How would you change Windows Vista?
By Evan Blass 
posted August 19th 2007 12:51PM
posted August 19th 2007 12:51PM
You can probably tell by now that we're no Vista proponents, and having run the new OS exclusively for almost six months at this point, we're actually about to "make the leap" back to XP. But we're not willing to give up on Redmond just yet, and the beauty of all these service packs and "Patch Tuesdays" is that some of our suggestions could conceivably be incorporated into a product that's already hit the market. So, what does Microsoft need to do to make Vista (and its price points) more palatable (short of re-releasing it based on the WinFS file system)? Loosen up the DRM restrictions? Toss the controversial WGA? Put all possible features in a single SKU like certain other companies? Well come on, we're positive that there's no shortage of suggestions out there, so let's hear 'em!
Their problem is that they don't know open exchange when they see it. Screw them all.
What do you say to someone who has to be dragged tooth and claw to actually contribute to our intellectual progress? "Pssh. Thanks for helping consume our natural resources."
I will be wiping my machine and putting on XP in just a few hours actually... oh the joy :D
OS X is still my primary work/life OS however (developer and creative professional) but the XP is my main media center and gaming rig... however since I've installed Vista on it, it feels twice as clumsy and bloated as it did before.
How would I improve Vista?... well, I'm going to improve it buy reformatting my hard drive and burying the install DVD in my backyard.
add beryl support- animations are great- i get my work done 30% faster
You know, its funny. I remember when XP came out. Everyone said is was bloated, slow, nothing but new graphics face on Win2000. Everyone said it used too many PC resources and brought no new features. "No one" wanted to move to XP. But, then it all became moot. Faster PC's started comming out. More memory was the standard, etc. People bought new PC's with XP preinstalled.
But, people still complained. They complained that Windows was not secure. They complained that it didn't play the newest games. People complained that their computers were too hard to use. Remember, these are Windows XP machines that everyone is praising today on the cusp of the migration to the next major Windows version.
Microsoft had a dillema. How do they meet all these demands, retain backward compatibility, support new hardware and provide a platform for the software and hard ware that will come out in 5-10 years?
They could have taken the Apple way. Just come up with a new architecture that basically broke 100% of your current apps. Oh, sure Apple provided an emulator so you could run your old stuff, but it ran about half as fast on the newest machines.
The other big advantage that Apple has is that they control 99% of the hardware the their machine needs to run on. They write pretty much all of the drivers except for USB type devices.
So, MS did the best it could. It came up with a method to allow "legacy" apps to run at 100% speed while adding a security layer on top of windows. Well, actually UAC isn't really a security layer, it is a convienence tool that lets you elevate a process to admin credentials without having to start a new process or know ahead of time that you need to.
MS also added virtualization to the file system so for those old apps that write stuff to program files folder or other places it quietly redirects them to a safe location in the users folder.
MS re-wrote the Network stack, the Audio stack, the GUI, they came up with a new plug in drivers framework which moves drivers into user mode so misbehaved, nee badly written device drivers do not crash the os. They created a new menu with a nice desktop search, which BTW was demoed BEFORE Apple ever demoed or showed spotlight and before Google desktop search.
MS also created a major release of thier browser with protected mode, new email, added a calendar app, improved remote desktop, improved the shell and file explorer... etc.
So, for those of you say that there is nothing new in Vista are full of **it.
Now... is Vista perfect, no? But, I submitt that many complaints about Vista are not actually Vista issues but application issues. It will take a release cycle or two before most apps are properly modified to run as user.
BTW, these rules are nothing new... they were published way back with Win2000, but no one really followed them. There are also going to be many older hard ware devices that won't work with Vista due to lack of driver support.
But, is it MS's fault if HP/Dell/NVidia/ATI decide it isn't worth their time or bottom line to go out and create Vista drivers for old devices that are already on the market and they have already sold. Would you "pay" for a new driver for old hard ware? Heck no.
Anyway... all that said, what do I wish MS had done with Vista that they didn't?
