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Windows Vista Feedback

Wednesday, May 24th, 2006
at 10:28am

I spent a few hours with Windows Vista last night, per Jim Allchin’s request to send him feedback about what I discovered in terms of discrepancies and oversights. I took that task seriously, and stayed up late to compile this far-from-comprehensive list. I sent it to him at 1am, and I hope he doesn’t have a filter that keeps him from seeing it. I realize this list is lengthy, but… these reasons are exactly why I’m afraid Vista won’t be as polished as originally anticipated. I warn you, this list is long - and it’s only going to get longer, the deeper I dive into Vista Beta 2. This list is longer than the interview! If you think this list is long, check out my follow-up list of 65 More Windows Vista Mistakes.

On the very first (initial setup) screen, I should never see the text and progress bar without some kind of accompanying graphic(s). This is too Windows 2000′ish.

Classic mode in setup screens? I’d assume that’s temporary.

When are y’all going to update the default cursors you’ve been using since Windows 3.1. The shadow addition was nice, but that (too) is Windows 2000′ish. I thought Vista was supposed to be new? I should see absolutely no UI elements here that remind me of XP or earlier. I first noticed this during the initial setup process.

For the Licence Terms screen, it’s using Tahoma 9pt for the text - and the bulletpoints are pulling up as squares. Plus, the dialog is sporting a classic mode scroll bar instead of Aero-ish (as the rest of the window represents). This initial screen lends further credence to needing to have a Glass-lite for non-Glass machines, as if I saw these initial screens, I’d assume that I could use Glass on this machine - and I don’t think that’s the reality.

In the Windows setup screen, the Windows logo icon next to “Install Windows” seems to be sitting lower than the text - so it’s not quite middle-centered to it. I can’t believe this is by design. See how there’s more of the icon beneath the (invisible) text baseline?

Shouldn’t the phrases used during the setup stage (Copying Windows files, Expanding files, etc.) be intercapped? i.e., Copying Windows Files, Expanding Files, Installing Features, etc.?

Is there any way I can see more in the setup wizard - like what file(s) it’s copying over, what files it’s expanding, etc. Could help with setup troubleshooting issues at some point, and I don’t see a way to toggle a rolling log view. Installing features -> what features? Installing updates -> what updates?

Windows (c) 2006 should likely change now before y’all forget when Vista actually does ship. :)

In the first Windows session (Set Up Windows wizard), I can’t use CTRL+Backspace. This should eliminate the word I’m currently on - not create a new character.

In the first Windows session (Set Up Windows wizard), the machine seemed to be moving rather slowly - which I could only assume was due to the heavy animation in the background (neat, but the next screen proves that it’s just completely out of place from the rest of the setup-before-you-log-in process). Polish, Jim, polish - setting up OS X is a much more aesthetically pleasing experience.

In the first Windows session (Set Up Windows wizard), the font is not Segoe UI - it’s Tahoma throughout the entire dialog. I’m assuming there will be infinitely more buddy icons, too.

The “You’re Ready to Start” graphic flickered and jumped when I pressed the Windows button.

On the login screen, the menu options on the Power button are calling on Microsoft Sans Serif, not Segoe UI.

Preparing your desktop… the screen flashes.

The first time I get into Windows, I feel like I’m bombarded with options - a balloon that tells me I’m not quite ready yet, then a window that opens up to show more options about my Windows version, and yet another window that shows me my current security settings, and then yet ANOTHER window that asks me if I want to turn on the Phishing filter when I try to “Find a program” to protect me from Malware by launching an IE session (which really oughta be preinstalled, or at least asked for during the setup process). Screw Norton - their products have been crap since ‘98.

The font in the title bar of Windows Defender is not Segoe UI - hasn’t been for quite some time. Big, big, big oversight. Also, it seems that the font throughout the entire Defender utility is Microsoft Sans Serif! It’s certainly not Segoe UI. The only font “Segoe UI’ish” is the graphic in the upper-right corner. ;)

Why wouldn’t the network wizard launch the first time I was trying to get online?

The User Account Control dialog is not Glass, when the rest of my Windows experience is.

UAC should detect when I, as a user, have told it more than 5x that it’s okay to launch into a particular dialog. This could possibly be a toggle for power users somewhere, but not available for the average user.

Massive amount of window flashing in the Computer Mangement console when you select different options, not to mention the need to update every single one of the icons throughout the utility. I’m not supposed to be using NT 3.51, am I?

The Update Driver Software dialog (with calls to select the type of hardware) is calling on the Microsoft Sans Serif font). This is the dialog that asks you if you “Have Disk.” This is also an example of a dialog that I believe suffers from pixel bloat. How tall do you need the top of the window to be?!

Device properties dialog (sheet) is calling on Microsoft Sans Serif throughout. I believe this is all tied into the ShellDlg font setting. See kbid 282187 for more information.

The Options pane (sheet) in the Computer Management console is calling on Tahoma.

When I click on the “What’s new in Windows Vista Ultimate” link, why aren’t the options hyperlinked to the files, folders, or utilities they’re touting?

Why do I see icons redrawing themselves? Like, for example, the first time I open the Control Panel? I have a 128MB video card here - within a full Glass experience. I should see the icons instantly. It makes me feel like my computer’s slow when I’m watching them draw themselves in over the generic icons - like I’m on the Web rather than on my local (very speedy) machine. I should never see an icon refresh for the rest of my life. We should be well past this point with perf.

Why, when I hover over a gadget, do I not get extended info about it in a tooltip? Instead, I have to select it first to get the info. Unintuitive. It’s also impossible to view this window with a classic view Control Panel sitting underneath it. Glass is almost too translucent at this point.

