Chris Pirillo » microsoft-windows

Windows 7 eBook

admin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:57:35 +0000

Windows 7 eBook is a post from Chris Pirillo

My new Windows 7 eBook is available for $7 now (and includes the following information).

Buy My Windows 7 eBook Now!

System Requirements For Windows 7
Windows 7 Editions
Configure User Access Control In Windows 7
Burn ISO Image In Windows 7
Minimize Programs To The System Tray/Notification Area In Windows 7
Pin A Folder To Windows Explorer Jump List In Windows 7
Change The Number Of Items On The Windows 7 Jump List
Reorder Taskbar Icons In Windows 7
Bring The Quick Launch Toolbar Back In Windows 7
Quickly Launch A Program As Administrator In Windows 7
Quickly Open A Second Instance Of An Application In Windows 7
Hide Or Reveal Empty Drives In Windows 7
Record Your Problem In Windows 7
AppLocker In Windows 7
Create Your Own Desktop Slideshow In Windows 7
Create Sticky Notes In Windows 7
Change The Appearance Of Sticky Notes In Windows 7
Decrease The Windows 7 Taskbar
Group Taskbar Buttons In Windows 7
Handy New Shortcuts In Windows 7
Configure System Restore In Windows 7
Add Additional Clock To The Task Bar In Windows 7
Change The Size Of The Start Menu Icons In Windows 7
Require CTRL + ALT + DEL For Logons In Windows 7
Configure Windows 7 For Automatic Logon
Show Hidden Files And Folders In Windows 7
Install New Fonts In Windows 7
Do Not Highlight Newly Installed Programs In Windows 7
Disable User Account Control In Windows 7
Assign A Password To A User Account In Windows 7
Disable Thumbnail Previews In Windows 7
Create A System Restore Point In Windows 7
Change Your User Account Picture In Windows 7
Delete All But the Most Recent Restore Point In Windows 7
Configure Mouse For Left-Handed User In Windows 7
Encrypt Offline Files In Windows 7
Turn On Bitlocker Without TPM In Windows 7
Create User Account In Windows 7
Rename The Guest Account In Windows 7
Disable System Protection In Windows 7
Customize The Appearance Of The Mouse Pointer In Windows 7
Delete A User Account In Windows 7
Enable/Disable The Administrator Account In Windows 7
Is Your Computer Ready For Windows 7?
Create A Group In Windows 7
Change The Disk Defragmenter Schedule In Windows 7
Rename Your User Account In Windows 7
Remove Icons From Notification Area In Windows 7
Compress A Folder In Windows 7
Windows 7 Action Center
Undo A System Restore Operation In Windows 7
Set The Time Zone From The Command Prompt In Windows 7
Make Windows Transparent With Aero Peek In Windows 7
Turn Off Smart Window Arrangement In Windows 7
Open A Folder In A New Window In Windows 7
Secure Data On USB Drives In Windows 7
Clear Recent Search Entries In Windows 7
Quickly Launch Programs In Windows 7
Disable Security Alerts In Windows 7
Aero Shake In Windows 7
Quickly Browse Tasks In Windows 7 With The Keyboard
Windows 7’s Windows Easy Transfer
Backup And Restore In Windows 7 Part I
Backup And Restore In Windows 7 Part II
Windows 7’s System Restore
Schedule Disk Cleanup In Windows 7
Windows 7’s Accessibility Features Part I
Windows 7’s Accessibility Features Part II
Windows 7’s Accessibility Features Part III
Windows 7’s Accessibility Features Part IV
Windows 7’s Accessibility Features Part V
Schedule Disk Defragmenter In Windows 7
Schedule Disk Cleanup To Run In Windows 7

Features in the Vista Explorer are Somewhat Lost

Chris — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 22:25:57 +0000

Features in the Vista Explorer are Somewhat Lost is a post from Chris Pirillo

The question, as asked by live chatter Alix:

I just bought a new laptop that came pre-installed with Vista Business. I upgraded DIRECTLY from 2000, more or less. I have used and still do use it, but I didn’t like it for my personal use. Vista, I am very happy with.
My question is… what happened to the toolbar that was in folder view (and can I get it back)? It’s a tiny think, I know. The toolbar (for clarity) that’s similar to a browser toolbar that had the icons for delete and refresh etc. I know that these options are still available through the ‘Organise’ or through keyboard shortcuts like ‘delete’ and f5′ etc… All Google has come up with (for my search terms anyway) are results on adding toolbars (folders) to the taskbar or desktop.
Thank you (in advance) for any info you can direct my way.

