Improvements in Next Windows Version?

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zacdl

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Messages
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Windows 7... what needs to change?

A biggie for me is the Registry. Although tweaking so many things that we can tweak right now- what would be a viable alternative while eliminating the pitfalls the registry currently has?

There are other things than the Registry, but that was the first thing that popped into my mind.
 
Do you have a list of tweaks for Vista or know of a website that has them? I know of alot of Windows XP tweak sites but hardly any for Vista, especially Vista64.

But to be on topic, I don't mind the registry, it seems like it's been the same for many versions and unless you're a [H]ard tweaker for your system, doesn't really get used much from an average consumer base.

In my opinion, maybe something innovating can be done with the desktop, and taskbar and start menu, besides that I really can't think of anything, of course better stability and performance always comes to mind, but that can only happen to a certain extent.

Overall I'd like to see something innovating done with the desktop and start menu/taskbar.
 
-improve the firewall and make sure it defaults to block all incoming connections
-improve UAC
-bring back WinFS (prolly don't need to but how long has NTFS been around?)
-fix up the theme system...its retarded that we have to hack it just for new visual styles
-built-in virtualization...maybe include virtual PC if you don't want to integrate it. i guess it would be similar to giving you a license of past OSes just in case you need to run really old shit. then you could go into control panel, set up a virtual pc file and install whatever OS you want that is no longer supported. it should also support your hardware instead of emulating older hardware if the OS is new enough such as with XP. then you can run a game with full 3D support in that virtual PC. i think that would be really cool. hell maybe even make it bootable a la dual-booting but i guess that'd be asking too much.
 
- Make all MS application installation optional
- Ditch activation, WGA, DRM and all the other crap that only hassles paying customers
- Tighten up the core code base

Basically, provide an operating system, not a draconian suite of mixed quality.
 
markt435 said:
-built-in virtualization...maybe include virtual PC if you don't want to integrate it.
Click to expand...
I know this is the one thing Microsoft actually mentioned... I think they called it Hypervisor or something? Anyway- basically allows you to easily swap OS on a single machine.

Along those lines- I'm curious how web-driven we can get.
I was even thinking the OS could be a "portal" to your online apps, data, and settings.
Install the "portal" to your work and home PCs- and access the same exact apps, data, and settings.
Obviously it opens up a security problem- but there would need to be a way to limit it to only your portals (a key system or something)... it would make it kindof like a roaming user profile.
I think it would mandate a registry change, however (Which would mean a total overhaul of most apps)- which is why I just don't think it will happen anytime soon.

But some sort of Virtualization would be fantastic. The rest of your points I agree with as well.

Dural said:
- Make all MS application installation optional
- Ditch activation, WGA, DRM and all the other crap that only hassles paying customers
- Tighten up the core code base
Click to expand...
I think your statements are contradictory. You don't want a hassle for paying customers- yet you want to throw out all the built-in software and make them go out and download it?
The Microsoft programs are here to stay. Granted- in some cases there is better software, but for their target crowd (the people that don't need much)- you really don't need much more.

Ditching activation is one thing- but what will replace it? Microsoft IS still a company. Ditching activation or any method to fight piracy is just a stupid business mistake.
IMPROVED activation I would agree with- there has to be an easier way without making it easier on pirates- and I wouldn't mind hearing your ideas. However to say no activation is just a ridiculous statement.
You will never stop piracy- but I guarantee you that it does stop the majority of casual piracy.
 
Get rid of the goddamn registry. The registry is an evil abomination. Get back to where each program keeps its settings in it's own directory and all that fun stuff. You know, how it used to be when you could just move the program somewhere else and it wouldn't matter except that you would need to update some shortcuts? To uninstall something all you would have to do is delete the directory and everything was gone except for some shortcuts.

Don't even get me started on the friggin' registry. It was so much easier to edit .ini files and the like if something went wrong.

 
zacdl said:
I think your statements are contradictory. You don't want a hassle for paying customers- yet you want to throw out all the built-in software and make them go out and download it?
The Microsoft programs are here to stay. Granted- in some cases there is better software, but for their target crowd (the people that don't need much)- you really don't need much more.
Click to expand...