It would have been nice if WinFS shipped with Vista. As a developer it is nice to know that kind of API exists that you can take advantage of without rolling your own.
I think they should have made it 64-bit only. Yes, they would have lost a few sales but most people would see better performance due to the larger memory address space which all apps could have taken advantage of immediatly.
I think they should raise the "minimum" requierments. Most people would still ignore them, but at least MS could then say... well, your machine doesn't meet the minimum requierments... of course it is a little sluggish.
Oh well, 'nuff said. My fingers are tired!
BOb
Simple enough: make fewer mouse clicks do more. Currently it feels way less efficient than XP. The new Windows explorer is annoying as hell compared to XP and everything before it.
As a side-note, anyone know how to get a simple "up one level" button, rather than having to click on the specific part of the tree you're looking to get to? I don't use Vista currently (viral problems after I installed it -- yes, a legal copy of Ultimate). Any ideas?
Alright. I work for Dell as a sale rep. and here is a brief list of things that customers complain the most about:
1) Compatibility with older software especially third party proprietery software used by many companies. Lost countless sales because of this (home & home office branch of Dell).
2) Lack of drivers for older hardware. (I am not sure what Microsoft can even do about these first two things.
3) Difficult to run multiple operating systems.
4) Eats up way too much RAM.
5) New multimedia features fall short of iLife and other available applications.
6) Lack of a more user friendly interface and a lack of any real inovation.
There are more but they get a lot more specific and are not really worth mentionign. I have heard almost every complaint about Vista you can imagine.
the whole concept of vista coming out!!!
I would like to see peer to peer networking made easy. Grant access to your family computers or small office computers by adding only their user name and password, as simply as it's done in Windows Server. Windows Vista has the most convoluted network sharing system on the planet.
I'm not sure who is actually going to read though all this to get to this post cuz I know I skipped to the end.
Vista does have its high points, the media center has a much nicer interface. It boots faster then XP and is more stable. However, they should have designed it so you don't have to decide wither to run 64 or 32. I have ran both and the positive thing to 64 is it supports more RAM. When I downgraded to 32-bit it onlt regognized 3 of 4GB or RAM because it only support 4GB of TOTAL system memory. However very few companies are supporting 64bit drivers. Vista also no longer supports 16bit programs and even the 32bit version can have problems with XP drivers. They should have designed the system to be a 64 bit system that is fully compatable with 32-bit programs and drivers. For instance, AutoCAD won't install on Vista64 which is part of the reason for downgrading to Vista32. Another flaw they had going from XP to Vista is they didn't make for backward compatability for media extenders and the only reason I'm not too mad about that is the fact that no one is making extenders for XP anymore either so I can't blame Microsoft for that. My last pet peave is that even if you are signed in as an administrator, you must still select programs to run in administrator mode and you have to select 4 prompts to do 1 action. You can turn this off but it is very tricky. They should make everything runs in admin mode of signed into an admin account. One last thing I forgot is that file sharing is not as easily done and there are a lot of things that need to be turned on and turned off for it to work that same as it did in XP. I understand all these items were put in place to keep people from running programs that they shouldn't be or to keep trojans from running wild or letting people into their computers without proper permissions but if you have a home computer in closed network and you know what you are doing and go only to safe sites, then a lot of this stuff just gets in your way. It is a lot like that Mac VS PC commercial.
For those of us who have to provide tech support for this ghastly abomination: Make the control panel LOOK AND WORK like the control panels in W2K and XP.
I hate the concept of "Change for the sake of change."
include an extensive article about linux and how awesome it is and then have a warning saying that the EULA sais microsoft can sleep with your first born child if you accept it.
PERSONALLY: i hop between suse mepis and fedora then ive dabbled in others only using windows for games and also only when i cant use WINE
so long story short no matter what they do ill never buy vista
If you really care to be a part of effecting change to Vista
please join us at http://savewindows.ning.com
Remove the ridiculous, non-effectual licensing that complicates the lives of paying enterprise customers.
