Microsoft Brings 36 New Features To Windows 7 509
Barence writes "Microsoft has unveiled a slew of new features that will appear in the Release Candidate of Windows 7 that didn't make an appearance in the beta. 'We've been quite busy for the past two months or so working through all the feedback we've received on Windows 7,' explains Steven Sinofsky, lead engineer for Windows 7 in his blog. A majority of these features are user interface tweaks, but they should add up to a much smoother Windows 7 experience." In separate news, Technologizer reports on Microsoft's contingency plan, should things not go well in EU antitrust, to slip Win7 to January.
36 new features? meh... (Score:3, Interesting)
I want to hear about 1 feature being removed...
DRM
Let us know when that's been ripped from the OS, and maybe, just maybe, Microsoft might have a winner. Until then, it's just Vista SP2.
Re:Want more responsive network drive access (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm still on XP... you are saying that not only is this not fixed in Vista, but it's not fixed in 7 either? Yuck. I'm with you... I do a lot of VPN stuff and the responsiveness of the shell during network operations is my biggest beef with XP.
By the way, in the article I had to chuckle a little bit when I got to the graphs at the bottom. Even MS can't make Excel graphs look pretty. They look like the same Excel 5.0 default graphs we've been seeing for 15 years now, only with some translucency and overlaid on a weird rounded rectangular, ugly yellow gradient.
Needy state and focus (Score:5, Interesting)
its been a long time since I did Win32, but I remember when they changed it so applications couldn't "steal" focus from another application if the focused application hadn't seen mouse or keyword activity in X seconds (X configurable through the registry). The number of times the taskbar window flashed was also a configurable registry setting... somehow, though, applications like Outlook could ALWAYS steal focus. I always wondered what API call they used to do that, because I could never find it, and I scoured MSDN.
Now it looks like even their own apps can't steal focus? Good, that used to annoy the shit out of me.
MMMmmm (Score:3, Interesting)
I read through this list the other day and the only thing that I thought was:
Still nothing more than a Service Pack.
Seriously, #1 concerns Alt-Tab, ffs. #2 is a shortcut key. #3 is about taskbar windows flashes. #4 is about a shortcut to Open With. #5 is an adjustment to the size of icons. #6 is something to do with thumbnails. #7 is about showing "newly installed programs" in a different way. #8 is about the maximum number of items shown by default in a list. #9 is about file associations. #10 is a GUI change to seperate two types of things.
#11 is about a new gesture. #12 is allowing multi-touch devices to perform... well.. multitouch. #13 is the same. #14 is about text selection. #15 is a GUI change to the way networks are displayed. #16 is about making UAC even more annoying with a tiny (probably one-line) fix. #17 is allowing a machine to be locked without a screensaver specified (woopie-do!). #18 is a GUI change to the way power schemes are displayed. #19 is some tweaks to the way themes are displayed. #20 is an ACTUAL FIX to do with playing Internet radio (because such a task REALLY taxes a modern computer).
#21 is about adding long-established things like SEEKING and playing certain MOV files to media player. #22 is a UI change to "Now Playing" in media player. #23 is a GUI change to the way Media Player shows files that are corrupt/unplayable. #24 is about resuming from sleep properly while playing an audio CD. #25 is about cutting out dialog-overload when you plug in an MP3 player. #26 is about moving some settings/menus around. #27 is a GUI change to "JumpList". #28 is an internal change to the API for providing extra device driver functionality automatically. #29 is about plugging headphones in. #30 is a change to Windows Logo Testing to stop sound drivers being so crap.
#31 is GUI changes to explorer. #32 is the REMOVAL of an ability to drag/drop files into Libraries. #33 is about looking like XP when you see My Computer. #34 is about FAT32 still being supported as a filesystem. #35 is a GUI change. #36 says they actually profiled the users and their OS and "improved Start Menu opening times".