I have animations everywhere else, why don’t I get a nice animation when I maximize a window by double-clicking the title bar? Likewise, why don’t I have any animations when I move a window? I’m on Glass, make me feel like I’m in fluid space here.

Windows Sidebar Properties dialog is in Tahoma.

Ever see the screen animations when you drag a Widget out of the OS X “sidebar” and onto the workspace? Why don’t I get any cool effect in Windows when I do the same thing?

When I drag and drop widgets around, why don’t they act like the icons OS X’s menu bar - moving the other widgets/icons out of the way as I maneuver around. Visual feedback is necessary here. If you’re trying to do this already, the animation is failing miserably. Feels more like falling off a bike than riding it.

Safely Remove Hardware dialog is in Microsoft Sans Serif.

Is it “Setup” or “Set up” - stick with one or the other. I believe you used “Setup” early on, but in the Welcome Center, you have an icon for “Windows Media Set up” - if anything, it should be “Windows Media Setup” or “Set up Windows Media” (either of those works well with modern English conventions). I was an English major in college, by the way.

It’s kinda silly that I press the “Windows Media Set up” option, which changes the top area of the window to reveal a “next” button which then launches into the true setup wizard. That’s one unnecessary step, don’t you think?

WMP11 setup is in Tahoma.

Burn all these Windows Media Player visualizations, please. Take ‘em in the back and shoot ‘em. Never speak of this again.

I complained about this at dinner, but it’s relatively impossible to see all the information about a media file playing - when you’re giving little space to actually display that information.

Visualizations seem to stutter as I resize WMP. Then, too, I can see white painting on the foreground window (!) inside the pixel bloat on either side of the player controls. I thought this stuff was gone?

WMP11 Options dialog is calling on *BOTH* Tahoma and Microsoft Sans Serif. I don’t know who was smoking what.

Why isn’t the Identify Monitors identifying number (when clicked) anti-aliased?

Theme Settings dialog has Tahoma, and the preview window is showing a non-Glass screen shot (and I don’t have the Recycle Bin on my desktop, though it’s sitting right there in the preview).

Why is the default desktop icon size “gigantic?”

Pre-login screen, the font displaying Windows information in the lower-right corner is using Microsoft Sans Serif.

Windows Mail options dialog is in Tahoma, Segoe UI, and Microsoft Sans Serif (trifecta!). Also, why can’t I turn off the grid lines in Windows Mail?

Customize Toolbar (at least in Windows Mail) is calling on Microsoft Sans Serif.

Why doesn’t Windows Mail behave like Outlook yet? When I resize the window, it should also auto-resize the columns. I never want to see a horizontal scroll bar as long as I live.

Can’t you make the default screen saver something a little more exciting than the jumping Windows Vista logo?

In the Change Settings (actually, Change “settings,” as you didn’t capitalize
“settings”) dialog for Windows Update, the OK button has a graphic in it. This isn’t a bad idea, but it seems to be wedged up against the top and bottom border of the button. Kinda cramped, don’t you think?

If my Glass title bars and borders are translucent, why aren’t the drop-down menus as well?

Again, as in Windows Mail, why don’t the Windows Explorer column headings (or columns in general) auto-size to the window width? Otherwise, I have all this empty space to the right of the window.

File properties window is using Microsoft Sans Serif.

When selecting an image in the Explorer, the status bar has an Edit button. When I clicked it, I was half-expecting to edit the photo. That, and the button itself seems to have lost its left-border?

Here’s a thought: when Windows is loading for the first time, why doesn’t it ask the user what kind of things they like? Generally speaking of course… sports, movies, nature, games, etc. Then, it could create a custom theme around those settings (you can buy licenses for a small set of images and content that you might use to make the user’s first time in Windows more personal).

Why can’t I edit a photo’s meta information inline? Why do I have to open a dialog before I can change anything? I’m speaking, of course, about the properties (status?) bar at the bottom of an Explorer window.

Burn the font preview dialog. It’s inflexible and sadly outdated.

Why can’t I get a preview of a font by hovering over its icon? I’d settle for a live preview in the properties bar. The icons in this folder also appear to be broken, showing a generic document icon overlay in the lower-right corner of the OTF/TTF icon.

Also, the font folder seems to have the old Control Panel icon from Windows 95 (!) in its properties bar.

OMG, the Windows 3.1 “Add a font” dialog is still there. This is classic. You must ship with this dialog in place so we can point out just how many things you still missed. ;)

I guess it’s called the Preview Pane. Makes sense. However, I thought Microsoft was all about shoving the preview pane to the right of the window - not the bottom? Don’t get me wrong, I think the bottom is fine… but I’m curious to know if it’d be any better on the right?

The Folder options dialog seems to be outdated with its settings, too - as well as calling on Microsoft Sans Serif.

I’m kinda getting sick of talking about Microsoft Sans Serif and Tahoma. Someone needs to sweep the whole OS and get rid of ‘em and fix app incompatibilities from that point forward. It should all be Segoe UI, no excuses - this is 2006/7.

Any chance of letting the user change the bitmaps in the Windows Explorer? The green/blue curtain thing is nice for about five minutes, and then it’s old. Don’t keep the XPize guy in business. ;)

Control Panel > Additional Options displays… get this… “There are no items to display.” Well, if there are no items to display, then why did you show me the link in the first place?

The Speech Recognition pane in the Control Panel seems to be truncated at the bottom, clipping the window graphic to the left of the options?