Solution: upgrade back to Windows XP. Microsoft changed the Explorer interface in Vista, and there’s no way around it (other than possibly using third-party Windows Explorer replacements / alternative file manager tools).

And before any of you Windows apologists swing in to “save the day,” Alix is most certainly talking about the Toolbar (which cannot be customized at all). He’s not refering to the Explorer Menu bar, which remains hidden by default (but can be toggled on). There’s a difference.

Breaking Windows Habits

Chris — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:59:27 +0000

Breaking Windows Habits is a post from Chris Pirillo

A month ago, “Oli Kenobi” emailed me and asked for my opinion on the Airport Extreme – which is turning out to be one of the better wireless routers I’ve ever owned, if only in terms of raw usability and user friendliness. He emails with a brief update this morning, including some surprising news – my shared experiences have inspired him to make the switch from Windows to OS X:

So I got the Airport Extreme a couple weeks ago, and it’s working perfectly. I shared my printer with the usb port. It was pretty easy to set up. Install the drivers on the macs and the PC, install Bonjour on the PC and it found the printer. It took me no more than 5 minutes! I also upgraded my 2 Macs to Leopard and it’s amazing! Since a couple years now, many people are thinking “That would be great if there was a competitor to Windows, because I’m sure they can make it easier to use a computer.” and think now’s the time.
I share a large disk with the mac mini, and it’s SO much easier now with Leopard to share and access it!
I still have some ‘bad old’ Windows habits that I try to give up on OS X: – when I launch a program, I double-click the icon, and wait… nothing happens, then I realize I didn’t see the ‘icon zooming’ animation, so I might have clicked somewhere else. I’m so used to wait and have no indication that the program is launched (as usually in Windows) that I don’t have yet the reaction that if I don’t see the animation, then I might have done wrong.
When I work, it happens that I start rewriting a whole file, and sometimes, I don’t keep a copy of the previous version. Then I screw up and have no way to go back. So until now, I tried as much as I could to anticipate and make a backup of the file in a separate folder… but I just realized there’s no need anymore! Time Machine does it for me! Many of us might take Time Machine as a backup if we lost a file, but it’s also an excellent way to get back to previous versions.
Since one week, each day I’ve been finding several new features, I’m thrilled!
Finally, Apple is SO right with its customers, I’m in Canada, and I just received a minute ago an email with what’s in the attached image. That’s what I call a good customer service. Keep doing great videos, and giving great advices! People love it.

I have a feeling I’m going to have to produce more “cusp” content in the coming years. In an informal chat room poll, 20% of my audience have at least one Mac, 40% want a Mac, and the remainder don’t really give a rip about the Mac. If majority rules, I need to balance my OS coverage – even though some idiots out there seem to think I have to be in one camp or another.

Doesn’t matter what I write, I’m always going to be labeled as a “Microsoft basher,” “Windows hater,” “Windows lover,” “Microsoft apologist,” “Apple fanboy,” “Mac zealot,” “Jobs suck-up,” “Gates follower,” et al – based on the same content. ;) You see what you want to see in what I write, and nothing more.

To Switch or Not to Switch

Chris — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 02:24:26 +0000

To Switch or Not to Switch is a post from Chris Pirillo

“General Walnut” poses excellent (if not rhetorical) questions on the matter of Windows vs. OS X:

I am nowhere near as much as an expert at this kind of stuff that you are and I’m not going to pretend that I am, but you were talking about how because of Vista that Apple might get more of the market. If they did catch up or even pass Microsoft, don’t you think that they will end up facing many of the same problems that Microsoft faces now? I mean, third party companies will want to start making machines that run their OS, and if Apple agrees then they would have to deal with the same hardware adjustments that Microsoft has to deal with. I don’t know, it just seems like, if the positions switch then it will just be the same thing with a different company, and if Apple computers aren’t running in that controlled environment that they have created then they will run into just as many, if not more, problems than Microsoft.

Apple will be forced to open up sooner or later. It’s inevitable, no matter how much larger they may get. The more interesting question might be to ask: what will be opened up, and how far?

Also you mentioned how people that don’t know a lot about computers don’t care if you can switch hardware out and stuff like that (you used not wanting to replace a cars steering wheel as an example I believe). But when somebody that doesn’t know a whole lot about computers walks into a store like Best Buy what do they see? They see hp, sony, compaq, gateway, some other companies, and Mac. They don’t see pc or mac, so wouldn’t these people who know nothing about computers be more likely to buy one of the brands of PC that buy a Mac?

