Chris Pirillo » os

Why the iPhone Keeps Getting Better

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 03:06:27 +0000

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The day that the iPhone OS 4.0 was announced, it seemed as though everyone wanted to know my opinion. I’m impressed, but not thrilled. I love the multi-tasking feature, of course. What Geek wouldn’t appreciate that ability? I love that the iPhone will remember the state an app was in when I switched to something else.

I can’t say I’m as happy with the Mail app, though. I am happy to see that they added the threaded conversations, and the ability to check more than one email account. I think they could have gone a step further, though. I’m frustrated that clicking a link takes me out to the browser. Why can’t it just be embedded into the Mail app much like other apps have done?

The idea of folders on the home screen is pretty awesome. I’ll be MUCH more organized now… I hope. I can choose how I want to name my folders and which apps to put in there. I’ve heard that folders can only hold a small number of icons, which I feel is detrimental. What if I want ALL of my games in one folder? Do you even know how many games I have?

What are your thoughts so far on the newest iteration of the iPhone operating system?

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Android OS on an Archos Tablet

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:52:54 +0000

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You don’t necessarily have to lock yourself into a two-year contract to make use of the Android operating system. Thanks to the Archos 5 Internet Tablet, you can have video playback and web browsing – and use Android, as well. I ran into Charbax during the LeWeb conference in Paris last week. He asked me if I’d like to check one of these out, so that I can finally use Android (and an Archos!) myself. I’m more than grateful to them for providing this unit to me for review purposes.

I don’t have access to the App Store through the Archos as you might if you were using Android on an iPod. The firmware hasn’t been updated to that point yet. However, Charbax (who is an Archos enthusiast) assured me that one will be coming within the next couple of months.

Some things to note is that you’re able to play YouTube HD videos directly to an HD TV. The Archos is the world’s first pocketable product that can do this! The Archos weighs only about a half of a pound, so it’s lightweight and portable as heck.

It has a 4.8″ screen, with medium-density resolution. The screen has a very sharp display, though. You also have more screen real-estate than you do with most other devices which would run the Android operating system, and certainly more than what my iPhone has.

It comes loaded with a few default applications. It’s a media-managing device, absolutely. It has audio and video playback capabilities, which we already discussed a little bit. It’s a picture and PDF viewer. You can use it to record audio and video. You can use the Archos to check your email, since it is compatible with any email accounts which support POP3 and IMAP services. And, of course, you can use it to browse the Web.

The Droid runs a 600 MHz processor. The Archos, though, runs an 800 MHz processor. You can attach any number of standard computer USB accessories, such as a keyboard, mouse, memory card or camera.

The one I have is the 160 GB version. There are lesser capacities available, should you find yourself not needing as much storage space. However, I’ll need this much later on. Once the firmware update is available, I’ll be busy buying up tons of Apps to fill this sucker up. I have nearly 500 on my poor iPhone. I wonder how many thousands of Apps I’ll be able to get on here?!

Thanks again to my friend Charbax for hooking me up with my first-ever Archos device to review… and my first use of Android. I really am enjoying it, and haven’t found much that’s negative at all.

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What’s the Best OS for Data Storage and Stability?

Chris Pirillo — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:05:31 +0000

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I received the following email the other day from a chat regular who goes by the handle of Woomis:

Yesterday, I was consulting a client about OS choices. If storage failure rate was 0%… What OS would you trust to store your most important documents, photos, keepsakes and otherwise? Diving even further into that thought, you realize that you must understand there are other factors involved that whether one is better than the other and why. But truly, I ask you the same question: Although you’ve switched to Mac for the time being, what OS and its myriad of features would you trust to store and use your most precious of data? I see these kids in your IRC chat talking about how “cool” Linux is. I agree: if I had to choose between a Server2003 or FC8 Dedicated serve… it would be Linux for sure. These kids are dazzled by Compiz Fusion and their lowered expectations of XP, but seriously there is the cool factor and the usability factor. For you is OS X just a fad? I doubt it, but please as in the words as some of your newest chatters, Linux Rulez! Why don’t you use it? I say OS X is the most stable: for it’s journaled file system, kernel, support and life expectancy. That’s what I use, that’s what I feel comfortable storing my data on and keeping it safe and operational.

If you ask me what the best operating system is, I will most likely not answer you. I cannot possibly tell you what the best operating system would be. There are a lot of factors that come into play. You will likely have a different answer a year from now that what you will have now, as to what the best operating system is for you. This is due to changes in software and hardware, and how they work together in your current system of choice.