IE’s options dialog… Tahoma.

In the Security Center, it tells me that UAC is on… but there’s no easy way to turn it off (that I can see). Kinda pointless to tell me its turned on if I can’t turn it off from there.

Date and Time dialog is using Tahoma in its tabs and OK/Cancel buttons.

Why does the Photo Gallery Viewer have an uncustomizable icon / toolbar? I don’t want or need the text below my icons, and the labels are underneath the icons unlike the other Windows apps which have the text to the right of the icon. Scream at this puppy until it conforms!

Right now, you have tons of wasted space at the bottom of the Photo Gallery Viewer. Why not fill that space with EXIF or simple file information? You’re not surfacing EXIF anywhere except in the Explorer interface.

The Undo and Redo buttons for the Photo Gallery Viewer are at the bottom of the window, whereas I would’ve expected ‘em to be at the top. Thought they weren’t there until I looked hard.

The minimize/maximize animation is nice, but not quite as smooth as it could or should be. Towards the end of the animation, it seems to drop frames.

After doing some basic “Fix” functions on a photo, then undoing (I believe), I tried to view the photo again and the viewer told me it couldn’t do it. It could’ve been because I was already previewing the image in another preview session - in which case, it should’ve flipped that to the foreground instead of erroring out with a relatively useless message.

Why can’t I change the color of the selection area? You know, click and drag in an area of the desktop or Explorer and it highlights in blue. What if I happen to like purple more?

The new Media Center software is amazing. However, the buttons to dig deeper into the different sections seem to be using stock images rather than actual thumbnails on your machine. Sloppy, or intentional? If intentional, why?

When you close the Media Center, the desktop goes black and flashes.

Task bar and Start Menu properties still has the Windows XP graphic, and it’s calling on Microsoft Sans Serif.

Even if I select the option to cascade menu items in the Start Menu, why can’t I still double-click the root option. For example, I have “Computer” cascade to the options - and in doing so, I lose the ability to double-click the word “Computer” to launch into that process.

You animate the opening and closing of windows, why not also smoothly animate the changing of options within the window itself - namely inside the Control Panel.

Mouse Properties dialog… Microsoft Sans Serif.

Where can I change the point size of my fonts? I scaled ‘er up to 120dpi per your suggestion but can’t honestly see a difference on my LCD? Not many Themes to choose from, either.

Drop into Windows Classic mode. Man, you’ve got your work cut out for you here. Places that had Segoe UI before, now have Tahoma. The Start Menu is ugly as hell (and it really doesn’t have to be, even in Classic Mode).

Aha! The “tooltip” inside of Solitaire doesn’t adhere to the AERO standards, as set forth by your public document (guidelines). Someone needs to go back into this and make it look like the rest of Windows, please? It’s in the lower left corner, and the design discrepancies are as plain as day. I’d expect this with a third-party app, not a bundled app.

Microsoft Windows Mail splash screen needs an overhaul.

It’s nice to see the column lines don’t exist in Classic Mode (Windows Mail). However, in both Windows Mail and Internet Explorer Classic Mode, there’s an odd border on either side of each icon / toolbar?!

Windows Mail item header (between message pane and preview pane) is using Arial!?

Why does IE still have an upper-left corner program icon and no other program does? I take that back. Explorer doesn’t have an upper-left icon.

Windows Movie Maker UI needs to be destroyed and rebuilt from scratch. There’s so many legacy components in here, it’s not even funny. It didn’t do “Windows XP” look and feel well inside of Windows XP, it’s certainly not doing “Windows XP” well in Vista. The toolbar is a throwback, the Tasks pane is a throwback, the options underneath the toolbar are awkward and sloppy, etc. etc. This program has so much potential, if only you’d find a new UI design team for it.

Why doesn’t the Windows Movie Maker have an “Increase Brightness / Increase Contrast” Effect so that by increasing the brightness of a video, you’re not dulling the colors of it as well? Quick, easy fix that would help a lot of videos out there - yet nobody’s bothered to put ‘er in there. And why should they? It would only be one of the most useful effects for fixing darker videos.

The icon / toolbar in Windows Mail seems to be at a different height than other toolbars throughout Windows, including that of Windows Calendar.

What if I don’t like the red “X” close button? Why can’t I change that to… purple?

Why can’t I resize the side panes in Windows Calendar?

Here’s an idea for the Ultimate edition - why don’t you let a select group of passionate, enthusiastic, community evangelists help make continual suggestions and recommendations for additional downloads and features? ;) Let’s not let this one slip into the hands of the marketers like the Plus pack did.

What’s so strange about glass is that you’re all about “wasting pixels” when the window is regularly sized, but as soon as you maximize the window, you clip the title bar to an incredibly thin level - can’t you strike a balance in between here? Stick with one size, please - no matter the state of the window. Plus, keep each state sporting the same colors or level of translucency? Right now, the maximized state looks horrible.

Why can’t I seem to get to my recording settings through the Volume dialog anymore?

I don’t have a 1 or 2GB USB stick yet, but as soon as I do, I’ll let you know how perf feels on my Vista box.

When I accidentally drop a gadget to the desktop, behind the designated area of the Sidebar, there’s no way to retreive / access it without first closing the Sidebar. I see there’s an option in the system tray icon to bring all gadgets to the front, but I wouldn’t have even considered looking there.

Wow. The calculator gadget sets an all-time record for number of fonts used inside an application. Yikes. Get this: MS Sans Serif (?!), Tahoma 9pt, Segoe UI 8pt, and Times New Roman. Ladies and Gentlemen - we have a new world’s record!!! Jim, please make this stop.

