Numerous Major RC Issues, Plus Some Minor Concerns
I've been finding that Windows 7 RC is growing slower and slower, and/or less responsive. While for about 65% of the time it runs as well as it did when I first installed it (and reinstalled drivers mind you); when it does curl over and groan it does it dramatically; often leaving me with the only choice of a hard reset . The following are major issues I've found that show no real explanation for why they occour, and can start seemingly for any reason. Following that are some minor concerns or suggestions that could help tidy up any loose ends to make sure it doesn't look like to a minor group that Windows 7 is only 80% built. - Programs may not start. - They give no indication that they didn't start either. I click on a docked icon (menu or taskbar), or a file on the desktop and ... it doesn't respond. Some programs do try to start, but don't get far in doing so. (e.g. Trillian Astra appears in the Processes list but gets no further, mIRC stops after trying to leave the registration nag screen, MS Paint takes roughly two minutes to load from typing mspaint in Run.) - Explorer needs to "load" a folder. - Good freaking god. This was a pain in Vista, and it's more common in 7. What brought this about? Windows XP never had to "load" folders to display their contents - save for the Recycle Bin for when I had not emptied it after a while, indicated by the folder and magnifying glass icon. I don't understand what brought the need for folders to load, and it's only a pain because when it does occur, as the loading bar reaches the end it slows down to a crawl ... and every folder does it . So I essentially have to leave the computer while it does whatever it spontaneously decided to do that it needs to break Explorer to do so. - Hovered Taskbar Icons Do Not Un-Hover. - This could be a Tablet-limited issue, but hovering over a taskbar icon (mouse or stylus) and hovering away do not function normally. Despite the mouse being away from the taskbar, an icon may still be selected and more irritating, the tool-tip program name will pop-up. The only way to relieve this is by sliding the cursor across the icons in such a way that you deselect an icon without leaving the taskbar area. - Remember Folder Settings. - I find this annoying, my dad finds this annoying, my graphics tutor finds this annoying. Wether you are in documents, pictures or music folders, "Date modified" should be available. It shouldn't be absent in the music folder as I have found it to be. I set it to appear in the sort-by bar and sub-menu... only to have it vanish again. - Bring Back Styles - As far as I can tell, the only style that can be chosen is the Aero glass style. What say you decide to create something like the Noir/Zune theme? I'm willing to bet that wasn't originally planned with XP, yet you seem to have disallowed such a possibility in 7. (Not to mention the hundreds of amateur created styles.) - Make the Window Theme Independently Changeable. - The background can be changed on it's own, as can the screen saver and sound theme. But if you want to change the style/window theme to something different entirely (e.g. Windows Vista-like non-Aero style or Windows Classic) you have to change the theme. This means setting the theme, then changing the background, screen saver and sounds back. In Windows Vista it was independent - when under Glass you could easily change the style to a non-glass version, and back again. - "There is a problem with your battery." - ...Wait what? That is the most unhelpful error I've ever seen, not only that, my battery is fine . It says my computer may suddenly shut down, and that has never happened in the two months I've seen this error. - Move the Touch Input Panel to the Notification Area like the Math Input Panel - I've suggested this before, but I'm just re-iterating it in a single lined statement. - "Appdata" - Please excuse me if I can't quite explain this, but basically I'm referring to the hidden C:\Users\*username*\Appdata\ directory. Here, loads of program profiles are stored and for the most part are out of reach. This is both inhibiting and confusing. A classic example would be a chat program like mIRC. Normally it would store logs, scripts and the like with the program itself, which to me makes a lot more sense and keeps everything in one place. If a program doesn't have "profiles" built in, then it shouldn't be forced on it. If a program is storing information in numerous places with this system; it means it has to be managed under one user if an issue is related to their settings. Another problem is accessibility - if I want to edit any scripts or check any logs, the directory is normally hidden. Idea: When a program first tries to make changes to \Program Files\, the user should be prompted if they want to store data there or in their user profile directory. - Logon Screen randomly appears when one user. - Despite there being only one user profile - mine - sometimes at startup from a fresh boot (not hibernation or standby etc.) the welcome screen with the user icon selection will appear. Rather annoying when I leave the computer hoping to be able to go straight to a program when I come back. - Classic Style has slight graphical bug with the Start Menu. - Best described with this picture: http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/4552/taskbarbug.png The white menu area should either be smoothly cut off by a bevel to be consistent with Explorer windows, or be brought down to the divider above the "Back" option. - Bring Back Windows 98 style menu. - Better yet, allow the option to hide/turn off the pin area/recent programs menu to give the one column feel of Windows 98, and make the All Programs menu pop-up with it, or as a separate option again. - Show a boot completion bar on the boot screen. - Self explanatory. Windows; to my knowlege, has never had this. Ubuntu does, as does Fedora and I'm pretty sure many other Linux releases. This seems very helpful for giving some indication of the system actually doing something, and could even be paired with a small grey caption along the lines of "Loading keyboard driver...". (Unless drivers are loaded much later, I don't know myself.) It's not all horribly bad, but some of those issues are a real pain when they unpredictably crop up. If this happens in future, I can't see 7 as being my choice of OS in the future. I'm thinking of switching to XP (no way am I touching Vista again ) as it is with all these complications.
June 29th, 2009 11:12am

Jaabi - A few comments...1.) Keep in mind that while build 7100 is a release candidate, it's still technically a beta. As such, there are likely to be issues with drivers and the like. That IS ultimately, the purpose of the beta cycle.2.) Windows Explorer in XP needs to "load" folders but most of the time it may not be quite as evident. Try loading a folder under XP with 42,970 sub folders... I can guarantee it will take a minute or three. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, wore it out...3.) re: Appdata - there's actually method behind the madness for moving stuff there. Most apps install themselves in the \Program Files tree or some variation. Since XP, Microsoft decided that programs should keep their data ELSEWHERE. It's a security thing. Apps can't be compromised by malware, trojans, viruses, etc... if they aren't normally allowed to write to the \Program Files folder. In XP, this bit of programming wisdom was largely ignored.But if an app can write to that folder, there's a crack in the shell. Therefore, Microsoft provided another location for apps to store their stuff. 4.) The log on screen - let me guess - that pops up after the screensaver gets activated and/or Windows goes into sleep mode. That can be disabled. 5.) The "classic" start menu is gone - for good. It's not coming back. 6.) Windows kinda has something like the "boot completion" thing - it only comes up when you specify it when you press F8 at boot and access the boot menu. Safe mode generally shows something along those lines - at least until the graphical components kick in.As far as going back to XP goes... Good luck with that. Seriously...
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June 29th, 2009 2:37pm

I do realise that the RC is still in some way a beta, however as I've encountered some of these issues before (the folder loading, programs' refusal to start and folder settings to name a few) in Vista, so with Windows 7 being considered a relativley "complete" OS by many these to me seem like things that haven't been resolved. EDIT : I've disabled ReadyBoost on a empty (except for RB cache) 2GB MicroSD card and removed the card from the drive. Seeing as both me and my dad tried this system on our own 7-based machines around the same time in the hopes of that extra boost, it is possible RB is causing the increase in issues. da page :B
June 30th, 2009 7:39am

... I take back the bit about msstyles. It seems they're still customisable. Yes Microsoft. There are people already using alternatives to Aero. :Vda page :B
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July 5th, 2009 8:49am

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