I'm pretty sure he means making them optional on install, so there would be an additional screen during install with "Do you want to install" and a bunch of checkboxes next to things like Windows Media Player, etc. MS to some extent is already doing things with Vista- the Business version requires you to turn on the games component.
 
masteraleph said:
I'm pretty sure he means making them optional on install, so there would be an additional screen during install with "Do you want to install" and a bunch of checkboxes next to things like Windows Media Player, etc. MS to some extent is already doing things with Vista- the Business version requires you to turn on the games component.
Click to expand...

MS at one time actually allowed this to a certain extent. You had three options, Full Install, Typical (or Standard) Install or Custom Install.

With the custom install option there were things you could opt out of installing. Each successive version after Win95 had fewer and fewer things you could opt out of installing, though. This is something which has annoyed me for years.

MS can add in whatever they want to the install disc, I just want the option of whether I install it or not. It would also have been a good way to get around a lot of the problems in the EU MS has had with IE and Media Player being included with the OS. There would not have been anywhere near as strong of a case if they hadn't been mandatory installs.

 
WinFS is dead! Has been since the middle of last year, and people should really stop crying about it. For the present, the sort of fuctional benefit it could have brought is well enough handled with the judicious use of searches, virtual folders and file/folder tags. If it ever pops up again it'll be a long way further down the track toward articial intelligence than we are now, and to be quite honest I'm not really comfortable with the idea of being at the mercy of a machine which does that much of my thinking for me!

It'd be nice to see enhancements to the existing relevent features added, though. An (optional) easily used interface for adding tags at the time of file creation/saving would be good, for starters!



The existence of the Registry was never, in itself, the 'problem'. Doesn't matter to me whether it is retained or ditched. More than one way to skin a cat, and all that!

The 'problem' was only ever the security and stability issues introduced by the way the Registry was able to be used. We've gone some way toward addressing those concerns in Vista, and we need to go further still.

I do agree that the capability of relocating programs would be a worthwhile inclusion. There are fewer and fewer people who have systems with only a single hard drive in today's world. Our needs (and drive/partition structures) alter and grow with time and we need the flexibility to deal with that. I don't believe that "getting rid of the registry" is the only way to achieve that end. Couldn't care less if they do or don't. I'd just like to see the end achieved.


Get rid of UAC? That's about the stupidest suggestion I could imagine. Windows was very much a 'second-rate' OS security-wise without least user privilege being mandated, and it'd be a mighty backward step to get rid of it next time around. But it sure does need some improvement, and I very much expect that we'll see just that!

Next time around there'll be much less software in circulation which creates UAC related 'permissions' annoyances, so that part of it will already be alleviated considerably. But there definitely does need to be a mechanism for permanently/semi-permanently 'opting out' of receiving UAC prompts for certain configuration changes or types of configuration change. If I don't want to ever see a UAC prompt for desktop settings changes, for example, I ought to be able to assign 'permissions' for those changes once, and then be done with it thereafter. I shouldn't be put in the position of having to disable UAC altogether to be rid of them.


Optional customisation of the install? Yes, please. Whilst I'm not 'anal' about decrying every inclusion in the OS as 'bloat', I'd certainly like to be able to say 'no thanks' to stuff I'd prefer not to install.


Additions/inclusions?

Not all that much, really. I hope next time around the 'anti-competitive' bullshit has been laid to rest and MS can finally include AV protection as part of the default install. I'd like to see, next time around, the 'burning' capabilities of the OS expanded to include disk copying and ISO burning. Hell, anything which obviates the necessity of third-party software is a welcome addition, really! Image-editing capabilities are still pretty rudimentary, for example. A tool with the capabilities of, say, a 'Paint.NET' would be better. Our expectations of 'basic PC usage' grow over time, and the inclusions in the OS should grow accordingly. People whose needs are more demanding can install and use better alternatives, but the people who merely want to purchase "a computer" to perform tasks which are everyday PC tasks should be able to do just that, with a default install. Thats's the Windows world!