Wow. Your bubbles screen saver is really lame. Really. Really. Lame.

Ribbons screen saver is rather nifty. Gee, was someone inspired by OS X? :)

The Print dialog is sadly outdated.

Why does the information bar have to be so annoying? Seriously, why does it reload the page when I say it’s okay to download something? Overkill, waste of time.

IE File Save dialog has Microsoft Sans Serif.

Cheese and crackers, would somebody please update to the IE transfer dialog to either display more information or give us a PAUSE/RESUME button!? You wanna talk about a feature for Ultimate edition. :P

Windows Calendar font and icon alignment are all wonky.

IBM ThinkPad System Update won’t install because it “can’t find a supported .NET framework.” :)

If I change my font settings, why doesn’t it apply to all open windows? Namely, IE didn’t update when I tweaked something.

Color me very impressed with the “update driver from the Internet” feature. Picked up my Thinkpad wireless adapter without blinking. This is exactly the way it should be. Same holds true for the way it detected/installed my PM Device for the ThinkPad (T41p). The only thing I’d ask for is more feedback as to what it’s doing and what it might be sticking on (if anything).

The drop-down menus in the breadcrumb bar of WMP seem to be awfully unpadded (see, there’s such a thing as being too anemic). Click the arrow next to Music, Library, Artist, etc. - you’ll see what I mean right away.

Try minimizing WMP to a Classic Mode taskbar with Windows Media Player toolbar enabled. Yikes. This bug has been filed over and over again since WMP9.

Please, find another way to display playing file information in the status bar area of WMP? The current way is simply unusable.

The Windows Media toolbar pop-up preview window is using Arial.

Why is there extra spacing below the buttons, breadcrumb bar, and search bar in the Windows Explorer? This extra padding doesn’t seem to exist in other windows?

When I set my Caption Buttons smaller (say, to 15), why does the entire title bar shrink as well? They seem to be more independent from one another than they were before. Like, the buttons used to be middle-aligned in the title bar - but now they’re attached to the top of the window, so they should resize independent of the height of the title bar. That is, if you designed this properly.

For some reason, there’s a black line in between the title bar of the Task Manager and the menu. I have my title bar font set to a respectable 8pt when I see this.

I don’t know how I got into this loop, but I’ve been futzing with a lot of display settings (on / off / up / down), and I seemed to have retained Glass, but lost any ability to toggle the translucency of it. That is, until after reboot (I’d assume).

Why can’t I run OneCare on Vista yet?

Sidebar has major performance issues (in using it). When I went to add the Stocks gadget, I dragged and dropped it over there and didn’t see it show up, so I did it again. And again. Turns out, they all got shoved to a second page which I didn’t know existed. You’re telling me there’s no way to shrink the default size of these gadgets so that I could accomodate more on the screen at one time - or to set it up so that I don’t end up with 47 calculators inadvertently? :) It’s potentially a set up for your next “million shortcuts to ‘My Computer’ on the desktop” scenario.

Okay, that’s enough for now. I took you at your word and compiled this list based on the Beta 2 build that I received from you with the “I’m sorry” stamped in your script. ;) I’ll be more than happy to provide even more feedback throughout this entire process. Below, you’ll find a starter list of applications that some of us just can’t live without - making us the Ultimate users.

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232 Comments

Mark’s Musings » Blog Archive » Links for 224-05-2006

May 24th, 2006
at 11:03am

[...] Chris Pirillo - Chris finds a few things that he doesn’t like in Vista Beta 2. “When is the CTP version out? I want to try it.” [...]

Tech.Life.Blogged

May 24th, 2006
at 2:39pm

Windows Vista Feedback…

If you want someone to tell you the good and bad bits of a user interface, Chris is your man….

Penmachine words music comment

May 24th, 2006
at 3:57pm

Hammer on…

Chris works closely with Microsoft people a lot of the time, and they’re the lead sponsor for his conference next month. That sure hasn’t stopped him from taking on the latest Windows Vista Beta 2 though….

Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger » Back in the Office, playing with Betas

May 24th, 2006
at 4:38pm

[...] Lots of good feedback about Windows Vista. Chris Pirillo sent me and Jim Allchin the kind of feedback that product teams die for (when I was a beta tester I won a $1400 laser printer for reporting about this number of bugs and issues about Adobe Acrobat). Yes, Jason Clarke, I'm making sure this list gets seen by everyone. [...]

Sean

May 24th, 2006
at 5:05pm

I’ve got one…

Go to the system properties before Vista has been activated. The activation dialogue at the bottom says:

Automatic activation will begin in this many days: 13. Click here to activate Windows now.

Would it be that hard to have the number of days be part of the sentence?

ie… Automatic activation will begin in 13 days.

Lili

May 24th, 2006
at 5:07pm

Thanks Chris. We want the feedback so bring it on! Scobelizer is right– the list gets seen by all. Maybe next time we’ll have a working dinner at my house –but then after, the girls really must go out , so bring Ponzi!

Bryan

May 24th, 2006
at 6:18pm

When you search from the start menu, it says:

“Search the Internet
Search the computer”

computer should be capitalized.

Paul Hanlon

May 24th, 2006
at 7:55pm

Just one function I’d want to see in Windows Vista Ultimate that’s not already on the cards as far as I know: The ability to watch TV or a recorded/stored item on a secondary display while leaving the primary display free to work on.

At the moment this simple functionality is to put it bluntly, screwed. Whenever media center plays back an item on a second display it not only takes focus but runs in exclusive mode such that the cursor is trapped in the secondary display area.