I have a PC and an iBook G4. I really like vista, It boots really quickly, the AERO is what I needed in a PC. Just look on XP, the window redrawing sucks. I use both all days, and I have no problems neither with vista or Os X. I really hate when apple fanboys say Mac Os X iss superior and some other things. Both Os are good. Vista has 2 problems.
1- Really slow transfers, really slow.
2- Sometimes the taskbar has some visual glitches.
Vista and Mac Os X are great
The only thing relating OS X and Windows is that fact that their operating systems. Microsoft and Apple have two different modes of thinking and business. Microsoft takes the American approach: very capitalistic and money/profit oriented, while Apple takes more of the European approach: innovative and practical.
After reading through these comments I've only come across a few that are constructive. Most are fanboys (from either side) being closed-minded and ignorant. Both operating systems have their pros and cons. You can't game on Apple (yet anyways). For me, this is a problem and the main reason I haven't switched at home. Contrastingly, Apple's OS X is more stable, is more user-friendly, and is more practical offering needed features, nothing bloated, and very resource friendly.
Now, without being bias towards either one, really step back and sift through the positive and negative elements of each. Yes, I'm an Apple fanboy, but I'm also practical. I have XP at home because it's practical for gaming. I have OS X at work because it's practical for everything else.
I really hate when a seemingly genuine blog asking readers to submit their comments on how to improve Vista, turns into flaming and arguing. I may be mistaken but I only assumed the reader-base of Engadget were mature adults.
Not to mention people just love to complain about things. If Vista (or OS X) were perfect, someone, somewhere would try to find something wrong.
Just shut up with the flaming and throw in some constructive criticism.
I bought Vista Home Premium many months ago and actually really liked it fine. That was mostly up until I got an iPhone when they first came out. My iPhone/iTunes has crashed my system now (total blue screen reboot crashes) three times. I am not sure if it's Vista or iTunes but I suspect it's a little bit of both. Also, Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 (with Vista patch) sucks bad and I had to uninstall it...
What would I like to see changed on Vista?
-Lower price for sure
-More professionally made widgets, I have a 30" screen so I actually have room for the widgets and they are somewhat useful, I'd like to see more that are done by pros and really nice looking and useful
-No DRM
-Quicker release of "enhancement" patches, add more new and cool features and stabilize OS
-A much much more powerful picture viewer tool and digital imaging tools
too bad this had to turn into a anti-MS thread (big shock there). A bunch of smartass answers, simple hate, and idiocy don't help. But it's in all the Apple threads, I guess it has to be here.
I've been running Vista since january on my laptop, and I run XP on my desktops. Vista has been great, other than UAC. I have installed all my regular programs on it, plus all the gadgets that are useful (though most aren't), I love having an undocked picture viewer, along with docked monitors of my audio, network status, radio stations, etc.
I've had very few issues, pretty much none of the ones mentioned, although I very much believe them to be true for others. My transfer rates are good, and I do a lot of copying over network and USB. Networking has been flawless, from the wireless card to gigabit network port.
I didn't have a good webcam driver at launch, but I never use it, so no big deal for me. Other than that, all the drivers I needed were installed with the Vista DVD.
There are so many things I like about Vista, not necessarily MORE than XP, but it's a better user experience - more convenient, I guess.
So, I would change UAC - if i sign in as admin, leave me alone when. Maybe default users in as regular users instead of asking admin users to verify everything constantly.
And when a program pops up that doesn't like Aero, and it dumbs down the display - wtf is that about?
I've installed all the updates and the couple of performance patches - I suggest everyone else (who actually run Vista, not just write about it) do the same.
Garbage bin.
I'd put it there.
What a waste.
Put it on ebay, buy a ps3, put Ubuntu on it...
Do you know how fast that could render frames in blender?! Fast. Fast.
...Unless they took away your right to sell your copy in the EULA. Then you throw it away...
But that's not until the next version.
For starters allow the security center to be more configurable.
More overall stability would be nice as well.
There is so much I would change , not only to the MAIN OS but also to WMP and allot of other apps included.
Especially on ultimate Ed.
