January 2009 - Posts
The news is that Windows 7 will skip from Beta 1 to RC very soon. The beta testers have been sending in reports to the MS Beta team as the rate of one every fifteen seconds. So, is Windows 7 working well? It certainly should be by the time that the RC is released.
However, ‘working well’ does not always translate into ‘working for you’. The Windows 7 feature set was already cast in stone before the public beta was released. Calls by testers to bring back tried and tested features of older Windows versions have been met with ‘Sorry, no can do.. by design’
The first impression of Windows 7 is very good. It installs as fast as Vista and boots as fast as XP, and it will do it on a lesser machine than Vista required.
After logging on, the default scene is much like XP and Vista. With respect, how else could it look. If you don’t like it, the scope for changing the look is limited to being able to move stuff around.
Windows XP will still be the OS by which all others are judged. It was the first Microsoft operating system that was all things to all people, especially after the SP2 service pack. It had speed, grace, style and could be whatever you wanted from it.
Vista had grace and style, but speed was always a problem and small usability features of XP had been removed.
Windows 7 brings back the speed, but I think that too many old features have been removed, and I am not alone in thinking this way. ‘Jump lists’ and ‘libraries’ are going to leave many long time Windows users stone cold. Users are going to love it or hate it. I do not believe that there will be any middle ground because the basis for it has been removed.
The sad part is that there will be little recourse for those who do not get along with it. The options are not good.
- Vista is slow to boot and computer users are fearful of it. There will be no effort to boost Vista slowness because MS developers have a new toy now.
- XP stocks are finite and will eventually dry up completely. It will become ever more difficult to upgrade hardware while still running XP because drivers will not be available.
Even though the only viable operating system for the PC has been Windows, I never felt that I was being forced into a situation where I had no alternative.
Windows in the early days was a joy to use, albeit a little buggy and unstable at times. One could forgive it because, despite the problems, it was intuitive and so easy to use. XP retained all of the ease of use, delivering it on a much more stable base. It was the first OS where one did not wait for it to blue screen directly after installation. It was the first OS where you could boot it up, walk away from it, and not have a blue screen waiting for you when you gotten back.
I really do hope that Windows 7 does well for Microsoft because the company badly needs a success. However, regardless of how well it does, if the people who make the final decisions had listened to more users than they did, XP would have finally lost its crown and could be laid to rest in peace..
If you hover the mouse over the Internet Explorer icon in the Start Menu, a flip out menu appears..
If you hover the mouse over the Microsoft Word 2007 icon in the Start Menu, a flip out menu appears..
Start Menu flip-outs are possible..
If you attach a folder to the Start Menu and hover the mouse over it, the only event that happens is the passing of time. Apparently, this is by design.
Why is it?
The year is 2009 and I should be able to pin, install, drag, shove, bludgeon a folder onto the Start Menu and have the contents flip out..
Why can’t I do this?
The answer, which is just a little too common these days, is summed up in two words..
By Design
‘By Design’ can work two ways when the question “Should I upgrade” surfaces..
.. but the list of programs shown is not definitive yet. Some of the entries exist because I am trying them out on behalf of some of my local clients. So far, there are twenty eight icons showing and the icon size is set to ‘small’. They have to be small otherwise I could only have ten program icons showing. The menu presently extends to maybe seventy five percent of the total screen height
Note that the programs are not in alphabetical order because the Start Menu does not allow for it.
Apart from that, it looks ok, yes? The only problem is that I have maybe one hundred programs/utilities which I regularly access.
Vista and XP allowed me to use what has become known as the Classic menu. essentially mimicking the appearance of the Windows 2000 start menu. I had twelve application groups showing above ‘Programs’ which included Communications, Games, Graphics, Multimedia, Office, Net Security, Office, System etc. Within these groups, I had program icons relating to genre.
Anybody who has ever used the Classic Menu will know that all one has to do is click on Start (XP) or the Orb (Vista) and then hover the mouse over whatever group, and then select a program from the neatly organised, alphabetically sorted flip out menu.