What they see is a price tag. Consumers notice that there’s a $300 computer with a rebate sitting over there and assume it’s just the same as a $1300 computer. Both can get on the Internet, after all. They’re justified to make decisions based on personal finance, but seldom take into account TCO.

Remember, most people don’t know about the free or open source alternatives.

You also asked to answer if the headache that is Vista has had people wanting or considering switching to a Mac, and I say no. I haven’t ever considered switching to an Apple computer, not even for a little bit. I probably don’t do nearly as much on a PC as you do, but for what I do, I haven’t noticed even a fraction of the bugs that people are talking about. At this point I probably wouldn’t even go back to XP. I’m not going to say because I haven’t had problems that means nobody else must have, but for what I have done so far, I actually enjoy Vista. Yea It’s slower that XP, but I didn’t even notice the parts of it that are slower until recently, when people started talking about it to me. I have talked to people that say that the Network and Sharing section of the Control Panel takes about 30 minutes to load, but the most time it has taken for it to load for me is about 5 seconds. If what I have experienced in Vista was half as buggy as what people are telling me it should be, or half as slow for that matter, there wouldn’t be any debating over whether or not I should switch back to XP, I just would.

By admitting that Vista is slower than XP, you’re only furthering my earlier assertions. Quite a few people are reporting that (in some ways) Leopard is faster than Tiger – myself included. When a new OS doesn’t run faster or better on the same hardware, you have to question why it’s worth trading performance for a questionable set of new features.

It boils down to a matter of personal preference, but if you’re fine with what Windows delivers and haven’t tried anything else – how can you know what you prefer?

Ignore the Windows Apologists

Chris — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 21:22:12 +0000

Ignore the Windows Apologists is a post from Chris Pirillo

Yeah, I’m crazy for being annoyed by all the shims and hacks that Microsoft Windows software developers have tried to slip past our respective radars. I think we should excuse this multi-billion dollar company for not being able to standardize software across their future flagship OS. I think it’s perfectly normal for every other application to have a different toolbar settings and dimensions. I also think that menu option height discrepancies are sexy.

“Good enough” is a mantra that belongs in another era.

All you Windows apologists are further enabling this behavior – reinforcing the very shortcomings that will add up to an inferior user experience. It’s been so long since you’ve seen anything new that you’re happy to have SOMETHING different. And lest you think I’m the only “idiot” who isn’t excusing Microsoft, you need to read what Louderback scribbled:

The new version of OS X is also impressive. After a recent tour, I found myself constantly asking, “When will Vista do that?” Time Machine, which delivers constant backup and versioning of your software, seems to be a fail-safe way to preserve music, photos, and other important files at work and at home. The multi-desktop capability is nothing new, but seems particularly well integrated into the OS. I’m still not sold on OS X as an alternative to Vista, but others are less hesitant. In fact, Apple has a significant opportunity to trump Vista as the desktop OSâ€�?if only it would stop insisting on being the sole hardware supplier for the operating system.

As a Windows evangelist, I’m rooting for Apple in this space (and you should be, too). Microsoft needs truly healthy desktop competition – and that’s only going to come if, as Jim puts it, Jobs can forego his ego. Windows apologists, however, are not to be trusted. If you don’t believe that UI matters, why not just slap yourself back into the days of the command line and be done with it?

Aero, on its own, is absolutely outstanding – but the half-assed platform implementation is what leaves such a sour taste in my mouth. Vista runs fast enough, so long as you have a high-speed memory stick acting as a ReadyBoost device. Is Vista better than XP? I guess that all depends on how you choose to define “better” at the end of the day.

Robert and Robert: Duh!

Chris — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 21:28:01 +0000

Robert and Robert: Duh! is a post from Chris Pirillo

McLaws says Vista Needs More Time and Scoble says McLaws is right on Windows Vista ship date. Pirillo has been saying this for several months now, and has been labeled a “nitpicking whiner” for his attacks on Windows Vista’s UI and UX. Welcome to the club, boys – I’m happy to no longer be standing out here alone. I’m singing the “I Told You So” song today, which sounds a lot like the Blackeyed Peas hit: “My Humps.” Microsoft Windows is bleeding influencers like never before. And now, further commentary from the memetic echo chamber:

Windows Vista just ain’t gonna be ready – Duh.
Beta testers know best- Delay Vista – Double duh.
Scoble Says Windows Needs More Time – and Scoble also admits that he wasn’t the first.
Robert’s right – Windows Vista needs more time – Actually, Pirillo’s right – and Ed Bott fought with Pirillo many moons ago on this very subject.
Delay Vista for quality’s sake – I don’t think a delay will save this one, Marc.

