P
paulb
1 True 3D rendered desktop
The current Vista desktop is a compromise between new-world 3D rendering and
compatibility with the old 2D world. This has to stop with Windows 7 – we
need to see a fully 3D rendered space that’s just beautiful to use. It must
ooze class, and really make use of the processor power available.
2 Make security work properly
No, it isn’t good enough to have a weak username and password that never
changes. Make Business users go for a third-party authentication system –
smart card, fingerprint reader and so on. Make business laptops tighter in
their default configuration. And make the home experience much more robust,
with proper separation of data between parent and child on a shared device.
3 Only three versions, and no more 32-bit
All this versionitis gives everyone a headache. Let’s have Home, Business
and Ultimate. And that’s it. No mucking around with neutered N versions, Home
Better, Business Lovely and Corporate Got-Most-Bits. The marketplace hasn’t
been fooled by this obfuscation, so perform a gentlemanly climbdown, please.
And while you’re at it, cut the 32-bit version. Some will be upset with this
– tough. All today’s machines are 64-bit compatible, and keeping Windows 7 in
32-bit land is just pandering to the old school.
4 Remove the DRM; mandate signing for drivers & apps
Vista is riddled with DRM, and it does it no good at all. The world is
moving away from DRM, and Microsoft should get out of bed with the
monopolists who want to mandate how, where and when content is viewed.
Microsoft should stop viewing DRM as a profit centre. Meanwhile, it should
come down hard on drivers and app vendors – driver and app signing should be
mandatory for Windows 7. Mutton dressed as lamb has been foisted on the users
for too long now, and it’s time for vendors to put up or shut up.
5 Make Speech and video recognition first-class
Speech is one of those jam-tomorrow things – like Star Trek, we’re promised
a future that never quite arrives. Meanwhile, millions are poured into
Microsoft Research, and it’s time for it to deliver. Automatic face
recognition from a webcam, for example: see what I’m doing, see whether I’m
busy, listen to find out if I’m talking to someone.
6 Fix the storage mess and support all formats
It will be 2010 and we’ll still be stuck on an old-fashioned, if reliable
and trusty, file system in NTFS. Do we want drive letters? No. Do we even
want to see drive volumes? No. Give us properly self-managing, reliable
storage that can auto-grow. Something that can make sure our information is
on more than one spindle. But make it completely transparent. And don’t force
Windows-centric file formats down our throat every five minutes.
7 Give us the powerful and long-promised Assistants
Remember all those promises about software that would notice what you were
doing, learn from it, and make good suggestions? I don’t mean the laughable
Clippy or Dog, I mean tools that are constantly scanning what you’re doing,
your diary and email, and can automate your repetitive work processes. It’s
about time these things delivered to the mainstream.
8 Offer a family pack
Charging full price, or almost full price, for multiple installs in the same
household is daylight robbery. Microsoft offered a family discount on Vista
for US families with multiple PCs, so why not everywhere? Learn from the Home
Student editions, and look at the success of Apple’s licensing model. Let
people pay a fair price for a home-wide licence without feeling that they’ve
been flayed alive.
9 Make backup, restore and disaster recovery go away
Windows 7 must, repeat must, make the whole topic of backup, restore and
disaster recovery disappear, especially in the home and small-business space.
No excuses, no mumbling about “third-party partnersâ€, no shuffling of the
hands. Just make the issue disappear. If users lose data on the Windows 7
platform, for whatever reason, then consider it to be solely your fault, not
theirs.
10 Make third-party software vendors toe the line
It’s time to get tough on the third-party vendors whose products are in the
“weak to dreadful†sector. I’m tired of third-party apps that muscle their
way into my system and attempt to take over. Publish a style guide and stick
to it. Make it part of the logo compliance, and make logo compliance part of
the digital-signing regime.
----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/co...a2b&dg=microsoft.public.windows.vista.general
The current Vista desktop is a compromise between new-world 3D rendering and
compatibility with the old 2D world. This has to stop with Windows 7 – we
need to see a fully 3D rendered space that’s just beautiful to use. It must
ooze class, and really make use of the processor power available.
2 Make security work properly
No, it isn’t good enough to have a weak username and password that never
changes. Make Business users go for a third-party authentication system –
smart card, fingerprint reader and so on. Make business laptops tighter in
their default configuration. And make the home experience much more robust,
with proper separation of data between parent and child on a shared device.
3 Only three versions, and no more 32-bit
All this versionitis gives everyone a headache. Let’s have Home, Business
and Ultimate. And that’s it. No mucking around with neutered N versions, Home
Better, Business Lovely and Corporate Got-Most-Bits. The marketplace hasn’t
been fooled by this obfuscation, so perform a gentlemanly climbdown, please.
And while you’re at it, cut the 32-bit version. Some will be upset with this
– tough. All today’s machines are 64-bit compatible, and keeping Windows 7 in
32-bit land is just pandering to the old school.
4 Remove the DRM; mandate signing for drivers & apps
Vista is riddled with DRM, and it does it no good at all. The world is
moving away from DRM, and Microsoft should get out of bed with the
monopolists who want to mandate how, where and when content is viewed.
Microsoft should stop viewing DRM as a profit centre. Meanwhile, it should
come down hard on drivers and app vendors – driver and app signing should be
mandatory for Windows 7. Mutton dressed as lamb has been foisted on the users
for too long now, and it’s time for vendors to put up or shut up.
5 Make Speech and video recognition first-class
Speech is one of those jam-tomorrow things – like Star Trek, we’re promised
a future that never quite arrives. Meanwhile, millions are poured into
Microsoft Research, and it’s time for it to deliver. Automatic face
recognition from a webcam, for example: see what I’m doing, see whether I’m
busy, listen to find out if I’m talking to someone.
6 Fix the storage mess and support all formats
It will be 2010 and we’ll still be stuck on an old-fashioned, if reliable
and trusty, file system in NTFS. Do we want drive letters? No. Do we even
want to see drive volumes? No. Give us properly self-managing, reliable
storage that can auto-grow. Something that can make sure our information is
on more than one spindle. But make it completely transparent. And don’t force
Windows-centric file formats down our throat every five minutes.
7 Give us the powerful and long-promised Assistants
Remember all those promises about software that would notice what you were
doing, learn from it, and make good suggestions? I don’t mean the laughable
Clippy or Dog, I mean tools that are constantly scanning what you’re doing,
your diary and email, and can automate your repetitive work processes. It’s
about time these things delivered to the mainstream.
8 Offer a family pack
Charging full price, or almost full price, for multiple installs in the same
household is daylight robbery. Microsoft offered a family discount on Vista
for US families with multiple PCs, so why not everywhere? Learn from the Home
Student editions, and look at the success of Apple’s licensing model. Let
people pay a fair price for a home-wide licence without feeling that they’ve
been flayed alive.
9 Make backup, restore and disaster recovery go away
Windows 7 must, repeat must, make the whole topic of backup, restore and
disaster recovery disappear, especially in the home and small-business space.
No excuses, no mumbling about “third-party partnersâ€, no shuffling of the
hands. Just make the issue disappear. If users lose data on the Windows 7
platform, for whatever reason, then consider it to be solely your fault, not
theirs.
10 Make third-party software vendors toe the line
It’s time to get tough on the third-party vendors whose products are in the
“weak to dreadful†sector. I’m tired of third-party apps that muscle their
way into my system and attempt to take over. Publish a style guide and stick
to it. Make it part of the logo compliance, and make logo compliance part of
the digital-signing regime.
----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/co...a2b&dg=microsoft.public.windows.vista.general