I also had Quick Launch showing, and there were items like IE, Control Panel, SIW, Messenger clients etc in there, just one click away. Everything was set up for ease of access, mindlessly simple.
One option to what I did as explained above was to accept the default list of ‘most recently used programs’ list which would show where my chosen apps are in the pic above, and then fumble through a mass of folders under ‘All Programs’.. Yikes. I visited some clients whose ‘All Programs’ list covered the entire screen. Most of them were pleased to find out that there was a better way to sort the list.
Windows 7 has ‘improved’ on my way of sorting the mass of programs by taking away the Classic menu and blocking all attempts to mimic it even, leaving me with the option as explained in the paragraph above, OR the ability to type the name of what I want in the ‘Search programs and files’ box which sits to the left of the Shutdown button on the Start Menu.
Apparently, it is easier to click the mouse cursor into the ‘search’ box, let go of the mouse, type in the name, scroll down to what you want, and then press the ENTER KEY. Part of this can still be done with the mouse, but it is a three part process.
Another Windows 7 option is to pin the program icons to the ‘Superbar’ which, unless checked to auto hide, is going to be ‘in yer face’ for the entire session!!
Quick Launch is still available but is hidden. I have written a piece on how to find it a couple of posts back. What I didn’t mention is that once found and enabled, you risk causing problems with the new ‘Superbar’. The originator of the warning was not specific about what problems, and it could be that the ‘problems’ warning is akin to a child’s fear of monsters under the bed.
Also, it sets up with a label attached to it which reads '”User Pinned”. This is in case you forget, but the label can be removed if your memory is up to it.. :-)
Now, bearing in mind that the default start menu (and features thereof) for Vista, XP and win 7 is as it looks in the picture above..
.. why does the Microsoft design team (and some users) find it so offensive to include the option of the older classic menu if the end user so wishes?
It is not as if the inclusion of the option forces any end user into the classic menu, rather than make the change to the new ways.
Yeah, yeah.. so the weasel word for problems these days is ‘challenges’ and, in fairness, it is not too far off of the mark in that many of the problems encountered ‘challenge’ one’s sanity.
Challenge #1
Why is it that windows do not hold their set position, and why is it that when you set them to stay where they want to be, they move to where you tried to place them in the beginning?
Challenge #2
Why do some applications respect the lower border of an extended Windows task bar when placed at the top of the screen while others abjectly don’t? This leads to another question. Why is the default place for the Windows task bar at the base of the desktop when every application ever known has the task bar at the top?
Challenge #3
CD packet writing is a really good idea, so why has there never been just one standard which would enable a packet written CD to work reliably from one computer to another?
Challenge #4
Some wireless receivers for keyboards and mice don’t work well if positioned too close to the mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers or computer. OK, so where are we supposed to place them? On the floor? Dangling over the side of the desk? Anchored to a helium filled party balloon maybe?
.. and don’t look back because it is not allowed. You will move forward. You will adopt new ways to work even though the new ways do not make it easier for you. They are trying to make it easier for you, and you must see and agree to that.
The alternative? In time, there will not be an alternative because the manufacturers of hardware/drivers will eventually write off support for XP totally.
They told you that they would listen to you, didn’t they, told you that everything would be alright. Well, it is if you like big change, new ways. The trouble is that there is no recourse for you. If you, like me, are the type of user who likes to organize your desktop for ease of use.
Windows 7 no longer has the option of the nice neat ‘classic menu’ listing. They say that is is ‘old hat’, a worn out concept. Is there a work-around? Much depends on how loose your concept of a work-around is.
For instance, it is possible to ‘pin’ items to the start menu. By items, I really mean program shortcuts, but not all program shortcuts. Windows games icons will only pin to the taskbar presently.
If you have the start menu set for LARGE icons, there is a very definite limit to what you can pin up to the start menu. The ensuing popup leaves you in absolutely no doubt that not all ‘pinned’ icons will display. Setting for small icons enables more items to be pinned, BUT don’t do it if your eyesight is not 20/20 because you will not be able to see them well at all. Despite the fact that ‘ALL PROGRAMS’ can be scrolled, the default view of the start menu after clicking on the orb will not scroll.