Windows Vista will not be a failure on the scale of Windows ME – but it’s certainly looking to be one of those “Growing Pains” releases that Microsoft must bounce back quickly from. And by quickly, I mean: Microsoft must issue a significant upgrade of the OS within a year’s time. Security is important, but future service packs best be laden with performance increases and feature refinements. I tried telling y’all long before the McLaws admission – VIsta just ain’t comin’ together.

George is getting very upset!

Windows Vista: Lipstick on a Pig

Chris — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 03:49:19 +0000

Windows Vista: Lipstick on a Pig is a post from Chris Pirillo

I wish I was making this up – I really do. I also wish that someone at Microsoft would wake up to the fact that the user experience in Windows Vista is 10x worse than it was in Windows XP (if only because they couldn’t get developers to adhere to XP guidelines, and now Vista apps look even more Frankenstined). I wish Microsoft would hire somebody to look at this stuff before it ships – and do something about the problems before the world has to deal with them.

I wish users didn’t have to put up with this level of sloppiness from a multi-billion dollar company. I wish I didn’t have to play the “bad guy” and point out that Classic Mode is still the only way to experience a clean, consistent Windows environment. I wish more people would look past Vista’s translucent veneer to see that it’s nothing more than lipstick on a pig. I wish people would see that I care more about this product than most Windows users do. I wish geeks cared more about UI… so that I wouldn’t feel like such a sore thumb here. Thanks to Brandon for posting this – and thanks to Ryan for pointing out that Windows 3.1 is still alive and well in Windows Vista (screenshot).

Windows Vista: Download vs. DVD

Chris — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 00:05:58 +0000

Windows Vista: Download vs. DVD is a post from Chris Pirillo

A few minutes ago, in an online group chat, Microsoft Windows Featured Community leaders received the following stream of information regarding the number of sanctioned downloads for Windows Vista Beta 2. This report comes directly from Microsoft’s own Aaron Coldiron:

Yes, you can immediately publish what I’m about to tell you. You are literally the first to hear this – but I probably won’t be able to satisfy all your appetite for questions. ;) I wanted to update you on downloads for the Windows Vista Beta 2. Demand for Beta 2 has been huge – which we expected. But, we are hitting ceilings on bandwidth. Right now we are serving out product keys 10x faster than we can serve the downloads. Already this is the biggest software download event in history. There’s two points I want to give you:

We are pumping out bits as fast as we can. If we pushed out bits any faster there would be a measurable impact for the Internet. So, we are literally saying that if we increased our bandwidth any further there’s a possibility of taking down the Internet – people might have problems with World Cup viewing, etc. That would [sic] be bad. So, it isn’t that we weren’t anticipating demand – we were and are – it is that we are at the threshold of what the Internet can bear.
We want to encourage people who can wait to order the DVD. The DVD guarantees you RC1 upgrade (as long as you activate). DVDs will take about 1 – 4 weeks to arrive depending where in the world you live. And, I want to emphasize that we aren’t making money on the DVDs. We are just charging for cost of goods and shipping. Along with that – people who have PID keys may have a wait on their hands to get the download. This could be several days to even up to a week or more in some cases. That speaks to why ordering the DVD might be a good option. People who already have PID keys and want to get the DVD just need to go back to the GetReady site and go through the process there. They will get a new PID key.

When I asked why they couldn’t just seed it as a torrent (BitTorrent), Aaron responded:

There are legal and privacy issues which unfortunately make that not an option for Microsoft to officially sponsor a BitTorrent. I really wish we could do it, but we can’t. If someone [seeds or downloads a torrent] we can’t guarantee that they’ve got an unaltered copy, etc.

Even though Microsoft can’t sanction the seeding of a Windows Vista Beta 2 torrent, they’re probably not going to do anything to stop it from happening. I do hope that someone will officially produce an MD5 hash so that users can compare checksums! Aaron continued:

Stats – right now we don’t have any specific stats to share. Let me just say that demand is on the upper ends of our projections. We’ve been pretty clear in all our messaging that this beta will be limited. Limited in the # of people. I can’t give you any direction on this at this time. So, no comment.