This leaves the primary display area unusable. Pressing the Windows Key will force both displays to react violently and if the user is lucky, video playback will resume on the secondary display while the cursor may or may not return to the primary display. It’s currently a mess.

Why is this a problem? Because in a HTPC living room environment where user A is watching media center content on the TV, user B can’t continue to use the primary display without hitting the Windows key (in an attempt to regain control of the cursor) which leads to unpredictable results for both users.

Fix: Don’t run the secondary display in exclusive mode or at least have it as an option.

Dave Ross

May 24th, 2006
at 7:56pm

What I fear most of likely “features” of Vista are more demands to use /only/ MS software, i.e., not giving the user full functionality of all Vista features without using IE, PP, WMD, etc. to the exclusion of preferred alternatives.

Two current XP exclusivity examples would be Passport and Windows Update. Sure, there are awkward or simply inconvenient workarounds, but it is still irritating to have to fiddle around because one chooses to use Firefox/Thunderbird, and Nero or Real rather than the MS equivalents.

Also, I would hope that”Classic” desktops will still be an option as I really dislike the space-wasting overly-cartoonlike default XP desktop. Far more information can be displayed with Classic.

Tech.Life.Blogged

May 24th, 2006
at 9:39pm

interview with Jim Allchin yesterday. If you want someone to tell you the good and bad bits of a user interface, Chris is your man. He’s doesn’t pull any punches event though MS sponsors his podcasts. Chris Pirillo: Windows Vista Feedback Tags: microsoft, windows, vista, ui, pirillo, lockergnome

KennethVerburg.nl - Information Engineer in het Wild » Blog Archief » Activatie

May 25th, 2006
at 12:00am

[...] En hoe wil Microsoft dan feedback krijgen over beta’s? Nou, Chris Pirillo geeft een eerste voorzet voor Windows Vista en Outlook 2007. Een ongelooflijke lijst, met de kleinste dingen. [...]

Justin Lewis

May 25th, 2006
at 12:00am

I’m disappointed that my relatively new Toshiba tablet pc, purchased five months ago in December 2005, will not be able to support Windows Vista Aero. It supports everything but Pixel Shader 2 (64MB on a resolution of 1024×768). A modern computer not fully supporting a version of Windows beyond Tablet PC Edition 2005. *Sigh*

Eric

May 25th, 2006
at 8:13am

Chris,

This is one of the best VISTA writeups I have read to date. As I am sure you know you have been trackbacked all around the net today - and your list is definitely being dealt with. I think this open dialogue is exactly what is needed, and goes above and beyond any generic “bug report” tool used to report normally found anomolies.

I am surprised Microsoft does not have a new focus group of people installing Vista EVERY day in a room and discuss what happens. This may seem over the top but could you imagine the progress they would make in say 7 days of installs - 10 people per day - all giving groupwide feedback? They would have the smoothest upgrade\install process hamered out in not time. There is truly no impression quite like the first one - and spending time in this area would make for a better experience overall.

I feel as though most of the time is put into working the OS once it has been properley configured and running on a power machine - half the reason why most people end up ******** up their machines, is due to strange “pop up” bubbles and warning prompts that have no information behind them. There should be a “read more about this error before choosing” link on EVERY common pop-up prompt. Writing these in simple language would make a HUGE difference in most peoples lives (i.e. they WANT to learn why to click “yes” or “no”) as well as dramatically reducing tech support calls to IT departments everywhere.

PS - this is my first comment on your site. I have been a subscriber for quite a while - thanks!

13Gigatons

May 25th, 2006
at 8:55am

Probably the most thorough review of Vista to date. I had very high hopes for vista but Microsoft only seems interested in pushing it out the door no matter what shape it is in.

They should work on it for another year at least and improve all the things outlined in this review and really test it well before sending it out the door in it’s final state.

I would rather wait until next summer to get a totally polished Vista running on super fast hardware. Maybe someone should tell Bill Gates.

Curiouser and Curiouser! by Matt Mower

May 25th, 2006
at 12:03pm

I just leafed through Chris Pirillo’s Vista Beta 2 feedback and had to chuckle. I don’t know what OS X ‘Tiger’ or ‘Panther’ looked like 8 months before release, maybe they were in a similar kind of mess, but I doubt Apple had to contend with dialog boxes from the Windows 3.1 days!

Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

May 25th, 2006
at 12:14pm

the ridiculous full name) reports are starting to come in about what works and what doesn’t. (Remember it is still beta time.) Chirs Pirillo certainly can’t be accused of not giving a full report. If you want to see his list of bugs and complaints,check this out for Vista and this for Office.

Matt Goyer’s Media Center Blog » Response to Chris Prillo’s Windows Vista Feedback

May 25th, 2006
at 2:43pm

[...] Chris Prillo has anexcellent post giving us lots of feedback on Windows Vista. He even has a small amount of feedback for the MCE team: The new Media Center software is amazing. However, the buttons to dig deeper into the different sections seem to be using stock images rather than actual thumbnails on your machine. Sloppy, or intentional? If intentional, why? [...]

Andy

May 25th, 2006
at 4:15pm

Thank you Chris for pointing out how sad it is to see the same old icons and the, sigh, ghastly Fonts dialog box in Vista.

AListReview - Top blogger thoughts and ideas

May 25th, 2006
at 4:39pm

I fell in love with him in his scrub suit, with blood splattered on his clogs.” It’s a good thing she didn’t meet Ted Bundy first. Via Digg: Steve Ballmer is hinting that Vista may be delayed even further. Maybe because ofChris Pirillo’s analysis?

