3 Major Window 7 Complaints

[darkdisturbed]

1. Windows Search feature. I don't like the re-design of it or the fact that that you can search through Start menu - I solved this by disabling the Windows Search Index.

2. The Basic theme. Just ugly. lol

3. The fact that the default log in screen is with click a name instead of typing username and password. I was never a fan of click and then type your password. Solved it by reverting the ctrl+alt_del thing again.

These three problems have been solved, so am a Happy camper with Seven atm

 

[mikedl]

Thanks, darkdisturbed!

Though I have acclimated to the Win 7 search, I did go back to the XP Start Menu style with Classic Start Menu and Classic Shell for XP type tree views.

 

[unifex]

Mike, did you use a third-party software for that Classic shell look?

 

[mikedl]

Hi, unifex!

Yes. It was written by Ivo, a member of our Forums. It is available here and there are a number of threads about this great program in the Customization section of the Seven Forums (search for "Classic Shell" or "Ivo").

 

[unifex]

Thanks Mike!

 

[Kari]

Hello Fellow IT Professionals,
...
Sincerely,
[FONT=&quot]Garret334[/FONT]

Very good post. Thanks.

 

[boohbah]

+1 kari ,its a real man who can admit his errors .....
i for one wish i never got involved with my ex

 

[mickey megabyte]

going back to the OP and toolbar issue:

garrett334, have you looked at adding a quicklaunch bar onto the taskbar?

it's customisable to a certain extent - here's a picture of mine as an example, it's still a fresh install, so isn't populated much yet:



or there are a few free docking programs about, such as rocketdock, which are a bit fancier.
=======================================================

did you think we were affiliated with microsoft, garrett334?

we aren't - we're just fans of the new os.

i've noticed some forum members welcome newcomers with words like 'welcome to the windows seven support forums' - this can give the wrong idea, so the greeting i normally give is simpler, and is:

welcome to sevenforums, garrett334! if you have any more specific questions, just ask, and we will try to help if we can.

 

[Cato]

Hello Fellow IT Professionals,

I owe you all an apology both for my words and my tone. I have taken to heart many of your comments as they hit close to home. My original post was intended for Microsoft’s ears. I was angry when I wrote it and I should have changed it substantially before I posted it. Again, I am sorry. I believe I face many of the same problems as all of you have. Limited budgets, wanting to please the workers and employers I serve, fielding there complaints and finding myself defending Microsoft when I don’t agree with them either. Obviously some of these issues are my own. In my early years I had the privilege to work for a company that had both a language product and business applications. Back then I was Senior Systems Analyst/Programmer. I worked in business applications. I was however involved in the language planning and implementation planning. My company and my experience with other languages companies was that we all strived for 100% compatibility as well as adding new features and feature enhancement. Compatibility was always the primary goal. Our customers expected that they would be able to recompile there code without change and it would perform exactly as in did in under the old version. Companies back then were proud of fast compilers and compilers that produced efficient executable s. As for Microsoft, I have had a love / hate relationship with them for a very long time. I am continually impressed by what I can do and what these systems can do today and at same time I curse them for many of the changes forced on us. I learn something new everyday. I embrace the new capabilities and I scream in pain when in my mind I find functionality they removed for reasons never explained. Windows 7 is one of Microsoft’s better efforts and yet still needs much refinement. I wish I had an opportunity to shape that refinement. I did have some thoughts that perhaps one of you knew some clever way to restate the missing features or function. Maybe a modified registry key the would return the function in some legacy or compatibility mode. Looking for a solution that had not become public yet as I did spend a fair amount of time trying to find that very solution. For those of you who saw past my anger and perhaps sympathized my complaint I wish to thank you for your understating.

Sincerely,
[FONT=&quot]Garret334[/FONT]

It takes a special person to come back and make that statement. I'm sure we've all been frustrated enough at some point to let our frustrations out when we should have thought things out and eased off a little.

I appreciate your post, and admire you for it.

 

[brianzion]

there is a way to have how you want your operating system and thats to design your own in linux but thats my opinion on the whole windows 7 is still tops in my book

 

[Hopalong X]

Cato.
Thanks for quoting him. I missed the posting during the night my time.

I did have some thoughts that perhaps one of you knew some clever way to restate the missing features or function. Maybe a modified registry key the would return the function in some legacy or compatibility mode. Looking for a solution that had not become public yet as I did spend a fair amount of time trying to find that very solution.

Garret

I have no direct answer but maybe you can find some in the tutorials.
Here is list of tutorials we have on our site that may improve the Search functionality for you. Some I'm sure you already have tried or implemented.
Give them a read if you wish. One of them may improve your search criteria more to your liking.
Not all of them are necessarily going to be helpful I realize.
The best I could do for you.
Good luck.
Mike

• How to Change or Restore the Default Windows 7 Search Options
• How to Add or Remove Windows 7 Index Locations
• How to Add or Remove a File Type from the Windows 7 Index
• How to Rebuild the Windows 7 Index
• Windows 7 OpenSearch Federation Providers
• How to Pin Libraries to Search and See More Results in Start Menu
• How to Pin Search Connectors to Search and See More Results in Start Menu
• How to Add Search Internet to the Windows 7 Start Menu
• How to Turn Windows 7 Search On or Off
• How to Create a Search Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Save a Search in Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Windows 7 Explorer Recent Search Box Suggestions
• How to Change the Size of the Windows 7 Explorer Address and Search Bar
• How to Edit or Reset Windows 7 Explorer Recent Search Box Suggestions
• How to Create a Search and Indexing Troubleshoot Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Add, Change, or Remove File Details Properties in Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable the Search Index in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Have More Accurate Search Results in Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Search in Internet Explorer 9
• How to Configure and Fully Utilize Windows 7 Search

 

[Tinkerdog]

I dunno, the guy brings a few legitimate complaints to the table and he's met with ... derision?

