from within the app, by double click, or commandline, now shows a clear error message instead of closing the app. Classic selection behavior restored — The selection outline now hides while you move, resize, or rotate a selection, just like in classic Paint. Tidier AI image panel — Fixed missing spacing at the bottom of the AI image generation panel for a cleaner layout. Visible button hover in light theme — Toolbar split buttons now show a clear hover highlight in the light theme. Snappier toolbar — Streamlined how the ribbon lays out, giving a small speed boost at startup. Fewer background crashes — Fixed a crash that could happen while background tasks were finishing up. Stable app shutdown — Prevented rare crashes when closing the app. Fixed layer removal glitch — Deleting the active layer no longer leaves the layers list in an inconsistent state. Here is what is new in the Photos app (version 2026.11060.2004.0): AI watermarking — AI-generated or edited images can now carry a visible Copilot watermark. You choose Never, Always, or Ask Every Time in Settings, with a confirmation when saving. The watermarking is off by default in settings. Better viewing of small images and pixel art — Tiny images (like 16×16 pixel art) now zoom in far more to fill the screen and stay crisp instead of looking blurry. Select scanned text with the keyboard — When text is detected in an image, you can now navigate and select it using the arrow keys, Shift+Arrow, Home/End, and Ctrl+A, with a clear focus highlight. Fixed a crash in text recognition — Resolved a crash that could close Photos while detecting text in images; the app now recovers gracefully. Easier keyboard navigation — Tabbing through the navigation bar no longer stops on hidden controls, so it takes a single Tab to move past it instead of three. And finally, here is the Sound Recorder (version 11.2605.1.0): Waveform shows with Bluetooth mics — The live waveform now displays correctly when you record using a Bluetooth audio device. No more stray scrollbar — A non-working horizontal scrollbar no longer appears at the bottom of the waveform unless you've zoomed in. Mark button ready right away — The Mark button no longer looks grayed out until you hover over it after opening the app. Markers hidden for WAV files — Markers are now turned off for WAV recordings, since that format can't store them — so they're no longer lost silently. Smoother deleting — Quickly pressing Delete and Enter to remove several recordings in a row no longer triggers a "file doesn't exist" error. Fixed a memory issue — Resolved a memory leak that occurred each time a recording started. You can find all these changelogs in the official documentation here.
    • again, an article about Microsoft Edge and ridicules hater's comments
    • From this very same article: "For organizations that prefer a “more deliberate pace”, the Extended Stable channel remains an option."
    • Or every other browser, because they all behave the same, at least the mainstream ones. Firefox does exactly the same: background updates, restart to install them. Haters gotta hate, I guess.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Very Popular
      AndrewSteel earned a badge
      Very Popular
    • Veteran
      Taliseian went up a rank
      Veteran
    • One Month Later
      Clizby earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      Timaximus earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Timaximus earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      504
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      170
    3. 3
      +Edouard
      162
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      85
    5. 5
      ATLien_0
      77
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!