Incremental Blogger

May 25th, 2006
at 4:57pm

Chris Pirillo are taking this build. I haven’t gotten my Vista Beta 2 build installed yet–I’ve been living in coding land–however, when I do I expect to be spending much of my time in Vista. Fingers crossed.

Ballmer admits further Vista delay possible -- Microsoft News Tracker

May 25th, 2006
at 5:48pm

[...] “We think we are on track for shipping early in the year. We’ve talked about the month, but we get a chance to critically assess all of the feedback we’ll get from this beta release then confirm or move [the launch date] a few weeks,” he said at a news conference in Tokyo. So far, the feedback on the latest Vista beta has revealed a plethora of “issues” ([1], [2]), but we’ve been around this topic before and the ship date is really of importance to Microsoft profits only in that it marks the start of the opportunity to upsell Vista and get more milk from the client cash cow. Nonetheless it will still be an embarrassment. Chris Kraeuter at Forbes: Another delay of a few weeks wouldn’t mean so much to Microsoft, but it would be yet another indication of the unwieldy nature of its software. Ballmer also introduced another issue: “The other thing, frankly, which we are discussing with NEC and other hardware partners is when would they really like it–early January, late January, February–so it depends on when the next roll-over, the next turn of the machine cycle will be and that would be the best time to ship it based on beta feedback,” he said. Frankly, that seems to me to be a red herring. If Microsoft had a firm date for a ship-ready Vista, the OEMs would have no problem planning a rollout to fit and a few weeks would be inconsequential. As it is, everyone is flying by the seat of their pants. [...]

Sacred Cow Dung

May 25th, 2006
at 6:12pm

If the right people see it, this may very well be the Outlook version to beat. They’ve fixed a handful of bugs, but… not nearly enough to convince me that this is any better than O2k. [Sounds promising. â€â€? cgm]Windows Vista Feedback ~ Chris Pirillo *** Dinner with Jim Allchin (GnomeREPORT) Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows: Windows Vista February 2006 CTP (Build 5308/5342) Review, Part 5: Where Vista Fails. I don’t hate Windows Vista, and I certainly don’t hate Microsoft for

The Global Syndicator | Tech News

May 25th, 2006
at 6:12pm

You want to see a terrific product review? The linked Vista review is awesome, and I think anyone that develops software wish they could get about a hundred reviews as complete as this one. [chris.pirillo.com]

Tim

May 25th, 2006
at 9:59pm

Whenever Vista is released, I’d love to see this revisited with notations as to what was fixed and what was left as is.

osxlvr

May 26th, 2006
at 6:53am

if somone wants to go even further, post a screen shot of each issue in vista that chris brings up in his review.

GottaBeMobile.com

May 26th, 2006
at 11:49am

seeing it. I realize this list is lengthy, but… these reasons are exactly why I’m afraid Vista won’t be as polished as originally anticipated. I warn you, this list is long - and it’s only going to get longer, the deeper I dive into Vista Beta 2.This list is longer than the interview!” I enjoyed his comments on the time spent with Jim, sounds like he got a really good feel for Jim’s honest desire to produce a good product. He also did an interview with Jim

Martin

May 26th, 2006
at 2:58pm

I adore this line “I should see absolutely no UI elements here that remind me of XP or earlier” as I absoloutely 100% agree with it. As the name suggests, Vista is to supposed to be a Vista
- so why are they still suppling backgrounds in 1024×768 (looks bad on 1280×1024 screen res)
- wmp11 icons etc. still same as wmp10 (!)
- eliminate everything theme that’s pre-vista and create new ones!! (agree w/ no xp cursors (etc).

Whenever I think of Vista, I feel there’s too much wrong with it for some strange reason. Still, M$ has got 5 months to perfect it. But can they?

Sekhmet

May 26th, 2006
at 3:53pm

Well this is pretty pointless… since when Microsoft actually cared for good UI design or paid attention to small details? Not to mention their complete lack of style and aesthetics.
If one had to start pointing at every small glitch and flaw on Microsoft’s GUIs we could be reading this article forever…

Eric'o'theque!

May 26th, 2006
at 5:13pm

65 Reasons Why Outlook 2007 Will Suck ~ Chris Pirillo Well, uh, Chris, anyway you could give InfoPath a look? Chris had an earlier post on Outlook: Outlook 2007 Might Not Suck! And he also had a post on the latest Vista Beta:Windows Vista Feedback It’s good to read this, even when it hurts. Oh, and I’m signed up to go to Chris’ Gnomedex this year in downtown Seattle. I hope to meet Chris along with lots of other groovy attendees.

Mike

May 26th, 2006
at 6:06pm

Chris,

If you remember buddy, windows XP beta 2 had numerous inconsistencies in the Luna UI. Also, note that the installation screen was not quite at par as well. The reason that you are seeing these CTPs and betas is because Microsoft needs feedback on the foundations of the platform, not the aesthetics of the user experience. When you see the release candidate before the platform goes to RTM the enhanced visualizations and minor details (e.g. fonts) will be fine tuned and polished.

For now I would suggest focusing on the issues with the code base and overall experience. Once those items are validated and the modifications are made the “pretty colors� will be applied; why focus development efforts on design when there are going to be constant changes to the UI?

But hey, that’s just my opinion and I could be wrong.