I hate the Search function in Win 7. Have I learned to use it and tweak the indexing? Sure. Was it much, much easier in XP? Sure.

A bit of help and guidance in regard to his complaints would go much further than retorts simply saying "learn the new way."

My very humble opinion ...

I agree. I would've gotten upset very quickly by how I was treated if treated in this manner.

3 straightforward questions..... and no real help. Just a lot of "you're old fashion... get hip and today".

 

[garret334]

Hello SevenForum Friends,


Thank you for help, suggestions and criticisms, I needed an attitude adjustment. I am not exactly new to Windows 7. I have been using it as my primary OS on my home system since August. I would have been using it sooner but my Vista Ultimate SP1 OS was serving me well and I usually wait for a new Microsoft OS to go thru a significant period of refinement. At one time I was a Beta test site for new Microsoft OS’s and learned to be couscous. I have known how to create and created Windows 7 form of toolbars since then. I have learned to use Windows 7 search and modified my indexed locations and that has been in place for sometime. But it is also fair to say that I was less than satisfied with the solutions I was using. No matter what I have done to the Windows 7 search, I prefer Vista’s solution with indexed locations and the advanced search form. Vista also allowed for a Desktop toolbar which functions just like QuickLaunch in that it is single click execution. In December I gave myself a Christmas present and built a new system, Core I7, 12GB DDR3, 10K Drives, the works. That gave me a second Window 7 Ultimate x64 system and what drove me over the edge was that I took it to work and connected it to our Domain. We have an older Dell Poweredge Windows 2003 Server. I brought my new system here to clearly determine what software the company was going to have to purchase/upgrade to support a mixed XP and Windows 7 x64 client environment. Windows 7 has been so good and I have been so successful at running software that was supposedly incompatible that the only way I could be sure of what I absolutely needed to replace was to test it here. As I began to do standard routine tasks I noticed the computer management missing properties tab and blew my stack. I included .jpg copies of my new and old desktops. On XP (same for Vista) you can see a long line of icons at the top of the screen of programs and links I use regularly. On most days I easily have over 25 windows open. There is so much I like about Windows 7 and it really irritated me that Microsoft changed/left-out these few items that are trivial when compared to the whole and made such a big difference in my efficiency. As you can tell, I am com now. Again I thank you all for your help and suggestions. I have gone to nearly every link I was sent.


Thanks Again,
garret334

 

[James Colbert]

Someone already mentioned the Customization forum here:

Customization - Windows 7 Forums

And here is an ongoing "StarDock" thread in the same forum:

http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/118410-stardock-objectdock-customization.html

Perusing this forum will give you many directions in making Win 7 more suited to your needs.

James

 

[whs]

I enjoyed the detachable tool-bars in XP but I have adjusted as I now just leave them in the task bar:

View attachment 131278

The window options for resizing in Win 7 are too good to pass up by docking a tool bar that might interfere.

Mike, could a dock, like e.g. Rocket Dock, do the same?

 

[whs]

Hi Garret, Thank you for coming back "in peace". I guess we were playing a little rough at times (including myself - and I apologize). You have to understand that most of us are seasoned Windows7 users that started in the dawn of Windows7. Most of us have managed to find alternate ways to do things were prior functions/interfaces are no more available.

I myself deplore that they put away with the Vista sidebar and that I cannot see some of my gadgets any more at all times. But there is a tweak to get it back and that is what I use.

The hidden toolbar/dock on top of the Vista screen I was also missing. But a combination of Rocket Dock and and toolbar (I linked one of my tutorials earlier) gives me the functionality and even more. I first tried the tweaked Quick Launch (which I think I saw on one of your pictures), but I found the toolbar to be a lot more practical because I can make a folder structure.

I understand your point regarding compatibility/legacy. But believe me, that is a big problem for developers. I spent 35 years of my life in Operating System development at IBM and the legacy issue was always hot. On the one hand you want to advance the system, but on the other hand you do not want to incur extra cost for the customer to migrate. That leads to more and more old code that needs to be dragged along (and maintained) and then people are complaining about bloat and performance issues. It is a difficult balancing act. And with Windows approaching 60 million lines of code, they have to make some cleanup at times in order to make room for something new.

I hope we can have a fruitful discussion from here. We are all glad to assist with solutions to specific problems (that is if we know the solution).

 

[mjf]

Just don't criticize Windows 7 Imaging because WHS will get really cross.

 

[whs]

Just don't criticize Windows 7 Imaging because WHS will get really cross.

Are you pulling my leg mjf - Win7 imaging is something to really get mad about.

 

[mjf]

Just don't criticize Windows 7 Imaging because WHS will get really cross.

Are you pulling my leg mjf - Win7 imaging is something to really get mad about.

Of course I am.
On a serious note, I'm just reinforcing an earlier statement I made that we all have aspects of an overall good operating system that we work around to suite our personal preferences/beliefs.

 

[whs]

mjf, you are right. That is the beauty of the 60 million lines of code - plus all that good stuff from the web.