There is still *nothing* on that list worth the price of Windows 7. There is also nothing on that list that a single person with access to the source code couldn't do in a handful of days, except possibly the last one. You are seriously trying to tell me that out of the many thousands of people who tested the Beta, these were the only real problems that they encountered that MS has bothered to fix for the RC? That's the *most* affecting stuff that they needed to fix and shout about on a blog post? You're telling me that all the feedback from testers was about minor GUI changes, shortcut keys and unlikely/rare/pathetic hardware scenarios (like multitouch input devices and resuming a playing Audio CD from sleep?).
And MS wonder why people laugh at them.
Re:36 new features, huh? 2 security items pulled (Score:2, Interesting)
"Let me know when security is one of those features." - by Huntr (951770) on Friday February 27, @10:08AM (#27011787)
As far as security features you mentioned? Microsoft has PULLED 1 very good one (more in how efficient it can be, as it is in older OS by MS like Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003), & totally removed another - read on:
Thus, I have a question to ask...
Do ANY of you folks have an answer, a GOOD SOLID TECHNICAL answer, as to WHY these cripplings have been implemented in VISTA, Server 2008, & most likely their
descendant, in Windows 7:
----
1.) The removal of being able to use 0 as a blocking IP address in a HOSTS file
(vs. 0.0.0.0 or 127.0.0.1, which are bigger, slower on load into the local DNS Cache (as well as slower flushes via ipconfig /flushdns) & also occupy more RAM once loaded, for NO GOOD REASON - 0 blocks as well as the other 2 do, & is smaller + faster!)
In this case, this happened on 12/09/2008 Microsoft "Patch Tuesday" updates, it wasn't LIKE that before then!
E.G.-> Here, using 0 as my blocking IP address in a FULLY normalized (meaning no repeated entries) HOSTS file with nearly 650,000 bad sites blocked in it, I get a 14++mb sized HOSTS file... using 0.0.0.0 it shoots up to 18++mb in size (& even worse using 127.0.0.1, to around the tune of 24++mb in size)... Here? This is SENSELESS bloat creation as the result!
&
2.) The removal of IP Port Filtering GUI controls for it via Local Network Connections properties "ADVANCED" section
(This is up there w/ when MS removed the GUI checkbox after NT 4.0 for IP Forwarding, only, this time, the difference is (and, it's a PAIN) is that it is NOT a single 1 line entry to hack via regedit.exe, but FAR MORE COMPLEX to do by hand)... Port Filtering is a USEFUL & POWERFUL security (& to a degree, speed also) enhancing feature!
Afaik, on THIS case (vs. #1 above)? It has always been that way in VISTA &/or Windows Server 2008... & not just the result of a Patch Tuesday modification.
----
I posted on Mr. Sinofsky's (?) blog -> http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/02/25/feedback-and-engineering-windows-7.aspx [msdn.com]
AND, I have YET to get a SOLID TECHNICAL ANSWER on those things going on in VISTA, Server 2008, & probably Windows 7 as well, that justify doing so...
(They're things I'd really LIKE to get an answer to, as to WHY Microsoft has done the 2 things in my list above, to the above noted versions of Windows)
Sorry Microsoft - I really like your OS & softwares, but this time? Well - Both of those being done? EXTREMELY STUPID!
APK
P.S.=> Does ANYONE know why these STUPID things were done to the latest/greatest versions of Windows? I don't...
Otherwise, consider this "ammo" you 'anti-microsoft/anti-Windows' *NIX fans here can use, because @ this point? I wouldn't blame you IF you did... & hopefully??
It helps FORCE MS to undo them... because, I will be COMPLETELY FORTHRIGHT about this much: They're 2 reasons I won't upgrade beyond Windows Server 2003... apk
Re:In other news... (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes. However, Microsoft has stated that they're in a mad rush to compile and ship Windows Se7en to replaced the failed abortion that Vista is.
Seriously though, what the hell are they thinking? A public beta, minus GUI changes that are not significant, then the general release? That does not live up the standard definition of Beta, certainly not the one endorsed by Microsoft Publications. Do they even glance at the software development model books they publish?