Regards,
~X
Vista is a joke. It's like Instead of hiring BETA testers, the public is now the BETA testers. would you fork out money for a new car that would stall when you hit the gas or couldn't go 65-mph but yet it had a great heater? It's a rip off.
does anyone Rememeber Windows Me (millenium edition). I think its the Real predecessor of Vista > i think they build Vista GUI over Me z platform ?? Wot say
I don't see why having very valid complaints about the bugs in Vista means that I have my tongue up Steve Job's a**. I switched from Windows to Mac because I was tired of spending hours on the phone with Dell having to figure out why I couldn't connect to the internet or having to endure the many other bugs that make it obvious not enough Beta testing was done. It seems like a new Windows OS is barely usable until SP1 comes out.
I don't understand why the rabid MS defenders think that making valid complaints about Vista flaws makes someone an Apple or Linux fanboy? If Microsoft's products were perfect I could understand their resentment, but it's not even close so give me a break. I guess some people enjoy spending hours trying to fix or maintain their computer. I don't.
You're problem is that you are using DELL PRODUCTS, silly noob, don't blame windows, blame yourself for buying prebuilt trash computers ...
If you don't want to be on the phone fixing problems with dell, build you're own damned computer. If you feel you're incapable of this (simple) task, then you're just another of the inexperienced computer users who haphazardly clicks the "click me" link in websites and then blames the results of the ensueing trojan you just allowed yourself to be infected with on Windows. Blame yourself, its your fault for not knowing how to operate a computer correctly
Yeah, ok, I should start building my own laptops? Cuz it's really easy to design the cooling system and cram the circuitry in there? Most of my friends do build their own towers, but I don't know a single person who has built a laptop from scratch. And yeah, I don't buy Dell anymore either after my last computer died.
What's so biased about that. I've been using vista for about 3 months now and I'm about to go back to XP myself. This Vista needs a lot of work. I consider myself to be an expert in PC myself, but using vista is more of a hassle than it is useful. Constantly asking me permissions to do things is annoying. Sidebar always crash, it doesn't save the state when exiting. Lots of incompatibilities. Aero GUI is a gimmic, it's just a glorified task switcher. My PC constantly pause when performing tasks. Using vista is like surfing the internet without pop up blockers. It's damn annoying except it happens everywhere while using vista.
1) Price, for the lack of features, it is not worth paying $400 for an O/S. If I really want Vista, I would just get an OEM version. If they would like to charge that much at least add a complimentary software suite dedicated to the user of each version to make it worth the price.
2) Compatibility, with many incompatibilities with older software, at least software that can work with Windows XP should work if not Windows 2000. Work with the developer base to help them switch their applications to Vista and take advantage of the code. Yet make it so that a majority of XP applications and WIN 2k applications can operate on Vista.
3) Hardware demands, instead of demanding more on computer hardware, have the OS codec take advantage of the hardware and use it to its full potential.
4) Security, take away all the multiple warnings cause that gets annoying after awhile going through multiple prompts for one action and gets in the way of being more productive.
Yes I am a Mac fan and use a mac but sometimes use XP cause I do not have a MacBook. Vista is I think of as no more than a design update from XP. However, some issues need to be resolved to make it worth the upgrade.
there are some gems in this heap.
the taskmgr is way better than XP.
I would remove UAC. I would remove the ambiguous 2 upper echelons of no-user security. (yes, there are two levels of privilege above administrator).
I would build in the option of using a third party shell. (I would untie windows explorer(file) from the explorer shell.)
I would clarify the network control panel a bit.
I would remove the HDCP restrictions.
I would remove WGA.
I would add in a power tweak applet to make customizing the interface easier.
I would provide a master switch for disambiguation of normal users and Power users. (one option to turn off all (helpful) dialogs/interfaces/helps)
I would automate video graphing to eliminate codec troubles.
I would provide a detailed document explaining registry settings that aren't normally documented.
I would add coherent technet support to the help control panel.
I would create a helpful support control panel (system restore, repair, sfc, etc.)
I would remove shell support for internet explorer.