To make it all the more difficult to work around the lack of a classic menu option, they have ensured that you can’t pin folders to the start menu, thereby putting the brakes on being able to create your own classic view. How mean is that?
Windows 7 has some interesting features, and it boots like a good’un. Compared to Vista, it feels very sprightly, but there are trade-offs. You will have to decide for yourself when the time comes. For me, the jury is still out, not a good scenario for somebody who has always installed the latest operating system at the earliest available opportunity..
and I had six hundred and four hits on my ‘Windows 7 Quick Launch’ piece.
I have had this many and more hits on other pieces which have appeared in this blog, but never is such a short time.
This tells me that at least six hundred and four people wanted to find out how to get this feature back, and that they were eager to get it back ASAP.
A niche feature? Hardly anybody ever used it? Considering the fact that my blog is not that well known, six hundred and four hits in such a short time is quite the number. If I was a ‘numbers’ person, I should be pleased and I am, BUT..
.. it also shows that people responsible for the finished product may not be listening to those who will be the end users, maybe out of touch with what users actually want..
I have said my piece re the above and the loss of the Classic view start menu in the Windows 7 Beta newsgroups, and will leave it at that now. If either or both are lost in the final release, don’t blame me. I did at least try to put in a word for them..
I do like it and it works very well on my aging computer, but I have to say this..
Regarding the removal of some features which I and many more see as ‘ease of use’, I am seeing the present response as 'take it or leave it', a response which has brought nothing but bad press re Vista, IE7 and the Office ribbon..
If MS really have learned by their mistakes, they will not make the same ones again. MS has to understand that there are millions of users not in a position to voice up now, to take part in beta testing. These users are the silent majority who will vote with their $$$$$ when the time comes, and they will be bloody annoyed AGAIN if their $$$$$ get them an OS which they do not like using because every 'ease of use' feature has been replaced/changed, ostensibly for the sake of it.
If Win 7 bears more than a passing resemblance to Vista, that is not necessarily a bad thing. If it performs way better than Vista and BRINGS BACK the easy customization of XP, that will be a good thing..
Users will want to see new features and no doubt many will stick with them. For those of us who do not get along so well with some or all of the new features, there should be better recourse than having to dump the new OS totally and have to write off the $$$$$ that it cost to purchase..
is hidden!!
Right click in the taskbar -> Toolbars -> New Toolbar...
Now search in
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\
for the folder "Quick Launch"
Then un-pin everything from the superbar
.. but not anymore..
First question.. Do you use the XP or Vista Quick Launch bar?
If you do and you are intending to migrate to Windows 7 at the earliest convenience, I would suggest that you find some other way to organise your program icons. The Quick Launch bar will not be included in Windows 7, and there is no future plan to include it at the time of writing this.
Second question.. Do you use the XP or Vista classic start menu?
If you do and you are intending to migrate to Windows 7 at the earliest convenience, I would suggest that you find some other way to organise your program icons. The Classic start menu option will not be included in Windows 7, and there is no future intention to include it at the time of writing this.
If you get the impression that I am not in agreement with the decisions above, score 5 points else score = 0..
This is a useful feature if you have a monitor like a Dell P990 (Trinitron CRT).
The trick is to go into Control Panel > nVidia Control Panel and head down to ‘Manage custom resolutions’
For the Dell P990, 1280 x 960 works well because it is an 18” monitor, not 19”. So you just type the numbers into the appropriate boxes, not forgetting to ensure that the refresh rate is set for 70 or above.
Having finished this process, you will notice that there is ‘flicker’ apparent. Don’t worry about it just yet.
Now go into Vista Display Properties and move the resolution slider to the new resolution. It wasn’t showing before but it will now.
Job done.. :-)
I have made a slight change to this article. When I wrote it, I had tried the above with Windows 7 Beta, and it did appear to work even though it produced error messages while going through the process. Having rebooted back into Windows 7, I found that the custom resolution had disappeared. The problem is with the nVidia control panel, I think. No doubt, it will be fived in time..