But there is one 'feature' I'd really, really like to see included. A system-wide 'case conversion' facility, to cater to all those people, like me, who are somewhat clumsy on the keyboard, and who often realise that CapsLock has been bumped only after half a bloody paragraph of text has been typed!

:D
 
I think your statements are contradictory. You don't want a hassle for paying customers- yet you want to throw out all the built-in software and make them go out and download it?

The Microsoft programs are here to stay. Granted- in some cases there is better software, but for their target crowd (the people that don't need much)- you really don't need much more.

Ditching activation is one thing- but what will replace it? Microsoft IS still a company. Ditching activation or any method to fight piracy is just a stupid business mistake.
IMPROVED activation I would agree with- there has to be an easier way without making it easier on pirates- and I wouldn't mind hearing your ideas. However to say no activation is just a ridiculous statement.
You will never stop piracy- but I guarantee you that it does stop the majority of casual piracy.
Click to expand...

I don't think there's anything contradictory about not hassling your customers and offering them a custom install. If I pay a couple hundred bucks for Vista, why shouldn't I have the option to not install components I don't want? MS Office actually has a very customizable installation should you choose to forgo the "typical" or "full install" option. The difference in approach isn't an accident and doesn't benefit customers in any way.

Activation has proven to be a failed concept. For people who upgrade regularly and reinstall often, it's actually more viable to run cracked, even if they possess a valid license. The fact of the matter is 90% of home users have their OS preinstalled by an OEM and employers buy corporate licenses, which don't even need to be activated. Again, anti-piracy measures only hassle paying customers and the actual cracker (maybe for a week or two), but once it is cracked, then the average pirate isn't hassled at all.

SmokeRngs said:
Get rid of the goddamn registry. The registry is an evil abomination. Get back to where each program keeps its settings in it's own directory and all that fun stuff. You know, how it used to be when you could just move the program somewhere else and it wouldn't matter except that you would need to update some shortcuts? To uninstall something all you would have to do is delete the directory and everything was gone except for some shortcuts.

Don't even get me started on the friggin' registry. It was so much easier to edit .ini files and the like if something went wrong.
Click to expand...

Seconded...
 
SmokeRngs said:
MS at one time actually allowed this to a certain extent. You had three options, Full Install, Typical (or Standard) Install or Custom Install.

With the custom install option there were things you could opt out of installing. Each successive version after Win95 had fewer and fewer things you could opt out of installing, though. This is something which has annoyed me for years.

MS can add in whatever they want to the install disc, I just want the option of whether I install it or not. It would also have been a good way to get around a lot of the problems in the EU MS has had with IE and Media Player being included with the OS. There would not have been anywhere near as strong of a case if they hadn't been mandatory installs.

Click to expand...

Actually, this is a feature. You can turn on/off components with an unattend file for advanced users. Basic users were getting confused about the prompts, and system admins were getting upset that their users were getting prompts... ;)

So thus Microsoft tried to eliminate as many setup screens as possible, and to front load all the answers. Live search OPK and unattend file to see how you can script setup.

As to the hatred of the registry, that I don't understand. Config files are great from a system administration standpoint, but a maintence nightmare. It's "easier" to have one global location to find all the settings on the box, rather then having to dir /s Config.INI to find all the configuration options...


This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
Ranma_Sao said:
Actually, this is a feature. You can turn on/off components with an unattend file for advanced users. Basic users were getting confused about the prompts, and system admins were getting upset that their users were getting prompts... ;)
Click to expand...


Yes. I meant to mention that in my own post, but forgot to do so. The capability of customising the install is there already. It's simply been omitted from the "Installer for Dummies'.

:)
 
A big plus of nuking the registry (at least to an extent- and this could lie with software developers as well- but changing the registry would force it to happen)- is that you could copy the program's folder over to another HDD and run it.
It would make the task of copying stuff over to a new system very fast.
Of course it opens doors for easier-to-pirate stuff, the software developers would have to come up with a way to prevent that. Right at this moment- I can't think of something that doesn't also have a huge downside to it.