I would make only 2 versions. (home and office)
my office version would have peer/server interfaces that made office-wide configuration/updating/support/inventory a snap.
my home version would include detailed help on basic internet security/common sense.
I would add in basic traffic shaping and easy configuration for said traffic shaping.
I would integrate an application into my TCP/IP stack that included core support for IP block lists.
I would integrate snort support.
I would cache all visual enhancements to video memory.
I would provide a basic 3d interface. The room or desk concept isn't bad, it just hasn't been implemented properly yet.
I would improve the memory manager. ( allow unused memory to be cleared at a polled interval)
I would provide visual alerts/warnings on system performance and notices on when launching another application would impact system performance.
I would provide a secured default configuration.
I would provide a built-in CD/DVD burning app.
I would provide MS Word built-in.
I would provide built-in hardware monitoring.
I would provide core support for other file systems. (ext3, reiser) (If I could run windows on ext3, watch out!)
I would make the windows kernel modular.
I would make windows not have to reboot after you sneeze!
well firstly they should reduce pricing so that they can reach out to the masses. secondly they should lower the system requirements for vista especially aero. i still cant understand why microsoft made vista with such high graphical requirements?if they really wanted to introduce a new gui they could have done it with dx9 like mac or like compiz fusion.and even though vista is based on dx10 it still doesnt have an edge over mac in terms of gui.i think vista instead of being a separate operating system should have been more like an optional paid patch for xp.
Should I feel really stupid and lame because I use Vista without any problems? I do so many different things on it and it's fast and easy. Am I using it wrong? If I was using it like a PRO would I be having more problems with it? Q.
the maker, for not respecting the end-users by releasing ridiculously buggy products over the years
1. actually allow it to run computer games. (I'm tired of WOW crashing in the middle of an instance)
2. Allow me to completely stop the 50 billion programs that run in the background that are supposedly helping protect my computer but actually only bog down my processing power.
3. Give me a real copy of office when I buy a laptop and not some 3 month trial version. If it has to come with vista at least dont make me fork out more money to use the new office.
4. Fix networking and sharing. What if I want to create a lan network with cable internet and not need a freaking password. Not everyone has wireless network hubs in their house. Anyone who has tried to set up a network between a computer with vista and xp know what I'm talking about.
Vista does have issues but that is actually not MS fault. I’m definitely going to defend Vista but not to its teeth.
A big problem in Vista is registry and installers, there is a way to solve the problem using a Universal installer-uninstaller made by MS but then companies making installers and registry cleaners would scream “Monopoly”.
There are advantages to “Monopoly” especially in a OS, flaws can be stopped, the OS would be cleaner and there would be less junk left after a de-installation of i.e. Skype or just a small game.
Of course you would find bugs in a new operating system there’s no doubt about it, since Engadget seems to want to cover the ever so wanted OS X updates passionately.
For the rose coloured glasses wearers of XP, OS X and Linux can you say that there are no flaws and bugs?
To be honest this ranting about a new operating system has been going on and on as long as I can remember, the discussion was going on even when Windows 95 came out, same thing with XP.
Engadget might need to specify what their “dedicated vista machine” is running on before even considering posting another “What would you change”.
I thought long and hard as a dedicated Windows user if I should change over to Apple. In the end I bought a nice spec Dell PC. Until Apple can give me the same value for money Windows will win the volume market war, easy.
About the OS itself, it's a bit of a let down, some simple tasks seem to take way too long (is that the security / DRM?). I keep getting pop ups telling me the same stupid thing about no space on my start up menu to see all applications. So annoying!
As a user experience I hate the way it doesn't work well with some of my games, and it doesn't feel like much of an advance over XP. It works very well with Office 2007 though, which although it takes time to learn is more productive to use. The new DOCX format seems more robust too.
I like the way Microsoft have simplified it, taking ideas from various Linux GUI's (the way desktop icons are highlighted) and Apple, but it's still not as stylish as I imagined. It runs most of the programs I need. Shame compatability mode for games (with XP Sp2) is so poor.