- I have installed the 32bit version because the scanner does not have 64bit drivers available. If I can’t get the scanner recognised, I will install the 64bit version of Windows 7.
- Twenty minutes install from start to finish.
- It picked up ALL of my hardware except for the Canon Lide 30.
It found my network after I changed the workgroup name to match the others.
It works really well. If all of the software I use daily works on it, I may use it as my primary OS. Before I fully commit, I will have to acquire another SATA drive.
I like the new look Wordpad and Paint. They both have the Office style ‘Ribbon’
So far, I have installed Avira anti-virus, DisplayFusion 2.2.1, SIW, and Alzip 6.7, all without any problem.
Ultramon 3.0.3 does not work, but DisplayFusion will do some of what Ultramon does.
What I do NOT like is that the Start Menu is not available in ‘Classic’ look. I really do hope that this feature is added to the final release..
More to come..
I did something recently that I have never done before. I used the ‘disable’ function in WinPatrol to eliminate some start-up items. For the most part, they were the ones which auto start but don’t show in the notification area, so I would lose nothing, yes?
NO!
I knew that the problem wasn’t related to the installation of the SP2 Beta because everything worked directly afterwards. I just could not understand what I could have installed that would stop the onscreen keyboard notices popping up on demand.
So I visited the keyboard and mouse hole in Control Panel, looked around, did nothing because there was no option to do anything, and guess what? The pop-ups returned. Problem fixed?
NO!
Anyway, I decided to have a root around in WinPatrol, and the rest is history. The start-up entries for Intellipoint and Intellitype are responsible for the onscreen notifications..
When I ran IE6 as my default browser, like many others I also had the Google toolbar installed but, other than the Google search box, I didn’t use any of its other features. Did I reduce the toolbar footprint and customize it down to the search box only? Nope, because, you never know when you may need the other features. I can categorically state that I NEVER needed any of its other features, and I don’t miss seeing them either.
After having installed the IE7 beta, I couldn’t remove it fast enough. However, I realized that if I was going to use Vista full time, I would have to get used to not having the cluttered and customizable IE6.
So what functions of your preferred browser do you actually use? I use Home, Print, and Favourites. I don’t need to keep going into Tools (Options) because IE7 prompted me to setup all of that stuff when I first installed it.
Here is my customized IE7, sporting the three functions that I use most of the time..
I test changes to my website in multiple browsers, so also have Firefox, Opera, Maxthon and Google Chrome installed. Other than for testing purposes, I do not use any of them..
Firefox.. I don’t mind this as I changed the look to IE7, but it takes up more real estate. Now, if I could only dump the annoying task bar at the top..
Opera.. You probably don’t know anybody who uses this one. It has features that you have to ‘right click’ to access, and most likely would never use.
Maxthon.. I had to include the Pageflakes header so that you could see the less than useful ‘sidebar’. I have it on authority that this browser is the most customizable of all, and is certainly closer to the look of IE6 than any of the others.
Google Chrome.. The most annoying thing about this browser is that Google wants to install two of its own start-up entries.. thanks, but no thanks
As you can see from the Maxthon view, I use Pageflakes for my home page. It is the best of the ‘Ajax’ start pages. I have my most used links on show in widgets called ‘Top links’. I can have as many Top Links windows as I need or want. The weather widget enables me to have tabbed weather locations in one small window. This is useful in Canada as one always needs to know what is blowing in from the west. The comics widget offers an astounding choice (I am a Dilbert fan). I also capture news from around the world, and have local, BBC, CBC, MSNBC and Al Jazeera news services.
A browser is for browsing/surfing. Why do I want to display tool bars full of stuff that I don’t use. I find it annoying that some browsers allow customization in ‘blocks’, that is to say, one can’t have this feature unless a number of other useless features appear on the same bar.
Can you see why I prefer IE7/8?
So there was an IE7 scare recently, but Microsoft fixed it the next day. Funnily enough, Firefox had more or less the same problem, but it was less publicized..