As far as Activation- The OEM (Dell, HP, etc) are footing the bill to Microsoft for that "pleasure" to not require activation. The OEM versions also have some restrictions that could hinder it as well (tied to hardware, etc).
An improved Activation- yes. I can see that. But getting rid of it all together is just folly... No business in their right mind would do that!
Other major titles, like Dreamweaver, all require a form of activation.
Activating software also serves to give you a legal line. In other words- if you got around activating- you are pirating the software (Unless you could show otherwise with a receipt or something). You crossed that line.
If there was NO activation, you loose that line... Hope that makes sense- if not- I'll just drop the subject ;)


One of the best things I've heard.... Catweazle- Anything that eliminates the need for third-party software (ISO support, etc) is a needed feature.
Great way to sum it up.
Off the top of my head the "frequent" little peices of software they need to stick in Windows 7 is a utility like 7-zip (able to do rar, etc... with one-click extrating options), ISO burning/creation, ISO mounting, and all in all better DVD format support (I would love to have a single-use DVD program that can rip, burn, and convert DVDs)
 
There's a definite parallel to society here...some people want their operating system to provide them with everything they'll need (liberals), others want a small but sound operating system that allows them to make their own choices (old school conservatives), and yet others support practices that benefit them in no way (neo cons)..
 
Coffee. Windows 7 must be able to brew me a cup of coffee when vocally commanded to do so. Think "Tea, Earl Grey, hot".
 
zacdl said:
A big plus of nuking the registry (at least to an extent- and this could lie with software developers as well- but changing the registry would force it to happen)- is that you could copy the program's folder over to another HDD and run it.
It would make the task of copying stuff over to a new system very fast.
Of course it opens doors for easier-to-pirate stuff, the software developers would have to come up with a way to prevent that. Right at this moment- I can't think of something that doesn't also have a huge downside to it.

As far as Activation- The OEM (Dell, HP, etc) are footing the bill to Microsoft for that "pleasure" to not require activation. The OEM versions also have some restrictions that could hinder it as well (tied to hardware, etc).
An improved Activation- yes. I can see that. But getting rid of it all together is just folly... No business in their right mind would do that!
Other major titles, like Dreamweaver, all require a form of activation.
Activating software also serves to give you a legal line. In other words- if you got around activating- you are pirating the software (Unless you could show otherwise with a receipt or something). You crossed that line.
If there was NO activation, you loose that line... Hope that makes sense- if not- I'll just drop the subject ;)


One of the best things I've heard.... Catweazle- Anything that eliminates the need for third-party software (ISO support, etc) is a needed feature.
Great way to sum it up.
Off the top of my head the "frequent" little peices of software they need to stick in Windows 7 is a utility like 7-zip (able to do rar, etc... with one-click extrating options), ISO burning/creation, ISO mounting, and all in all better DVD format support (I would love to have a single-use DVD program that can rip, burn, and convert DVDs)
Click to expand...


the problem with all the addins is licensing, and other companies filing lawsuits because ms's implementation is better than theirs
 
Built in ISO support (create and burn)

Some form of "pacakge manager" It wuold be nice for end users looking for software to open this app and search for what they need and be presented with options of open source, shareware, or retail software. At the very least link to the company's website, prefered approach would be digital distribution (enter credit card to purchase). Think Steam and the Synaptic in one.

Taskbar that spans multiple monitors

Built in virtualization

64bit only

More customizations (more control over what prompts in UAC and when, add or remove items from prompt list)
 
SmokeRngs said:
Get rid of the goddamn registry. The registry is an evil abomination. Get back to where each program keeps its settings in it's own directory and all that fun stuff. You know, how it used to be when you could just move the program somewhere else and it wouldn't matter except that you would need to update some shortcuts? To uninstall something all you would have to do is delete the directory and everything was gone except for some shortcuts.

Don't even get me started on the friggin' registry. It was so much easier to edit .ini files and the like if something went wrong.

Click to expand...

QFT+++

i use to love the old dos days, copy directory to another computer or disc, and it still works fine!
 
Start. Click Computer. Left hand payne, select turn windows features on and off. From there you can add and or subtract what ever you like. To add you will need your install disk. Nothing hard about a custom install.;)

 
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