Things You'd Wish Would Be Implemented In Windows 7

[ilovetech]

both vista and 7 can do this natively, right click the svchost you're interested in and select show services.

hey thanks!. i didn't knew about this!

[bryonhowley]

i would like to have the option of a classic start menu, a classic taskbar and a classic design of windows explorer.

but i guess these options won't come back anymore.

-andy-

And thank god for that it was about time to get rid of those options permanently.

As for codecs well I have not had to install even one on Windows 7 and all my media plays just fine. I got rid of .mkv and move all my videos to .m2ts containers (all of them were DXVA compliant with AC3 or DTS) so no more thumbnail problems ether.

Did not have to restart for any of the drivers I had to install with was not much. Have had no BSOD at all with 7.

On a side not I updated the Video drivers on my Linux box and had to restart the systems not just xorg!!

[Dr@g0nR3b0rn]

Ah, that's one. It'd be nice to be able to see the specific services under svchost.exe without needing extra software.

Actually, you already can do this with Win7. Just right click a svchost.exe process & choose "Go To Service(s)", you'll be switched to the services tab with the relevant services highlighted.

[bbfc_uk]

Its very rare that my Windows 7 system has to restart after installing drivers, and I have a Dell laptop. Think the last time was when I installed an update to my graphics card.

[ToneKnee]

This might not be possible, but I think it's worth mentioning. It'd be nice to have a single folder for the save files of PC games. Whether it be your little sister's Barbie game or your hardcore first-person shooter game, having it all in one location would make things easier. Imagine not having to start all over after you format and reinstall Windows. Imagine having to search for the game's save file because your friend accidentally deleted his.

I realize it's a little much and it doesn't apply to every game out there; however, I feel that it's doable and that it would make gaming in Windows all the more easier. That's my only "wish" for now.

Actually, there is a folder in your usenames directory called 'Saved Games'. Microsoft created that ability, but game developers are not using them.

95% of dell drivers need a reboot after install.

How about you skip the Dell crapware and go to each of the manufacturers and download their individual drivers? I'm thinking this could be your problem with Windows 7 running slower on your hardware.

Not to turn this into a fight over details but actually, literally speaking, Linux currently supports more hardware than Vista or Win7 (out of the box) - although they're mainly historical items that not many people still use but the support is there :-)

I know this, but the OOTB experience doesn't match that of a default Windows install.

Sorry but like I said earlier, it seems people are pointing out Linux problems and think that Windows either runs exactly Linux and doesn't understand how the systems are different from each other, have completely no idea what they are talking about or either suggesting a "feature" like removing drivers to some how make the system better? The drivers are just files, nothing more. They don't hurt the performance or the space of the hard disk, removing them won't make any speed difference, at all.

[markwolfe Veteran]

...

On a side not I updated the Video drivers on my Linux box and had to restart the systems not just xorg!!

That is just the simplified update alert popup. It is for a "simpler user experience", so it will just recommend reboot.

The fact is, you do not have to reboot for an X driver change. Just restart X. Not for a Firefox upgrade, just firefox. Not for a system service upgrade, just bounce the service. Not even for a kernel module driver, just do a insmod/modprobe.

You have a choice to just do the restart X thing, or obey the bubble. You must be on Ubuntu. That is the only distro that I know of that does this.

...

Sorry but like I said earlier, it seems people are pointing out Linux problems and think that Windows either runs exactly Linux and doesn't understand how the systems are different from each other, have completely no idea what they are talking about or either suggesting a "feature" like removing drivers to some how make the system better? The drivers are just files, nothing more. They don't hurt the performance or the space of the hard disk, removing them won't make any speed difference, at all.

I agree with you that some of these items are just personal preferences. There may be advantages/disadvantages to doing some things one way versus another. But Windows and OSX (or Linux) have just picked different directions to model their systems around. You, as a user, can elect to choose an OS that suits your preferences more, if you find your current OS doesn't do things the way you want to. (Y)

[garlandchaos]

I wished they added more options to desktop icon auto arrange. It shouldn't assume left side of desktop. Auto arrange left, right, top and bottom would have been nice.

[HelgenX]

What the **** is wrong with everyone in the world today!? Is everyone that damn ignorant? This threads title is "what would YOU LIKE TO BE IMPLEMENTED INTO WINDOWS 7," not "WHAT THINGS THAT SOMEONE ELSE WOULD LIKE TO BE IMPLEMENTED INTO WINDOWS 7 THAT YOU THINK IS IMPOSSIBLE OR STUPID TO PUT INTO IT, SO YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY TELL THEM OTHERWISE SO THAT YOU CAN SHOW HOW MUCH MORE YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING."

