QOTD: What Would You Remove/Add to Win 7?

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By Tuan An Nguyen
published

Windows is the undisputed king of operating systems. That's no secret. But Windows is also the center of a lot of criticism.

Windows is the undisputed king of operating systems. That's no secret. But Windows is also the center of a lot of criticism.

Over the years, Windows has grown in size. The Windows that exists today, is no doubt, superior to Windows of years ago. However, there are things that I am hoping Microsoft will deploy in Windows 7 when it ships, such as the ability to remove Windows features that you don't want.

The web browser is also the center of controversy for Microsoft. However, it's good that there's one that ships with Windows so you can actually go online after an install and grab all your usual updates, applications, and tools.

The question of the day is: What would you remove from or add to Windows if you were in charge of it at Microsoft?

Tuan An Nguyen
101 Comments Comment from the forums
  • drrich2
    I'd like the features of the shareware app. 'Startup Cop Pro.' to make it much easier to selectively deactivate startup programs in Windows. Before I learned of this program and accessed it through PC Magazine's site (which required a paid membership to download), I tried using Window's Vista Home Premium's control panel tools, and found them unintuitive and underpowered. So, that would be the big thing for me.

    Richard.
    Reply
  • IE n WMP
    never use them anyway
    Reply
  • tester3000
    I wouldn't want to add anything to the OS. I like to install and customize stuff later.
    Reply
  • On a standard system put a limit to applications that can start on startup. Allow it to be changed in configurations but limiting this right off the bat would keep people who arent computer savvy from installing 20 things that start on startup since they most likely would never go into config and look to change it.

    Too often to I go to friends houses or even their parents listening to them talking about how slow their computer is running or how long it takes to boot only to find so much trash running in the background, things they don't use at all and have no clue how to disable.

    The whole MSN experience as well. Make it an option to install.
    Reply
  • cadder
    1. I would somehow integrate Explorer more into the OS and less as a separate program. So if you receive an attachment by email, you navigate to where you want to save it and save it, then when you open your word processor it automatically comes up with the same folder to open the file, then say you want to email the edited file to someone else you open the email program and it automatically opens right where the file is stored. Some days I seem to spend half my day clicking down the file tree over and over to essentially the same place.

    2. I would simplify networking. Plug machine A into machine B and they automatically connect.
    Reply
  • avanarius
    I never liked the way windows organized multiple programs with multiple users enabled on the Start Menu. For example, if you live in a household with 4 people who use the same computer, I often find programs get lost amongst users depending on who installs what.

    To relieve this problem, All Programs list should always be "All the programs on the computer" and in this list, there should be a check box to hide all the programs that aren't yours, or to only show your programs. To add to this, it might also be useful to add an avatar beside the program to show who installed what.

    Also get rid of the stupid readme files, and uninstall.exe's in the all programs list. This list should ONLY have the program executable file.
    Reply
  • I agree to what has been said before. Creating a user freindly startup option would be very nice. Most slow computers just need to stop many of the things running at the startup that so many people don't know about.
    Reply
  • avanarius
    I always found it hard to manage multiple programs amongst multiple users in the start menu. The start menu with the all programs list should always have "All the programs" installed on the computer (no hidden crap). To add to this, there should be a check box to hide / unhide all programs that aren't yours. You could also add an avatar beside the program to show who installed it.

    Additionally, get rid of the stupid readme files and uninstall.exe's in the start menu. Only a shortcut to the programs executable file should belong in the start menu.
    Reply
  • deltatux
    I'd add a complete UNIX core with Windows backwards compatibility.

    deltatux
    Reply
  • marsax73
    If they could just make it work as efficient as XP, then that's all I care about. Vista took a ridiculous amount of resources. I don't mind the GUI (almost identical to Vista). I do agree with others here...allow the user to decide what to install -- IE, Media Player, etc.
    Reply