Re:Want more responsive network drive access (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, to be fair, Linux is the same way. Well that's not quite true; both nautilus and konqueror will display SOME of the folder contents while it's loading, but only a tiny portion, then freeze as you wait and wait and wait for the rest of the folder contents to load. This isn't a Windows-only flaw; it's a quality inherent in accessing CIFS shares over a slow WAN, regardless of OS or file manager. What WOULD help is if the file managers were fully multithreaded.
Wow, they actually fixed mine! (Score:4, Interesting)
Here's my most frequently bitched about UI complaint:
18. Faster access to High Performance power plan
Clicking on the battery flout from the taskbar notification area offers two different power plans: Balanced and Power saver. Windows 7 laptops are configured by default to use the Balanced plan since this setting best balances a good experience while promoting more environmentally friendly power use. However, some customers tell us they want to be able to quickly toggle between Balanced and High Performance (yet another power plan). Weâ(TM)ve taken a change to now show the latter in the flyout menu when it is enabled under the Power Options Control Panel.
This has been perhaps my biggest complaint (which goes to show you something) about Win7 beta on my laptop (Acer Aspire 6930). It takes 2 clicks to switch from high performance or power saver to balanced. But to switch from high performance to power saver or vice-versa takes 5. For no good reason. It involves clicking the taskbar icon, opening a window for "more power options", clicking "show additional plans" despite ample room to show the third plan, clicking the selection button, then closing the window. 5 clicks vs 2, because we can't handle a third power choice? I'm glad someone is awake over there.
And here's probably my second most bitched about UI complaint:
33. Reviving familiar entry points
Mando writes, âoeIn Win7 the Win+E shortcut opens an explorer window but the path is âoeLibrariesâ instead (which isnâ(TM)t where I want to go most of the time). Is there a way to configure the target folder of âoeWin+Eâ or is there an alternate shortcut that will get me to the âoeComputerâ path like it did in Vista?â RC reverts the behavior and now the shortcut will launch the âoeComputerâ Explorer. Also, we changed the link in Start Menu -> Username to match the Vista behavior.
And bonus, here's my most bitched about hardware support complaint, which I mentioned in another slashdot thread a couple days ago [slashdot.org]:
29. Improving the headphone experience
Customers informed us that sometimes their audio streams did not properly move from the default speakers to their headphones. The fix required an update to the algorithm we use to detect new devices. In RC the transition works more reliably.
Most of the rest of the stuff sounds pretty good too. I'll admit I've been a bit skeptical about this whole pinning things on taskbar which is now also the quicklaunch at the same time type deal. Mostly because I'm used to all my quicklaunch apps being on the left and not having to hunt between open apps to launch a new one. But that win-# shortcut sounds like it will justify the whole deal for me, so I will withdraw my complaint on it pending testing of that feature.
Meh... (Score:4, Interesting)
I have TFA open right now.
1. Windows Flip (ALT + TAB) with Aero Peek
Meh... it doesn't sound like a killer feature to me.
2. Windows Logo + keyboard shortcut
OK, I really don't understan this one. hasn't [alt]+ the shortcut worked before? Seems they had this way back in win95, didn't they?
3. Needy State "Needy window" is the internal term we use for a window that requires your attention
Doesn't seem like much to me. YMMV I guess.
4. Taskbar "Open With"
OK, maybe I need more coffee, but I see apps, not documents, in the taskbar.
5. Taskbar scaling
Meh
6. Anchoring taskbar thumbnails
Meh
7. Newly installed programs we don't even allow programs to pin themselves to the taskbar when they are installed. This is a task expressly reserved for the customer
They're finally starting to catch up with Linux here I guess
8. Jump List length
A lot of these seem to be features we should have had ten years ago.
9. Increased pinning flexibility with Jump List
10. Desktop icon and gadget view options
Touch
the next four have to do with touch screens. As the MegaTouch games you see in bars all run Linux, it looks like Windows may be catching up here as well.