Mike

Mark Stevens

May 27th, 2006
at 5:15am

Nice outline, I agree with most of your points (though you do seem to have a hangup about fonts don’t you :P ). There were a few things I didn’t agree with however. Drop down dialog boxes should never be translucent, it would only make them more difficult to read. Also the reason maximized title bars are not glass is because if you have other maximized windows in the background the text would become a jumble, hard to read and ugly. I like the thin style when they are maximized and wish all title bars were thin. Wasted space seems to be a huge problem throughout Vista. One of my biggest complaints is Windows Explorer, it’s a horrible mess. Why won’t it save my view settings? Every time I launch it I have to drag the divider (whatever it’s called) over to give my folder list some breathing room. Why can’t I turn off that stupid “Favorite Links” panel? I have no favorite links and it’s a big waste of space. For some reason it is very hard to click on the little arrows to expand a folder tree, you have to have the precision of an android to successfully click activate it. The information pane at the bottom is taking up just a bit more space than I’d like. Next complain is the new photo viewer. Where is the “View Full Screen” option? Between that huge panel at the top and the other huge panel at the bottom there isn’t much space left to actually show the photo itself. Get rid of the top panel completely, shrink the bottom one down a bit, and for goodness sake add a view fullscreen option. That’s about it, you covered everything else very well. Oh, the “Start Orb”…I hate it. I don’t like the way it sticks up into the task bar and even covers up text sometimes. Please give us some more themes too, we really got cheated in XP. What is the point in having a theme engine if you only give us one theme?

Mark

May 27th, 2006
at 8:56am

Hi, why did you delete my response?

Martin

May 27th, 2006
at 4:00pm

Sorry but I don’t agree with “Also the reason maximized title bars are not glass is because if you have other maximized windows in the background the text would become a jumble, hard to read and ugly.” Vista is supposed to be a Vista and the ugly maximised windows could be glass only less transparent(?) I could be wrong.
Thanks for reminding us about XP BETA2 (which you can take a good look at here http://winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_whistler.asp). It has given me SOME faith in Microsoft again, I only hope they will really go to town on fine-tuning graphics etc.

Anthony

May 28th, 2006
at 4:26am

Its now May 28th…..what in hell is going on weres the public version of VISTA!!!! stupid microsoft……they said it would b avalible by now

» Does Microsoft Have An Attention To Detail?  InsideMicrosoft - part of the Blog News Channel

May 28th, 2006
at 2:25pm

[...] Chris Pirillo has nit-picked his way through the Windows Vista beta, providing some of the best feedback I’ve seen on the OS. Chris pays attention to the little details, the stuff that are going to drive you nuts and make Microsoft look like idiots when we’ve been using this operating system for four years. [...]

Geek News Central Revealing Technical News and useful links

May 28th, 2006
at 3:50pm

[...] get about a hundred reviews as complete as this one. [chris.pirillo.com] posted by geeknews at 12:12 PM TrackbackPings [...]

Vista beta 2 (5384.4) issues

May 28th, 2006
at 4:30pm

[...] Chris Pirillo has a great post about Vista beta2http://chris.pirillo.com/2006/05/24/windows-vista-feedback/(from scobles links) [...]

GRiNSEBLOG

May 28th, 2006
at 5:02pm

Thoughts about Windows Vista Beta 2…

Althought other people like chris pirillo have posted alot of feedback around the beta 2 of vista, I have to add some things that i don't like:
When i round trip in windows explorer, using the keyboard to navigate is not possible unless you se…

65 More Windows Vista Mistakes ~ Chris Pirillo

May 28th, 2006
at 5:26pm

[...] Vista beta 2 (5384.4) issues: Windows Vista Feedback [...]

AnandTech - Windows Vista beta 2 gets reviewed by Chris Pirillo at the request of Jim Allchin

May 28th, 2006
at 8:11pm

[...] http://chris.pirillo.com/2006/05/24/windows-vista-feedback/ Pretty thorough review and shows that Vista is not even close to be ready for release. ————————- Canon Pixma Direct CD/DVD mod for USA users Hot Female Athlete pics removed at mod request. [...]

Vince Kimball

May 29th, 2006
at 12:41am

Vista should’ve been codenamed White Elephant. I just leafed through Chris Pirillo’s Vista Beta 2 feedback and had to chuckle. I don’t know what OS X ‘Tiger’ or ‘Panther’ looked like 8 months before release, maybe they were in a similar kind of mess, but I doubt Apple had to contend with dialog boxes from the Windows 3.1 days!

Windows vs. Linux (GnomeREPORT)

May 29th, 2006
at 10:27am

[...] I don’t know. I’m still a Windows guy because there’s something to be said about the power of Microsoft. Some find that power scary, but I find that power comforting - with power, generally comes ubiquity. Of course, you couldn’t tell that with my two posts today on Office 2007 and Windows Vista Beta 2! [...]

Chris Pirillo pulls no punches regarding Vista - The Unofficial Microsoft Weblog

May 29th, 2006
at 10:38am

[...] Chris Pirillo pulls no punches regarding VistaPosted May 24th 2006 3:24PM by Jason ClarkeFiled under: Vista, Trends and BuzzChris Pirillo has a post listing his personal Vista feedback to Jim Allchin. I haven’t installed the Vista beta 2 yet, but I’m assuming that there is a boilerplate message from Allchin that users receive when they do so requesting feedback. [...]

Vista-- some specific problems - AppleNova Forums

May 29th, 2006
at 10:53am

[...] Today, 12:48 Found this on the MiniMSFT blog and thought others might like to see a rather thorough and specific critique of some of the problems in the Vista beta. Seems like they really have their work cut out for them– there are a ton of problems and inconsistencies (and this is only one guy’s feedback). Interesting to see how all this pans out… http://chris.pirillo.com/2006/05/24/…ista-feedback/ http://chris.pirillo.com/2006/05/28/…ista-mistakes/ [...]