All I wanted to hear was ideas, not a debate on what Linux can do or why it's impossible because Windows will never change.

Why is it so hard to follow a thread for anyone anymore? I blame this on the American media, telling everyone that we're American, we don't have to listen to anyone.

Can we stay on topic for ONE DAMN THREAD!?

I would like implemented a skinning tool as well, maybe change up my own themes every now and then. I don't see why they still have to hack the resources, it should be the users risk if something messes up (as usual.)

[hdood]

No offense, but it's your own damn fault for wishing Windows had/did things that really are impossible in any operating system, and for making incorrect claims about Windows and other OSes.

Is it a fairytale thread? Can I wish that Windows came bundled with a burgundy unicorn?

[devHead]

It would be nice to be able to do some customization of the toolbar in Explorer. At least the option of having a 'Delete' button (I know, I can just click the 'Delete' key on my keyboard) and a Folder & Layout Options button. That's just me.

No offense, but it's your own damn fault for wishing Windows had/did things that really are impossible in any operating system, and for making incorrect claims about Windows and other OSes.

Is it a fairytale thread? Can I wish that Windows came bundled with a burgundy unicorn?

I want an ice cream cone every time I click an OK button too! La la la la la.

[iamwhoiam]

I'm sorry but that is the dumbest reason I've heard...explain to me how MS would replace it and also explain how you would fix the myriad of (now broken) Windows apps that will no longer work?

Virtualize it. Any access to the "registry" apart from the OS would redirect all program settings to it's own private data store. Those would then be accesses/loaded/used when the app starts and unloaded when the app is terminated.

[ToneKnee]

Virtualize it. Any access to the "registry" apart from the OS would redirect all program settings to it's own private data store. Those would then be accesses/loaded/used when the app starts and unloaded when the app is terminated.

Nothing wrong with the registry, what you want to implement would break everything, and 'Virtualize' it sounds like you want to add performance overhead.

[hdood]

What format would this "private data store" be in? Are you now just creating a hundred miniature registry hives, one for each application? What is the point? What is the advantage supposed to be?

Personally I think that applications should refrain from storing private configuration data in the registry, they should store it in the roaming/local folder, and only use the registry for system-wide settings (like registering servers), but that has nothing to do with the registry itself. It seems like these complaints almost always boil down to application (ab)use of the registry, rather than the registry itself.

[ToneKnee]

What format would this "private data store" be in? Are you now just creating a hundred miniature registry hives, one for each application? What is the point? What is the advantage supposed to be?

Personally I think that applications should refrain from storing private configuration data in the registry, they should store it in the roaming/local folder, and only use the registry for system-wide settings (like registering servers), but that has nothing to do with the registry itself. It seems like these complaints almost always boil down to application (ab)use of the registry, rather than the registry itself.

+1

Applications can run from config files if it wants too, if developers choose to run it from a registry then it's their fault.

[iamwhoiam]

Nothing wrong with the registry, what you want to implement would break everything, and 'Virtualize' it sounds like you want to add performance overhead.

It's called API redirection. An app uses the registry API and instead of writing to the central OS registry it'll write those setting to a private data store. Those can then be loaded and unloaded when needed as the apps are used.

[Orien]

both vista and 7 can do this natively, right click the svchost you're interested in and select show services.

Thanks for that! I never noticed. :blush:

[XerXis]

Well, it's to late now for Win7, but for Win8 I'd like to see them go to a micro kernel OS (like the *nix)

why, do you even know what you are saying? By the way, linux and windows are like most modern kernels a mix of monolithic and microkernel design. With the emphasis on monolithic design.

Edited August 9, 2009 by XerXis

[M_Lyons10]

A lot of installer reboots have nothing to do with Windows requirements though. They just reboot because they feel like it. The only place I see where there could be fewer reboots is when it comes to updates. The issue though, is how you update files that are in use. Windows has an extremely modular design with focus on shared components (libraries, servers). You can't replace these if they are in use, you'd have to wait until they unloaded. Some of them never unload until you reboot, because they are always in use. There's also the issue of inter-dependencies. What if you have two components that depend on each other, and only update one of them because the other couldn't be unloaded? You now have a version conflict (at least until the next time the system is rebooted), which can be dangerous.

Exactly. I think most of the restarts from driver installs are more because the company that developed the driver wants to make sure there isn't an issue. It isn't Windows asserting that an update is necessary...

It can't be improved, and there can't be a new version. It already does everything it can. All the restrictions are down to fundamental Windows designs, and there is nothing the program can do about it. The most annoying thing is that the compositing window manager (DWM) only supports one desktop, so you can't have Aero on any of the others. It's just not designed to be used for virtual desktops.

