Firstly, though, how do you live with the
Classic view? It's horrible! I'd forgotten all about it, as it predates
XP, as you will know.
Well, my first PC ran DOS - Windows had not yet been released. In fact, my
computer at work (Citibank, at the time) was a DEC Rainbow, which allowed you
to switch between DOS and CP/M (DOS wasn't yet the dominant OS). So I am used
to running computers at a low level and having a lot of control. The new
interface drives me crazy! I can't find anything. I also turn off all the
wacky stuff that hides files and extensions (very confusing!), and prompts me
for confirmation for every adminstrative task (very annoying!).
However, I can't make it change - it is always the same list of 21 items.
I saw the list change after I'd been playing around in the Group Policy
Editor - configuring and then unconfiguring the applets displaying in Control
Panel. Right after I did that, it started displaying a category list with
items beneath each category. Then it spontaneously switched back to the 20+
(I have 22) items you mention. Notice that many of these items have arrows
suggesting they are expandable categories, but they are not.
It looks to me like it might be a design decision, although I can't really
understand why. If you think it's a bug, you probably should report it.
I'm not sure how to do that - perhaps someone else could tell us how.
I'm pretty sure this is a bug. I can't think of any possible design reason
to randomly omit applets from the list. Also, the fact that it changes when
you go into Group Policy Editor and the in-error expand arrows suggest it's a
bug. And the fact it's in a part of the interface that apparently most people
don't use (though I can't understand why!) makes it even more likely it's a
bug.
I have no idea how to report bugs to Microsoft. I've found many bugs in
Windows and IE over the years - bugs that stay from version to version. I
don't know where to report them, or if anyone would listen if I did.