I personally use OS X and Windows both on a daily basis, and I do have a Linux machine, as well. Most people want one thing, and they want the best thing. Take a look at the total cost of ownership. Look at everything that will happen once you have purchased your system. Now, look at the entire experience. Don’t only look at your computer as a piece of hardware. It’s also a piece of software inside a piece of hardware, which is run through various services. A wide variety of things work together to create your computing experience. You have to look for as much of 100% as you can get, in terms of things you want from your computer.

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Are OSs and Developers Ruining PC Gaming?

Chris Pirillo — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:28:00 +0000

The following Email was sent to me recently from Intrepid. He brings up some very interesting points, and I wanted to pass them along. What’s your take? Leave me a follow up comment to this post, or send me an Email yourself to chris@pirillo.com. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

After reading an article about Epic moving to consoles rather than staying with PCs because of a lack of purchases in the PC gaming market, I got to thinking.

With consoles, programmers and graphic designers know what the system can handle. They know there is a set requirement as to what the hardware and software can take. Developers know where to “max out”, you could say, with graphics and what lines of code are unnecessary. There are no variables in the system hardware or whats running on the system, so they have a guideline to follow.

However, when it comes to PC gaming, are developers still pushing the limit, or are they trying to keep the content and overall graphics down so more consumers will be able to play? We see Crysis, and its insane hardware specs to run it on maximum settings, but what other developers are following suite? We know the majority of computers being purchased are coming packed with Vista, and that OEMs are throwing in the least amount of RAM as possible with the already memory hogging machine. What are you going to be able to play on that? If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to throw an emulator on there and pray its even compatible with your OS.

I’m beginning to learn why more and more consoles are being sold over gaming PC’s. When you buy a console and throw your game in, you know 99% of the time its going to work, unless of course you receive a defective system or disk. These can easily be replaced if need be, but ultimately, you know its going to work. With PCs, however, a consumer turns the box on its side and is exposed to a bunch of PC jargon they don’t understand. I wouldn’t be surprised if half of the consumers buying PC games from BestBuy, Target, etc. even know what a video card is! “How much RAM do you think I have”, is echoed through out stores everywhere. How is a sales rep supposed to answer that? Consumers just don’t know.

I just hope that OSs, *cough* Vista *cough* get their hardware compatibility in line if its going to get thrown out on every rig leaving stores. Also, I’m praying… praying, that developers will not begin to create games of horrible quality to enable it their software to be played on these horrid machines. Most developers may even leave PC gaming behind once they make a cross platform game such as Epic, and then notice the difference in sales.

The Best Operating System

Chris Pirillo — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 08:47:52 +0000

What say you?

Hey Chris, this is Gnimsh from #lg, just writing in my two cents on the subject of OSes. I have been using windows all my life, and in the past year have started using linux (ubuntu) off and on between my desktop and my laptop. I first installed linux on my desktop due to some issues with windows (my keyboard was not initializing properly so I had to disable and then reenable the keyboard after windows started) and I thought “hey, I bet I won’t have this problem in linux” and I actually did, but only once. Then I somehow broke linux and it wouldn’t boot into the X server, so I just went back to windows for a while. I tried again with every new version of linux, and it did make my system faster. At times I was even running it as my main OS, but I always felt a few things lacking. For instance, my music provider of choice is Ruckus, which needs its own program to download the music files via ruckus.com. I’ve googled this and it seems that running the program under WINE works up until you have to login and then it just freezes.

What I like about linux, for the most part, is that not only does it “just work” but it works out of the box. I can install it and have a fully functional operating system and need to install only a minimum of programs, instead of searching for and downloading and reinstalling everything each time I install. I really do love that feature. Free is a good price too. When I first got this laptop, it had Windows Vista installed (which I didn’t want) and after using it I ran into a few annoying problems…the hibernating didn’t work, and shutting the system down seemed to take 10 minutes or more to complete, which was annoying when I wanted to restart as quickly as possible. So I installed ubuntu on my laptop, only to run into different problems. The cd drive wasn’t recognized in 7.04 (this is fixed in 7.10) and also whenever I would put the computer into hibernate the sound driver would no longer work, and I would have to restart. So that annoyed me, but I also found uses for linux. At a cafe one time windows would not log on to their wireless, so I booted into ubuntu and it connected the very first time.

Lately though, I’ve been needing windows more and more. I am studying abroad and skype is very limited in ubuntu, no webcam support. Also I now have a device called magicjack for my phone service to make and receive calls in the US, and right now it only runs in windows. I tried a VM of XP in ubuntu, but there was some USB driver issue not switching it to the VM, and I couldn’t get the fixes to work. My webcam also doesn’t work in linux, and although there are driver issues out there for it, I don’t know how to install something without an installer, or how to do the make scripts and all that jazz.