The Internet needs to decide: Windows Vista Beta 2 or World Cup? :)

User Interface

Chris — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 20:48:06 +0000

User Interface is a post from Chris Pirillo

Dinner with Lili Cheng and her band of Merry Men (and Women) indicated that there were still a few more Vista UI fixes coming down the pike in pending releases. I’ve been reporting and recording as much as humanly possible, but until Microsoft officially assigns Lili as the Goddess of ‘All Things UI’… we’re screwed. Guess what else is probably not going to be fixed in Vista? Errant ToolTips. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy – but this is an oversight that will likely slippy, slippy, slippy.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but Lili’s team needs to be given the final say on whether (or not) an app is ready for core inclusion BEFORE it’s included. As of right now, there’s no UI accountability; any team can submit any code they want at any time – with nobody signing off on UI. Since this isn’t handed down from on-high (where I believe Lili sits anyway, but not with a true ability to clean these problems before the world sees them), we’re left with the classic Microsoft “it works, therefore it’s good enough” mentality. The inmates, indeed, are running the asylum.

…and I get labeled a “nitpicker” for pointing out ways that Windows Vista can look better? Give me a break. It’s obvious that some of Microsoft’s developers aren’t designers – painfully so. The only people who have the right to call me a “nitpicker” are those responsible for user interface and user experience. IMHO, Jim Allchin’s legacy isn’t necessarily Windows Vista – it’s the power he hands to people like Lili moving forward [a thought that is equally shared with Ed Bott].

“User Interface” isn’t just about software design – it’s the communications gateway between a company and its most vocal supporters.

Vista Forums

Chris — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 21:38:13 +0000

Vista Forums is a post from Chris Pirillo

Hey, we’ve got Vista Forums online – including categories for Multimedia, Networking & Sharing, Performance Management, Scan, Security, General Discussions, Hardware Devices, Games, File Management, Account Administration, Mail, and Setup & Installation. Each one of these Vista forums has a separate RSS feed, too – so if you want to track what’s happening in the world of Vista support, you can do it with ease. The forum servers are much happier now, and we’re only going to add more categories over time. Vista Help, ho!

65 More Windows Vista Mistakes

Chris — Mon, 29 May 2006 00:26:05 +0000

65 More Windows Vista Mistakes is a post from Chris Pirillo

I just couldn’t leave well enough alone. Even after my problems with Outlook 2007, and my original feedback on Windows Vista, I went deeper into Windows Vista’s second beta. This time, I didn’t concentrate so much on the font issues (so that I couldn’t be accused of being such a nitpicker). Don’t get me wrong; there are still thousands of UI oversights still sitting within Windows. I intend to prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt. I don’t just want to hear about how some of my problems were addressed – I won’t rest until all of them are. I keep being told that a lot of it will be happening soon, but… I’ll believe it when I see it. This isn’t just about fonts and icons, my friends – it’s about something I intend on using as my primary operating system for the next… seven (?) years.