Lets be honest, it's good but it's no where near "wow", unless of course you're last computer was Windows 3.11 :-)
well, is a great windows but i will change the way that copy and paste files. it takes so much time, if we compare to the XP.
They fixed that this past Tuesday.
I want emphasize these:
* Strip the entire system of anything to do with DRM & WPA
* Fix anything to do with networking
* Fix the standby and hibernate features
And add:
* Have list view in Windows Explorer behave like it does in XP
* Fix issue causing programs to ignore command line arguments when you need to run it with elevated privileges (i.e. Visual Studio and solution files)
* Setting up printers on networks needs to be easier.
* When manually clearing the MRU list you get tons of error messages.
* Remove heuristics for calculating how long a program has been installed when populating "Add Remove Programs" list... or whatever its called now.
* Include an idiot proof version of AutoRuns by SysInternals on every default installation.
* Clone Raymond Chen and have him work on everything.
Outlook:
* Stop creating "outlook contacts" and "outlook calendar" folders everywhere. (Anyone know how to stop this?)
I think the one HUGE problem with Vista (there are plenty of others, but this is the biggest one on my list) is the fact that if you want the pretty Aero interface (one of the few things which makes it 'better' than XP), you need to seriously upgrade any current hardware ('current' meaning pre-vista hardware) or pay a premium for new hardware which will allow it to run smoothly - the strange thing is that even though vista premium requires higher spec hardware, the vast majority of shops (at least in the UK - im looking at PC World and such) bundle it with budget hardware (you look at laptops, and the majority of them still have integrated graphics, which most definitely do *not* work well with vista if you have less than 2 GB of ram - i learned that the hard way). Surely this doesn't help vista AT ALL, since unless people know what they are doing (in which case, they are most likely going to spend the extra money and get better hardware - if possible, of course), its just going to make windows seem slow and horrible and make using computers seem like a burden, as opposed to making computing seem easier like vista is supposed to do? Just my thoughts.
the main problem i have with vista is that its just not a big enough jump up from xp. sure its sweet but after this long, i would have expected some huge improvements and sweet new stuff (yeah i know thats not very specific but thats what this thread is about anyway). personally i never had any problems with xp, so i dont see what the big problem with that was. i ran it for 5 months with no virus, spyware, or pop-up protection with no problems at all. all i ran was the default settings on the windows firewall.
i just want a light OS that runs MS Office handles my pictures and gives me web browsing. I hate that when I startup my laptop it takes 60 seconds or more to boot up.
And considering that my lousy hardware isn't good enough for vista to play my dvds really stinks.
i regret buying into the "vista" marketing hype, i'm convinced more than ever to consider other OS's... don't hate me, but a macbook, or the imac look really good about now.
I haven't read EVERY post, but I might be the first to say....I like Vista. I think the interface changes are great, I haven't had any of the stability problems people have mentioned and driver support hasn't been an issue for me so far. Of course, all versions of Windows are WAY overpriced and the support is a joke. I called Microsoft one time for a MC issue and they wanted me to pay for a patch! I laughed in their face, angrily of course, and hung up.
So I say Vista has all of the same problems Windows has had since 1995, but at least it looks a little nicer while ripping us off! lol
Well, I've been using Vista Ultimate now for about 3 weeks, already had 2 gig of RAM and personally I find it works just as well as my old XP install that I had on the same machine. All I did before going to Vista was buy a cheap ATi/AMD Radeon 2400 ton ensure DX10 compatibility and also bought new Vista compliant versions of several apps I use, seems to work admirably and I like the Aero interface, rather like the 3D window task switcher as well. Having favorite links to folders in Explorer is also welcome and a real time saver.
MS could do with fixing the slight startup hang issue I experience on occassion, but as I hardly ever reboot and always leave my PC on its no biggie.
Had to add in a third party app to add a function MS would do well to add, as I use multiple monitors, well a TV and a monitor, and I don't always want both screens on, the ability to easily switch windows and apps across to the other screen would be handy, which is where UltraMon by Realtime soft comes in, such a great app.
