...turn off that damn annoying UAC...
I'll admit UAC can be as annoying as an itch you can't reach (or a telmarketer) but turning it off is a bad idea. At the very least, the default setting should be used. I have it turned all the way on and have gotten used to dealing with the pop-ups. UAC is another layer of protection that will alert you to any rogue programs that might have slipped past your AV trying to start up.
...and use the good ol' non-Aero Classic GUI...
I personally like Aero. I turned off AeroGlass since it's just Window dressing (pun intended) that uses up resources unnecessarily but I love AeroPeek and Aerosnap! They are very handy.
...I ignore the Libraries... I don't see the point. I just use file folders like I've been doing since Win95...
I won't bother to explain the point of Libraries (mostly because I'm too lazy and it's past my bedtime) but, although they are useful for some people, it's not for everyone. I use the default Libraries—Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos in the Start Menu—but deleted all but the "parent" folder from each Library so they now act like direct links to the "parent" folders (such as Documents goes to My Documents).
...One thing I absolutely HATE about Win 7 is that steaming pile called Windows Media Player 12! I've tried to get rid of all file associations that use it, and use either Winamp or VLC to play all media files on my machine...
I feel you are too kind with your assessment of WMP12. I've always hated it! I didn't have any trouble changing my music file associations to Media Monkey and my videos to VLC (took maybe five minutes). I also turned off Windows Media Center, which also turned off WMP, on my notebook from Services since I'll never use them on that machine.
...I had to go to Thunderbird for email because M$ didn't want to let me keep using Outlook Express. That's a fail...
I never liked Outlook or Outlook Express. I got a foreman at one job mad at me because I always referred to Outlook as Outlaw and he got in the habit of doing so until he slipped and used Outlaw in a meeting and got his tail feathers chewed on. He told me to stop calling it Outlaw after that but I didn't.
I prefer webmail anyway so losing Outlaw Express was not a loss for me.
...I have had more trouble getting older programs to work with 7 than I ever did with XP. Nero Suite 6 is a no-go, as is my old video capture software... I can't switch off video acceleration! Even DVD Flick needed to have compatibility modes and permissions altered to let the component programs within it run...
I had only five programs that wouldn't work on Win7. Three were free Utilities I replaced with better freebies. One was a music cataloging program that also worked as a player through VLC. I replaced it with Media Monkey. Even the free version is vastly superior although I chose to get the paid version for additional features. I did have to run it in XP SP1 compatibilty mode to get one the visualization I liked to work properly. It took all of five seconds to set it.
The other program that wouldn't work in Win7 was a professional music notation program. That particular one had become abandonware and would have cost me $400 to get the top program in the program lineup but, after I threatened on their user forum to "go to the dark side" (forum slang for buying the main competitor's program) if I was forced to pay $400 to upgrade to the more expensive program, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse; I was able to get a much better program for considerably less.
That's the problem with paid programs; you have to shell out for upgrades every so often to maintain compatibility and/or support which is why I try to use freebies whenever possible, assuming they will meet my needs. Unfortunately, some programs can't be replaced by freebies. In my case, it is Adobe Acrobat 9.x, MS Office, and the music notation program. As long as Adobe supports Acrobat 9.x, I'm going to keep using it, then upgrade when it reaches end of life. Today, I upgraded Office 2007 Home and Student to the 2010 version because it will receive support until 2020, same as Win 7 (actually, a few months longer).
Nero is now up to v12; it's past time you upgraded. Personally, I never liked Nero even though it is popular.
XP is a good OS but it will not be supported after 4/8/2014. That means any security holes uncovered by hackers will not get plugged by security updates from M$. And I seriously doubt that AV manufacturers will continue to make XP definitions after that. I strongly suspect hackers will work overtime to find security holes, etc. after 4/8/2014 and anyone accessing the internet on XP will be taking a huge risk.
...So do I "LIKE" Windows 7? Now that it looks and acts like XP, I'd rather say it's "acceptable"...
If you were to work with Win7's new features instead of expecting a clone of XP, I suspect you would have had fewer problems. I first got Win7 last June when I bought my notebook to replace my long-in-the-tooth XP netbook. Right out of the box, I had very few problems and was productive from the word go. I was able to learn how to deal with the few problems I was having by going to forums like these; mostly, they were learning curve issues. The only things I missed from XP was the default picture viewer and the camera and card download wizard. Win7's picture viewer is a piece of junk; it reduced the vertical height of many of my pictures so I just changed my graphic file associations to Office Picture Manager. The camera wizard didn't have the flexibility XP's has when it came to renaming downloaded pictures. I use the free program, IrfanView, which I already use, to replace that function.
...And I still have to dual boot with XP to get older programs to work... Win7's XP VM and Compatibility Mode do not work for me...
Painful though it is, there comes a point where older software and hardware have to be replaced. One of the reasons I didn't upgrade to Vista when it came out (besides Vista being better suited for keeping grass green), and didn't upgrade to Win7 until recently, was the expense and hassle of replacing software (which I've already mentioned) and hardware. My desktop is an XP machine that won't run Win7. Since XP is due to "die" soon, it's time to replace it (and will after the first of the year); I've gotten my money's worth out of it. My POS scanner has already been replaced with a duplexing ADF and a flatbed, either of which will run circles around my old scanner. My ancient B&W laser printer is still going strong but I can't get drivers that will let it run on Win7 and I can't get toner cartridges that the chip hasn't expired (the printer will still work but I can't access the tool box where settings are made once the chip has expired). I have a new color laser printer coming in on Monday. It bites me to spend the money but nothing lasts forever and, eventually, everything needs replacing or serious shekels have to be spent to repair them.
. And if you knew all I have just said - but not what MSFP was - I'm sure there are other forum users who might have been enlightened.