One of the things that I like about using linux that I don’t normally get using windows is a sense of accomplishment. I find that when I’m in linux I’m constantly googling on how to fix problems or install things (how to install opera on 64 bit ubuntu, for example, before 9.5 came out…this required a lot of workaround). I just really like the problem solving involved in using linux, though sometimes I do think its a huge pain.

Operating System Truths

Chris Pirillo — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:15:08 +0000

This morning, a friend sent me a link to Analysts on Leopard’s Hype. I didn’t take issue with the entire collection of positions and statements, but some of them seemed to be… grossly inaccurate and misleading.

“Would you recommend a Mac to a friend or family member who’s looking to purchase a notebook?”

Sam Bhavnani: Yes. As a guy who tracks the PC industry, people ask me all the time if they should get an Apple. The overall experience is a very pleasant one. If they’re willing to spend some time with the Apple OS, they will most likely enjoy the experience.

Bingo. BINGO. You nailed it, Sam – that was the right answer. And yes, there’s only one right answer to this question. If you’re not recommending a Mac (with Leopard) to a friend or family member, you’re doing them an extreme disservice. Consumers need to understand that yesterday’s arguments don’t apply.

If they’re asking you, they’re curious – and if they’re curious, they’re obviously NOT HAPPY WITH WHAT THEY’RE USING NOW!!!

Al Gillen: It depends on what that person is planning on doing with his or her system. If it’s needed for e-mail or business applications, I would recommend Windows, as it has Microsoft Office. If it’s needed for entertainment, I would recommend the Mac.

With all due respect, Al… ARE YOU ON CRACK?! How could anybody respect the opinion of someone who didn’t realize that (a) there’s a Microsoft Office for OS X, (b) there are open source Microsoft Office alternatives available for OS X, and (c) email can be retrieved and stored on any damn operating system. I take umbrage with your business applications assertions, because it depends on how you choose to define “business applications” – and if you mean that the vendors of these “business applications” refuse to support other platforms, well… there’s Boot Camp or VMware Fusion, you fool. “Entertainment” is equally as relative.

Ross Rubin: It would depend on that person’s requirements. The Mac has excellent creativity apps and is a compelling platform. Windows, however, offers lots of options in terms of compatibility and the size of its user base. You have to match an operating system with a user’s needs.

While the decision does “depend,” it certainly isn’t for a lack of creativity apps on one platform or the other. Compatibility certainly is important, but at some point it becomes a boondoggle! Moreover, since when was the size of a user base directly proportional with the value of its designated platform?

Enough of the FUD. Here are ten solid reasons you’d want to buy a machine with Microsoft Windows and/or stick with it altogether:

You’re afraid of learning something new; you don’t want to change the way you do anything, ever; your world falls apart when someone deletes an icon from your desktop or Start Menu. Legitimate reasons, I assure you.
You like shopping for bargain basement hardware and need an operating system that supports every possible component you might throw into it, no matter how old or how obscure that equipment might be. You also like getting what you pay for.
You want to build your own PC (the journey is equally as important as the destination).
Your favorite software (realistically) doesn’t have an equivalent available on any other platform. Bonus points are awarded if you’ve taken the time to look before jumping to this conclusion.
You’re a hardcore gamer – in which case, you better not suggest that Macs are more expensive. Games, games, games, games, and more games – the top reasons why anybody would opt into Microsoft Windows. If you’re a “PC” gamer, then there’s virtually no choice for you right now.
Your company gave you the computer(s), and they can’t support anything else.
You feel comfortable, confident, and generally good in knowing that there are more people using Windows than there are using OS X at home or at work.
You hate the way OS X affixes the application’s menu at the top of a screen rather than in the application window itself – even after realizing that Microsoft has been actively attempting to wean users off of menus altogether.
You don’t have major issues with Microsoft Windows, you don’t mind how it looks, you don’t mind how it works, and you don’t care how you get things done so long as you CAN get things done. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with complacency.
You’re afraid you’ll like something else more than Microsoft Windows. Believe it or not, I’ve actually had people tell me this.

Replacing one OS with another is potentially very costly – in money and in time. At least you should be making an informed decision based on truths and practical experiences, not merely on talking points from pseudo pundits.

What’s Missing in an Operating System?

Chris Pirillo — Sun, 27 May 2007 04:11:44 +0000

Mooreyameen Mohamad, in response to Operating System Choices:

I don’t understand what is the big deal with operating systems. So Apple has Mac OS X and PCs have Windows Vista and a bunch of other stuff such as the much heralded Ubuntu… but at the end of the day it’s the applications (Google Apps?) that a computer user would / should be most concerned about, right? Internet browsing experience depends pretty much on the internet browser, which is largely independent of the OS and the bandwidth of the internet connection.