Why can’t it detect when I have a .com on the end of a domain in the “Start Search” field – working much like CTRL+Enter does in IE or Firefox?
If Windows is moving slowly, I can see the stop/refresh button in the Windows Explorer jump. At least, the graphic inside the button starts lower than normal – then jumps up to the proper (aligned, centered) position.
Dragging object icons – strange transparency issue still exists. Looks like hell.
For some reason, many dialogs/windows have a black line between the glass and the top of the inner-portion of the window. If this is due to me changing the size of my title bar – you’ve got a serious bug to fix.
Why, if I change my Shell Dlg font in XP to Segoe UI, the default size is 8pt – in Vista, it’s 9pt – and that REALLY screws things up. Is there no way to set it to 8pt anywhere? Please make the hook?
Would somebody please smack the person who thought that white Battery/Power and Volume icons were en vogue?
Why won’t you let me exit out of the location settings dialog if I don’t want to enter an area code first? Even by confirming that I don’t want to do it yet, you keep the window open. This might be tied into how I found out – by trying to get a Business number within Outlook. This may very well be Outlook’s fault, not your own (in which case, that’s another red checkmark in the Outlook 2007 column).
I was able to get ReadyBoost working, I think. If there’s an easy way to watch benchmarks, I’m not finding it. Tried looking for a “Benchmarks” option in the Start Menu, but it’s just not obvious to me. I found it once, but I’ll be damned if I can find it again. Tried looking in the most logical places, too – including within the Task Manager.
The ReadyBoost tab should display information like “You’ve sped up your system by 10% by using ReadyBoost today.” Wouldn’t that be nice to know? It’d also be nice if you could tell me the relative speed of my current USB memory stick – so that I could find out if there were faster ones available.
Why doesn’t ReadyBoost information show up in the System Properties? Ya know, Control Panel | System? There, it still shows me running “1.0 GB of RAM” – but it’s not accounting for the flash RAM I’ve just inserted.
System Information (if that’s Vista’s) is calling on a different point size of a font. I believe it’s Segoe UI, but it’s awfully 9pt Tahoma’ish to me.
The Event Viewer has tons of useful information. If only you’d stop calling on Microsoft Sans Serif throughout, and remember the damn window size every time I open/close the app. Tried looking for the benchmarks / system resource view here, too – still can’t find it.
Sometimes when I’m fiddling with the Visual Appearance, I lose the ability to turn on transparency. I have to reboot the system before that feature works again (even so, I have to go in and re-toggle it a few times to get it to work).
Why aren’t you doing this?
Thank you for pseudo-updating the default selection of backgrounds / wallpapers. However, where’s the dual monitor support? Seriously, you have nothing in here for dual monitors. What if I want one wallpaper to be X and the other wallpaper to be Y? What if I want to stretch wallpapers on both screens to each independent resolution? I have 1600×1200 on one monitor right now, 1680×1050 on another. Non-tiled dual monitor wallpapers look like hell in this scenario. Fix it.
I love the “img15.jpg placeholder” wallpaper. I say it’s a keeper, even if you make it hidden somewhere in the system where only the geekiest geeks could find it. Sad thing is, the “img15.jpg placeholder” was designed better than just about any other graphical system element I’ve run across.
The Personalization dialog’s top nav section seems to have a background color applied to it (that’s not matching the background image). Same holds true for the System dialog (each found as a subsection of ‘Control Panel’). Oh, and Power Options, apparently. Why in some and not in others. At least if you’re gong to screw something up, screw it up all over the place please?
Mobility Center is not customizable. Why can’t I save settings to different profiles? Wouldn’t that make sense? Jeez, even my cell phone has profiles contingent on setting.
You only have seven settings in the Windows Mobility Center – can’t you just make up an 8th one, or are we really going to have to stare at this glaring empty space in the lower right-hand corner? My suggestion: do away with the separation lines altogether, flood the entire area with white space, and for PETE’S SAKE round the corners like you have the outside of the window!!!
What’s starting to drive me nuts is your inconsistent application of internal window margins. For example, the distance between the top border of an Explorer window and the first window element (the search bar) is different than the distance between the top border of the Windows Mobility Center and the first window element (in this case, the panels). Open Notepad, and you’ll notice another distance altogether. Who’s in charge of looking at this stuff!? You really expect someone to fork over $100+ for this?
I don’t mind seeing the circled question mark icon in a window. However, I DO mind that you keep putting it in different places. Again, let’s compare and contrast the Windows Explorer window and a Windows Mobility Center window.
Why can’t I easily switch to the Recording options in the new Volume dialog? Seriously, why?
Why do the Volume dialog’s sliders have a boxy shadow behind them? Looks horrible.
I made this point a couple of bugs ago, but it really deserves to be called out here. Are things going to be curved or not? If you are going to curve the edge of Windows elements, then curve all of them. Not some of them – all of them. This would include every single possible edge you find in the OS. Buttons, borders, backgrounds, etc.