15. Internet access feedback The new network experience from the taskbar's notification area makes it much easier to find and connect to networks
I haven't had a home network for quite a while, but I've never had trouble connecting to my work's network.
16. User Account Control
17. Locking a machine without a screensaver
18. Faster access to High Performance power plan
I guess that may help notebook users
19. Custom theme improvements
Bleh
20-27 Windows Media Player
I hate Windows media player. I use WinAamp in windows, XMMS in Linux.
28. Enriching the Device Stage ecosystem
Market-speak for "we're still behind Linux in this but we're trying".
29. Improving the headphone experience
Bug fix
30. Increased audio reliability
Bug fix
The rest have to do with Windows Explorere. Sorry, Microsoft, this isn't enough to make me want to drop a couple hundred dollars for.
Re:Oh I hate the needy state (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually I think they're missing the real right way to do it: check user idle time. If the user has been idle for a while, keep the notification going until you see that they've become active again.
When the user comes back, or is NOT idle, make the notification more obvious but short lived. After that, yes, settle in to a state like you suggested where the app's state is quite obvious but non-distracting.
Why? (Score:5, Interesting)
Why do you say that? I can think of multiple ways to address that issue.
And you don't even address the issue of someone NOT having any of those programs that depend upon the insecure configuration.
#1. Virtual machines for insecure apps.
#2. Load the insecure .dll's only if necessary for an insecure program and then put a notice on the desktop which cannot be removed.
The idea is to move towards a more secure system. Not to keep making excuses.
ISO Mounting? (Score:5, Interesting)
This is great, but I still don't see ISO mounting, which (as far as I know) has been asked for repeatedly by power users everywhere, and is one of (if not *the*) top request on Connect.
Filter content rather than support it?! (Score:4, Interesting)
Here's a thought, why not instead of filtering out content Windows cannot deal with just support playback of the format?! These formats are not exactly on the fringe here. The way it's being dealt with is as surprising as the fact they are not supported.
Re:Oh I hate the needy state (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Meh... (Score:4, Interesting)
#2: I hope that I can turn this shit off. I use Windows+# for virtual desktop switching with MSVDM under XP. I don't use nView virtual desktops because nView won't LET me use Windows+#. I sure hope that one day we get some decent open video drivers for ATI, because that's all that's keeping me from switching. :( I finally read the manpage for interfaces and just use ifupdown without the network manager now. Well, now I don't run Linux on my desktop machine, only on my server, and it doesn't have any wireless interfaces. I do have a dd-wrt system, but it's micro so I don't log into it anyway, and do * through the web interface.
#7: Programs COULD install themselves to your gnome-panel. Wouldn't be that hard.
Touch: AFAIK neither multitouch nor mouse/touch gestures are part of any standard Linux distribution. Am willing to be proven wrong.
#15: Have you seen the new GNOME network manager? It doesn't make any sense to me
#19: Now this is someplace where Windows is truly way way way behind Linux. And let's face it, many humans place a very high value on aesthetics.
#23 is EVIL!
#24 is WEIRD! You couldn't resume playback after coming back from sleep mode? That seems like a bug fix, not a feature enhancement. P.S. What you use as a player is irrelevant. WinAmp is not a video player; it's a wrapper around Windows Media Player. You could use VLC, at which point this would not matter to you. But if you use winamp you're using the same mechanisms to play video as WiMP.
#28: Linux has nothing like Device Stage [neowin.net]. Whether this is a good or bad thing is another issue.
#29 is worse than just a bug fix, it's probably a DRM bug fix.
The rest have to do with Windows Explorer: Yeah, you know, the part of Windows that the user uses?
I have a better idea: (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Meh... (Score:4, Interesting)
#28: Linux has nothing like Device Stage. Whether this is a good or bad thing is another issue.
This looks like the prefect crapware delivery engine.
It also has a lot of confusing wording:
This feature is quite nice for beginners. I think for me it would be just annoying. They really need to clean up the wording though, because now it's just very confusing.
