6 Things I Hate About Windows 7

There is a lot of buzz around the intertubes about Windows 7. And its for good reason as this next update to the Windows platform promises to be leaner, faster and prettier. I personally loaded Windows 7 Beta onto a VMWare virtual machine and was glad that it run as smoothly as XP. This was a good sign. Before I got too excited however, I reminded myself that new installations of Windows always perform well. Its only after a few months of usage that the true Windows rears its head. Microsoft must fix this with Windows 7 as well as the following for me to really like Windows.

Temporary Items

Most applications (on any OS) create temporary files that are kept in an OS managed “temp” folder. The problem with Windows is that it never cleans up after these applications. In fact, I once found my temp folder nearing the 10GB mark in Vista! Microsoft’s solution is for the user to run some wizard to do this when really the OS should be doing this transparently.



DWM

DWM or Desktop Windows Manager, is the process that manages all the windows in Explorer. The problem with this is that it is always one of the top three most memory hungry processes on my computer. This is unacceptable for some eye candy!



Fewer Clicks Please

To change my screen resolution in Vista, I have to right-click the desktop, select Personalize, and then select Display Settings. To obtain my IP address, I click the network icon in the System Tray, select Network & Sharing Center, click View Status, and finally click the Details button. To connect to a WiFi network…to unzip a file using Explorer…I think you get the picture.

Broken WiFi

This is a particularly sore spot for me. Every Friday evening, I put my laptop to sleep and take it home. When I need to use it, I wake it up and the trouble starts. First, it doesn’t auto-connect to my WiFi network. I have to open the Connect to a Network wizard and then select to show just WiFi networks. Then, while standing right next to my router, Vista still does not see my network. I have to click the Refresh button numerous times before it will start attempting to get an IP address from my router. It fails to do this every time! I have to then go back into the Network and Sharing Centre and select Manage Network Connections in order to carry out a repair on the WiFi connection. If I am lucky, it will connect, otherwise its reboot time!

Broken multi-display support

My laptop connects to a Dell 24 inch monitor that’s used as the primary display with the laptop’s display as secondary. Every evening, I lock my laptop and go home. When I return in the morning and unlock my laptop, the resolution on Dell drops to 800×600 and my laptop screen is set as the primary display. I then have to reset this every time!

It’s local stoopid

Granted that this doesn’t happen all the time, however, why does opening a folder on my local disk behave as though it resides on some remote location? And before you suggest it, I leave my laptop on at night just so Vista can run its defrag and maintenance tasks when it feels like it.