How to Improve Windows 7

(Tuesday, January 29, 2008)

Yesterday, I ranted about how Windows 7 might be Microsoft's last chance to keep and get more users. Today, I'd like to talk about the type of things that Microsoft should do to make Vienna something that others would want to buy.

Dear Microsoft,

Here are a couple of thing you'll want to do if you want people to buy Windows Vienna.

  • Don't rush. It's alright. We'll wait a few more years for Vienna to come us. Just promise us that Vienna will be compatible with everything, and that it works great. Please. Take your time. I don't care if Apple released a new operating system every year. Take things nice a slow, and remember to make sure that the operating system works. We'll wait. Don't worry. Just don't disappoint us.
  • Stability over user interface. Work on the stability. Pretty please? If your operating is stable, and works wonderfully, I swear I'll buy it and tell everyone else to buy it. I don't care if it looks like something from 1960. I don't care if the user interface looks like a 3 year old got crazy with a crayon. I don't care about that stuff. Give me a good solid operating system, and we can worry about the user interface later. Besides, I can skin it whatever what I want.
  • Don't get caught up in what others are doing. I don't care if Apple has Time Machine. I don't care if they have Spaces. I don't care if you can get Compiz for Linux. You don't need to waste valuable time working on things like that. Work on compatibility and stability. I'll install some programs later on that makes up for the lack of a Windows Time Machine function. No offense, but you guys aren't in much of a position to compete with others. Get a solid fan base. Then compete with Apple. There is no point in copying Apple software if you can't get it right. Just stick with the fundamentals of the operating system and we'll progress from there.
  • Trash the UAC. I don't know if you've caught onto this yet...but the User Account Control is the most annoying thing ever devised. This pops up on just about everything. Don't make me click more then once if I want to delete something. I know I want to delete it. You don't need to challenge my intellectual competence by making me confirm the same thing over and over again. If you guys don't want to trash the system completely, then at least make it easier to disable the UAC for certain applications. What is this? It takes eleven steps and the command prompt? No thank you.
  • Forget Vista. Forget about the mistakes you make with Vista. Pretend it was Windows 2.0. Pretend Vista never existed. Please, whatever you do, don't make Vienna look exactly like Vista. It would only bring back horrible memories of compatibility and driver issues. No one wants to revisit that horrid land. No one. Start off fresh. Work on the important things.
  • Don't create so many Versions. Don't confuse us. Most people don't know whether or not they should get Home Basic for the cheap price, Home Premium for the Media Center and Aero, Business for Shadow Copy, or Ultimate for everything else. This isn't supposed to be a hard thing. Just create one operating system with everything that you're going to give out. Don't split it up into 10 different versions in hopes of earning more money. Let's not be greedy alright?
  • DRM? Don't even think about it. No one likes DRM. Just get rid of it. Besides, with Amazon and Yahoo! (Hopefully) jumping on the DRM free bandwagon, it's time for you guys to hitch up those slacks and jump on. DRM music is dead. Incorporating DRM into the operating system is only going to encourage users to crack it. Why waste our time? Just take it out. Take it out, and watch the sale numbers rise...
  • This isn't Crysis. We aren't all hardcore gamers. Windows Vienna should not be something that requires a high end computer to run. It should not be something that eats up half my RAM when I boot up. It is not something in which we are on a mission to snipe the Emperor of China. This is supposed to be a piece of software that everyone is supposed to use.
If you guys do all these things, Microsoft will no longer be a laughingstock. People will no longer believe that the inner workings of Microsoft is being carried out by a bunch of monkeys with vests. Do these things, and you'll have many users happy. This will save your company.

Sincerely,
A Vista User

Posted in Labels: , , Posted by Bookmark Geek at 3:46 PM  

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous Says: January 29, 2008 at 6:40 PM  

    There are several assumptions you make in your post. Is Microsoft really a laughingstock? Shareholders doubt the statement. Do millions of people care about DRM? No. Do millions of people care about UAC? No. Best of luck in any of your other writings.

  2. Bookmark Geek Says: January 29, 2008 at 7:33 PM  

    @Anonymous:

    Thank you for that post. The reason I said that Microsoft was a laughingstock because there are quite a lot of people out there who doubt Microsoft's ability to get things right. Sure, the shareholders might stay loyal to Microsoft; but wouldn't any shareholder want the company to succeed?

    DRM and UAC are all things that many people dislike. I wouldn't be suprised if there were millions of people who are against either. DRM makes it hard for anyone who is uploading or downloading their music. They don't want to be restricted. I'm sure there must be thousands of people who are against DRM. The UAC on the other hand is just plain annoying. People might not care that much about it; but there are few out there who can say that they aren't annoyed by the system.

    I do see your point though. Excuse me if I make too many assumptions. I'll try to tone it down a bit. Thanks again for posting and telling me.

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