Mod up (Score:3, Interesting)
That's actually a pretty good idea. Certainly one of the better ones I've heard from an AC.
Re:Why? (Score:3, Interesting)
The idea is to move towards a more secure system. Not to keep making excuses.
I hate to break it to you, but unless Microsoft (or OEM's, or ISP co-ops, or some central authority) starts whitelisting user apps/behavior, when you put a virus at the end of a yes/no prompt that is required by virtually every piece of shit "must have 'Administrator' to load a fucking text file" application made over a decade after the advent of the NT security model...
You get the idea. If applications require things like UAC (and MS was guilty too, though more with regard to non-critical system settings) to constantly and pointlessly elevate them, out of your virtual machine or into your insecure DLL, then nothing will allow a user to really, really understand that they should think a little harder about that damned dialog box they keep clicking "yes" on.
...Of course though, even if this were the case, it doesn't explain why people can't distinguish
YOU'VE GOT A DEADLY VIRUS - Windows Internet Explorer
from the real thing. I'm still amazed that people feel insulted when I tell them they likely installed the virus themselves.
Nevermind.
Re:ISO Mounting? (Score:2, Interesting)
The feet-dragging on this may have to do with the fact that ISO is the primary way to acquire a Linux distro. Making it easy for people to burn/mount an ISO is opening a gateway away from Microsoft products. They'd rather not do that, so you get no support for ISO.
For the average computer user that hears about Linux, sure, they can download and burn things, but when they try to burn an ISO using the default software that might come with Windows or your random shareware burning software, it's just not going to work, thus creating a barrier to adopting Linux.
Re:36 new features? meh... (Score:5, Interesting)
At most clients when I'm documenting work (network configurations, etc.) and writing scripts I'll be using Linux, and when they see me flip screens (desktop cube) they ask me about the OS and "Is that Vista?" (I run a Vista theme courtesy of Emerald - I don't care what you say about Vista's quality, you have to admit its default theme is pretty) so I give them brief tours of Linux - they're invariably impressed and ask if they can run it on their home systems.
I reinstalled my sister's computer for her a month ago, and while I was looking something up on my computer I did a Ctrl-Alt-Right to flip screens. She though that was really cool and asked if I could put it on her computer. I explained the issues and we talked about the software packages she uses, and finally decided to install XP on 160 GB of her 200 GB drive, and Ubuntu 8.10 on the other 40.
About a week later she IMed me to say she was trying to use her printer on Linux and wanted some help. I googled her model and groaned -- it's a Canon with manufacturer-provided binary-only drivers that require a bunch of manual futzing with config files to make work.
Well, back to XP, I figured. I didn't have time to go do it for her. I did give her the URL I found, though. It had reasonably good step-by-step instructions. I didn't hear back from her.
A week later she IMed me to ask how she can find out which printers work with Linux. I was offering to find time to help her get her printer working, before she went to drop money on one when she interrupted to say that no, she got her printer working just fine. She had just been thinking she might want a better printer, but wanted to make sure she got one that supported Linux.
I was pretty surprised both that she got her printer working (she's not dumb by any means, but she's far from a geek either) and that she appeared to be so committed to Linux. Then last week at a family BBQ she asked me what would be the best way to get rid of Windows and give the rest of the drive to Ubuntu.
And it all started with the rotating desktop cube.
Re:36 new features? meh... (Score:4, Interesting)
After it's been activated once, every time after that you cannot activate online. It forces you to call, and talk to someone. You cannot activate online, or automatically on the phone. You have to talk to a live person (Who speaks broken English), and explain to them why you're using your development license that was meant for multiple installations, multiple times.
It's a huge PITA, and absolutely ridiculous that MS is making people who paid for an MSDN subscription to jump through these hoops.
Re:Meh... (Score:4, Interesting)
It is not human nature, to repeat a failed action in the hopes that the results change... and that especially is not indicative of problem-solving skills. It can fall under the umbrella of learned helplessness, an actual term which I suggest you read up on.