One thing that needs serious attention is the networking, especially in home environments, as its quite simply a nightmare. Average home users have no concept of networking setups and just want things to work, but the network center in Vista is baffling and bears no resemblance to what most exisiting users would expect, is not simple enough to be of use to home users, but is possibly too simplified to be of use to anyone with business networking knowledge.
Which just leaves Media Center, why the hell don't MS support multiple input sources for the TV tuning? I've got a PVR500, which works great but it has 2 tuners and 2 AV inputs, would be nice if we could make use of all inputs within MCE!!! MS support for the UK Sky digital satelite service is also quite dismal, even to the point of not supporting the remote control codes for the MCE IR blaster to change Sky channels, rather disappointing!
Kill WGA, DRM, the memory-hogging features, and the incompatibility and instability. And lower the damn price, Jesus. XP Pro was like $200 at its peak, and now "ULTIMATE" is $400? $400 for an operating system? It better be able to make some coffee and rub my feet. Hell for $400 it should be able to replace my wife and/or lead me to the great secrets of the universe. I mean sticking with XP I could buy a whole new video card or a quad-core or a new motherboard and RAM just in the cost of the OS!
And they need to make it functional like XP and before. Vista is too user-friendly. They keep trying to design it to make it easier for new users to learn. Heads-up MS! Most people who are going to buy your stupid software are already familiar with previous versions! I just can't find my way around because it's trying to be too intuitive and failing miserably in the process. Everything is organized under a glitzy name and nothing is where it used to be. I think that's really what I hate the most about it. I mean I can get all the glamour effects with any shell mod on XP, but it usually will still function the same way, like, I can click on my desktop and go to properties to change all that stuff that's right there, and now I have to go to some crap like "desktop" and "wallpaper" or something. I haven't touched it since it was longhorn in Alpha.
And bring back WinFS.
Get M$ to stop making up their own standards to conform to - little thing called ISO etc, that I stands for intrnational not insider...
I would bring back easy ways to view the computers network settings a la windows xp where I could see the ipadd, subnet gateway and dns from right click on network connections properties--> support. Now the only way to do this in vista, is to go back to do dos(so much for an upgrade)
The problem with Vista isn't Vista, its Vista's Users ...
People blindly downloading porn, music, movies, etc. as if they think they know what they are doing is the problem.
I and several others that I know who RESPECT their computers have been running Vista for months now, I can tell you personally that I have NEVER had a 'bug', in fact, I will never use or install XP on my or anyones machine again, it is and always was a crappy OS, Vista's still crap compared to Unix based operating systems, but its a damned better alternative to XP.
How about taking the time you're wasting harping on Windows Vista, and GO LEARN HOW TO USE A COMPUTER CORRECTLY.
As a user of Vista for 6 months that uses it primarily for development...
- Better sleep support and recovery
- Better network configuration support
- Better integration for Visual Studio 2005, don't require me to "Run as Administrator" so I can debug my website on IIS. Also, when I install VS.NET 2005 I have to install "Vista compatibility" patches. Weak.A
- Allow me to elevate me command prompt like a "sudo" command from the command line so I don't have to shutdown and re-open a command-line with "Run as Administrator" privileges just to copy a file to c:\ or one of the other folders it tries to protect
- In Windows Explorer stop trying to determine whether the folder is a bunch of songs, pictures, or movies. When I open a folder with a bunch of web pages sometimes it treats it like a folder of songs and I can't see the file size or date, but I see a bunch of stars so I can rate how much I like listening to my .html file (WTF?)
I think MSFT put so much emphasis on security that they made it much harder to use and it takes some time getting used to. At least make it easier to figure out how to turn off UAC. They better get their act together with SP1 or I may go back to XP myself.
I was an early Vista adopter, and was annoyed and frustrated. But everything is pretty much okay now. That is, it runs as well as XP. It's almost exactly the same experience, in fact. The positive difference: seems more stable than XP. negative difference: a few annoying changes to windows explorer. Aero is useless, but after a service pack or two, it will be their best OS yet.
an up one folder button :(
Ubuntu.