In the new (file) Open dialog, why does the “File name” field sport a different height than the “File type” field? Then, why are both of them sporting different heights than the breadcrumb and search bars at the top of the dialog. Gah!!! Do I need to buy someone a ruler… and slap them on the wrist with it a few times?
Again, in this Frankenstein of a file Open dialog, I have one several opportunities to press an upward/downward arrow. I press the one in the Search box (it’s one width, producing a menu typical of what I find throughout other programs). I press the one in the object area (seeing the width of the arrow button is fatter, producing another style of drop-down for object sorting and filtering). I press the one for the Folders view (seeing that it’s now a circle button, and that produces inconsistent padding both above and below it). I think you just made Baby Jesus cry.
In the open dialog’s breadcrumb bar, sometimes the file name (or path) gets cut off. No way of seeing what’s past a certain point. I don’t see a handlebar to make that area wider, but it should either stretch to a better length on its own or provide some kind of tooltip to show me the truncated information.
Hey, would someone please fix the fact that the Task Manager’s Applications Pane has a horizontal scroll bar that never goes away – no matter what you do? It serves no purpose and has been annoying the hell out of me since Windows 2000. WHY IS IT THERE?!
In the Task Manager, why can’t I right-click a column heading to add other columns – I can do that in an Explorer window – why not here as well? Did the Task Manager programmer not pay his Tribute to the king?
Why, in the Task Manager, when I hover over a truncated title, do I not see a tooltip with the hidden information?
Who’s duck do I have to sick to make this easier to do?
I turned off the Security Center. Why is it still showing up in my system tray?
Clicking the “Adjust indexing options” in the Performance Rating and Tools dialog (subsection of ‘Control Panel’) does nothing.
On my laptop, the Power Options should automatically go into Power Saver mode when I’m not plugged into AC power. Right now, I have to toggle everything manually. Likewise, it should go High Performance when I’m plugged into an external power source.
You have to figure out what else to do when it comes to needing more information in a Control Panel option. For the first hour or so, I didn’t even see the scroll bar in many panels. For example, Control Panel | Power Options | System Settings is just tall enough to warrant a vertical scrollbar. However, it’s pointless – there’s nothing else to show down there but (admittedly properly measured) white space.
Why am I still seeing old Windows dialogs? Like, for the Screen Saver option in the Control Panel. Shouldn’t that be a subsection of the Personalization applet?
There we go! I found the “Performance Diagnostic Console” finally. This is nice, but you wanna talk about scrollbar overkill? I’ve got more scrollbars in this single window than I think actually exist. Thus, creating what I like to call a “paradox.”
Reliability Monitor in the Performance Diagnostic Console is pretty nice. A few controls and images are awfully old, but the tool itself might prove useful in troubleshooting scenarios.
OMG. The Performance Monitor section of the Performance Diagnostic Console is calling on the System (or Terminal) font?!
Why can’t I drag & drop the Resource Overview (in the Performance Diagnostics section of the Performance Diagnostic Console) into the Sidebar? Either all four, or each one individually?
This is weird. I’m looking at the Personalization dialog here. The status bar is turned on, claiming… “2 items.” Really? I see more than two items here, so what “2 items” is it referring to? Conversely, the status bar claims to be seeing “0 items” in the System dialog of the Control Panel. Who’s seeing what?
I know you said it wasn’t going to make it, but can someone please tell me why I don’t have a slider control or pause button in the Windows Explorer copy function?
Why, when resizing a dialog like “Problem Reports and Solutions,” do I see white space appear in the window title area – specifically, on the side that I’m moving back and forth? Other areas of the window are being painted irregularly, too. Looks fine when I stop movement, but the actual movement is jarring to the window elements (apparently). Do you not expect anybody to resize – or do you expect them to excuse this kind of UI quirk?
In the Start Menu, why does an empty folder cascade out to “(empty)”? If you’re going to do that, at least shade “(empty)” a light gray instead of black.
Can you please require people to reference the same 16×16 help icon that I keep seeing everywhere? I’ve seen about three different versions of it – one polished, one plain, another completely different than these other two. Sounds like all of you need help with it.
The SendTo context menu seems to be calling on another kind of layout (compressed, compared to the overly-spacious Windows default). So, too, are the submenus of the Start Menu rightmost pane (Games, Favorites, Computer, etc.). AGAIN, a completely different style is being applied to the New context menu (Folder, Shortcut, etc.). Yet another style is being applied to the Organize menu in the Windows Explorer! IMHO, all menus should look and feel the same throughout the entire OS. If you want a baseline, look no further than the submenus of the Start Menu.
Why don’t I get a larger thumbnail preview of a document or image that I have on my desktop? Seriously, why? Is 128 MB of video RAM not enough?
Okay, now THIS is just funny (and sad at the same time). The Start Menu: nice default view, the margins between each recently-opened program shortcut seem fine – until you toggle the “All Programs” feature. Now, the margins between each of the Start Menu items is smaller. It’s noticeable. Small difference, but still quite noticeable. Egad, if you can’t even get it right in the same area – what hope does the rest of Windows have?