It can also be a different learned action, from when a person speaks and must repeat themselves to be heard -- either because the listener wasn't paying attention, did not understand, or some other reason.
There is no reason that people can't learn to try a different approach with computers than they do when speaking with people. And for that matter, effective speakers don't simply repeat the same thing again hoping that there will be comprehension the nth time. I firmly believe that the actions you ascribe to human nature are instead learned stupidity.
One problem, as pointed out by another responder, is that there is no confirmation that the command was 'accepted' by the OS. So people click (or use the shortcut keys) again thinking that maybe the system did not 'hear' them the first time.
You mention that it can be part of a problem-solving approach... but it's a bad problem-solving approach, but that's not what we're discussing here. We're discussing someone repeatedly entering an instruction -- whether out of frustration or something else, I don't know... but if you read the OP, you can see that problem-solving had nothing to do with their behavior (frustration was probably a larger part of it).
The biggest problem is that the user has no other recourse... they take the only action they know how to do, which is to repeat a futile command. People faced with an obstacle do not like 'waiting' as an option for overcoming the obstacle, it's a psychological issue with feeling in control... but, IF they can be convinced that waiting is a form of action, then it works.
You say my view is what's wrong with IT... I say catering to the LCD of users/people is what's wrong with society. We're more and more a lazy stupid people, and I think it's attitudes like yours that enable it to continue.
Re:36 new features, huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
I can't believe this made it to +5, but I suppose Slashdot group-think dies hard. The actual OS security is *very* good these days. It's not perfect, and it improved since when Vista first shipped, but these days a properly patched system with the firewall enabled is very hard to exploit. Run as a non-administrator (which is a lot easier in Vista thanks to UAC, just like in Linux with sudo) and it's almost impossible.
Unfortunately, most malware for Windows doesn't actually exploit the OS. It exploits the OS's users, which are a much easier target. Trojans, rogue anti-malware, software cracks from shady sources, and "you need to update your version of ActiveX Video Object to view this movie" are the attack vector for Windows malware these days.
As for correcting this problem, educating users is the only feasible option. Windows, especially Vista/Win7, does try... but the OS is fundamentally incapable of understanding whether a program is dangerous or not, since it can not know what your intentions are. It certainly makes a stronger attempt, however, than (for example) Linux with regard to loading drivers - but you can't fix stupid, and when it comes to computers the average person is very stupid indeed.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:36 new features, huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, Vista running IE7 in a sandbox is a better design than OSX, hands down. I guess you could argue that Microsoft's implementation isn't the best, but the Mac still got hacked first.
Also, if I remember the contest right, no one was able to hack any of the OSes until the rules were changed to allow for having the computer load [potentially] malicious websites.
Re:Meh... (Score:3, Interesting)
Sorry, Microsoft, this isn't enough to make me want to drop a couple hundred dollars for.
That has got to be one of the most worthless comments on the internet ever - not just slashdot.
This was a list of 30 items where MS responded to user feedback. They're not new features. And it's not the complete list. If you use that as the basis for evaluating Win7, I can only roll my eyes in exasperation. Don't kid yourself -- only on slashdot will you get '+4 interesting' for that drivel. Even the individual points you're refuting are flat out wrong in so many cases. For example:
28. Enriching the Device Stage ecosystem Market-speak for "we're still behind Linux in this but we're trying".
Let me tell you a little secret - Linux (Ubuntu 8.10 which I'm typing this on -- or any other distro) has no functionality of this sort. When the feature was proposed, it was panned roundly on this very site [slashdot.org] (see the comments) as something that introduced adware into the OS. So which is it? Is Device Stage a terrible feature -- or is it something that Linux perfected and Windows is catching up to? The intellectual honesty on this site is always refreshing.
8. Jump List length A lot of these seem to be features we should have had ten years ago.
If you actually knew what jump lists were you'd realize how idiotic that comment is. Let me give you a hint -- jump lists are not MRU lists.