ActiveWin.com - The Most Activated Windows Resource

May 29th, 2006
at 1:20pm

[...] Most of his complaints (both this and the original list @ http://chris.pirillo.com/2006/05/24/windows-vista-feedback/) have little to do with functionality. He’s pointing out visual elements that look or work differently than he wants them to. Some complaints are legitimate inconsistencies (looks like x is screen one, looks like y in screen two) which are natural at this stage of the process, and will probably be resolved. I hope he actually submitted them as bugs, rather than just posting to his website and hoping MS would come find them … [...]

MasterMaq's Blog

May 29th, 2006
at 4:10pm

from Ylz. Turns out using a controller for games is more effective than mouse and keyboard after all! Wondering why Windows Vista is late? Because there is still so much to do, as was made very clear in Chris Pirillo’s review of Beta 2. Carolina beat Buffalo last night, which means they are leading the series 3-2 and are one step closer to taking on the Oilers for the Stanley Cup. I hope this series goes to Game 7 so that whoever wins is too tired to put up much of a fight in the

Mini-Microsoft

May 29th, 2006
at 4:40pm

), the first question that came to my mind was: is this the polish tax we pay for automation? If our former STEs (now SDETs-or-else) had been focusing on the black-box entire Vista experience, would the following issues had been entered and fixed? Windows Vista Feedback ~ Chris Pirillo 65 More Windows Vista Mistakes ~ Chris Pirillo One commenter writes: Hey Who da’, did you see the article about Xerox in the Sunday Seattle Times (business section). They promoted the head of HR to run the company. The first thing she did was

67 Windows Vista Mistakes

May 29th, 2006
at 7:05pm

[...] P.S. If you all have read his list and found it to be quite detailed and comprehensive, take a deep breath and go over this one which he wrote just 4 days ago while we were at WinHEC: More Chris Pirillo Vista Mistakes [...]

Blogger: Post a Comment

May 29th, 2006
at 7:47pm

[...] When I read Chris Pirillo’s Vista bug feedback (he’s also done some intense Outlook 2007 feedback), the first question that came to my mind was: is this the polish tax we pay for automation? If our former STEs (now SDETs-or-else) had been focusing on the black-box entire Vista experience, would the following issues had been entered and fixed? [...]

Gadgetophile - small, electronic, and highly useful…

May 29th, 2006
at 8:32pm

m guessing most beta testers are in USA, so just click OK. For those of us outside of the USA it’s like “ffs are you trying to make me select USA or something!?�. I also agree with Chris Pirillo thatall traces of the ‘classic’ look dialogs and windows should be eradicated. Some of the setup screens use the ‘classic’ look. Sure you don’t have to have the full translucent glass interface, but at least update the control boxes etc.

The Vista review of reviews.. - Tech Support Guy Forums

May 29th, 2006
at 9:04pm

[...] http://chris.pirillo.com/2006/05/24/…ack/#more-3614 I’m afraid Vista won’t be as polished as originally anticipated. I warn you, this list is long - and it’s only going to get longer, the deeper I dive into Vista Beta 2. This list is longer than the interview! [...]

M-Dollar

May 30th, 2006
at 1:46am

Over the last week, blogger Chris Pirillo has been making headlines with his two detailed lists filled with Windows Vista feedback. While some may see Pirillo’s comments as heavy nitpicking, others may look at them as more reasons why Windows Vista still isn’t ready for primetime. Most of Pirillo

Neowin.net > Another Vista Beta 2 review

May 30th, 2006
at 5:54am

[...] This is excellent feedback and indicative of the general low-quality of Vista's "fit-and-finish" (as Allchin likes to say). Vista is a hodgepodge of components thrown together with a UI that still flickers, corrupts and flashes (they promised that this was all history). Never mind the hundreds of Windows 95 and 3.1 icons still littering the system. None of the items on Chris's list will be addressed, you can see for yourself in a few months that Beta 2 is it folks. [...]

MacDailyNews | Pirillo critiques Windows Vista with long lists of mistakes

May 30th, 2006
at 6:24am

[...] “I spent a few hours with Windows Vista last night, per Jim Allchin’s request to send him feedback about what I discovered in terms of discrepancies and oversights. I took that task seriously, and stayed up late to compile this far-from-comprehensive list. I sent it to him at 1am, and I hope he doesn’t have a filter that keeps him from seeing it. I realize this list is lengthy, but… these reasons are exactly why I’m afraid Vista won’t be as polished as originally anticipated. I warn you, this list is long - and it’s only going to get longer, the deeper I dive into Vista Beta 2… If you think this list is long, check out my follow-up list of 65 More Windows Vista Mistakes,” Chris Pirillo blogs. MacDailyNews Note: Chris Pirillo is the founder of Lockergnome. He spent two years hosting the TechTV (now known as G4) television program Call for Help before parting ways from the company. He also hosted the first annual Call-for-Help-a-Thon on TechTV. Very long list here. 65 More Windows Vista Mistakeshere. Advertisements: • Introducing the super-fast, blogging, podcasting, do-everything-out-of-the-box MacBook.  Starting at just $1099 • Get the new iMac with Intel Core Duo for as low as $31 A MONTH with Free shipping! • Get the MacBook Pro with Intel Core Duo for as low as $47 A MONTH with Free Shipping! • Apple’s new Mac mini. Intel Core, up to 4 times faster. Starting at just $599. Free shipping. • iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping. • Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19. • iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49. [...]