Changing from one OS to another surely is not as easy as changing from one internet browser to another. And seriously, how many people would even think about it, what with all the baggage of applications, hardware already ‘attached’ to a particular OS, so to speak? Ubuntu is supposedly great because it’s open source but seriously for the average user, Open Source just means ‘No technical support’. Granted, perhaps because of the diversity of the “community” that develops the open source OS, it might end up being a ‘stronger’ OS than say, Windows, but it just feels like I have to wait for a child to ‘grow up’…as it goes through the various trials and tribulation of trial and error of being coded by random geeks with free time on their hands.

What say you, Chris? Surely choosing an OS would depend on what applications you need to use for your purpose, how much ‘support’ you need?

The Truth About Windows Vista

Chris Pirillo — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 06:09:02 +0000

When I first saw XGL and AIGLX being demonstrated through YouTube videos, I was blown away. I assumed that it would take a monster video card, much like Vista does. However, I found that I could run a full 3D accelerated Linux desktop on Ponzi’s low powered laptop with an average Intel video chipset. Make no mistake: Windows has fierce competition in the marketplace, especially for the masses. Is Linux ready? No, but it’s definitely looking sexier than Windows Vista RC1 these days.

And if you don’t want your desktop to be sexy, you’re in a minority.

I’ve seen several geeks (and countless developers) dismiss the slick nature of the AIGLX demo. “I got seasick from the wavy windows” is tantamount to saying that “the way Windows works is good enough for me and everybody else.” It’s not like those XGL options are hard-coded into the operating system, folks – it’s fully customizable, fully tweakable, and fully usable. My original complaint stemmed from the way Microsoft has been actively touting Vista as a “breakthrough” experience – and until I saw that video, I couldn’t point to something to put the haphazard implementation of Aero (and the shim-ridden Windows shell) in its place.

Uh, Flip3D is borderline useless – not half as usable as OS X’s Expose (which a forthcoming Microsoft mouse will fully emulate, and I’ll report on that soon enough). I get more out of the free TaskSwitchXP than I do from Flip3D! Vista’s user experience has been further rendered generic when it’s demonstrated side-by-side with the full range of today’s AIGLX features. I’m not saying that the average user would want to use (or could use) half of the eye candy that’s shown in the new Linux desktop, but that doesn’t make AIGLX / XGL any less exciting to see. Linux with a 3D desktop, much like OS X, is fun to use – and Windows Vista is just. feh.

And if you’re not excited by desktop advancements, then you should just live on the command line and be done with it.

So, Robert McLaws wants me to take a deep breath. “[Chris's] feedback on Vista would be far more valuable if he accepted the reality of the situation and focused on problems that actually stand a chance of getting fixed at this point in the game.” I agree and disagree.

Yes, I’d be happy to help Microsoft fix the fixable Vista oversights – but I’m not going to push my opinions to the sidelines, throw up my hands in defeat, and wait to see if they actually improved anything. It’s been in my experience that by the time I see a Microsoft product, it’s far too late to provide feedback for it. Instead, I’m told to hold off until the next version – but by the time I see that Microsoft product, it’s far too late to provide feedback for it. Instead, I’m told to hold off until the next version – but by the time I see that Microsoft product, it’s. starting to sound like a broken record.

It’s great that Microsoft has accepted so much feedback in the development of Vista, Office, etc. I’m never short of feedback – and I typically provide it freely. But I’m tired of feeling like I’m talking to a brick wall. Need an example? I told Microsoft to build RSS support into Windows Media Player 9 before it exited beta, years before podcasting, months before Scoble went to work for `em! Windows Media Player 11 will likely ship without it. There’s another Microsoft team that thinks they know more than users do – and what’s best for you.

And if you don’t think that users matter, you’re living in a bubble that’s about to burst.

“Brand loyalty” is a phrase that’s quickly disappearing. Users are looking for better, cheaper, faster, nicer, cleaner, smarter, etc. I used to swear by Dell – now I see that everybody’s swearing at them. I used to rely on MSN for my searches – and now I only look when I forget to change my defaults to Google. I used to use Internet Explorer – until I discovered Maxthon 1.x (and I’m still not liking the way 2.x is shaping up). If you’re blind to brand, you deserve everything you might get from it – both good and bad.