The separator bar between “All Programs” / “Back” changes widths by a few pixels on each end when you toggle the view. Again, I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. I’ve been waiting seven years for THIS?!
Just read a post on Channel 9 referencing my original list of Vista problems… “Wow, that’s the most annually retentive post I’ve ever read… Can you imagine what this person does when they actually find a problem as opposed to “OMFG BATMAN THAT BUTTON IS NOT PIXEL ALIGNED!!!1!!” I responded: “Yeah, and it’s attitudes like this which cause potentially ‘great’ products to come across as ‘okay.’ If that kind of sloppiness is happening on the surface, I cringe when I think about what’s going on underneath.”
The separator bar between the Start Menu Pin section and the list of recently-opened programs has a different “vspace” than the separator bar at the bottom of the Start Menu separating the “All Programs” toggle with the list of recently-opened programs.
Why does the system tray battery icon have an abnormal left margin to it? Breaks the flow here.
How come Firefox runs faster and better on Vista than IE7 does?
“Search the Index” option in the Start Menu’s “Start Search” field – what Index? Who’s Index? What’s an Index?
To piggyback the prior issue, “Search the Internet” – is that Live’s version of the Internet or Google’s? Can this be toggled to Google easily? If so, where? If not, why not?
I hit it on my first list, but the Windows Calendar UI is amazingly pathetic and inconsistent. First, why is the Search field formatted differently than it is in the Windows Explorer? Second, why is the Search field slapped up against the right border of the window!? Third, why is the view button not working like the View button in the Windows Explorer? Fourth, Why is the calendar formatted differently than it is in the Windows Date & Settings applet? Fifth, why is the “traditional” menu turned on in this program by default? Sixth, why is there virtually no top margin to the area within the Calendars section of the Navigation pane? Sixth, is there going to be a plan to better integrate this within Outlook – so that the two could work seamlessly between each other so that I don’t have to get an Exchance server just to share information between myself and others – and so that I don’t have to update two sets of Tasks and Appointments!? *sigh*
Why, and pardon me if this is wrong of me to ask, can’t I manage all my Windows Live accounts from a Control Panel applet?
Man, there’s so much going on inside the Search Index window – it’s like I’ve died and gone to short-attention span heaven. The only thing that’s missing is (seriously) the kitchen sink.
The Search Index window’s “Add a title” field text seems to be improperly aligned – as does its little magnifying glass graphic.
Why can’t I turn off the text and/or icons in the new Windows toolbar? I hate seeing the double-arrows when there are more options. I can make it with the icons, thank you very much.
The “in” field seems to be a different height than the “Add a title” field (and I’m still not sure what “Add a title” even means).
Why can’t I choose what meta information displays in the Windows Vista Preview Pane?
In Windows Explorer Views, I should never see a horizontal scrollbar. Instead, you should follow Outlook’s lead (!) and automatically push the information together into a single chunk rather than force me to look to the right or left to get to the information I’ve asked to see. And don’t tell me to maximize the window – that’s a cop out, and you know it.
Who decided that the progress bar would be green? Why isn’t that themable? I’d assume it’s a graphic – and if not, then why can’t I make it some other color?
Whoa. The Windows Easy Transfer dialog to warn you that the firewall is blocking the program from running appears to have fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on its way down. You look at it and tell me why I’d even say such a thing. Seems that other Yes/No dialogs have fallen out of the same tree in this tool as well.
Why is the Favorites folder icon the only folder icon that doesn’t have a folder icon in it? It’s just this gigantic star. I think it’s fine that way, but if you’re not going to have a folder image in the Favorites folder icon, then get rid of the other special folders’ folder icons.
Where’s the “Export all possible Windows settings” feature? I think it’s supposed to be there for documents, emails, photos, etc. – but what about my generic windows settings?

Okay, I lied. 67 instead of 65. That’s enough feedback for Vista in one afternoon. I’m going back to picking apart Outlook 2007 now, and will push you back to my first Vista list if this wasn’t enough.

Microsoft Slows Microsoft Down

Chris — Wed, 24 May 2006 17:30:05 +0000

Microsoft Slows Microsoft Down is a post from Chris Pirillo

The screen shot from Windows Vista proves it. Any comment, Brandon? Of course, I’d expect a lot of these kinds of bugs in beta builds – especially when one beta is combined with another beta. The search “engine” is light years better than it was in previous verisons of Windows, or so the Search team tells me. I haven’t yet tried to copy my PST over into Outlook. I’ll be using Vista more and more on the road, as it’s now my laptop OS.

Windows Vista Feedback

Chris — Wed, 24 May 2006 17:28:41 +0000

Windows Vista Feedback is a post from Chris Pirillo

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?

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.

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

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VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

Before you shop next time, see if we have a coupon first.