Well, there are some other applications that can do this that are a good deal more feature rich. So I don't know how they did that, but they allow features like dragging applications in new desktops, etc. Last I looked they were rather costly though. So, not sure what's involved, but I keep hoping that perhaps Sysinternals will also find work arounds to these issues. One of the biggest frustrations for me is with regards to things that run at startup like SQL Server. You can't run an application in one of the other desktops that uses SQL Server because it does not support stuff like this... Aero I can live without in the other desktops.

And dual listers so you can have both the source and destination side-by-side in the same window!

OMG, that would be amazing. I would love that. :)

yes i think process explorer of sysinternals must be default task manager.

& then people complained about registry, i think it is the most powerful yet most vulnerable feature of windows. i don't think there could be better alternate to it.

I don't really understand the registry argument myself. I've seen people argue that it should have a more pleasant UI in other threads, and it just seems silly to me. To me the registry SHOULD be a scary place to go... If you make it appealing or less scary looking you will have a lot of people that shouldn't be in the registry making changes and breaking things... My rule has always been: If the registry scares you, or is too complicated for you, you shouldn't be in it... If I don't know what a registry value is for, I'm not touching it... LOL

95% of dell drivers need a reboot after install.

Which sounds like a Dell issue to me. I've noticed that as well, but Windows isn't determining that a reboot is necessary...

[toadeater]

Actually, there is a folder in your usenames directory called 'Saved Games'. Microsoft created that ability, but game developers are not using them.

MS's insistence on putting everything on the system drive is really aggravating for anyone that likes to keep their system files and software/data files on separate drives. I read that MS even wants to add a requirement to Games For Windows that GFW certified games can only be installed in Program Files; for security reasons supposedly, I hope it's just a rumour. I'm glad no one is listening to MS because it is a bad idea!

[hdood]

Well, there are some other applications that can do this that are a good deal more feature rich. So I don't know how they did that, but they allow features like dragging applications in new desktops, etc. Last I looked they were rather costly though. So, not sure what's involved, but I keep hoping that perhaps Sysinternals will also find work arounds to these issues.

Those other programs don't actually use multiple desktops, they just have the one and cleverly manipulate it to give the impression that there are more. They do this by doing things like hiding the Windows and task bar buttons that belong to another "desktop" than what is active. This is a rather large hack, and none of them really seem to work quite right.

[Pikey]

The only thing I can think of at the minute would be a 'Calendar' function built into the taskbar clock somehow .. for alarms, notes, schedules .. that sort of thing. Maybe tied into the task scheduler somehow ..

[Owen W Veteran]

99% of what you want is technically impossible or would be very unsecure. Also, BSODs help you. They end your session before stuff gets all corrupted. If you want "drivers and codecs like linux" then go use Linux. Drivers need to restart the computer. This isn't specific to Windows for a reason. Continue previous sessions would be a nice one, though, although hibernating works to the same effect, basically. Don't assign a password to your user account if you don't want to deal with the files from previous installs. Simple as that. Microsoft isn't going to remove their security just so YOU don't need to right click and choose "take ownership". Some people like security.

+1 - also the removal of BSOD's would just make the system terrible to use and harder to diagnose.

[Jexel]

What format would this "private data store" be in? Are you now just creating a hundred miniature registry hives, one for each application? What is the point? What is the advantage supposed to be?

Personally I think that applications should refrain from storing private configuration data in the registry, they should store it in the roaming/local folder, and only use the registry for system-wide settings (like registering servers), but that has nothing to do with the registry itself. It seems like these complaints almost always boil down to application (ab)use of the registry, rather than the registry itself.

The original idea of the registry was to accumulate all the *.ini files in one location. This idea sounded neat at first but has become something that is more or less a bottleneck to the system. I would much prefer if windows took a linux approach to storing settings etc. It's easy to backup, easy to edit (when necessary) and just seems cleaner.

Having said that, I doubt ms will ever change the way that registries work. They're here to stay but instead of replacing it I wish they would just make it faster.

+1 - also the removal of BSOD's would just make the system terrible to use and harder to diagnose.

I think BSODs should stay too but removing them won't be a problem as long as the log files are easily accessible. Why would it make a system terrible to use? Average user wouldn't know what to do with a BSOD but to restart the computer. Only experts would bother diagnosing it and rather than reading the bsod off the screen they would just read the dump that is made.

They should replace the BSOD with a helpful message along with the location of the dump so the user has some clue of what to do.

[Steven P. Administrators]

A taskbar that spans 2 screens would be nice (without having to use UltraMon).

[ilovetech]

The only thing I can think of at the minute would be a 'Calendar' function built into the taskbar clock somehow .. for alarms, notes, schedules .. that sort of thing. Maybe tied into the task scheduler somehow ..

+1. a nice idea.