Henry Ford initially refused to innovate beyond the Model T, resolute in his belief that his automobile did everything a driver needed it to do (and nothing more). Because of this attitude, Ford had slipped to #3 in the nation by the time the World War was upon us. In a similar sense, I believe that Microsoft has gotten lazy in the desktop space – much like Apple has gotten lazy in the media space. What’s most interesting is that each company is only now beginning to challenge the other on more equal terms – Zune vs. iPod, Windows vs. OS X on Intel.

And if you don’t think that users provide feedback (and make decisions) on their own schedules, you’ve got another thing coming.

I’ve run into countless UI hiccups which prove (beyond a shadow of a doubt) that the usability quirks inside Windows Vista are by design. Need four prime examples that are completely replicable?

In installing and running WinVNC server, I’m prompted to view a dialog that’s been forced into some kind of separate desktop (a backwards compatibility screen that runs in Classic mode, removes me from the Vista experience, and looks like total ass to boot). I’m sure this isn’t an isolated incident. My beef, again, is that Windows Vista handles incompatibilities with the largest amount of inelegance possible.
Separately, the QuickTime Preferences Control Panel applet causes my entire Windows session into some kind of non-glass Aero fallback mode. Why? Why not just shove that process into some kind of space that protects it from the rest of Windows Vista? Then, why does the screen flash suddenly – as if I’m about to hit a BSOD? Screen flashes without fades are jarring.
If you’re lucky enough to have a video card powerful enough to run the full Aero experience (Glass), you know that it’s certainly better than XP’s Luna. I’m not talking about the way that Microsoft’s own developers completely ignored the guidelines set forth by their own company here, mind you (that’s another rant entirely). My legitimate complaint is that the non-Glass experience doesn’t look like Glass at all. Seriously, even Stardock emulated Aero pretty well in WindowBlinds (with transparency!) – but Microsoft opted to give users this 50/50 experience. It’s not just about having a great video card – it’s about having applications that are 100% optimized for Windows Vista. For that, you’ll likely have to wait. forever.
“Classic Mode” has always been pretty clean across the board. I’m not so sure that’s the case in Windows Vista – at least, in respect to Microsoft’s own applications (especially Windows Explorer). The shortcomings in UI cohesiveness and completeness are even more apparent when you’re not in Aero (or Aero Basic). With all the new Vista shell shims and hacks in place, “Classic Mode” has pretty much been shoved out of the picture – even though it rears its ugly head far too frequently, as witnessed by my first point in this truncated list.

And if you think I’m the only geek who believes Windows Vista RC1 is not compelling, then you need to start reading reviews outside the Microsoft echo chamber.

Vista’s user experience is just sloppy, folks – sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. I’m sure we’re going to get excuse after excuse, apology after apology, reason after reason – but nothing is going to undo what’s already been done in Vista betas to this point. I’m told that little to nothing is going to change in the UI between RC1 and Gold. We’ll see what happens in a few weeks, won’t we? I’m not holding my breath, but I remain hopeful that someone in the Quality Control department will wake up and smell the competition. Unless we see a radical system-wide improvement in the final (shipping) version of Windows Vista, my judgement on the OS will remain negative.

Without veneer, underlying code will never have a chance to shine.

The Vista Bashing Bandwagon

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 04:20:48 +0000

It’s not often I find myself agreeing with The Inquirer. Microsoft Vista is still a mess:

Vista’s still a mess. It’s meant to be at release candidate stage, yet vendor’s are struggling to provide sufficient driver support, features are still missing or not yet complete, and its performance compared to XP is still poor. Nowadays hardware is cheap, and it would be sufficiently acceptable to upgrade in anticipation of a wonderfully revolutionary OS. Unfortunately Vista provides little to no benefit for end users compared to that of the previous version of Windows, released five years ago in 2001.

Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. I think we’re all hoping for dramatic (and I mean, DRAMATIC) improvements between RC1, RC2, and Gold.

Windows Vista Needs Family Counseling

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 07:28:36 +0000

Break out CALC.EXE and get ready to crunch some numbers. According to reports, Windows Vista US prices have been made public – and those prices have officially made baby Jesus cry. Actually, Jesus laughed first – and then he cried. I swear, Microsoft is its own worst enemy.

Off the shelf, Windows Vista Ultimate will cost the user $399 per copy – with subsequent licenses weighing in at $359 apiece. Upgrade prices for Ultimate are slightly less rapey ($259 with $233 on additionals). If you’re planning on upgrading your home network of five machines, you’re going to spend $1159 for 5 Ultimate upgrades. Conservatively, if you’re upgrading the same network to Home Basic, you’re going to spend $356.

Apple’s OS X is available at $199 for up to 5 computers. It’s that simple.

Robert and Robert: Duh!

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

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

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).

65 More Windows Vista Mistakes

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

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.